Yi Kang said goodnight to Lakhuto and Wei Zhen, then retired to his room. He sat at the edge of his bed for a few hours, meditating to the sound of howling wind and faintly falling snow. When he was sure that the entire city lay sound asleep, he opened his window and crept out onto the roof.

A storm still raged over the city, and any normal man would be unable to last more than a minute outside in the blistering cold. Yi Kang, however, remained unaffected by the terrible conditions as he hopped between rooftops in the blink of an eye.

He had lived in the city for nearly twenty years now and knew its layout by heart. Dull light from roaring fireplaces and oil lanterns helped him keep his bearing whenever the path forward became unclear.

There was something oddly relaxing about being the only person out at night while everyone else lay sleeping, he thought. The absence of sound amidst flurries of snow offered a deep sense of tranquility. His breathing remained steady as his qi circulated in a controlled manner throughout his body, keeping him warm as if he himself were in front of a toasty fireplace.

He arrived at the house of Xining’s Magistrate, and slipped inside without making even the slightest of sounds. Having been fast asleep in bed, Magistrate Wan awoke with a shock as Yi Kang shook him awake.

He jumped up, grabbed a knife from his bedside table and slashed wildly at Yi Kang.

“Yao, calm down. It’s me.” Yi Kang grabbed his arm and waited for the man to relax. After a few moments, Yao dropped the knife and groggily slouched back into bed.

“You can never visit me during normal hours, can you?” He groaned, while holding his throbbing head. He had indulged in several cups of wine throughout the evening and night, and now paid the price with a miserable hangover.

“Well, out with it. What was so important this time that you could not wait until morning?”

Yi Kang lit a lamp and sat down in a chair near the bed.

“I have a favor to ask of you.” He said with a sigh, as a wave of profound sadness began to wash over him. “A final favor, from the one man I have been able to call a friend all these years.”

Yao sat up, with a concerned look on his face. “Are you finally going to go off and die in a blaze of glory?”

“Not quite yet. I still have a few things to take care of before the heavens will allow me to die!” He let out a hearty laugh, tinged with sadness and regret. Memories of his youth flooded his mind, causing him to sink into the velvet chair. His hand propped up his tired head.

“You won’t owe me any more after this one. Consider your debt repaid,” he continued.

“I could never! I’m in your debt until the day I die.”

“Consider it repaid.” He repeated, knowing full well how Yao felt on the matter. “I won’t be in Xining much longer, and it is unlikely that I’ll see you again after I leave. Tomorrow, two soldiers with a message from General Zhong Li will arrive at your office.”

“What could soldiers possibly want in my city? Are they looking for you?”

“Among other things, yes. They think I had something to do with the theft of the Emperor’s sword.”

Yao let out a bellowing laugh at the notion. “It appears that our fine General needs a lesson in geography! You have not been within a thousand miles of Nanjing for nearly twenty years now.”

“Try telling him that. Maybe in my youth I could have traveled such long distances without being noticed, but I’m an old bag of bones now. Anyways, they are going to be searching the city for me over the next few days.”

“And, let me guess, you have a plan for that?”

Yi Kang gave a wry smile in response. “You know me too well, old friend.”

“What is my part in it, then?”

“When they ask to search the city tomorrow, I need you to tell them to wait a few days for soldiers to enter the city. And be adamant about it. Knowing Zhong Li, he will ask for permission to send one or two martial masters from his retinue to begin a search over those few days. Say yes.”

“I assume that you know who he has traveling with him.”

“A student of an old friend. I intend on sending a message.”

“Very well. I’ll do as you say.”

The next morning, Yi Kang slipped out of the inn before anyone else had a chance to shake themselves awake. He walked to the Magistrate’s office and hid in a large tree blanketed with three feet of snow. He poked two holes into the snow, giving himself the perfect vantage point to view the office undetected.

After some time had passed, he saw the two imperial soldiers walking into the building. And, to his surprise, he saw Wei Zhen trailing behind them on the rooftops. What’s he doing here? He thought. That boy is going to get himself caught and ruin my plan.

A further shock was had when he saw Master Fei walking into the building a few minutes after the soldiers had arrived. That crafty devil Zhong Li had already anticipated the Magistrate’s response!

Fei crashed through the window and chased after Wei Zhen with his modified Arhat Fist. Yi Kang knew the style well, from his fights with Fei’s shifu when they were both young men. It was a prized style in the martial world, created over the course of a decade by studying the movements of a tiger.

Yi Kang slipped out of the tree and trailed behind Fei, who was now struggling to keep up with Wei Zhen. That kid has some real talent, he thought. With some proper guidance and cultivation, he could have the greatest lightness Kungfu in China within a decade. He had a feeling that the two young men who shared dinner with him had been hiding something. No matter, he thought. I’ll question them later.

Fei slowed down and stood still in the middle of a long street, watching Wei Zhen disappear into the distance. As he sighed and turned to walk away, a whirlwind gripped him and carried him away.

He was thrown down into an alley. He struggled to his feet, dizzy after having been whisked halfway through the city. His eyes narrowed on the mysterious figure walking toward him.

“What do you want? Who are you?” He growled.

Yi Kang whirled around in the blink of an eye and launched a kick toward his face. Fei jumped back and then lunged forward, raking his claws at Yi Kang’s throat. He calmly stepped backwards and avoided the claws.

“Your teacher taught you well, Ravenous Tiger Fei.”

“So you know my name. Care to tell me yours so that I can give my shifu your regards after I kill you?”

Yi Kang ignored the man and whirled around the alley with dizzying speed, in a move known as Flowers Dancing in the Field.

Fei struggled to keep track of his movement and raked his claws wildly in every direction. Cascading palm strikes struck his body all over, and Fei felt a needle prick his arm amidst the series of blows.

Fei felt toyed with by this man who was clearly a martial master, and his superior. While glowering at the man, plotting his next move, he felt a worrying numbness begin to spread throughout his arm.

“What did you do to me?” He shouted, before lunging forward again with another attack.

Yi Kang sidestepped the attack and watched Fei crash into the snow.

“I’ve poisoned you. But don’t worry, you have two months before it will kill you.”

“Two months! Do you take me for a fool? What poison in this world takes that long to kill!” He replied, with an incredulous laugh.

“I want you to deliver a message to that old codger you call a shifu.”

At hearing his shifu disrespected by a stranger, Fei flew into a rage. He launched a series of quick and powerful blows at Yi Kang in a move known as Wild Tiger Chases the Wind.

Yi Kang stepped to the side and pooled his qi into a single palm strike, known and feared throughout China as Chasing Shadows. He struck the side of Fei’s arm and sent him crashing into the ground.

Fei let out a sickening scream as steam erupted from his arm. He rolled around in agony as his own qi was turned against him, cooking his arm from the inside. He would never again be able to use it in a fight.

“The antidote you need is under a willow tree on the shore of Lake Tai. It would take a normal man four months to make the journey, but if you’re fast, you’ll be able to make it there just before you succumb to the poison.”

Yi Kang tossed a map to Fei, who continued to writhe in the snow. He had hidden an antidote to a poison of his own making decades ago, before he had fled to the west, knowing that one day he would have to make use of it.

Fei managed to get out two words amidst shrieks of pain. “P-purple cloud!”

“Go there directly and don’t speak to anyone. If you stop by the General’s camp on the way out, I’ll send someone to snatch the antidote before you get there.”

“You heretic! M-monster!” Fei yelled out, as Purple Cloud Yijun began to walk away.

“Give your shifu my regards on the way back.”

Light flurries of snow began to fall once more. Painful memories began to overwhelm Yijun as he made his way to his house to welcome his two guests.

A heretic. That’s what they called me.