Wu Jian didn’t know how long Yōuměi had been running for, but the nightsky broke as the sun began rising, then set again, only to once more turn to day.

They passed by rivers, plains, and fields. Several cities came into sight, but Yōuměi traveled away from them. They nearly ran into several cultivators, but the magical beast was good at sensing them and always avoided them by leaping into trees or hiding under the ground.

Wu Jian’s body remained paralysed. Wu Meiying had forced him into an inanimate state by injecting chi into his nervous system. The most he could move for the longest time was his fingers and mouth.

His body became capable of movement on what he perceived to be the tenth of eleventh day.

“Yōuměi, stop please.”

The magical beast dutifully stopped moving as Wu Jian undid the ropes binding him. He sat up and studied his surroundings, observing the sheer cliffs blocking his view on the left and right.

“This must be the mountain pass that connects the Shang Kingdom to the Ming Province,” Wu Jian mumbled.

The Shang Kingdom shared borders with two nations: The Zhou Kingdom to the east and the Ming Province to the south.

Zahn City was much too far from the Zhou Kingdom for them to have reached it in so few days. It would have taken at least a year to cross the country even if Yōuměi ran nonstop without rest. The border between the Shang and Zhou Kingdoms was also not separated by mountains.

Wu Jian looked back at where they had come from. He could no longer see the entrance to the Shang Kingdom.

Tears pricked his eyes. He tried to stop them, but they continued to fall. He wiped at them, but all that did was stain his gi.

“Mother, Father, Wu Taohua… Mei… they’re all gone… everyone is gone. My entire clan… why?”

Wu Jian had been too shocked by the events of that night to feel sorrow, and then he had been paralysed by Wu Meiying and couldn’t move. Now that the paralysis had worn off, the shock of what happened hit him.

He slid off Yōuměi’s back and fell to the ground in a heap. Tears splashed against the dirt as he pounded his fist into the ground hard enough to crack it.

His family was gone.

The girl he loved was gone.

What did he have left to live for?

Something warm and wet slid along his cheek, causing him to look up. It was Yōuměi. The magical beast panther licked his face as though trying to wipe away his tears.

Wu Jian wrapped his arms around Yōuměi’s neck and buried his face in her soft furr. The panther purred as he held onto her and nuzzled her muzzle against his shoulder.

“You’re all I have left now, Yōuměi,” he whispered softly. “Everyone else is gone. Hou Jingshu was forced to leave, Zhou Lihua is in the Shang Kingdom’s Imperial Capital, and Wu Meiying is on the run. With them gone and my family dead, I have no one to rely on but myself and you.”

He thought about Hou Jingshu. She had left after her father fell ill. They had been sending letters back and forth, but that was no longer possible now. Wu Jian needed to remain dead to everyone. No one could know he was still alive.

She’s going to be hurt when she finds out what happened…

He closed his eyes for a moment, but then he opened them. He felt awful. However, there was nothing he could do for Hou Jingshu right now. He was too weak to even take care of himself, so how could he afford to even think about helping someone else?

Once I’m strong enough, I’ll go back to the Shang Kingdom and see her. Even if I can’t let her know I’m alive, I can at least help her from the shadows. It’ll be fine so long as she doesn’t know it’s me, right?

Wu Jian couldn’t fathom what happened. Why had those people attacked his family? Wu Meiying seemed to have something to do with that, but how was that possible? She had lived alongside him for her entire life. She didn’t know anyone who Wu Jian himself did not know.

“I guess… it doesn’t matter in the end.”

“Prrrrr?”

Wu Jian let go of Yōuměi, wiped his eye, and stood up. His eyes felt irritated from crying so much. He ignored that.

Crying about what happened won’t solve anything. Thinking about what happened won’t change the past.

“Come on, Yōuměi,” he said as he began walking. The panther fell into step with him as they traveled away from the Shang Kingdom.

I need to get stronger. That’s the only thing I can do right now. I’ll train hard and utilize every opportunity I find to increase my strength.

Wu Meiying had said he needed to become stronger for when they met again. That meant they would meet again. He didn’t know what they would do when that happened, and he didn’t really care right now. All that mattered was getting stronger so he could make it happen.

Wu Jian felt a fire ignite inside of him like the sun as it rose in the east.

***

Xing Zhenya sat inside of a carriage along with her bodyguard. She stared out the window with a bored expression.

At twenty years old, she was only at the ninth subrealm of the Hunger Realm and didn’t have much hope of climbing higher. Not only was her aptitude for cultivation lacking, but she didn’t have the time to spend on it. Her days were mostly spent traveling back and forth between the Shang Kingdom and the Ming Province.

She was currently on her way back home with her caravan.

“How many days have we been traveling?” she asked.

“Ten, Young Lady,” her bodyguard answered.

“So it will take ten more days to get home,” she sighed.

Her bodyguard was a big man with broad shoulders, a large chest, and a full beard. His hair spiked in all directions and crisscrossing scars marred his left cheek. He had supposedly gotten that wound fighting a magical beast, but she didn’t know about the veracity of that rumor. Sitting on his lap was a large axe.

Xing Zhenya didn’t know him that well as he was relatively new, but he had proven himself to her several times already by fighting off attackers. He was at the fifth subrealm of the Anima Realm, making him one of the most powerful people in her father’s small merchant guild.

“So we still have about ten more to go,” she said with a sigh.

It took twenty days to go from Ning City in the Shang Kingdom to Chenhou in the Ming Province. She had traveled back and forth so many times that she knew the route and time it took by heart. It was practically ingrained into her psyche now.

Xing Zhenya wouldn’t say she was discontent with her life now. Being able to travel so much meant she saw a myriad of people from many different walks of life. They shared their stories with her of all the places they had been to. It was enough to satisfy her curiosity about the much larger world. She didn’t mind being a frog at the bottom of a well, though she did admit that it was boring sometimes.

A jolt nearly knocked her to the floor as the equines pulling her carriage suddenly stopped.

“Are you okay, My Lady?” asked the bodyguard.

“Yes, I am fine. What happened? Why did we stop?” she asked.

“I do not know, but I will find out for you.”

The big man left the carriage and closed the door behind him. Xing Zhenya waited patiently for him to return, and when he did, the news he brought made her raise an eyebrow.

“A body on the road? Is it dead?”

“No, this person appears to be alive.”

“Let me see him.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“Why not? If they’re passed out on the road, how dangerous could it be? You think someone left him there as a trap for us?”

“Well… no… but…”

“Nevermind. I’m going out.”

Xing Zhenya ignored her bodyguard’s protests, stepped outside, and wandered toward the front of her six cart caravan. A group of her people had gathered around near the front. She pushed her way through and stopped upon reaching what had grabbed their attention.

It was a young man. He didn’t look very old. Judging from the lack of chi circulating inside of his body, he had yet to reach the age of adulthood. Even someone who couldn’t manipulate chi at least had some flowing through them. If they didn’t, it meant their dantian and meridians had yet to form.

He’s dirty, but you can tell he’s quite handsome underneath all that grime. Could he be the son of a noble family? What is he doing all the way out here? And why doesn’t he have any bodyguards?

“My Lady, you shouldn’t be here. Please go back to the carriage,” an older man said.

“Chong Lingxin, what is the situation here? Do you know what the problem with this young man is?” she asked.

Chong Lingxin was an old man with a head of graying hair and a long beard. He was at the second subrealm of the Anima Realm and wore a white robe that covered much of his body.

While he was old and his cultivation was low for his age, Chong Lingxin was her senior advisor and someone she trusted to help her manage their trip. He had been with her since she was young and was a good friend of her father’s. It was also thanks to him that she had been able to learn the ins and outs of being a merchant.

He gave her a resigned sigh. “It seems he simply passed out from hunger.”

“Wait. What? From hunger?”

“Indeed.”

At that moment, a loud rumble echoed around the mountain pass. Xing Zhenya eyed the young man lying stomach first on the ground.

She looked at the setting sun, nodded once, and began giving out orders. “Let’s set up camp here for the night. Tian Chen, Lang Ping, and Yin Liuxian, you’re in charge of setting up the tents. Lu Rong, begin cooking food for everyone. Have Yuan Da help you gather ingredients.” She turned to her bodyguard. “Gao Zhou, please take care of this young man until he wakes up.”

Gao Zhou and Chong Lingxin looked at each other, smiled in exasperation, then placed their right fists into the palms of their left hands and bowed.

“As you will, My Lady.”

Everyone moved off to perform their duties. Xing Zhenya followed Gao Zhou as he carried the young man off toward the side, where a thick blanket had been set out for him. She carefully watched as the young man was laid down and stared at his face. She wanted to know who he was and what his circumstances were.

The tents were soon readied, and the scent of food began filling the air. The young man twitched and groaned. Xing Zhenya assumed he would wake up soon, so she grabbed a bowl of congee and a spoon, then waited and watched as his eyes fluttered open.

Black eyes blinked curiously as the young man took in his surroundings before they landed on her face. Xing Zhenya felt a moment of breathlessness as something like fire blazed within those eyes. She had never seen anything quite like it. However, the fire disappeared almost as quickly as it had come, making her wonder if perhaps she had imagined it.

Loud rumbling echoed around the mountain pass again. The young man blinked several times. Xing Zhenya smiled kindly.

“Hello, are you hungry?” she asked, holding out the bowl she had prepared.

She never noticed the shadows beneath the young man writhe.