Xue ran off into the woods, leaving Wenlong in the dust.
Firstly, she didn't want him to tail her. To prevent that, she began moving in random directions for a while before continuing in a straight line. She hoped that by doing so, she could throw him off—though she had never done anything like this before. She didn't know if it would actually work or not.
She passed many different demonic beasts during her run through the forest. Knowing where they were before they sensed her helped her avoid them entirely; they never even noticed her presence. She hoped that if Wenlong did try to follow her, he would at least be slowed down by them.
She held no ill will toward him—she just wanted to be alone so she could think. She needed time to plan her next steps after really processing everything he had told her.
After nearly an hour of weaving through brush, ducking under branches, and leaping over roots, Xue finally slowed her pace. Her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, her breathing controlled, but her mind anything but.
The forest here felt different. It felt quieter, more ancient. The wind barely whispered through the trees, and the usual chorus of birds and insects had given way to stillness. She paused and tilted her head, listening.
A small clearing opened ahead of her, ringed by tall trees whose branches curved inward like fingers forming a protective dome. In the center, a small field of grass that moved in the breeze.
She stepped into the clearing, the ground soft beneath her feet. The air was cool, touched with the scent of pine. Here, the world didn't feel like it was pressing in. Here, she could breathe.
Xue lay in the grass, her head facing the dome of branches as she spread her limbs and stretched out.
Finally... a place to think.
Everything Wenlong had said circled in her mind. Her clan was in turmoil, the Jin Clan was under suspicion, and her father… he had not given up. Part of her had expected the world to forget her, for the chaos she left behind to settle into silence.
But it hadn't.
Why are you surprised? He's your father. Her brow furrowed.
She clenched her fists. I just wanted freedom. Now my father might have to pay the price for it. I can't let him do that. He should not have to suffer because of me. Besides, I now have the power to change my fate. At least, I have the potential to do so.
Her mind turned toward the city she had fled. I am not strong enough to go against the clan just yet. After all, while no one I know of is at the Foundation Establishment Realm, I think there are those in Emerald Ridge City at the ninth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. I can't fight someone able to manifest their spiritual energy. What to do…
A long breath left her lungs, slow and sharp.
She couldn't stay in the forest forever. If tensions were rising—if the Lian and Jin clans were teetering on the edge of war—then her disappearance had already done more damage than she intended. She never meant to be a catalyst for bloodshed.
This is my mess. I need to clean it up. I can lay low and cultivate quietly.
Her fingers uncurled slowly.
"I'll go back," she whispered aloud to the trees.
Before she had even gotten up, she stopped.
No… if I go back, I must make sure they all see me. Everyone must know I'm alive and that I returned on my own. That's the only way to calm things down. If I sneak in quietly, rumors will continue to spread and nothing will be settled. I need to be seen. I need them to know the truth.
She slowly stood, brushing stray leaves from her robes.
I'll go back and let them see me. Then I'll disappear into the background. I'll stay quiet, keep my cultivation hidden… and prepare. When the time comes, I'll rise. Not until I'm ready, though.
The wind blew and tickled her face as it went by. The forest was so free of her concerns. The trees would most likely still be dancing in the wind even if the world ended.
I will undoubtedly be forced to explain myself. If not to my father, then to the elders. With my father, I can tell him the truth. He deserves to know. The elders, on the other hand, can go suck an egg. Still, what should I say when they summon me to ask? Say I got kidnapped and escaped? No, they would then ask how a blind girl could escape like that. It would raise more questions than it would answer. If that won't work, then should I tell the truth? Tell them I left the city to die and couldn't go through with it?
Her eyebrows shot up as she seemed to find the way she would proceed.
Actually, that might very well work. Discussion of ending my life would paint me as weak-minded and most likely create an even deeper disdain of me. With disdain often comes avoidance. If they begin to avoid me and disdain me even more, perhaps I can stay invisible to them long enough to become even stronger.
It seemed like a perfect plan, although she was aware there was a glaring downside. If someone who represented the personal interests of the clan admitted they had wished to commit suicide and ruin that supposedly bright future, would they really let her walk free? No. There was a great chance they would assign someone to watch her so she couldn't make the attempt again. Not only suicide, but running away in general. If she were put under constant watch, it would be nearly impossible to achieve her goals. The only problem was that there weren't many other options for her.
What do I do? Why is this so hard?
She took a deep breath and began to ponder.
Maybe father would know. After all, he is on my side. I don't have to do this all alone.
After saying so, she began to leave the peaceful ground she had managed to find.
Just a bit later and she was in the thick of the forest again with trees, vines, bushes, and tall grass on all sides of her.
It did not take long for trouble to find her. She sensed a heartbeat rapidly approaching her. Without time to take a detour to avoid it, she simply waited for it to close in.
A couple seconds later, a beast jumped from the bushes.
It looked vaguely like a panther, but its body was long and lean like a serpent's, covered in scaled green hide that shimmered like wet leaves under sunlight. It looked as if something a kid would draw had come to life. Its legs were short but muscular, and its paws had extended claws like sickles — curved, sharp, and twice as long as her fingers. Thick frills of tentacle-like growths fanned around its head and shoulders. Most striking of all was the long tail, ending in a thorned bulb that dripped with venom so thick she could smell its sour sting from several meters away. It just looked very odd and dangerous.
It hissed at her, crouching low.
She didn't back away.
Instead, she bent her knees slightly and raised her hands.
"Come on, then," she muttered.
The beast responded with a screech and leapt.
It moved fast. It was a blur of claws and muscle. Thankfully, Xue had fought faster. She sidestepped, barely brushing past its claws, and slammed her elbow into its side as it passed.
The impact was solid — a bone-jarring thud that echoed in the air. The Striker tumbled but recovered quickly, twisting and landing low to the ground.
It hissed again, this time circling.
Xue felt the blood pumping in its body as it detailed the way it moved such as the timing of its steps, or the sound of its heart when it leapt. Her heightened senses painted a vivid map around her.
It lunged again, its claws sweeping up in a wide arc.
She ducked low and closed the distance. Before it could recover, she drove a fist into its chest. The blow cracked something hard beneath the scales and fur. The beast shrieked and reared back, but she was already moving, throwing another punch — this time into its jaw.
Its head whipped sideways, green blood spurting from its mouth.
It swung its thorned tail in retaliation. She heard the whip of air and twisted her body to avoid it. Still, the tip grazed her thigh, slicing through fabric and skin alike. Pain flared, but she ignored it. The venom might have been deadly to a mortal, but her body was no longer so fragile.
"Not good enough," she growled.
She launched forward, slamming a knee into its abdomen. As it wheezed, she seized its head with both hands and yanked it downward, her forehead crashing into its skull with a crack.
Dazed, it tried to scramble back.
She didn't let it even though her head pounded a bit from the strike.
Xue tackled the beast to the ground and pinned it beneath her weight, fists rising high.
Then she began to punch.
Over. And over. And over.
Each strike split flesh and crushed bone, her hands soaked in blood and bile. The creature writhed beneath her, screeching and thrashing, but her arms moved like pistons — relentless, precise, brutal. She didn't stop even when it stopped moving. Not until its skull gave way entirely, caving in under the weight of her final, brutal blows.
Panting, she sat back on her heels.
The forest went still again.
Green blood pooled beneath her, sticky and steaming slightly. Her hands dripped with it, but she felt no horror or any regret.
She felt she was okay with doing anything so long as it granted her strength.
As before, the beast's blood crept up her limbs — threads of power drawn toward her skin. It seeped into her veins, igniting her muscles with new vitality. Her cuts closed slowly, the ache in her arms fading bit by bit.
She stood.
Please, no more interruptions. I wish to go home.
Fate, it would seem, would have her side in this.
The day was growing warmer as maybe an hour or so passed. The forest thinned around her, the trees growing sparse and scattered like retreating sentinels. The wind no longer carried the earthy musk of moss and beast, but instead, it brought with it the scent of civilization.
Xue walked steadily, her crimson robes filled with tears here and there, but she didn't stop to clean herself. There was no point in looking perfect. The point was to be seen — and remembered. In fact, she was cleaner than she should be. With all the beast blood she had been covered with during her time in the mountainous forest, it was a surprise she wasn't covered in that. Thankfully, she absorbed all the blood, even her own, or she would have really been a sight to see.
The packed dirt path beneath her feet slowly became firmer, more even. Cart tracks became visible beneath her soles. Soon, she passed a pair of worn stone markers — simple boundary stones overgrown with weeds. The outer edge of Emerald Ridge City's influence.
She stopped for a moment and tilted her head upward. Though she could not see it, she felt the warmth of the sun on her face. It was already nearing noon.
Her heart beat faster.
She could hear the city from here — hundreds of footsteps, clanking armor, and the dull roar of a crowd going about its day. Shouts from vendors, laughter from children, and the occasional cry of a hawker trying to offload his goods.
It was completely overwhelming to her. Her senses had improved to an unbelievable degree. The sounds of the city seemed to want to swallow her as she approached. Her form of echolocation was showing its bad side as her mind began to paint the figures of every single person, every single animal, every door, table, chair, and home into her mind. Additionally, her blood sense, once her greatest weapon in the woods, was now a curse that drowned her in the chaos of thousands of lives pulsing all at once. Not only did she map their movements in her mind, but she was reading thousands of pulses at once.
Ahhhh, it is too much! It hurts!
She had to really resist the urge to cover her ears and crouch on the spot.
Surely there has to be a way to calm it down. Think. Think.
She began to let go of everything. She attempted to narrow in on the rhythm of her own body. The steady thump of her heart. The rise and fall of her chest. The faint whisper of wind brushing past her ear. She imagined her senses like the surface of a pond, disturbed by stones. Slowly, she smoothed the ripples, drawing her focus inward. One sound at a time, she shut the city out.
When she opened her mind again, it was quieter. Still chaotic, but manageable.
Thank the gods...
With that out of the way, she made her way to the gates of the city.
The outer wall of Emerald Ridge was modest by the standards of major cities, but still intimidating to any first-time traveler. Built from stone and reinforced with formations that had long lost their power when most of the spirit stone mines dried up, it stretched high above, wrapped in creeping moss and banners bearing the city's seal — mountains with a dazzling emerald color as the sun rises behind it.
She approached slowly, letting the guards see her long before she reached the gate.
There were four of them, their conversation halting the moment they noticed her. She could hear their shift in posture, the way they grabbed their weapons. Her appearance was… not subtle.
Her robes were torn. Her face was streaked with dirt. Her presence to the guards still appeared to be like a normal mortal. Well, as normal as one can look in such a poor state.
"Halt," one of the guards called, his voice stern but confused. "State your name and business."
She stopped within a dozen paces of them and slowly lowered her hood.
"I am Lian Xue," she said softly, voice calm. "Daughter of Lian Chengwu, patriarch of the Lian Clan."
Audible gasps resounded as if the guards had forgotten how to breathe.
She heard one man step back in shock. Another fumbled for something — perhaps a communication talisman or paper and ink to write a message for a carrier pigeon. Already, whispers were beginning to stir near the gate. A passing merchant paused, reins in hand. A woman carrying a basket of fruit gasped as her child pointed.
"You… You're alive?" one guard breathed.
"Yes," Xue said simply. "I have returned."
No stupid, I am a walking corpse. What kind of question is that?
A heavy silence followed. Then one of the guards scrambled to his senses.
"Y-Yes! Please, wait just a moment, Young Miss Xue! We need to send word to the city core. Your father—he's been searching desperately!"
She nodded once. "I'll wait."
She felt every eye settle on her, every whisper pass from lip to lip. They would see her. They were seeing her.
Good, she thought. At least I am achieving my objective. Still, I really hate the feeling of being stared at by so many people like I am some kind of exotic animal.
Let them carry the word back to the elders, to the Jin Clan, to the streets and alleys and corners of Emerald Ridge.
The devil had reached the city.