That confirmed it. The masked one was able to see her. This meant her escape attempt was all but foiled. However, she wouldn’t give up just yet. This masked person was someone she hadn’t seen before, and that being the case, she felt it was likely that he didn’t know that she was one of the yin physiques.

This had both its positives and its negatives. On one hand, the other party would have no reason to capture her right now, but on the other, if she did something to him, she may not be afforded the protections that yin physiques usually had should she fail.

She found herself unable to make a quick decision.

“You can see me.”

Ju Li knew she had made a mistake. By not having any particular reaction to his words, she all but confirmed that she could see him. Anyone else who heard a voice out of nowhere would have shown at least some small amount of surprise.

And now she had limited her own ability to manoeuvre the situation. She ultimately decided to remain silent.

“I take it you’re one of the yin physiques?”

Instead of responding, Ju Li fell to her knees, wounding herself. She then sobbed, casting a pitiful figure, letting tears fall from her eyes, one of them landing on her sharpened fingernail.

‘He isn’t one to let his guard down.’

Unlike what she expected, the other party didn’t have any reaction to this. Usually, they would have given her a medicinal pill or something similar. This one did no such thing.

After seeing that this had no effect, she stood back up, still crying, and held her sharpened fingernail in front of her neck.

“I would rather die than go back there!”

She made to jab her own neck, but that was when the other party intervened. He reached his arm out, likely aiming to stop her. This was what she had been waiting for.

She switched the target of her attack from her own neck to the masked one’s wrist, moving as fast as she possibly could. Fortunately, her attack landed successfully. She had moved too fast for the masked one to respond in time and as her fingernail pushed its way into his clothing-

‘It snapped?’

Ju Li understood the situation perfectly clear. She had run into one of those entities. Among the members of the Crimson Moon Sect, those with this level of ability would be called elders, and running into one of them was the worst thing that could happen to her. She had absolutely no hope of escaping from his grasp.

Knowing this, she held her arms out, her palms facing up and fingers curled naturally, ready to have new shackles placed on her. But even as she gave up on escape, she didn’t avert her gaze from the two black holes of the mask.

There was a long period of silence and it was only ended when the masked one bent down to pick up the broken fingernail and placed it in her hands.

“Why did you do that?” He asked, and noticing the lack of intent to capture her, Ju Li furrowed her brows.

“You’re not one of them?” She asked.

“I’m not. And I assume you aren’t either.”

“I’m not.”

“Then, are you a victim of kidnapping?”

“I am.”

“And you’ve escaped captivity due to the disturbance?”

“Yes.”

“Are there others?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know where they are?”

“Yes.”

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“None of them escaped with you?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I locked them in after I exited the cell.”

“Why?”

“To maximise my chances at escape.”

“Heartless.”

“I agree.”

“But practical.”

“I agree.”

“Lead me to the others.”

“I’d rather not.”

“You have no choice.”

“...”

Ju Li turned to lead the way back to the cell. Behind her, the masked one said some truly vexing words.

“You were almost there.”

“… I know.”

Deciding to let the matter go, she asked a question of her own.

“Was it you who caused that disturbance.”

“Me and a few others.”

“What did you come for?”

“To destroy the Crimson Moon Sect and to free their captives.”

“You’re that sure of yourselves?”

“Yes.”

“Why would you do this?”

“My motivations aren’t what you would consider strong. The Crimson Moon Sect is a bit of an eyesore.”

“… An eyesore?”

“Yes.”

“What about the others?”

“There are two other parties. The Zhu Clan-”

Ju Li stopped and turned to face him.

“The Zhu Clan?”

“What about them?”

Ju Li shook her head.

“I’m afraid you’ve been lured into a trap. We should leave this place before it’s too late. The Zhu Clan is working with the Crimson Moon.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because they annihilated my clan and delivered me straight to the Crimson Moon.”

“I see.”

“So, are we going to escape?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Please don’t drag me into this.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Just because you say that, doesn’t mean-”

“Perhaps you should wait to hear who the third party is.”

“…”

“He's a boy who has been worried sick about his little sister.”

“You brought my brother here?”

“Technically.”

“He’ll just get himself killed.”

“He has sufficient strength. ”

“That’s not reassuring at all.”

“Fair enough.”

The masked one extended his arm, signalling Ju Li to continue leading the way, which she did.

***

‘What’s this?’ Gong San arrived at the cell and immediately noticed that Bing Wan was missing. ‘He wouldn’t…’ For a moment he thought that Bing Wan may have wandered off, but even he wasn’t that irresponsible. ‘In that case...’ Gong San expanded his spiritual perception to scan the nearby area.

‘…’

He quickly discovered the truth of the matter. Odd though it may be, somehow, Bing Wan had switched places with one of the yin physiques. And for some reason, he was asleep.

“Geez, Bing Wan. You can’t be that…”

Gong San retrieved a set of keys from his spatial ring and used it to open the cell door. As he walked past the women, he could see their confused expressions. They looked around, seemingly searching for something.

When he got to Bing Wan, he slapped his face lightly a few times, but the other party was unresponsive. Gong San unlocked Bing Wan’s shackles and popped a medicinal pill into his mouth.

Moments later, Bing Wan woke up, coughing violently.

“Damn it! Who did that?”

“If it isn’t Mister Slacker. Did you finally have that cultivation breakthrough of yours?”

“Shut your damn mouth! Where am I anyway?”

Bing Wan was confused for a moment before he remembered what had happened earlier. He shot up to his feet and looked around.

“That little! Where’s that damn brat?”

Gong San shrugged his shoulders. “Beats me.”

“Why are you so relaxed about this? If she gets away, there’ll be hell to pay.” He then remembered the loud sound from earlier. “What happened out there anyway?”

Gong San placed a hand on Bing Wan’s shoulder and let out a long sigh. “Long story short, the sect is finished.” He released Bing Wan's shoulder and stretched his back which had recently been giving him trouble. “Pack up your things, we’re getting out of here.”

“Hm?” Bing Wan scratched a sore spot on his neck. “What are you talking about?”

“I said long story short, but there’s really nothing more to it. It’s time for us to skedaddle.” Gong San turned around and started walking while stretching his arms. “The sect provoked someone it shouldn’t have.”

“So you’re just going to run away?”

“Yep.”

“Well damn. Guess I’m coming too.” Bing Wan followed while craning his neck. “But what will we do about cultivation?”

Gong San looked back at him. “I’m going to start afresh on the orthodox path.” He then stepped out of the cell. “I suggest you do the same.”

“Start from scratch? But I’m about to make a-”

“Suit yourself.”

Bing Wan stepped out of the cell. “The orthodox path, huh? Sounds boring.”

“Yeah, but it gets the demon slayers off your back.” Gong San closed the cell door and locked it again. “They revived Evil Slaying.”

“Evil Slaying?” Bing Wan felt a cold chill down his spine. “You know what? The orthodox path sounds pretty good.”

“Right?”

Gong San placed the keys on a hook and turned to the women in the cell. “It looks like you’re about to change hands.” He then started to walk down the walkway. “Whether that’s a good thing for you or not, you’ll have to see for yourselves.” After walking a few steps, he noticed that Bing Wan had remained still. “Bing Wan?”

“I mean.” Bing Wan looked into the cell then back to Gong San. “Since we’re leaving anyway, why don’t we take a few for the road?”

“…”

“Come on. These are the untouchable yin physiques! You can’t tell me that you've never thought about trying one.”

Gong San sighed. “Do you like having a life, Bing Wan?”

“Yeah…?”

“Then put such thoughts aside. Come along. Lingering around here isn’t conducive to living a long life.”

***

“The brat wasn’t there.”

“Does that mean she managed to escape? I hope so.”

“Never mind that. Don’t you think what we just heard is more important?”

“Yeah. He said the Crimson Moon is in trouble. And it's to the extent that he’s choosing to flee.”

“What’s happening?”

“Couldn’t he have left to door open at least?”

“He said we were ‘changing hands’. What’s going to happen to us now?”

“Why did this have to happen to us in the first place?”

The women looked out into the walkway beyond the cell door. As if to mock them, the keys to their freedom were left hanging in plain sight.

***

“He really did that?” She asked.

“He did.”

“Why?”

“To him, finding out what happened to you is worth losing his life for.”

“But that’s so reckless.”

“It’s also admirable.”

“Why do you say so?”

“Because the greatest expression of love can be found in self-sacrifice.”

“But if he were to die, that wouldn’t help me.”

“He knows that.”

“So why?”

“It seems he always believed that your life was hanging by a thread and that if he didn’t take the most direct route to you, he would be too late.”

“But that’s better than both of us dying. As long as he’s alive, he always has the chance to take revenge.”

“He would rather die trying to rescue you than live to avenge you.”

“Why?”

“Even if he knew logically that he wouldn’t have been able to rescue you, the mere fact that he didn’t try his hardest would become an unforgivable sin to him.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t. But people don’t always make sense.”

“I suppose so.”

“There is a side of me which would act much in the same way he did. I don’t quite understand it myself.”

“I used to have something like that.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But it’s gone now.”

“What happened to it?”

“It couldn’t survive in this world.”

“I fear the same will happen to me as well.”

“Why so?”

“I can see that I’m changing. And it’s not for the better.”

“But when that side is gone, you’ll be left as someone who can function properly.”

“It’s not so simple.”

“Why not?”

“I owe it to my mother to return her son to her as she remembers him.”

“I see.”

The two walked in silence for a while.

“Do you want it back?” He asked.

“What?”

“That other side of yourself.”

“No.”

“I see.”

“But… I think my brother would be happier if I got it back.”

“I see.”

***

Ju Li and the masked one finally arrived at the cell, where the other women were still held in captivity. She noticed the keys hanging from the hook and, not questioning why they were there, retrieved them, ready to use them to unlock the door.

However, when she turned back around, the masked one was already in the cell, seemingly having broken through with brute force, and was cupping his fist towards the woman who had tried to talk to her earlier.

The woman in question was stunned when the masked one reached down and shattered her shackles with the slightest touch, and even more so by the identity jade he showed her and the words he spoke to her.

“At Peak Leader Jingfei’s request, Disciple Shao Hei of the Man Peak has come to rescue Matriarch Radiant Jade.”