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Crack.

A thick layer of gravel has formed on the streets.

Most of the south side has been spared the effects of the Catastrophe, but at the peak of the storm, there was nowhere in Yumen where the sun could be seen.

Crack.

The lock is broken.

The furnace has been toppled, racks scattered everywhere, the yard littered with broken bricks and tiles.

The master of the house will never return to clean this up.

Yet the tree still stands.

Grandmaster.

Thank you for coming here to the Sword Forge.

The sword has been found, but she insists on returning it to you personally.

I need to talk to you.

Go ahead.

It's been more than a decade since I was last here.

It's like coming home, even though we're in the same city.

About Mr. Meng...

There's no need to say anything.

He knew it was wrong to put the whole city in danger. I reckon he had planned to atone for it from the beginning.

Still, my ill-considered actions have alienated the jianghu heroes of Yumen.

I will speak to my father and accept any discipline, once this crisis has passed.

And I will indemnify any losses suffered by the Sword Forge, as well as the costs of any repairs.

Lord Exorcist is fair and just. He will give them a proper answer.

However...

The events that transpired were sudden, and some misunderstanding is understandable. As for whether you lost your calm and stepped out of bounds... I will let you be your own judge.

I did what had to be done. My conscience is clear.

—Mm.

I'm sure you understand that the Shanhaizhong are even more dangerous to Yan than the Feranmuts.

The Feranmuts may be powerful, but we won the hunt a thousand years ago. Yan is even stronger now. There is nothing to fear.

True. Times have changed.

What is truly frightening is the shadow that had been cast on people's hearts since time primordial.

Heaven and earth, the moon and stars, wind and rain, the changing of the seasons... it is unfathomable, beyond our reckoning.

The Feranmuts were the same to the people of the time.

Ignorance breeds fear, which becomes twisted into religion. To those madmen, we are the ones we are the outsiders. We are the traitors.

Religion is simply another kind of obsession.

The Shanhaizhong's activities never waned, even after the Feranmuts faded from the public eye.

In the past centuries, they have absorbed bandits, pirates, robbers, and other sorts of villains. They use the Feranmuts as a shadow to conceal their activities.

Sui Regulator records indicate that the Shanhaizhong have done unmeasurable harm in the name of the Feranmuts.

The scale of their deeds is so widespread that complete elimination is impossible, and the vileness of their acts horrifying.

They have started to reach out to the proxies of your kin. They were thankfully foiled by the timely intervention of the Sui Regulator.

I doubt my siblings want anything to do with such 'disciples.'

However, the Sui's true form stirs from slumber, Yumen returns to its motherland, and the Shanhaizhong have infiltrated the city. It is a complex web, too complex to be a coincidence.

Do you mean...?

All under Heaven is the offender's Go board. The Shanhaizhong may simply be a piece in his game.

That's a serious accusation. Is it the Sui Regulator's official stance?

Or perhaps, the Shanhaizhong have already made contact with the Sui.

Therefore, the Sui Regulator sees this as the greatest Feranmut threat that Yan has faced in its history.

Yes.

Tracking the sword, dealing with the criminals, hunting the Shanhaizhong... you are the youngest Candleholder of the Sui Regulator, and son of the Lord Exorcist of Yumen. In this matter, your burden has no equal.

Yes.

In a world of chaos, decisions of life and death must be swift and forceful as thunder.

Err on the side of going too far.

Better to be too harsh, than too lenient.

That is what you think.

...Yes.

There is a young Zuo Xuanliao in you.

However, you seem to have forgotten Zuo Xuanliao's last instructions when he ordered you to do three things in three days.

Keep this secret, and do not disturb the people.

What was the ultimate goal of the imperial court when the Sui Regulator was established to deal with Feranmut matters?

Why has Yumen returned to the motherland, its survival at stake?

It's for the people in this city right now. The people whom you brought back to the camp.

...For all the people.

Never forget what all you do is for.

Maybe you were right in this instance, but a position of authority and holding the power to make decisions also means holding the power to kill or harm. Some mistakes can never be undone.

Though it shouldn't have been me to tell you all this.

Thank you for your guidance, Grandmaster.

The Catastrophe rages on. Go and help.

Boss, everybody, get in here.

This out-of-the-way alley is a blind spot in the Patrol Battalion's search routes. We're safe here for now.

Finally, a breather... is this all the men we have left?

We lost the rest on the street.

The Yumen soldiers moved much faster than expected, setting up watch around Catastrophe defenses and key roads in a very short time.

And those guards and brawlers who appeared out of nowhere. Cao, they were tough...

What about the Di beast we sent out?

None returned.

The other groups are probably no better off. If they were captured alive...

A rabble of greedy crooks who were recruited to not leave a trail to begin with. They won't give away anything important.

We've done what we came for. Let's go while we still have the Catastrophe, before Yumen can cut off our escape.

By the way... where's the Master?

Where is she at this crucial time?

She's...

You...

I took your sword. Now I'm giving it back.

Since you've returned it, I'll say you borrowed it.

I want to ask you a few questions. I'll only give it back after you've answered.

I know you're much stronger than I am, but don't try to take it by force.

Very well. Ask.

Why don't you look anxious at all? Don't you care about the sword?

A worldly possession. One that cannot be easily discarded.

I wouldn't say I don't care.

Either you care about it or not.

Shifu was right. The way that you beat around the bush can be annoying.

The one who said that...

Is the sword called 'Chongyue?'

'Shuo.'

Chongyue is my name.

Shifu often talked about this sword.

But maybe it's not just the sword that she wanted to see.

For the last couple of days, I've been thinking, is this Shifu's home?

Shifu taught us how to fight, taught us knowledge from the nomadic cities.

How to build sturdier houses to stand against the sandstorms, and how to listen to the pulse of the land in order to plant crops and dig for water, even in the barrens.