~~~

Liu Jin and Han furiously attack each other. The force of their blows is enough to tear down nearby buildings.

Han’s aura screeches like metal grinding against metal. It takes the shape of hundreds of knives that attack everything around him like a pack of starving dogs. Because he has no care for the people, Han is free to exert his full power. Liu Jin does not dare to imagine how many people would have already died had he not done his best to scare everyone away with his aura before the fight began.

There is, Liu Jin supposes, a certain freedom in being able to cut yourself off from everyone. Han is not wrong when he says that Liu Jin has chained himself by trying to protect others.

If Liu Jin did not care about the people, he wouldn’t have had so much trouble fulfilling Murong Bang’s orders. He would have either killed everyone in the Brotherhood or everyone in the Lei Clan. Either would have worked. At every point, he would have been able to act with greater freedom. He’d already be focusing on the Death Fashioning Scripture instead of having wasted so much time.

He has known it all this time, so he can understand Han’s thought process.

And yet, what does it matter?

Acting like that is still unacceptable to him.

Han fires a Qi blade in the direction of the city gates. Liu Jin’s aura rises to block it, taking the shape of a giant snake. It moves fluidly, far more than any of Han’s attacks, intercepting and canceling out his technique.

Han appears behind him, his aura sharpened into a perfect blade.

The ground under his feet breaks.

Han is forced to jump away as one of Liu Jin’s snakes rises from the ground, its jaw open wide enough that it would have swallowed Han whole had he been a little slower. It is not the only one. Four other snakes just as large rise from different spots in the city. Two move to block the way to the city gates. The other three lay down their massive bodies around the area damaged by their fight, effectively cordoning it off.

Han looks amazed. “When did you have time to make those?”

“When you were too busy talking,” Liu Jin replies. “You should learn to pay attention to others when you talk. Perhaps it would be better if you didn’t talk at all.”

“Talking during battle is the privilege of the strong.”

“I will endeavor to exercise that privilege then.”

Han fires off a Qi blade. That way it tears through the ground reminds Liu Jin of a shark’s fin cutting through the water. He calculates its potential trajectory, sees it will not hit anyone, and dodges. Of course, that is nothing that Han did not expect. His foe is already moving swiftly to intercept him.

Somehow Han is even faster than when the fight began. Wherever Han goes, he leaves behind a thin line on the ground, as if a blade were marking his path. His hand is already moving to pierce Liu Jin’s chest the moment he reaches his highest acceleration.

[Art of the Roaming Thief]

Han goes right through Liu Jin but finds neither flesh nor blood. Han might be becoming faster, but only when traveling in a straight line. Art of the Roaming Thief has no such limitations.

Even so, that there is a new cut in Liu Jin’s robes is worrying.

Han roars and his Qi explodes in multiple blades that fly in all directions. As Liu Jin easily flows between them, he wonders if Han’s improved speed might be due to his Dao. Like it or not, Han is much further along his Dao than he is, and Dao might just be the determining factor in this fight.

That being the case…

Liu Jin swiftly turns on his heel, surprising Han, who had been chasing after him, and dashes to attack.

[Ground Contraction]

He speeds up. Han eagerly welcomes him with hundreds of knives, but a giant Qi snake surges from Liu Jin’s aura and swallows them all as it advances on Han. Not backing down, Han speeds up and fires off a giant Qi blade. There is so much power concentrated in it that it is almost blinding.

The head of Liu Jin’s construct is sliced off.

[Ground Contraction]

Even so, Liu Jin does not stop. He stacks Ground Contractions on top of each other. Altering the angle of his charge just enough for Han’s attack to miss him by millimeters.

Han does not stop.

Neither does Liu Jin.

The two charge at each other at top speed, Han’s body sharpening into the mightiest blade and drops of poison seeping into Liu Jin’s aura.

The air screeches.

Once again, Liu Jin is subjected to the weird feeling of being inside a picture that is torn in half. The clash that would have doubtlessly resulted in grievous injuries for both sides now has both fighters several inches off course. Liu Jin is in no position to hit Han.

Han is in a position to strike Liu Jin.

[Ground Contraction]

But it’s not the same.

The first time, Liu Jin had been caught by surprise. This time, there is not a single moment of hesitation in him as he speeds up instead of wasting time trying to orient himself, allowing him to move away from Han before the latter can make use of the opening.

Cutting. That concept seems to lie near the root of Han’s Dao.

Liu Jin had surmised that much the last time they fought, but now he feels confident dismissing the idea of it being related to something like sword or sharpness. Instead, Han’s Dao feels related to the very act of cutting.

The technique Han has twice used to avoid his attacks feels more like tearing, but that might just be due to Han forcing his Dao. Or maybe, it is simply because Han’s Dao is in a state of flux. It is like Big Sister Bai told him, when one’s Dao is at a nascent stage, it is susceptible to change. Han’s Dao might be manifesting in various ways because he is in the process of finalizing himself.

Liu Jin sighs as he dodges a blade.

No wonder people simplify Dao to single words. Even if it misses some nuance, it still manages to get the point across. Anything else gets confusing fast.

One of Liu Jin’s snakes falls upon Han but misses him, smashing a building instead.

He needs to think about this in simpler terms.

Han is someone who has discarded the name Yun, essentially cutting himself from that part of his life. Consequently, he took Liu Jin’s reappearance in his life as a personal affront because Liu Jin reminded him of what he has been trying to separate himself from.

In battle, Han’s Dao works subtly, increasing the odds of his attacks landing while decreasing Liu Jin’s odds of doing the same. At least, that is how he has thought about it until now. If he thinks about it in terms of cutting, then Han is simply cutting himself away from inconvenient outcomes. Detaching himself from inconvenient events in the same way he does from inconvenient attachments. The way Liu Jin’s last two attacks missed is simply another extension of that.

“How childish of you,” Liu Jin mutters. Still, Han seems to hear him. His face becomes full of rage, and his arm slices the air to fire off a Qi blade.

Thunder roars.

White lightning meets Han’s attack, burning right through it and forcing Han to dodge.

“Are you finally going to take this seriously?” Han shouts at him. “Have you given up on caring for every useless waste that lives here?”

“You tell me,” Liu Jin says. “What do your senses tell you?”

Han looks confused, but only for a moment. His body tenses as he realizes what happened.

While Liu Jin and Han were fighting, the soldiers at the gate were being overwhelmed. That City Lord Lei brought stronger soldiers worked out to his benefit. It allowed Lei Kong and Ten to support the men without worrying about breaking Murong Bang’s rules. Now, his men are handling the evacuation, while Lei Kong and Ten are there to make sure Han’s attacks don’t reach them.

“I cannot use powerful attacks because I am afraid of the collateral damage. That’s what you said. Well, the more people leave this city, the less that advantage matters,” Liu Jin says.

Han snorts. “I should have known the men of the Lei Clan were useless.”

“It is not all their fault. I trained my men well.”

As Liu Jin speaks, the snake constructs he kept around the battlefield move swiftly. Their large bodies make the ground tremble, and lightning starts crackling around them.

Liu Jin has the pleasure of seeing Han’s eyes go wide.

Han dodges the charge of the first snake, gets out of the way of the second one, but the third one blocks his way.

Liu Jin is right above him, a lightning spear in his hand.

He throws it.

The ground breaks. The city trembles. However, Liu Jin’s attack does not land where he aimed, hitting one of his snakes instead. Han is suddenly not where he should be. Liu Jin senses him to his left and gathers Qi under his feet quickly enough to dodge Han’s sneak attack. The two clash in the air three times before being forced apart. As Han falls, he sharpens his Qi and cleaves one of his constructs in half.

Liu Jin frowns. Every time Han uses that trick, he gets a little better with it. Han’s Dao keeps sharpening during their fight.

That is a problem.

Lightning appears in Liu Jin’s hands, and he throws it at Han like a javelin. One time. Three times. Five. Liu Jin does not stop. He keeps burning through his Qi to put Han on the defensive. Some would call it reckless, but he needs to give himself time to think.

Liu Jin feels he has gained a solid understanding of Han’s Dao. He had been hoping to use that to outmaneuver Han, but doing something like trying to tire Han out while circumventing his Dao is no longer an option. Giving Han time might lead him to evolve further.

There is no way around it. Liu Jin needs to overcome Han’s Dao.

Has understanding Han’s Dao given Liu Jin a way to do that?

Liu Jin doesn’t think so.

Understanding Han just makes it easier for Liu Jin to reject him from the bottom of his heart. From the core of his being. To win, he does not need to understand Han. He needs to understand himself, and the key to that might be in why Han’s Dao annoys him so much.

Liu Jin would like to say it is because he’s a doctor, but that does not ring true. He loves being able to use his medical skills to do good. Yet, his joy when such occasions present themselves only highlights what a small part of his life it has become.

He has killed entirely too many people, by word and deed, to call himself a proper doctor.

A long time ago, Lu Mei told him he did not like people. That he cared for them as an abstract concept but not as individuals. Uncomfortable as it is to admit it, she may have had a point. Liu Jin is trying to do good by the people in his army, but he cannot say he likes any of them. In fact, had they met under different circumstances, he’d probably hate them.

He can be kind to people like Rust and Nail because he’s strong. If they were equally weak, he probably wouldn’t like them. If he were weaker than them, if he were another beggar in the streets, they’d probably try to take advantage of him.

That is how most people are.

That is how the world is.

How annoying it is that it is easier to think of what he is against than what he embodies. Then again, how could it possibly be any other way?

Liu Jin did not dedicate his life to doing something he loves.

He dedicated his life to stopping what he hates.

“Your desperation is obvious!” Han yells, managing to dodge his way to him and engaging him in close combat.

Maybe that’s why Han makes him so angry. The Dao he has chosen is simply another expression of this world.

It is meaningless.

It is empty.

It is…

His soul expands.

The world fades away. There is no Rainstorm City. There are no civilians or Lei Clan soldiers. There is just Liu Jin and Han locked in combat, inky blackness all around them.

“What?” Han looks around, startled. “What is this?!”

For a moment, he has forgotten he’s in the middle of a fight. Liu Jin does not let it go to waste. White Poisonous Qi blooms around him in force.

His attack is too quick. Too sudden. Han is still disoriented. He cannot dodge, so he calls upon his Dao instead.

Reality quivers for a second.

Liu Jin’s hand goes right through Han’s chest.

“...How?” Han looks at him in incomprehension. He can do no more. Liu Jin’s poisonous Qi floods his body in the blink of an eye. He can feel Han’s flesh trying to regenerate around his hand, but it’s already too late.

Till the very end, Han does not understand why he is dying. He does not understand what Liu Jin grasps by instinct. Han’s technique cannot work in this place.

It is Hollow.

Han falls dead. The darkness falls like water that cannot keep its shape once it has left its container. Liu Jin breathes heavily. He looks at Han’s dead body for several seconds.

“Do you really mean to attack me?”

The soldiers that had been poorly trying to sneak up on him flinch. Some even fall on their backs when they try to run away.

“I see not all of you were assigned to try to capture Lu Mei. That was your good fortune,” Liu Jin says. “Do not waste it. I don’t believe I’d lose to you.”

To emphasize his point, Liu Jin allows lightning to rage around him. The white lightning flickers for a moment before shining brilliant gold. He was never able to do it during training. Even when fighting Han, the power escaped him. Now, it feels completely natural. The gold sparks shine beautifully around him, making the soldiers pale with fear.

That is when something goes wrong.

The lightning cracks and rages out of Liu Jin’s control. The soldiers closest to him are killed instantly. Liu Jin struggles to control it, but it feels like it’s not even his lightning anymore.

Gold turns to purple.

A massive bolt rises from the ground and howls into the sky, piercing even the clouds.

Once more, Rainstorm City disappears. However, there is no inky blackness around Liu Jin but clouds and thunder. It is as if he’s been thrown in the middle of a storm.

A storm that glares at him with eyes as crimson as his own.

“I greet the newest whelp of my bloodline.”

~~~