“Well… Meiying. My dear Meiying. I had no idea you were in town as well. You should have told me. I would have gladly been your escort.”

Those were the first words out of Ming Shen’s mouth when he laid eyes on Wu Meiying. He didn’t even so much as look at Hou Jingshu, which seemed to really upset the girl in question. Her face had turned red and there was a vein throbbing on her forehead. Not that he cared or even saw it. Ming Shen only had eyes for the girl he had been pining after for several years.

Consequently, he also missed the look of hatred that flashed through Juishi Meirin’s eyes, though Wu Jian could see it just fine.

“That’s very kind of you to offer, but you are already escorting someone else. Besides, I do not wish for anyone other than Jian to escort me.”

While the words sounded polite, they were spoken with venom. Wu Meiying’s smile was more like a viper’s as she wrapped her arms around Wu Jian’s as if to emphasize their relationship to Ming Shen. And Wu Jian was more than willing to let her. Nothing would please him more than showing this stuck up toad that Wu Meiying was his and his alone.

Now it was Ming Shen’s turn to go red in the face.

“Ming Shen, perhaps you should focus on escorting your own fiancée instead of hitting on Meiying. Nobody likes a man who doesn’t know when to raise the white flag,” Wu Jian said.

“Wu Jian,” Ming Shen hissed. “This has nothing to do with you. Butt out of your father’s business.”

“It has everything to do with me… Father.” Wu Jian narrowed his eyes. “Meiying is mine. She has always been mine, will always be mine, and no matter how many gifts you send her, offers you make her, or sweet nothings you say to her, that will never change.”

The more Wu Jian spoke, the redder Ming Shen’s face became, until it was so red he thought the other boy’s face might combust with rage.

“Very good. I see you have a way with words. You know just what to say to anger me,” Ming Shen said, cracking his neck as he took a step forward. “It looks like I’m going to have to put you in your place before the tournament arrives. A shame. I was so looking forward to humiliating you again. You’ll regret ever attempting to stick your nose into my business.”

Wu Jian slid his arm out of Wu Meiying’s grip, walked forward until he was just a few feet from Ming Shen, and glared at the boy. All of the resentment he felt over this annoying cretin bothering Wu Meiying came to the fore. Hot anger bubbled inside of him. It was waiting to be released. He had been hoping to avoid a confrontation until it was time for the tournament, but it looked like that would no longer be possible.

However, while Wu Jian and Ming Shen were locked in a glaring contest, another person was getting ready to erupt. Her name was Hou Jingshu.

“How dare you ignore me!” The feisty princess stepped forward and glared at Ming Shen. “You apparently know nothing of propriety! Is this how the Ming Clan shows other people respect? If so, I can understand why Father has never heard anything about you!”

Ming Shen finally turned to Hou Jingshu and stared at her for several long seconds. He looked her over from her head to her toes, seemingly studying the girl for a moment. Then he licked his lips.

“You’re right. My apologies, dear lady. It was quite rude of me to ignore you like that. I was just so overcome with emotion at seeing my Meiying after such a long time that I forgot myself, but do not fret. Someone as refined as myself would never deign to ignore such a resplendent beauty for so long,” said Ming Shen. Wu Jian rolled his eyes. As always, this man spoke with the kind of long-winded pomposity expected of most nobles. Well, Wu Jian knew he wasn’t much better.

“That’s quite the thing to say to my fiancée.” Wu Jian stepped forward to stand in front of Hou Jingshu.

“Fiancée?” Ming Shen raised an eyebrow.

“That’s right. Hou Jingshu and I are engaged to be married.”

“So you have a fiancée, and yet you are still keeping my Meiying all to yourself? That doesn’t seem fair, now does it?”

“Don’t talk like you aren’t also engaged to another. Keep it in your pants, hornball.”

“I’ve had just about enough of you!”

“That makes two of us!”

The intense emotions boiling inside of Wu Jian were heating up again. They had cooled for but a moment when Hou Jingshu interrupted his war of words with Ming Shen, but now they were coming back in full force. He still remembered how much Ming Shen had gloated after beating him in the last tournament. He recalled with perfect clarity the humiliation he had felt in that moment. Even though he had fought dirty, even though his family had rigged the matches so Wu Jian would face all the strongest fighters in a row, this brat still had the gall to think himself strong.

I really want to put this bastard in his place…

Wu Jian took a step forward—and in that moment, two people suddenly stood between him and Ming Shen. Just when had they arrived? He didn’t know. They appeared like magic; invisible one second and there the next.

The one closest to him was a woman with pale skin, hair the color of midnight, and dark eyes. A frown marred her crimson lips. The sleeves of her hanfu billowed in the breeze as she glared at the person standing opposite her.

“Aunt Taohua…”

“Please stand back, Young Master.”

“Gya ha ha ha! Well, if it isn’t Yōushì’s little shadow. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

The person standing opposite of Wu Taohua was a mammoth of a man wearing a crimson wool cloak, black hair streaked with gray, and eyebrows like swords. He looked less like a noble and more like a barbarian conqueror. However, the presence he exuded was enough to let everyone know of his power. Just being near him made the hairs of Wu Jian’s scalp prickle.

“Ming Han,” Wu Taohua said in a voice so bone-chilling even Wu Jian shivered. “Do not think I don’t know what you were trying to do just now. Interfering in a squabble between children, are we? You’ve fallen to a new low.”

“Interfering? I was doing no such thing. I merely intended to step in before the situation got… out of hand.”

“Is that so? Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

Wu Jian was having trouble keeping up with the conversation. He looked at Wu Meiying in the hopes that she might shed some light on what these two were doing here, but when he saw how pale her face was, he knew something was wrong. It took him a moment to find out what, but he soon realized the problem when he spotted the blood dripping down Wu Taohua’s arm. Her left sleeve was torn and there was a gash traveling from her forearm to her bicep.

“Aunt…”

Wu Taohua held up a hand to silence him, and Wu Jian found himself unable to speak.

A thick tension filled the air around him. It was so heavy that Wu Jian struggled to breathe. He thought after gaining more confidence that he had become brave. He assumed that after training hard, he had become strong. But that was all a lie. Wu Jian understood now that he was still just a frog in a well, yet to take a look at the vast sky beyond the miniature view he could see from his place at the bottom.

He clenched his trembling hands into fists.

I hate this…

Wu Jian hated how weak he felt. It was like he had gone back to being a small and frail child getting picked on by his older half-brother. He never wanted to go back to those times. He couldn’t.

“Hmph. Well, I guess we can consider this situation resolved for now,” Ming Han said. “I suggest you take your leave. You might be strong, but you’re not strong enough to best me, and it looks like your husband isn’t here to save you either.”

“Wu Jian, Wu Meiying, Hou Jingshu, we’re leaving,” Wu Taohua said, voice still cold.

None of them argued with her. The journey back home was made in stifling silence, a contrast to the bright, almost cheerful sky above.

***

So that’s what a cultivator’s bloodlust feels like…

Wu Jian laid awake in bed, thinking about the confrontation between Wu Taohua and Ming Han. The bloodlust he had felt exuding from Ming Han had been frightening. He remembered feeling something very similar when he and Wu Meiying went into West Fang Mountain and were attacked by a Spotted Snow Lion. That magical beast had also exuded bloodlust, but it had felt very different from the cold, murderous intent of Ming Han. If Wu Jian had to describe it, he would have said the Spotted Snow Lion’s bloodlust felt more instinctual and less malicious.

From what Wu Jian understood, Ming Han’s cultivation level was a little below that of his father’s. Father was at the fourth subrealm of the Asura Realm. Ming Han was supposed to be half-a-step into the Asura Realm, meaning he was still at the ninth subrealm of the Hunger Realm but was close to breaking through, or maybe the man had already broken through and they hadn’t heard anything about it?

As one thought after another flitted through his head, Wu Jian realized he wasn’t going to get any sleep like this. He got out of bed and put on some training clothes. Maybe if he exercised for a bit, he would get sleepy…

Knock knock knock.

Just before he could lift himself up by the rings hanging from the ceiling, soft knocking echoed around the room, coming from the window. There was only one person who could have possibly been knocking on his window at this time of night.

“Meiying,” Wu Jian greeted as he opened the window shutters to reveal Wu Meiying standing by the window. She wore a black cloak that hid most of her body. Her hood was up, but he could still see her vivid blue eyes and beautiful smile peering out from underneath.

“You can’t sleep either?” she asked.

Wu Jian ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. I keep thinking about what happened earlier.”

“Me too. That’s actually why I’m here. Uncle Yōushì is going to have a rather… interesting conversation not long from now. Do you want to listen in?”

If Wu Meiying was saying something like this, then it was because she had seen something in the future and believed it was important enough for them to risk punishment to overhear it.

“You know I do. Let me put on my shoes and a cloak,” he said.

“Be quick. The meeting will start in a few minutes,” Wu Meiying said.

After getting dressed, he leapt out of the window and followed Wu Meiying as she took a winding route through the clan compound. She avoided the passing patrols and clansmen like a skilled assassin. She would stop and hide behind a rock, or a bush, or a tree, seconds before a guard walked by. Then she would start moving again. He didn’t know if she had memorized the patrols or if her clairvoyance allowed her to see where the patrols would be several seconds in advance.

It’s probably the former. Meiying can’t control her powers yet. I can’t see such a random skill being useful for slipping past guards like this… but that just begs the question of how she does it?

They soon reached Father’s building, which he and his wives lived in. Wu Jian crept on tiptoes behind Wu Meiying. She was a lot more confident that no one would see them than he was, as she strode boldly to the building, crouched low, and crawled over to a partially opened window.

It was time to hear what Father had to say. Wu Jian couldn’t contain his curiosity as he stuck close to Wu Meiying and strained his ears to listen.