The enemy that isn’t seen wants to be known, but only after they’ve destroyed their target. An enemy like this is intimate with their prey. Otherwise, why dedicate so much time and effort to destroy them. The majority of the time, it’s a spurned lover—trust me, I know!

~Aine, Goddess of Love and Vengeance

Song Lin and Song Xue woke up early each morning to practice Qigong. Madame Rouge said nothing as long as they didn’t stray too far from the wagon. The sisters knew they were essentially prisoners, but everyone kept a cordial attitude as if that wasn’t the case.

Lin’er refused to showcase her alchemy talent but didn’t mind showing off her elegant martial skill. Unlike Otto and Crow, who exhibited strength, burst power, and an overbearing force, her martial ability flowed like water.

In her hands was Shuang, a double-edged straight sword well suited to a female’s smaller size. Her martial ability relied on precise movements and putting the blade where her opponent would least expect it. It wasn’t about trading blows as much as controlling the fight. Few warriors would run themselves onto her blade just to inflict injury on her, which was the specialty of her martial ability.

It was so fluid that most would think of it as dance instead of martial arts—until they actually fought with her. Song Lin’s Aura of Hoarfrost was part of her cultivation and released itself passively while training or fighting. Unless she suppressed it like she was doing now. The aura, in its current mastery, was not all that dangerous. It lowered the surrounding temperature and made her opponent’s movements sluggish. The longer the fight, the more it would affect them. However, it had the opposite effect on her. The colder it was, the more it liberated her ability to move.

The aura augmented her other techniques. Blizzard’s Sigh created snow and ice every time she struck something. This added to the cold and forced Cold Qi into her opponent’s body. It wasn’t something she used while training Crow because it was useless. With Night Fire inside him, this technique couldn’t harm him. The later stages had exciting possibilities, but she hadn’t considered them previously. Under Crow’s insistence, she followed what he called the Path of the Snow Owl. It wasn’t a real thing but a way to advance her skills by focusing on a specific realm. Claimed that her aura could grow into something even more powerful.

Song Lin, and even Song Xue, avoided this path in the past because it was possible to harm a body if they acquired too much Frigid Qi, which was at the top of all cold-type Qi. With Crow, Song Lin realized after becoming his woman, his yang energy inside her had negated the Frigid Qi. It meant she could walk this path safely, and once her Shield was powerful enough, she could dispel it on her own through her cultivation.

Adding to this, Crow had taken out a movement ability from his clan and given it to her. Called it a betrothal gift. It was called the Dance of the Snow Fae, and it allowed her to step across snowflakes as if they were solid ground—including those falling from the sky. Seeing the ability in action, she had chills at how much Crow had thought out her path. With Aura of the Hoarfrost and Blizzard’s Sigh, she could generate a lot of snow, allowing her to essentially run across the sky, scale mountains, and more.

The best part was, during combat, she could use snow to arrest her movements or step on snowflakes to rapidly change her direction. It was an interesting setup, and Crow’s ideas gave her a solid foundation. Appropriately used, she could practically fly as long as her Qi held out.

Losing her Shield didn’t cause her to lose the other spells, techniques, and abilities from before. It just disabled them. Like she did while learning them, she needed to fill the patterns within her body with Qi so that she could reactivate them. For now, she just wanted to focus on the snow-related abilities and master them. In this way, she would be an asset to their group and not someone Crow had to carry.

While practicing, she watched her little sister going through her own movements and realized she’d changed. They never talked about it, but Song Xue was different after returning from Sky Torn Sect, more aloof. Her little Xue’er had grown up and lost some of her naivete while gaining confidence in herself.

As sisters, their bond was warm and unbreakable, but their personalities vastly differed. This also affected their personal auras or the pressure they exuded on people without abilities.

Song Lin had the aura of a saint. Like falling snow, she exuded a calmness that soothed away anxieties. In time, she’d learn her holy presence was because of her profession and all the good karma she’d acquired.

Song Xue had a devilish aura which was not an evil presence but closer to a playful cunningness that would leave people unsure if they should laugh or cry. She gave off a feeling usually exhibited by creatures who knew they were at the top of the food chain. At times, she was the starving wolf on the tundra, and at others, she was the playful pup curious about the world. The Sky Torn Sect taught her to hide her natural aura, which made her even scarier. As long as she kept it hidden, she appeared sweet and docile—possibly even coquettish.

Song Lin felt her newly matured sister was alluring. Even her ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ routine was very amusing. This little sister of hers never talked much unless she was around Crow but still toyed with almost everyone traveling with them.

Despite all that, Song Lin couched wary eyes toward Madame Rouge’s wagon. Song Lin suspected the woman inside was well above their ability to contend. The feeling she got from the mysterious woman was like that of Crow’s father. It wasn’t just the power but also the smell of blood, death, and slaughter. Madame was not someone they could fight. The only thing that left her cautiously optimistic was that she didn’t sense the sinister Qi that came from slaughtering innocents. Therefore, Song Lin warned her sister not to rebel too much, and they both spent a lot of effort expertly dodging questions and remaining silent.

The only times Song Lin said more than a few sentences at a time was when she was treating people’s injuries. Pain, delirium, and some drugs loosened tongues, which allowed her to get plenty of information from the patients. However, she never displayed her alchemy knowledge and strictly used the Medik knowledge Luthais taught her. Mediks were the most common type of medical expertise in the tower, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise even if she pulled off a few miracles. After all, Luthais was not an ordinary person and was ranked as a Spiritual Medik by most. A Spiritual Medik just meant he combined mana-based techniques with his Medik knowledge.

“Sis?”

“Hmm?” Song Lin was still going through her stances and had already worked up a nice sheen of sweat.

“You think he is alright?”

“I do. He might be unreliable when it comes to women, but he is steadfast and won’t let us down.”

The two often talked about Crow like this and never mentioned his name. It was a cover to hide their gestures and silent communication. They were sharing information, knowing that anything said out loud Madame Rouge would overhear.

Today, Song Xue was mainly complaining about how boring their trip was. The two of them could have traveled much faster than this, and they weren’t even allowed to enter towns when they approached them. Instead, a smaller group of guards led the Madame in and left the rest of them outside.

*Next town?* Song Xue asked, her fingers flexing inconspicuously.

*Okay. Acco ready for us?*

*All set.*

*Don’t forget the powder. And do not breathe that stuff!*

The plan wasn’t really all that complex. They’d wait for the Madame to leave, then poison the other prisoners to create some chaos. Mostly, it’d just give them diarrhea and keep the guards busy. The only real threat that they’ve found was the Madame.

“Do you think the Madame is horribly disfigured?” Song Xue asked softly. Song Lin smiled, knowing that it was her sister’s way of showing discontent. She dropped these barbs, knowing full well they were being observed and hoped the Madame was seething in anger. “Maybe she’s being serviced by three men in there.”

“Pfft,” Song Lin was caught off guard and actually laughed.

It seemed to hit a soft spot because they suddenly felt chilled. Pressure bore down on them as the Madame’s rage was unleashed. Neither sister said anything, but Song Xue wore a sinister smile.