“I’m sorry,” said Sen. “I never should have brought you along for this. I should have known better. I just didn’t expect it to be this violent. I beg your forgiveness, Shen Mingxia.”

She gave him a frown.

“Is this why you’ve been so quiet the last few days?”

“Not just this. I let myself forget or maybe I chose to forget what it’s like out here. I let happiness blind me.”

“Happiness isn’t a bad thing,” she said.

Sen gave her a rueful look.

“No, it’s not a bad thing. But it can be a dangerous thing. It can lull you,” said Sen, and then he smiled into the distance.

From the look of open distress on Shen Mingxia’s face, that smile wasn’t the kind of smile that reassured people. Sen went on.

“The other side of the danger is that I have things I will not allow myself to lose. Anyone stupid enough to come for me and mine will find no mercy in me. I will bury them and reduce everything they love to ash. If necessary, I will drown armies and kingdoms in oceans of blood and death to protect what is mine.”

Shen Mingxia closed her eyes and let out a soft breath.

“So, he is still in there.”

That drew a sharp look from Sen.

“What do you mean?”

“You know, even cultivator memory has a way of fading a bit. Not the details, but the emotions that went with some events tend to get washed out by more recent experiences. At least, that’s how it works for me,” she said with a questioning glance at Sen.

He shrugged and said, “I don’t think I’m old enough yet to know what you mean.”

She blinked a few times and then laughed a little.

“It’s easy to forget how young you are. Well, something that hasn’t faded from my memory at all is that night outside the Silver Crane. I remember that with perfect clarity. I remember how you were that night. You were implacable. Just this immovable machine of death. You were terrifying. Then, you were gone, but the stories started spreading. The things you’d done or were supposed to have done. I assumed that if I ever met you again, you’d be even more frightening. Except, you weren’t. It was like meeting an entirely different person. That feeling that I was never more than a heartbeat from death when you were around was gone. I wondered if you really had changed that much.”

It was Sen’s turn to let out a soft breath.

“That new person you met, that’s the person I was before I went out into the world, minus a few very naïve illusions. It’s the person I want to be. But if all this carnage has shown us anything, it’s also something this appalling world just will not let me be. So, I’ll do what I have to. I’ll reserve that man for the people I love and respect. As for everyone else,” said Sen, and his whole demeanor shifted into some as cold and hard as ice. “Everyone else can have Judgment’s Gale.”

Shen Mingxia went quiet for most of a minute before she asked, “And which list am I on?”

Sen looked at her and let the ice fade from his expression.

“My little girl is very fond of her Auntie Mingxia,” he said as if that answered everything.

She quirked an eyebrow and asked, “And what do you think?”

“I guess you don’t bother me too much,” said Sen, a little smirk sneaking through.

“Oh, well, however will I stand up beneath the weight of that faint approval,” said Shen Mingxia, rolling her eyes.

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” said Sen with a sage nod, “somehow.”

Sen noted the fading light and let his qi platform drift to the ground. Glimmer of Night did the same. A tiny spark of amusement gleamed in Sen’s soul at the look of intense discomfort on Long Jia Wei’s face. It seemed he did not particularly enjoy his time riding with the spider. Sen had been willing to let the man travel under his own power, but it quickly became evident that he simply didn’t have the qi reserves to keep up. The man didn’t make a show of it, but he did take a few steps to put some distance between himself and the spider. Sen wondered briefly if Glimmer of Night had said something to make the man feel uncomfortable and promptly decided he didn’t care enough to ask.

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“Are we making camp?” asked Shen Mingxia.

“No,” said Sen. “There’s a town up ahead.”

Shen Mingxia and Long Jia Wei both brightened up at that announcement. Glimmer of Night didn’t say anything, but he did apply his human disguise. A moment later, he started itching one of his arms.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” asked Shen Mingxia with a hopeful look on her face.

Sen nodded. “I think we’ve all earned a night in real beds, and even I get tired of cooking all the time.”

They made their way toward the town with Mingxia and Long Jia Wei looking happy, while Glimmer of Night wore a blank expression that conveyed absolutely nothing. That was something Sen would have to work on with the spider. A blank expression could be useful, but it could also become a hindrance. Teaching the spider to at least feign a few basic emotions would probably solve some future problems before they became problems. The guards at the gates just nodded at them, seemingly deciding that they were a little too well-dressed to be bothered with answering questions. It was poor security, but that was ultimately the town’s problem. Shen Mingxia took the lead in looking for an inn, which let Sen trail along in her wake, thinking about what he would do in the capital. That was a murky mess, but only because he knew that he’d have to do things he didn’t want to do. He was so lost in thought that he almost walked into Long Jia Wei’s back.

He jerked to a halt just in time. I wonder if they found an inn? Sen looked around but didn’t see anything that resembled an inn. It was only then that he realized that Shen Mingxia’s gaze was fixed on something ahead of them. He leaned to one side so he could peer around Long Jia Wei’s head. He took in the whole scene at a glance. There was a young woman almost crouching behind a man, tears streaming down her face. The man had placed himself directly between the young woman and a handful of – Sen let a little of his spiritual sense stretch out – of course, they were cultivators. Another time, he might have let it simply play out, but there was one important difference between this situation and so many others. Sen knew the man who had put himself between the cultivators and the girl. And that knowledge made this situation feel like a breath of fresh air after standing in a smoke-filled building for years. He knew exactly where the right and wrong of it was.

“Stay here,” said Sen, a smile on his face as he walked toward the evolving confrontation.

“Walk away, fool,” one of the cultivators said to the outnumbered man. “This isn’t your business.”

“I will not,” said the man with a look of absolute calm.

Before anyone else could speak, Sen called out in a ringing voice.

“Righteous Wu Gang!”

Every eye turned toward Sen. The cultivators looked wary, uncertain if Sen was there to settle his own score or to provide support. Wu Gang wore a stunned look for a moment before he offered Sen a formal bow.

“I greet you, Lu Sen,” said Wu Gang.

The leader of the cultivators went to put himself between Sen and Wu Gang. Sen didn’t break stride as he backhanded the man hard enough to send him flying down the street. The cultivator hit the street with bone-shattering force, bounced several times, and came to a stop up against a pile of trash. Right where he belonged in Sen’s opinion. The other two immediately reached for weapons and almost made it, before a slap and another backhand sent them on to their next lives. Sen came to a stop in front of Wu Gang who seemed a little uncertain about what to say.

Rallying himself, Wu Gang said, “I appreciate your help, but why?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” asked Sen, honestly perplexed.

“You couldn’t possibly have known that I was in the right,” said Wu Gang.

Sen threw back his head and laughed.

“Only you would think that. Of course, I knew because it was you. Righteous Wu Gang. And you are a man who keeps his word. That was all I needed to know.”

Wu Gang straightened at those words.

“I am unworthy of such praise.”

“Really?” asked Sen. “I don’t know. Why don’t we ask her about that.”

Sen pointed at the young woman standing behind Wu Gang and staring at the man like he was made of pure gold. As soon as Wu Gang’s eyes met her, she started to gush.

“Thank you. Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would have done,” she said, throwing her arms around Wu Gang.

Wu Gang shot a hasty look at Sen, as if worried that this display might somehow tarnish his image. Sen just smirked at the man and lifted his chin toward the young woman. Apparently satisfied that Sen wasn’t going to think badly of him, Wu Gang awkwardly patted the woman’s back.

“I’m just glad I could help,” he told her.

Sen looked on in amusement as Wu Gang gently disentangled himself from the very grateful young woman. He idly wondered if he should just quietly disappear and let her thank Wu Gang in, well, whatever way seemed best to her. Before he could decide one way or the other, the disappointed-looking young woman was sent on her way. Sen eyed her briefly before turning his gaze back to Wu Gang.

“You know, she wanted you to go with her somewhere. Somewhere private.”

Wu Gang’s expression went a little sheepish.

“I know. It’s happened before. I just don’t do that.”

Sen wasn’t sure what to think of that declaration.

“Okay, but why?”

“It wouldn’t be right. I’d feel like I was taking advantage.”

“You know, there probably is such a thing as being too righteous for your own good,” said Sen. “Well, come on, I have some people for you to meet.”