~~~

Of the disciples who betrayed the Eternal Flame Clan in the Dead Plains, there were three notable ones who never returned and whose deaths were never confirmed. Shi Qingxia is one of them. The other two are Ye Zheyu and Yong Zhunyi. Since Shi Qingxia is in the Storm Dragon Empire, it is safe to assume the other two are as well. Liu Jin realized that immediately.

And yet, somehow, Liu Jin was completely unprepared for running into them as soon as he stepped out of the Black Woods.

“I appear to have miscalculated.”

“Yes,” replies the man currently tying him up. “You most certainly did, Qing Jin.”

Unlike most cultivators, Ye Zheyu is quite chubby. A more rude soul would call him fat. Either way, it shouldn’t be possible for a cultivator as strong as him to have so much excess body fat. His Qi should naturally be keeping his body in shape. Since it isn’t, his appearance must be the result of some sort of personal preference or his style of cultivation.

Perhaps if Liu Jin had fought him instead of surrendering immediately, he would know for sure.

“Make sure to tie him well,” Ye Zheyu’s companion says. “This one seems to be quite resourceful. We do not want to give him any openings.”

Though his words are meant for Ye Zheyu, the man’s eyes never leave Liu Jin. He is tall and quite pale, almost as if his skin was made of marble and his hair of ashes. The more Liu Jin thinks about it, the more apt the description seems. The man in front of him looks like a statue painstakingly crafted by a master artisan. There are no flaws. No imperfections. Even the way he breathes feels inexplicably elegant.

This is Yong Zhunyi, the top disciple of the Eternal Flame Clan sent to the Crimson Cloud Tournament.

He is the reason why Liu Jin immediately surrendered. Even though he was tired after escaping Shi Qingxia, Liu Jin would have still tried to escape had it just been Ye Zheyu he was up against.

However, as soon as he met Yong Zhunyi’s eyes, Liu Jin understood escape was impossible.

“I did not expect you to overcome Qingxia,” Yong Zhunyi tells him while Brother Ye keeps tying him up with a long silk cord. “Did you kill her?”

Ye Zheyu’s grip on him tightens, making Liu Jin flinch. The anger in the stocky man’s Qi at the thought of Shi Qingxia’s death is almost palpable. By contrast, Yong is completely calm. Liu Jin senses no anger from him at all. His Qi is like the surface of a clear spring.

And yet…

Liu Jin feels the wrong answer will kill him.

“Sister Shi is alive,” Liu Jin says. “I lacked the means to overcome her, so I used my Qi to stimulate the flesh bud inside her.”

“And in doing so, overcame her,” Yong says, rubbing his chin while humming in thought. He does not sound surprised about Liu Jin knowing of the flesh buds. “It sounds like you did something quite painful to her, but it should not be beyond her ability to overcome. I assume the reason you have not tried to do the same to Brother Ye despite him being in contact with you right now is because you are wary of me. Is that not so?”

As soon as Yong mentions the possibility, Ye Zheyu pauses for a full second, looking at Liu Jin with wary eyes before resuming his task.

“I believe you would kill me if I tried, yes,” Liu Jin says, not once looking away from Yong’s eyes.

There are no openings for him to exploit reflected there. The person in front of him is neither looking down on him nor clouded by anger.

Yong Zhunyi is a cultivator at the very top of the Earth Realm that is looking right at him.

“You need not fear. I would not kill you,” Brother Yong says. “We need you alive for interrogation, so I would just cut off your arm.”

Liu Jin completely believes him.

“Will you be the one interrogating me?” Liu Jin asks. “Or will you take me to Duke Lai?”

“Neither,” Brother Yong says. “We will keep heading east.”

Liu Jin blinks. If they keep traveling east, they will soon reach the border. Have they been hiding in the border territories all this time? Or have they made their lair in General He’s lands?

No matter. It means he still has a chance.

“I should not need to say this, but those ropes are beyond your ability to break,” Brother Yong tells him, pointing at the silk cord Brother Ye has tied around his arms and torso. “Do not try. I will cut off your arm if you do.”

Yong keeps bringing up his possible dismemberment without making it sound like a threat or a promise. He says it with such absolute certainty that it cannot be taken as anything other than inevitable.

“For similar reasons, do not try reaching for your spatial pouch,” Yong adds. “I have allowed you to keep it only because I do not know what security measures might activate if someone other than you touches it. Do not mistake that for carelessness. Understood?”

Liu Jin nods.

“Good. Let us go then.”

“Wait,” Ye Zheyu says just as Yong turns away. “Are we not going back for Sister Shi?”

Yong looks back and shakes his head. “That would take too much time. Sister Shi is not dead, and even in a weakened condition, nothing in the forest represents a threat to her. She will have to catch up to us.”

Ye does not say anything right away. Still, he ultimately nods and follows Yong, tugging on the rope to make Liu Jin follow.

“I do not trust you enough to carry you,” Ye Zheyu tells him, “so you’ll have to keep up with our pace.”

“Lead the way, senior,” Liu Jin says.

~~~

Though Yong Zhunyi and Ye Zheyu moderate their pace to allow Liu Jin to keep up with them, the trip to the border takes surprisingly little time. Even running with his hands tied behind his back does not hinder Liu Jin much. His body balance has always been excellent.

Part of it is due to Nine-Headed Snake God’s Inheritance, but Liu Jin prefers not to think about that too much.

The only time they have to take a detour is when they come close to a town, one of the last outposts before truly stepping into the border territories. The place is nowhere near as large as Stone River City but still much bigger than Black Stone Village. It has quite a few soldiers from General Dan’s army that could complicate things for Yong Zhunyi and Ye Zheyu. All Liu Jin needs to do to call their attention is to raise his Qi.

He does not.

Even from this far away, he can tell no one in the town is a match for them. Trying to call for help would be sentencing all the men there to death and himself to a missing limb. No, he’d rather avoid all that. Instead, Liu Jin waits until they’re away from the town and closer to the border to say what has been on his mind for a while.

“You are taking me to General He’s lands,” Liu Jin says. There is no doubt about that in his mind now. “Is that where their base of operations here is?”

There is no need for him to specify who he is referring to.

“You can think that if you wish to,” Brother Ye tells him after a while, not bothering to turn or slow down.

However, Liu Jin is not done yet.

“The renewed offensive from General He’s lands. It is to create bodies. More material for them,” Liu Jin says, narrowing his eyes. “Is that it?”

“Oh?” Yong glances back at him and smiles. “You truly are someone who cannot be underestimated.”

“I can remove the flesh buds from you.”

Neither Yong Zhunyi nor Ye Zheyu reacts to his words, but Liu Jin knows he has their attention.

“I made this offer to Sister Shi as well, though she was too angry with me to consider it,” Liu Jin says. “I am not sure what circumstances pushed you to accept those things inside you. Perhaps you did not realize what working with them would entail. However, by now, you must realize those things are dangerous.”

Ye Zheyu snorts.

“I do not doubt your skill, Qing Jin,” he says. “However, you insult us if you think we trust you enough to subject ourselves to your care.”

“If I tried to do anything, Brother Yong would easily stop me,” Liu Jin points out, “But yes, I am aware I am asking much, and there is no reason why you should say yes. I still had to make the offer. Those things are too much of a risk.”

“They have their uses,” Ye Zheyu replies. “However, you are not wrong. That someone in the True Realm like you managed to use them to overcome Sister Shi says enough.”

“Do not put it like that, brother,” Yong says. “Most on this side of the Dead Plains would not notice or even think to look for them. Fewer still would have the skill to provoke a reaction with their Qi. Qing Jing’s skill is to be commended.”

“I would much prefer it if you underestimated me.”

“Impossible,” Yong replies with utter finality. “If being underestimated was your goal, then you have done a poor job presenting yourself as someone worth underestimating. Even your offer to heal us is an attempt to make us talk about our reason for betraying the Eternal Flame Clan, is it not?”

Liu Jin glares at Yong’s back.

“My offer to remove their hold on you is genuine,” Liu Jin replies in clipped tones. He takes a deep breath. “However, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about what motivates you.”

Sister Shi said she needed him alive for interrogation, and while that was true, she also hadn’t wanted to kill a member of the Eternal Flame Clan. Similarly, though Yong Zhunyi and Ye Zheyu have captured him, they have not been overly cruel to him despite knowing he had helped Lord Feng Gui deny them supplies from the Medical Pavilion during the Crimson Cloud Tournament.

The three disciples might be his foes, but Liu Jin does not sense any particular evil in them. No more than is usual, at least. That is why he wants to know why they have gone so far.

“Do you believe the Feng family deserves the Eternal Flame Clan?”

“Huh?”

Brother Yong does not slow down or turn around. His question comes so suddenly that Liu Jin can almost believe he imagined it.

“Without the Feng Clan and the Eternal Flame they wield, the Eternal Flame Clan would not exist as we know it. That is an undeniable truth. However, does that mean we should turn a blind eye to their deficiencies?”

Yong glances back at him.

“You must have thought about it at least once. You joined one of the strongest sects in the Crimson Cloud Empire, and what did you find? Nothing but bickering children.”

For the first time, Liu Jin feels the barest traces of anger coming from Yong.

“Feng Shang and Feng Gui are cultivators blessed by the Heavens. They have reached heights most people can only dream of, yet all that power did nothing to stop them from squabbling like children over our Sect. In their greed, they used their disciples as nothing but disposable pawns. Patriarch Feng, supposedly wise and venerable beyond comparison, saw this happening and not only allowed it to continue but sent all of us to the Dead Plains. Do you really think people like that can be trusted with the Eternal Flame Clan?”

Liu Jin would be lying if he said he had never once considered similar thoughts.

Certainly, the succession war is over, and Lord Feng Gui has been chosen, but can Liu Jin really say he approves of Lord Feng Gui as a person? Lord Feng Gui’s views just happen to align with his goals. That is all. It has nothing to do with his opinion of the man.

“I did not imagine Brother Yong was thinking about such heavy subjects,” Liu Jin says. “It is as you say. The disciples of the Eternal Flame Clan have been treated poorly.”

The Dead Plains. Xun Huwen. The Punishment Force.

“I myself am guilty of contributing to that.”

The takeover of the Medical Pavilion.

“As was I and several others. However, you were nothing but an instrument in the end,” Yong replies with far more sympathy than Liu Jin expected from him. “Qu Rou never truly understood that. He was too blinded by his anger towards you, but the true fault lies with the Feng family. It is they who must pay, and they who must be replaced, or else the Eternal Flame Clan will only stagnate under their rule.”

Liu Jin does not say anything for a while.

“Brother Yong, I sympathize with you. Far more so than I expected. However, your motives and your actions are in direct contradiction with each other. Yes, the Feng Clan has acted poorly, but has any of what you have done actually helped? Or has it only made things worse?”

“Careful,” Ye Zheyu says, glaring at him.

“No.” Brother Yong shakes his head. “Let him speak.”

Liu Jin gladly takes the opportunity given to him.

“You allied yourself with Elder Fa, the man behind the Punishment Force and who knows what other things. You allied yourself with the people from the other side. The same people who tried to kill all of us in the Dead Plains. You allowed them to brand you and now carry out their orders. How is this supposed to help at all?”

“That, unfortunately, is a secret I have no intention to share with you,” Yong says.

Nothing more needs to be said. A moment of silence falls over them as Yong finally turns away from him. Liu Jin narrows his eyes.

It is time.

Art of the Roamin-

Liu Jin loses his arm.

It happens so quickly that Liu Jin doesn’t notice it. Yong’s attack is so seamless Liu Jin does not feel any pain as his arm is sliced off.

A second passes.

That is when the pain hits. Liu Jin falls to his knees and screams. His blood pours to the ground even as his regeneration begins working.

Yong looks at him with disappointment.

“Why did you try to escape despite knowing what would happen?”

To his surprise, Liu Jin smiles through the pain.

“I did not try to escape. I just needed... I needed Brother Yong to act.”

If someone like Yong were to attack, his Qi would naturally be felt. Not long enough for most people to notice it. However, Liu Jin only needs one person to become aware of it.

A hero who appears in the border territories to those in need. Someone who Song Daiyu assured him would be here.

“Step away from the boy. Now.”

Yong Zhunyi and Ye Zheyu immediately flare their Qi.

Liu Jin smiles.

The White Fairy, Bai Wen, has descended upon them.

~~~