Ji Kang slumped on the ground, the bitter taste of adrenaline slowly leaving his mouth. That was insane. He had been involved in fights before, he had even seen people be killed, but he had never been the one to kill them.

The sight of grayish brain matter peeking through the bloody ruin of that person’s face was seared into Ji Kang’s mind. Everytime he blinked he could see the scene again, as clear as if it was happening right in front of him.

“What are you doing?! You can’t drag us into your fight and cut our mooring lines! I am the captain! You don’t have the authority to decide when my boat will depart or where we’ll go!” Ji Kang heard the captain raging at Lu Wu.

To be fair, their embarkation had been slightly abrupt.

A nervous giggle escaped Ji Kang’s mouth at that thought. Abrupt was the understatement of a lifetime.

Ji Kang realized he was in the grip of shock. He had seen this in others but had never experienced it personally before. Yet another first for Ji Kang today.

That last thought was too much, Ji Kang broke out into full throated laughter. He laughed until he was breathless and gasping, still laying on the deck clutching his sword to his chest with both hands.

The crew and Ji Kang’s companions had all paused to stare at him upon hearing the crazed energy in his laughter. Laying there, his robe mottled with splashes and sprays of blood, laughing like a madman. It suddenly occurred to Ji Kang how he looked in this moment and he took a firm grip on himself. His laughter cut off abruptly, replaced by stony silence only broken by the sounds of the boat creaking and the river rushing alongside.

Quickly the crew went back to their duties while shaking their heads and keeping one eye on Ji Kang.

“We are disciples of the Azure Grove Sect and we need passage to Anwon. We are sorry about cutting your ties and we aren’t trying to commandeer your vessel, but due to the circumstances there was no time for politeness.” Lu Wu turned back to the captain and resumed negotiations for their passage.

Ji Kang hauled himself to his feet and leaned on the rail, looking back at Zaotong’s dock. The members of the Tiger Ridge Gang crowded the lone pier, staring daggers out at the riverboat slowly slipping further and further away. There was a bustle in the crowd as one of the bandits pushed to the front, it was the archer Ji Kang had spotted at the start of the frantic battle.

The archer hadn’t been given any chances for clean shots during the mad dash for the dock, only having fired the occasional ineffective potshot before now. Ji Kang suddenly realized they weren’t quite out of danger yet.

“Archer! Get down!” Ji Kang yelled a warning as he dived back behind the cover of the side.

Everyone on the boat scrambled for cover, but at least one person failed to make it in time. With a loud twang the archer fired their first effective shot of the engagement and a deckhand standing behind Ji Kang fell to the deck with a protracted gurgle.

Ji Kang stared into the unfortunate man’s eyes as he bled out around the arrow sticking through his jugular. Both Ji Kang and the other man knew instantly that he was doomed. A wound to the throat was almost always fatal if it wasn’t entirely superficial or a renowned doctor wasn’t within arms reach when the wound was dealt.

The deckhand died quickly, but it didn’t seem that way to Ji Kang, that moment seemed to freeze and drag on for a small eternity.

Another twang from the direction of the dock was followed by a thunk as the second arrow plunged into the main mast that Lu Wu was hiding behind, and just like that time seemed to resume flowing.

“Someone fire back!” Yelled Lu Wu.

“We don’t have any bows on board!” The captain was panicking at this point.

“Spells! Does anyone have any spells that would work?” Ji Kang reminded the three other cultivators who hadn’t exhausted their qi earlier.

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“Oh! Of course!” Lu Wu stepped out to prepare and aim his spell before abruptly cutting off his chant and diving behind cover once again.

An arrow made an ominous whizzing sound as it cut through the air where Lu Wu had been standing a moment before, followed by a far off splash as it missed the boat entirely.

“Damn! Damn it, damn it damn it!” Lu Wu, so calm and controlled during the desperate retreat was losing self control now that his enemies were beyond the reach of his sword and still threatening his life.

Yu Shuren caught Ji Kang’s eye and they communicated wordlessly. Ji Kang sighed, but nodded before looking away to prepare himself to carry out Yu Shuren’s plan.

He stood up out of cover and pointed at the dock while yelling a mystical sounding incantation.

Ji Kang got another clear look at the situation on the dock, the members of the Tiger Ridge Gang were all standing around the archer, cheering him on as he fired shot after shot. He watched as the archer recognized Ji Kang and quickly drew his string backwards, adjusted his aim slightly, and released.

Ji Kang was diving back behind cover before the twang even reached his ears. The archer’s prepared shot having now been wasted, Yu Shuren swung from behind his cover where he had been quietly chanting his own spell and with a single smooth motion threw his spear at the archer.

The spear burst into flames, looking like a shooting star the moment it left his hand, trailing a line of smoke as it flew ridiculously high and fast. Ji Kang never would have been capable of throwing the weapon like that, but Yu Shuren managed to harness his enormous strength to a singular purpose and threw the weapon across the long gap between the boat and the dock, no doubt assisted in part by the spell.

Ji Kang peeked back over the railing to see the result, only to be disappointed. The effect of the spell, while visually impressive, wasn’t particularly potent. The spear buried itself into the planks of the dock a few steps behind where the archer had been standing, but the archer had dived into the water in the ample time before the spear reached him.

The flames surrounding the spear didn’t explode or start a raging fire, they seemed to just slowly blacken the shaft of the spear, not showing any inclination to spread to the wet wood of the dock.

Ji Kang sent an inquisitive glance at Yu Shuren, who shrugged in response. Most spells available to Qi Condensation cultivators were similarly limited, cultivators at their level simply weren’t powerful enough to be able to wield particularly impressive powers without serious limitations.

His own landmine spell had been incredibly helpful, but that was largely due to being excellently suited to the circumstances they were in. In most cases, creating a weak explosion that would only be triggered by someone standing exactly on top of where he cast it would be difficult to utilize. Even in such perfect conditions, with their enemies following them closely and in such a dense crowd, his spell hadn’t actually killed anyone on the spot.

The bandit who triggered the spell lost his leg, but he might still survive if he received competent medical care soon. The bandits standing around that unlucky soul got pelted with sharp pebbles and only received small cuts and abrasions, though they were subsequently trampled by their companions who had been coming behind them.

Ji Kang shook his head at how far they were from those cultivators who could split mountains and stood up from behind the railing. All around him others were similarly coming out of cover and going about the business of making sure the boat didn’t run aground.

Although the archer hadn’t been killed, he had been neutralized as a threat for the time being. A wet bowstring was useless. The rest of the Tiger Ridge Gang was completely helpless to stop their escape or pose any danger to them while they went.

The fighting could only now be considered over. Everyone on the boat heaved sighs of relief.

“Since it’s come to this we can’t go backwards, only forwards. You four can buy passage with us to Anwon, but there is still the matter of price.” The relieved boat captain resumed negotiations with Lu Wu.

The two of them moved the negotiations into the captain’s cabin where they could sit down and talk.

Ji Kang stood over the body of the deckhand who took an arrow to the throat, the only casualty suffered by their side of the conflict. If the boat’s crew could even be considered part of their side rather than neutral third parties.

This deckhand died because he stood behind Ji Kang when he was being shot at, he did nothing to provoke anyone and as far as Ji Kang knew did nothing to deserve this. His only crime was weakness.

Because he lacked the deterrence of strength or backing, and lacked the capability to dodge flying arrows, he was now dead.

Previously Ji Kang had been shaky, but the danger of the archer’s harassment had steeled his nerves and this object lesson on the dangers of weakness stoked his resolve.

Standing there he made a vow to himself, he refused to die a pointless death. He was determined that his destiny would be determined by himself. If he had to cultivate like a madman, scheme, and murder to achieve it he would.