Dark fog coiled around his ankles. The trees grew darker and grimmer. Pale bark jutted out of the dark. Dead limbs clawed at the sky. Demonic aura grew stronger, buffeting against Chen Wuya.

Chen Wuya shook his head, forcing himself back to the present. Ahead, white robes flickered through the branches. He lifted his hands to call out.

A spine whistled through the forest, flying directly at him.

His sword flashed out and blocked the spine. It slammed into the blade and forced him back a step. Eyes flitting from branch to branch, he searched for movement.

A last flicker of white. Fen Long vanished into the forest.

“Come out, whatever you are!” Chen Wuya shouted.

Silence. A breeze shivered the leaves. Trembling motion rattled all around him.

He backed away slowly, eyes narrowed. “Are you afraid? A coward, who only dares to attack while I’m unaware?”

A low buzzing sounded out behind him. Chen Wuya threw himself forward. A second later, a black stinger stabbed through the space where he’d stood.

Hovering in place, a human-sized hornet glared at him. Gossamer wings fluttered, carrying it aloft. A half-dozen spindly legs curled against its whiplash body. Long as a sword and razor-sharp, its stinger jutted out a Chen Wuya.

The sounds of combat rang out from ahead. He narrowed his eyes at the hornet. “Trying to keep us apart?”

The hornet lunged tail-first, jabbing its stinger at Chen Wuya. He parried the blow and stepped in, striking upward. Greenish ichor flew. The hornet fell back silently, its abdomen gashed wide open.

As the hornet fell, the low buzzing grew louder. Another hornet emerged from the woods, then another and another. The buzzing grew to a crescendo as one hornet after another flew out from the trees.

Chen Wuya grit his teeth and backed away slowly. Dammit. I know they’re stalling for time, but I’m still not strong enough to cut my way through in an instant!

He lifted his sword. A vicious grin spread across his face. “Ah, well. It looks like I’m going to get my practice, after all.” Turning slowly, he took in the hornets one at a time, then cocked his head at the hornets. “Come!”

The hornets darted at him, stingers thrust out ahead of them.

Calm, Chen Wuya held his sword before him, blade flat. He closed his eyes and took a breath.

“Fourth Form: Dancing Crows.”

His sword flashed. Chen Wuya burst out with a flurry of motion. Steel clashed against stingers. His sword bounced off, but he continued, turning the backward energy into his next strike, reaching higher, past the stingers. Hornet after hornet fell back, streaming ichor.

Chen Wuya dashed ahead, sword dancing around him. Like a crow’s wing, it swept through the foes, graceful, yet powerful, darting out in short jabs only for him to flip his hand and turn his sword into flowing, long strikes. He threw his whole weight into the blows, half-falling, half-running, not out of control, but with his whole weight on his toes, carrying him forward, forward, building momentum as he charged. The faster he moved, the weightier his blade grew. He cut through bodies, stingers, then burst out on the other side.

Lowering his sword, he charged through the trees after Fen Long, toward the heart of the forest. You peons won’t keep me from the main fight! This grandmaster came here for a challenge, not a mob of unruly peasants!

Branches cracked. Leaves flew. A figure in white robes tumbled headlong through the trees, hurtling down at Chen Wuya.

He stepped to the side.

Fen Long smashed into the undergrowth with an oof. Black hair in disarray, sticks and twigs caught in his robes, he fought his way out of the bushes. Halfway out, he sagged and fell back in, exhausted.

“Well?” Chen Wuya asked.

“Big. And tough.” Fen Long turned his head and spat a leaf out of his mouth.

Chen Wuya nodded. He strode ahead.

“Wait, wait!” The bushes rustled behind him. Fen Long almost escaped, only for his hair ribbon to snag on a branch. It yanked him back by the scalp. Gripping his head, he dipped backward. “Chen Wuya, wait for me!”

Ignoring Fen Long, Chen Wuya pulled away. Before long, Fen Long’s struggles faded. The path grew quiet. The trees grew sparse. He stepped into a clearing. The moon beamed down onto long grasses, transforming them into a silver sea.

The silver sea lapped at the knees of a lone figure. Head ducked, a wide hat hid the figure’s face. Loose, shadowy robes flapped on the breeze, ragged hems dancing behind them. They held a gourd loosely by its strings in one hand, and a sword in the other.

“Zui Jiu,” Chen Wuya stated, pointing his sword at her.

The figure looked up. The hat fell off her head and melted away into ash, blowing on the breeze. Black corrupted the right side of her face from upper lip to the top of her head, marring her skin to ashen, craggy plates, split like mud in midsummer. The black crags crawled past her hairline, and no hair grew where the crags spread. Even so, a blissful smile spread over her face. Eyes shut, she stumbled to the side. Liquid splashed from the gourd, spreading a sweet scent thick on the air.

Chen Wuya laughed dryly. “Even as you stand here, corrupted into an earthbound spirit, you still won’t let go of the gourd?”

Her face twisted into a scowl. She threw the gourd at him. Silver alcohol streamed after it.

Chen Wuya slashed, cutting the gourd in two. Alcohol splashed over him.

Zui Jiu appeared behind the bottle, already mid-strike. Chen Wuya jumped back, parrying. Their blades met in a shower of sparks. Zui Jiu stumbled away. Pushing his advantage, Chen Wuya chased her, but she planted her heel, bent backward to dodge his attack, and cut at him, her body flat backward from her hips. He leaped out of the way of her sword and bounced back, retreating to the edge of the clearing.

Zui Jiu charged. Her sword blazed through the night. Back to the trees, Chen Wuya blocked. She hammered at him, blow after blow. His sword shuddered under the onslaught. The metal creaked.

This cheap sword! Baring his teeth, Chen Wuya drew on his demonic qi. Power burst into his arms. He shoved Zui Jiu and fled away from the trees into the center of the clearing.

A dark red aura swirled around his arms and back. He narrowed his eyes at Zui Jiu and lowered his sword. Faintly, a black robe fringed in red appeared around him, blurry and unclear.

Zui Jiu stared back at him dully, eyes blurred.

“This ends here.”

Chen Wuya darted at Zui Jiu. She raised her sword to block. At the last second, he dropped low, cutting at her ankles.

She leaped to dodge the blow. Chen Wuya smirked. He turned his blade and cut upward, moving smoothly from the first form into the second. Zui Jiu staggered back, too slow. The blade sliced her chest and chin. Blood flew, misting on the night air.

On her heels, Zui Jiu fell backwards, only barely catching herself. At last, she rallied. Still bent backward, she stared at the sky. Blood dripped down her front, staining her black men’s robes.

Chen Wuya smirked and raced in. Too easy.

Zui Jiu howled.

The sound slammed into Chen Wuya, throwing him backward. He blocked with his arms. Desperately circulating his demonic qi, he barely managed to hold on. He squinted against the pressure at Zui Jiu. The scream distorted the air around her, contorting her form.

The scream? No. That isn’t what’s making her look like that.

Her body twisted. Limbs grew thick. Sharp spines jutted out of her arms, shoulders, and back. Her skin blackened, spreading down her face and across her chest, all the way into her legs. It crisped and burned, then cracked open, breaking into the same thick plates that marred her face. Her hands twisted into razor-sharp claws, her teeth sharpening into fangs. Molten red hissed in the depths of the crack as she burned her qi into power. Her aura changed, growing demonic.

“Zui Jiu… what happened to you?” Chen Wuya murmured under his breath.

Buzzing. The spell in his head struggled to hold back memories, a dam about to burst. Images flashed through his head. He pressed a hand to his eye and backed away. The demonic aura faded. The illusory robe vanished. His strength faded with them.

“Dammit… not now!”