The trio walked farther south until they made it back onto the main road. Here they saw many people walking toward Jianye. Many of them looked haggard, carrying different bags on them. Some of them cast a wary glance toward the trio.

It was because of their clothes.

Despite wearing the most common hemp clothes that they could find, the trio still looked better than most of the travelers. These travelers wore rags similar to the beggars that Lu Na saw in Jianye.

“They’re refugees from the north,” Sun Ren said. “The rebels and famines have made it really difficult to live up there. So they’re traveling to the south by the hundreds of thousands hoping to find a better place down here.”

“Amituofo, that is sad,” Hen Li said.

“What’s sad is that they’re being abused by the farm owners in the south. They take advantage of how they have nowhere to go and are desperate enough to work like a slave.”

“I heard about that from my father,” Lu Na said. “He’s recently hired a lot more guards to protect his businesses and a lot of workers as well.”

Lu Na saw a family crying on the side of the road. They looked so sad that she couldn’t help but walk over.

“Is everything alright?”

“No, my son, he’s very sick and we can’t pay for a doctor or medicine,” the father said.

His mother cradled the boy with his hair matted to his face. He had trouble breathing.

“This is not right. We should help,” Lu Na said.

“Amituofo, compassion and generosity are the core of Buddhism, but that also means that we have nothing to give other than our time,” Hen Li said.

Sun Ren pulled Lu Na aside.

“We shouldn’t waste our time here helping one person. We have a deadline and I’m sure your spirit can tell you better than me how important our mission is.”

“She’s right. We only have six days to reach the labyrinth before the spirit energy in the hairpin disappears forever,” Nugua said.

Lu Na could only think of her own brothers as she looked at the sick boy. If it were her younger brothers, she would hope that someone would at least be kind enough to help them. It would only be a small token of what she can give.

She reached into her chest pocket and pulled out two taels of silver.

“Here. It’s not much, but try to get any help for him you can in the next village. It’s not too far from here.” Lu Na pointed toward the river.

The boy’s father took the silver and kowtowed to Lu Na.

“Thank you, thank you so much. You’re like the reborn Guanyin.”

“Please, don’t do that. You’re going to attract attention,” Lu Na said. “And if you somehow make it to Jianye, find the Lu compound near the center of the city in the third district. Ask for Lu Fengxian and tell him that Lu Na asked him to help you.”

“I will remember that. Thank you again.”

Before the father could kowtow again, Lu Na walked away with Sun Ren and Hen Li.

“Amituofo, that was a good deed you’ve done,” Hen Li said.

“It was, but that attracted unwanted attention.” Sun Ren unsheathed a dagger and palmed it. “Maybe you can show off a little of your aura, monk. That way, they might think twice if they’re also summoners.”

“Amituofo. I don’t think that would be wise. It might make others afraid of me.”

Lu Na affixed an earth wall ward to her staff. All she’d need to do is pull the string and it would activate in front of her. The last thing she wanted was to be caught by surprise again. The one good thing that came from her visit to the Wintersweet Sect compound was that she no longer took her safety for granted.

As they walked on the road, no one bothered them. If Lu Na had to guess, it was probably the dangerous looks Sun Ren gave to everyone that passed by. There was something to be said about a woman glaring at everyone that dared look our way. And the ones that looked, she showed off her dagger.

It wasn’t long before the travelers thinned out, as they mostly came from the north while the trio walked west. Soon, there were no travelers on the same path they walked. There were trees that grew along the path, providing shade.

“We’re being followed. They’ve been following us since the refugees. They probably saw Lu Na with the money.” Sun Ren passed Lu Na her staff and took out another dagger. “When they attack us, stay back Lu Na. Use your earth walls to protect yourself.”

“Amituofo. Must we resort to violence?” Hen Li asked.

“I’m resorting to self defense and I will kill them if I have to.”

“Amituofo. Let the sins pass. Allow me to talk with them first.”

Sun Ren nodded.

Lu Na looked around and saw nobody. Five men came out from behind the trees in front of them. Soon after, another six men appeared behind them. Were they using a technique? She tried to see if there was any spirit energy, but found nothing. Maybe they didn’t need to use a spirit technique to hide.

“Na Na, focus. Be prepared to use your earth wall. They have a dangerous look in their eyes and you don’t want to fall into their hands,” Nugua said.

Lu Na frowned. She knew what that meant. Sun Ren and Nugua both told them about the dangers of traveling on the road as a woman. Nugua made it worse with her graphic descriptions. But she wasn’t worried. Both Sun Ren and Hen Li were powerful summoners. They should be able to handle these bandits.

“Greetings,” Hen Li said. He made a half bow while holding onto his staff. “Today is such a lovely day. Maybe we could talk this out instead of resorting to violence.”

The bandit leader stepped forward with his sword drawn. He had it pointed right at Hen Li’s neck. The other bandits all held clubs.

“Leave all your valuables and your women. A man like you shouldn’t need so many.”

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The other bandits laughed.

“Amituofo. Let the sins pass. I never thought of my two companions like that,” Hen Li said.

“What are you? A monk?,” the bandit leader asked. “Even better. You have no use for any of this, anyway. Just walk away and continue on your path of enlightenment or whatever. Not that it matters.”

Hen Li sighed.

“You are right. I would love nothing more than to walk upon the path of enlightenment. But this world has too many evil—”

Hen Li thrust his staff at the bandit leader’s neck. In one strike, the bandit leader fell to the ground, gasping for air.

Sun Ren threw two of her daggers at the closest bandit before unsheathing her sword. She jumped at the other bandits, slashing and thrusting with her sword.

Lu Na activated her wards on her staff. Three earth walls rose around her while a fourth formed half of a wall. She took out her newest invention: tiger claw slingshot. It was fashioned after a slingshot where each snap of the string shot out a claw technique that slashed at its target.

It was the same technique that Sect Leader Wong of the Wintersweet Sect used on her so many times that she had burned it into her memory. The first thing she did when she got home was to copy it exactly and made as many of them as she could until she perfected it.

Lu Na also wore another invention on her left wrist, but that was still being tested. It had a few drawbacks that made it dangerous to use.

No longer was she going to be defenseless.

One bandit came at her and she let him be the first human to test out her tiger claw slingshot. Lu Na made sure to only use it in a low setting. She didn’t want to kill the man.

With a snap of the string, a large purple tiger claw swiped at the man. He stopped it with his club. The claw barely scratched the wood.

“Was that it?” the bandit asked. He charged at her with his club.

Lu Na shifted backward as the club smashed down, barely missing her. The earth wall behind her stopped her from running.

“Hit him harder. It’s not time to play right now,” Nugua said.

Lu Na turned it up to the max and shot another one. This time the tiger claw slashed his club into ribbons. The bandit dropped the club, his hands bleeding.

“Don’t stop now.”

Lu Na turned and shot another at a bandit that was harassing Sun Ren. Three of the bandits were chasing her. Nothing happened.

“Damn, that died too fast.” Lu Na took out another slingshot and shot another charge at the bandit. The tiger claw technique slammed into his back. The raking claws carved deep cuts into him. But since he was so far away, the attack wasn’t as strong.

The bandit targeted Lu Na. His club glowed green and widened into a board.

Lu Na saw the spirit technique. He was changing the shape of his club with his wood spirit. It continued glowing green as the club turned into a board and became thicker.

Lu Na snapped her slingshot at him until her slingshot broke. Every claw made deep cuts into the board, but he kept pushing against it toward her. Worse, there were two other bandits that followed him after abandoning their chase of Sun Ren.

Lu Na tapped the earth wall behind her, and it collapsed. She couldn’t stay inside her box. That was a mistake.

One bandit that was fighting Hen Li turned and swung his club at Lu Na. It hit her in the arm, forcing her to drop her slingshot. Luckily, the other earth wall stopped most of its force, but it still hurt.

Lu Na ducked the next swing and fell on her butt. She then rolled away from the next swing.

The bandit stood over her with a club pointing at Lu Na’s head.

“I hate to hurt such a pretty lady, so why don’t you give up? I promise not to hurt you much afterwards.”

Lu Na held her injured arm. Hen Li was fighting three of the bandits while his five colored hound, Panhu, was fighting two other bandits. Sun Ren was nowhere to be seen. And the other bandits that were approaching Lu Na before had surrounded her as well.

“Fine, I give up.” There wasn’t much choice for her. Still, having so many men surrounding her, all with greedy eyes, made her shiver. It felt like a cold clammy hand reaching into her chest and suffocating her.

This was not how she had thought this trip was going to go. Lu Na trusted in her companions’ strength while forgetting that she was weak. Why did she think she could walk the same path as them?

This time she didn’t have her mother’s hairpin to save her. But she would not surrender so easily. She still had her secret invention on her left wrist. But the last time she activated it, it burned her wrist badly.

“Use your earth wall!” Sun Ren called out.

Lu Na pulled an earth wall ward from her side and activated it. Earth rose in a dome around her, covering her entirely. Null metal powered this one so it became extra thick and sturdy.

A second later, she felt the earth dome shake around her. Men cried out in pain. Another explosion happened and her earth dome cracked, revealing a large hole. What was strong enough to break her null metal powered earth dome?

Lu Na crawled toward the hole and looked out. The bandits that surrounded her were on the ground, holding their own injuries. But there was no blood.

“Stay inside until they call for you,” Nugua said. “And prepare another earth wall just in case.”

Lu Na grabbed another earth wall ward, powered by null metal, and clutched it in her hand.

“Na Na? It’s safe to come out now,” Sun Ren called.

Lu Na tapped the earth wall dome and it deactivated. She picked up the ward and put it away. It was damaged, but it can be fixed later.

The scene was more chaotic than she had guessed. There were men scattered on the ground, some with wounds from Sun Ren’s daggers. Hen Li kneeled down next to one man and was patching up his wound.

“Why are you helping them? They just attacked us,” Lu Na said.

“Amituofo. These men have chosen the wrong path in life, but it doesn’t mean we should take their lives,” Hen Li said.

Lu Na glanced around at the men that weren’t moving. They didn’t look like they were breathing, either.

“Don’t bother trying to convince him. Are you okay Na Na?” Sun Ren asked. She stood over the bandit leader with a dagger to his throat.

“Yes. I think they might have broken my arm though,” Lu Na said.

“Just sit down and rest. I’ll help you after I finish questioning this guy.”

Lu Na sat against the tree. Her arm felt like there was a burning that wasn’t going away. This was her fault. She shouldn’t have been so rash about showing off her money among so many people. But she couldn’t allow a boy to lose his life if there was something she could do. She was no Buddhist monk like Hen Li, but she had a conscience.

“Hmm, I can help you with the pain,” Nugua said.

“You can do that?”

“Yes. But it will cost you.”

Lu Na gritted her teeth. The pain was getting worse now that the adrenaline wore off.

“What will it cost me?”

“A little of your life, of course. Say a month of your life, far into the future, would be all I need to help with the pain.”

“What do you mean? I thought you said you had enough spirit energy from my mother to do anything.”

“Oh, little Na Na. It’s a tradeoff that every summoner has to pay for instant relief or power. Why do you think that brawny monk’s hair turned gray so soon?”

Lu Na glanced at Hen Li’s hair. It was as white as Elder Hen’s, but his father looked really old. Hen Li’s face still looked young.

“The only difference is, I’m being honest with you about it. Most of the spirits never tell their summoners anything about the trade. They happily take a little off the top and keep it for themselves. But I won’t do that.”

Lu Na felt the truth in Nugua’s words. She knew that the spirits that bonded with humans harmed them. Was this how? But if that was the case, why would anyone continue to spend their own life this way? Nothing was worth their life as they can’t get it back.

“No, I don’t think a month of my life is worth my arm. It will heal on its own, eventually.”

Nugua laughed. It was a hissing laugh.

“Good, good. Keep resisting my lures. That way you will live long enough to see the spirits take over this human realm.”

What was Nugua talking about now? Had the fight scrambled her head? Every child knew the spirits were protectors of humans. It’s why they bonded with them. And if it cost a little life to gain powers to do unimaginable things, then it was only for the benefit of humans. Right?