act23side

(Picks chopsticks up silently)

What happened to your hand...?

I scraped myself in a match today... but a wound like this is nothing! Yumen's arena is open all day long, and I was up against lots of tough opponents. And I won in the end!

That explains why the inn keeps so many medicines in stock... Wait here. I'll bring you some.

Show me your hand.

Oof.

It's only in times like these that I remember... you're Waai Tinpui's... or I guess out here he's Huai Tianpei, his daughter.

We're nothing alike!

He's a grown man, but he shirks all his responsibilities, washes his hands of everything.

I've been living a fairly decent, productive life on my own. But him? He was already a lawbreaker back when I was still a kid!

You're exactly right. That's why we should take him straight to the nearest L.G.D. office the moment we find him.

Uncle Lee... Do you think he's really here in Yumen?

I heard a rumor that someone saw him here a year ago. It's from your Uncle Liang, and I have no choice but to believe him.

If he's really in Yumen, he has to have seen my name on the rankings at the city gate by now. It's been so many years. The least he could've done was stop by to check on me when he passed through Lungmen.

Does that mean he doesn't care about me? Or is he trying to avoid me?

Now, I can't say how fathers feel about their daughters.

But blood is thicker than water. Nothing changes that.

I have faith that you two will see each other one day. The question is whether the you two will find the answers you seek once you meet.

Actually... I'm still not sure I'm prepared to see him.

In that case, let's say we walk outside right now and we bump into him. What are you going to do?

I'm going to break his jaw.

That concludes my summary. The Catastrophe data has been sent to Imperial Astronomical Bureau's Observatory, and a provisional new course has been charted based on the computations' results.

The injured men have all been sent to the infirmary, and Envoy Lin is currently investigating the rest.

Hmm...

Thank you. You are excused.

A Catastrophe is approaching, and I allowed this to happen within Yumen borders at this crucial time. I apologize for my negligence.

You need not belittle yourself so.

The important thing right now is to find the identity of our malefactors. Your thoughts, Lord Exorcist?

...The Shanhaizhong.

They should've been eradicated twenty years ago.

The wild hunt of the Feranmut a thousand years ago ended the era of their rampage across the land of Great Yan, yet this was unable to quell the masses' reverence of those terrible monsters.

There have always been those who've worshipped the Feranmuts' power and revered them as gods. They considered themselves followers of the Feranmuts and banded together to locate any traces of them.

The Sui Regulator has for a long time been tracking the movements of this lawless organization, and ever since the offender's commotion... it's like these rebels have been inspired by something, and they've been growing more and more active.

They call themselves the 'Shanhaizhong.' 'The mounts, seas, and all in between shall be our master's,' or so they claim.

Their motto couldn't be any more absurd, but it attracted a great number of followers to join their cause. Not only do they have adherents from a variety of backgrounds far and wide, they have even been plotting atrocities in the name of the Feranmuts.

Hard to imagine there are those who find it harder to put this thousand-year grudge behind them than us.

It's been two decades. This is their second time making trouble here in Yumen.

Yumen itself is a symbol of Yan's triumph over the Feranmuts. These villains naturally have a reason to do it harm.

And with Yumen set to sail afar, the Shanhaizhong's actions point directly to information regarding the oncoming Catastrophe. I can only assume they've learned of Yumen's destination.

Investigate this immediately and ensure peace in Yumen. I accept no failures.

They did not succeed twenty years ago, and they will not succeed this time.

The reason I summoned all of you here today is to discuss what to do with the Grandmaster's sword.

After what happened in Shangshu, there is no doubt that the offender has already made contact with the other proxies.

Sealed with the Grandmaster's sword is one-twelfth of the bestial Sui's consciousness.

Isn't this precisely so why we mustn't underplay the transfer of this sword?

As things stand, the other 180 black stones are yet missing. No one knows where his next move will lead us.

Should we treat all the world's affairs as a game of Go, no one can claim to be able to best him in terms of calculations.

There is very little distance between him and the Sui Regulator. To leave the Regulator in charge of the sword would only achieve the opposite of what we intend.

Against such an opponent, an irrational move might actually be the most brilliant one. Finding a suitable outsider to take the blade might be the solution we need.

My little brother has caused all of you much trouble, after all.

If this is both the Grand Tutor and the Grandmaster's intention, I have no objection.

Grandmaster.

Is something the matter?

Assist the Lord Exorcist in suppressing the Shanhaizhong. This is the Sui Regulator's last task for you.

Once a suitable candidate has been found, the court will allow you to roam free within Yan's borders and interfere with you no longer.

Yumen's citizens may not know your name, and even though you and I will no longer live in a hundred years, the scrolls in the Sui Regulator's libraries will record everything you've done for Yan.

With my dream about to be realized, I have no reason to complain.

I simply do not know whether I should lament that... I will not get to stay with this city to its final moments.

Hm...?

Something on your mind, Miss Ling?

Do any of you smell something... floral, perhaps?

I would say it's... peach blossoms?

Peach blossoms...?

Located in a harsh, desolate sandpit, there is no way for peaches to grow in the Lord Exorcist's courtyard.

Likewise, peach trees do not normally bloom this time of the year in Yumen.

However, everyone in attendance can smell the thick aroma of peaches wafting through the window like the moonlight peeking through. They also see a single, vividly red petal drifting into the hall and gently floating downward.

Well, if that isn't strange...

Watch out!

A blade appears almost out of thin air.

Its tip pauses not an inch away from Wei Yenwu's throat. A freezing chill pierces the flesh of everyone in the room just as the soothing aroma of the flower quells any discomfort they had.

You caught my blade with your bare hands. You can take pride in that.

With your advanced kung fu, why do something as vile and base as ambush us?

I have a question for you myself. With your immense power, why opt for that frail body?

You know me...?

Ling.

I follow.

Grand Tutor, General Zuo. Are you okay?

We're fine.

To think someone could dodge a concerted attack from both Lord Wei and the Grandmaster... Unbelievable.

Thank you for your assistance, Grandmaster.

Given her prowess... she must be skilled in more than just melee combat.

Grandmaster, the sentries will be here soon. Let us prioritize capturing the assassin.

Be careful.

What a refined lady. Leaving us already after scattering these petals around us?

If you would disturb our gathering, why not stay for a little longer?

Let's see what you are trying to keep me here with.

A dream?

You can tell this is a dream?

You still have this power... even after dividing yourself into twelfths.

Hoh? You know not only me, but <i>him</i> as well?

I want to see him... and you are not him.

I am <i>I</i>, naturally, and why do you wish to see him?

Even in a dream, I don't want to waste any time on you.

Your fanciful dream cannot keep me here.

It seems you've dreamt for a long, long time yourself.

Now that you've awakened and returned to the mortal realm, it seems hostilities are unavoidable.

If you want my life, perhaps you should tell me what kind of grudge you have against me.

I don't need to have a grudge against you to want your life.

Kung fu is fine in the place of a grudge.

Let me have another taste of your prowess.