We are blessed in our nation to have a strong wind of fire qi that grants us many children of strong affinities. Some complain that the fevers take the children, but I ask you: without their affinities and fevers would we have even half as many in the Refining Realm to defend us from monsters and barbarians? No, we’d be a backwater at the mercy of any would-be lord that could harvest our children in ways worse than any fever! –Minister Tin Len of the Cinder Kingdom

* * *

“Tsuyuki?” Tenri called. My stomach grumbled. Last time, Tenri brought Hanako’s delicious cooking. Maybe he’d done it again this time. And, even if he didn’t, maybe he was willing to spend the time playing that game Xinya liked. I was quite certain I could scrounge up something to use as pieces in the lighthouse, and it beat sitting alone.

When I descended the stairs, I found him pacing, a worried furrow pinching his eyebrows together. He was cleaning his glasses, despite the lenses being completely free of dirt already. He spotted me and immediately perked up.

“Tsuyuki! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. “I left a note, though.”

“One which was hidden in the grass. I almost didn’t see it!” he complained. I just shrugged.

“Not my fault you didn’t look there first,” I answered. Tenri’s frown deepened for a brief moment before he shook his head.

“Nevermind that, time is short, now. They’ve almost certainly noticed my absence by now!”

My playful smile evaporated. What I’d mistaken for a simple anxiety over my location was much more than that. Barely concealed fear had raised Tenri’s shoulders and widened his eyes ever so slightly, and his fists were balled at his sides.

“What’s wrong?” I asked gravely. “Who’s watching you?”

“The tax collectors!”

I…was missing something, here. Sure, nobody likes paying taxes, but this seemed deeper than that. Tenri ran a hand over his pulled back hair and paced back and forth again before I finally got fed up. I grabbed him by the shoulders to stop his fidgeting, then guided him to a seat on the stairs.

“I don’t understand. Taxes are nothing to worry about.”

“Yes, but it’s more than that,” he explained. “The Lunar Hunt are called tax collectors to give them legitimacy, but they’re little more than bandits endorsed by the Governor! They come to small towns and take everything, but, if it was just that, we’d be fine!”

“Okay, so what else is going on?”

Tenri took a deep breath. “Tsuyuki, you know cultivators with moon qi are illegal on the shore.” I nodded. “How do you think they stop people from naturally developing lunar affinity? The whole shore is practically qi-poisoned with an abundance of natural moon aura.”

Mortals could develop affinity for a specific kind of qi. If they weren’t born with one, then typically they develop it through exposure. Qi fills their bodies, solidifies into a core, and, suddenly, they’re at the Seed stage of Manifestation. Not enough to be considered a cultivator, that doesn’t happen until the last stage of Manifestation, but enough to start developing a core and begin down a Path.

A place like the Moon-Soaked Shore was so rich in moon qi that developing a lunar affinity would be child’s play. So, why didn’t it happen more? Why weren’t there lots of moon artists, or even a whole sect devoted to the lunar arts?

“It’s because they execute every moon artist to step foot here, including those with only the tiniest affinity,” he explained. “The tax collection is just a convenient side job. They come, they terrorize, and they hunt moon artists.”

“If you’re worried about me, don’t be. I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “It’s not my first time running from the law, and it probably won’t be my last.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about.” Tenri leapt up and walked purposefully towards the door. “In Saikan, our families have been here long enough that most have a natural resistance to lunar corruption. If you make it to twelve, you’re very unlikely to have a problem. So, the tax collectors search among the children.”

I was on my feet in an instant, the gravity of the situation finally hitting me. Tenri offered me my bamboo hat and I put it on as we stepped out into the dying sunlight.

“They brought five Bronze artists, and they’re led by an Iron!” Tenri explained as we ran down the ridge towards town. “If they find moon aura in any of the children, I can’t fight them, and I can’t act against them without bringing their wrath upon the rest of the town! My hands are tied!”

“But a wandering moon artist could act against them?” I provided.

He nodded. “A wandering moon artist who presently looks like a ghost known to strangle wandering cultivators would have an even better shot at keeping the town safe!”

“Is that the rumor surrounding the Chain-Bound Fury?” I had to admit, that wasn’t a bad image to work with…for a villain, anyway, and this situation seemed like it could benefit from such a villain.

“I’ll tell you all about it later!” he promised. “When I left, they were conducting a sweep of the town with spirit hounds to sniff out any child with any form of qi on them! They’ll bring them to the center of town!”

“You slip back in. I’ll make sure any children they find are safe.”

We came to the entrance of town, and he paused, putting a hand on my shoulder.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“You should know,” he began. “Hanako and my mother both have a very bad feeling about today. Someone will be found, I’m sure of it.”

I had a sick feeling that I knew exactly who would be picked out of the lineup…a child with a cultivator parent who had lunar fever as a child? Such a child would be a prime candidate to pick up an accidental affinity if they weren’t careful.

A dark voice whispered in the back of my thoughts. If she came to any harm tonight, there wasn’t a prison on earth that would be able to contain my fury.

Tenri and I split ways. He would go and pretend everything was normal while I skulked around the backs of buildings and found a good position to watch, and act, should my intervention be required.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the entire town of Saikan had turned out to watch this morbid affair. Every alley between the buildings was filled with bystanders observing with dark expressions that showed sympathy for those children and their families that had been isolated, and also a sick relief that it wasn’t their child that was singled out.

I was forced to climb the administration building. From above, I could see the entire square without the crowd of mortals in the way. The only problem was that it was exposed. I could hide myself along the slanted roofs, letting the shadows from my hair envelop me, but my wisps would be visible no matter what I did. After a brief moment of consideration, I decided stealth was not an option.

Instead, I sat on the edge of the roof, left leg raised to show the void-cursed shackle on my ankle, and the rest of my chains hanging down at my side. My bamboo hat was hidden away behind me, and I even summoned the ominous light I’d developed earlier in the day. If anyone bothered to look up, they’d see the Chain-Bound Fury had also arrived to watch the events unfold.

However, few would look up. Their attention was more firmly fixed on the line of twelve children standing before the administration building. They were being watched by five men with bronze badges wrapped around their arms. Of the five, four of them had wicked grins plastered to their face, as if they were fueled by the fearful sniffles of the children they’d bullied into a line, like it was something to be proud of. I hoped dearly I’d get the chance to remove the teeth from those grins before the night was over.

However, at the head of the cultivators was a man with an iron badge tied on a band wrapped around his arm. He was thickly built, and his black uniform seemed tailored to show off his strength. His face was scarred with years of combat.

The leader was the one to watch out for.

“Administrator, nice of you to join us,” the Iron growled. “You made us wait.”

“Apologies, Master Shen. There was an urgent matter with our lighthouse that required this one’s attention. We’ve had something of a shade problem of late.” I spied a couple of people pointing upward and whispering. A shade problem, indeed. I might not really be a shade, but I certainly looked the part.

“That is not my problem. My problem is moon artists. May we begin?” Though it was phrased as a question, the tone was that of an annoyed master shaming his student. I narrowed my eyes. This cultivator was well used to throwing his weight around. How long had it been since someone challenged him on one of these runs?

Of the twelve children, I knew three of them. Sei Ren and Xi Lihua were barely on their feet. Those children had lunar fever. They needed to be resting, not dragged in front of town with black spirit dogs snapping at their hands. They huddled together, trying their best not to cough. The other children also huddled together, each one trying to be smaller than the rest.

All of them…except Xinya. She stood right at the center of the line with her head held high. A bruise was forming on her cheek, but her violet eyes were bright with fury. Her gaze tracked the Iron at the head of the wicked cultivators like a cornered fox. Looking at her, I never saw even the tiniest shred of fear.

Behind her, in the crowd, I spotted her father. His left eye was swollen shut, and he was cradling his arm with one hand. Unlike his daughter, he was clearly filled with a low terror. His eyes were wide, and he bit his lip as he watched the proceedings.

The Iron pulled a stone from his belt. It shimmered with a detection rune. Though he could see qi with his Iron eyes, the detection rune would be able to determine if any of the children had a burgeoning core, and what affinity that core had. With it, no child with a lunar core would be able to hide from him.

Moving to the first child, he waved a hand over the rune. The child closed her eyes and shrank away from the rune. After a few moments, nothing happened, and the Iron moved on to the next child. The next child was tested, then the next. When the rune passed over Xi Lihua, it began to shift. I readied myself to act, but the shimmering didn’t settle at the silver of the moon. Instead, it turned a deep blue like the sea.

A soft cheer went through the crowd. Not only was she free of internal moon aura, but she had water affinity. If trained, she could have a bright future as a cultivator.

The Iron, however, did not care about such things. He moved on to Sei Ren who was also deemed free of moon aura.

Finally, it landed on Xinya, and my heartbeat quickened. My chains rattled as I readied myself to jump. She glared up at the cultivator before her.

“Wipe that smug expression off your face, girl,” he sneered.

“Why should I?” she spat. “My mother taught me that cultivators are supposed to be good people, but all I see here is trash!” I sighed. Someone would have to tell her how to talk to hostile cultivators…not everyone is as nice as I am.

Before I could do anything more than stand, he struck at Xinya. She flinched back, but the blow never landed on her. A sickening crack echoed through courtyard as Lang Tailyn’s good arm shattered. He’d run forward and shielded his daughter from harm, but he was only a mortal. He could not stand against the Iron. Only one person here could.

“You dare to stand against the Governor’s officials?!” the Iron spat. The Iron moved fast as lightning, qi swirling around him. I recognized the black mist of void qi flow, and Xinya’s screams cut through the air like a blade. Her father fell before her, a hole dissolved from his chest where his heart should have been.

“Daddy!” she cried. She fell to her knees by Lang’s body, but the light had already faded from his eyes. “Daddy! No!!”

The Iron drew a blade from his belt and prepared to strike, but I was already in the air, hurtling towards the earth. Wind whipped past me, rattling my chains ominously before I slammed into the ground. The stones cracked beneath my feet, but I didn’t slow. Instead, I raced towards the scene of the coming tragedy.

Iron clanged against lunar steel as I ducked between Xinya and the cultivator. My chains of moonlight wrapped around my forearm like a set of vambraces, protecting me as I took the blow in Xinya’s stead.

For the briefest moment, my eyes met his. I wasn’t surprised to find cruelty in his black eyes. He took pleasure in the blood he’d spilled today. Knowing that only made my blood boil. My family had been ripped apart by cultivators like him.

I shoved upward with all my strength, shoving him back. He stumbled back, and I followed up the attack with a chain-wrapped fist aimed directly into his solar plexus. My chains were weak now compared to those that I’d been buried with, but they were still made of purest lunar qi. Brilliant light flashed as he was thrown several yards away to sprawl on the ground.

The crowd was a mix of gasps and screams.

“It’s the Fury!”

“Run for your lives!”

“He just sent the Master flying!?”

Even Tenri stared at me in shock. The Iron gasped and spit a bit of blood onto the cobblestones. The five Bronze artists stood around, unsure of what to do with their boss so thoroughly trounced.

The Iron stood upright and cracked his knuckles. “Well. I didn’t expect a visit from the Spirit Realm this evening, but I don’t care if you’re a god or a demon. I’ll bury you for this insult against me, Shen Yaoxan!”