For all of the family rivalries and their previous trouble with him, William had no particular interest in picking a fight with the three youngsters from the Song family. Since they had already seen him, there was obviously going to be an exchange of generic insults, at the very minimum, but it didn’t necessarily have to go beyond that. William turned to face the group, led by someone William would have described as stout, if he was being extremely complimentary.

The leader of the trio spoke first. “Oh, if it isn’t the little boy who won the Yu family’s tournament. Seems like your family’s quality is falling even lower than it already had been.”

William sighed. He thought to himself, ‘It seems your family has a very short memory, and no creativity. That was the exact kind of thing a pair of idiots from your family said last year before I beat them up and they ran crying to your elders.’ However, he didn’t say that, because the two people visible behind this fat lout were armed with real swords. That furthered Williams desire to avoid a confrontation. So, he tried to deflect the conversation somewhat peacefully. “Perhaps that is so. I certainly must keep up with my training.”

The fat young man smiled. He seemed quite satisfied with making William back down somewhat. “It’s good that you know your place.” His eyes shifted to Yu Li, looking her over in a way that made even William feel violated. “Is this your useless sister who can’t train in ki? Well, at least as a woman she can be used for other things. Why don’t you come spend some time with us?”

Yu Li glared at him. “I would rather spend time with a pig. At least they are not so fat as you.”

The leader frowned. “A useless woman like you dares to ignore my kind offer? It was not really a request. Before the day is over I’ll-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. William had been trying to avoid an actual fight, and yet he found himself the one starting the physical confrontation. He really wasn’t very good at being peaceful at all. Perhaps that made him a hypocrite, but he didn’t care, as he jabbed his staff into the obese gut of this fellow. However, that action wasn’t enough to cause the eyes that were bulging out that came as a reaction. That came because Big Sister’s staff had simultaneously swung up into his crotch. Big Sister wasn’t particularly strong, though she wasn’t weak either. However, it was also incorrect to say that she could not train in ki. It was just that she couldn’t advance beyond the first level. However, that was enough for her to gather enough ki to overcome the passive ki defense of this unpleasant young man. William almost sympathized with him. Almost.

There was a short moment where nothing happened. Then, the fat teen fell backwards, clutching his groin. After that, everything seemed to happen all at once.

The other two drew their swords and attacked. One of them thrust toward William, who had little time to pay attention to the other. All he could do was gather his ki to defend himself and deflect the sword with his staff. However, even with that, the thrust still scraped along his ribs, piercing through his protective layer of ki. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other moving, and perhaps a flash of light, but he couldn’t turn to look. He didn’t have time for anything fancy, so he continued to gather more of his ki around him and his staff where it would be usable. His counterattack only barely brushed his opponent, who dodged back. Several more attacks came, With William also barely deflecting them. He was bleeding from a few cuts now. His ki wasn’t enough, so he reached down even deeper, gathering everything he had. He hardened his ki using the method described for Iron Mountain Defense, and hoped it lived up to its name. At the same time, he thrust his staff forward, toward his opponent’s sternum. His attack connected at the same time as his opponent’s sword thrust into his gut. Then, his opponent flew backwards, but not before there was a terrible cracking noise. His sword stayed behind, but fell to the ground. William immediately turned toward Big Sister, hoping she was alright. He turned just in time to see her deflect a poorly aimed attack with her staff, while also seeing electricity crackle from the point of contact. This traveled up the sword and caused the opponent to lose his grip, after which Yu Li jumped backwards and chanted a slightly longer spell, though only a second or two. Before now William hadn’t heard any chanting… but he had heard the typical shouts of exertion common to martial arts, which was enough for a very tiny spell. William prepared to jump in to the fight, but Yu Li’s opponent was somewhat dazed, and could only grope around for his sword on the ground. Then, Big Sister Li’s staff hit him in the back of the head at the same time as lightning arced out of it.

William surveyed the area, seeing only two unconscious enemies, and a fat idiot who was still clutching his manhood and unable to form any words. “We need to get back to the clan.” Big Sister nodded. Sadly, the shopping trip had been entirely ruined, but there would be other chances in the future. As they walked past the one that William had struck, he looked down. He saw a lot of blood. His chest was crushed, and he didn’t seem to be breathing, or blinking. William didn’t wait around to find out, as he remembered to look down at his own wound. Besides the various slashes on his ribs, he also had the stab on his stomach, which was bleeding profusely. William wasn’t sure how deep it was. He gathered some ki to attempt to slow the bleeding, and started to stagger back to the clan. Big Sister was not without a few scrapes of her own, but she seemed fine. William walked in a daze. He felt strange. He had killed someone. A human, no less. William had killed some demons in the war, but never a human. However, it felt different outside of the war, perhaps just because he had time to think about it. Interestingly enough, William didn’t feel any different about him not being a demon. Killing a sapient being was all the same, it seemed.