Chapter 30

I looked down at the Duskcreeper, it limped in slow, defiant steps, one leg lifted uselessly off the ground. My dagger was still embedded in its shoulder, buried to the hilt. Still it limped forward. Beasts like this didn’t know when to die. They were all instinct and rage.

Still… I couldn’t believe I’d thrown that blade so fast. So clean.

Even now, my hand tingled with the memory of the motion. I had always had the skill. But now with the power as well. It was on another level.

The knowledge granted by the cultivation manual sat sharp in the back of my mind. It was strange. To have something imparted into your mind. Gaining instant understanding. To know exactly what I needed to do, without ever actually doing it before.

But the how was the problem.

The technique ran on explosive Qi bursts, channelling energy through my meridians at a volatile pace, ripping through bone, tendon and muscle. It was like lighting a fuse in your veins and hoping the blast didn’t tear you apart.

Only It did exactly that, if I used it too often. Every time I used the technique I was literally destroying my body.

But that didn’t matter right now.

The Duskcreeper stalked forward on three legs, its breathing ragged. It still thought it could win.

It didn’t know it was already dead.

I shifted my stance. Lowered myself toward the ground. Left leg forward. Weight coiled into my hips. My sabre angled low at my side.

I drew a breath, tightened my grip, and ignited my Qi.

My body jolted forward. My muscles spasmed from the force, joints screaming in protest as the technique demanded angles and strain no one was meant to handle.

But I moved anyway.

I was already in front of the beast before it could blink.

I swung my blade in a rising arc, letting the momentum drag the Qi outward. My vision flared with pressure. My legs buckled as the backlash hit me.

But I cut a clean slash, deep and wide, into its side.

Blood sprayed across the alley wall in a thick, wet fan. The Duskcreeper froze mid-step, its eyes flickering.

Then it collapsed.

I exhaled, hard. My legs ached like they were made of led. My chest burned from the effort. I let out a deep breath and sheathed my blade.

Then turned slowly to face the girl behind me.

Fi Yan’s mouth hung open.

“Whoa,” she whispered. “That was… really cool.”

I nodded, despite the situation a small smile forming on my face. “It was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

As I got closer to her I continued. “Let’s go. You’re going back to the sect building.”

She nodded, quietly, and followed close behind as I walked back out of the alleyway. Her small footsteps padded behind mine, just a touch too fast, like she didn’t want to be even a second behind.

We stepped onto the main street.

Two men stood nearby, breathing hard, weapons lowered. A large, lizard-like beast lay at their feet, blood pooling beneath it, a spear still jutting from its back like a flag planted in victory. One of the men leaned on the other, a bloody smile on his young face. He must’ve been a couple years younger than me.

I stopped. So did Fi Yan.

“You shouldn’t see this,” I said gently.

She dropped her gaze, shoulders tight.

“You’re too late for that.”

Her voice was quiet. Shaking.

I stepped back to her and knelt. Without a word, I lifted her into my arms.

“Close your eyes,” I muttered.

Then I reached for my Qi.

Pain flared again but it was bearable, just a dull throb in my legs but I forced the circulation forward. Heat surged through my limbs, and in a heartbeat, I launched forward again.

Fi Yan clung to my robes, face buried in my chest.

As I moved, I finally let myself look around.

The village was carnage.

Dead beasts and villagers lay strewn across the streets like discarded dolls. Blood soaked the dirt in wide smears. Fire crackled in the distance. I smelled ash and rot and burning flesh.

I hoped Wei Lin was okay. Wherever he was. And the others.

We reached the sect building. Its wide doors were still intact. A handful of men and women stood guard outside, weapons in hand, eyes sharp.

Good. It meant they were still holding.

I dropped gently to one knee and set Fi Yan down. She blinked and opened her eyes, though I wasn’t sure she’d ever actually closed them.

“Go inside,” I said. “And don’t leave again. Do you understand?”

She nodded, then, without warning, lunged forward and buried her face in my chest again.

Soft sobs escaped her.

Her small hands clutched at my robes, shaking. I hesitated, then gently rested a hand on her head and ruffled her hair.

Just like I would with Elise.

I gave her a soft pat on the back.

“It’s all okay now,” I said. “You’re safe.”

She nodded against me. “Thank you, Big Brother Fang.” Her voice was muffled, but the words were clear.

Then she turned and ran for the doors.

I saw the glint of tears in her eyes before she disappeared inside.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I was holding.

Then I turned back toward the front of the village, toward the only entry point. Where the clash of steel, the screams and the place where the beasts were still storming in.

And I ran straight toward it.

———

The moment I rounded the last corner before the front gate, the air changed.

It wasn’t just the stench of blood or the ringing of steel. I could smell death in the air. It reminded me of the rift and for a moment I almost faltered.

I didn’t.

The barricade at the village’s main entry was half-collapsed when I arrived. One side sagged inward, broken timbre thrown about. Beasts surged through the breach, clawing over bodies and charging at anything that moved.

I looked around quickly. I hated what I saw. There were farmers. Bakers. People with blades in shaking hands. Bleeding and screaming. People that shouldn’t have to fight for their lives. Yet here they were.

And at the center of it all, holding the last scraps of the line, stood two men.

Elder Tian and Wei Lin.

Elder Tian was a mountain, even slumped with blood pouring down his arm. His massive axe cleaved through a beast’s skull, then reversed in a brutal backswing that took another in the gut. He roared as he moved, his voice gravel and thunder, but even I could hear the strain. His leg trembled.

Wei Lin stood a few feet away, his sabre red from tip to hilt. Blood stained his robes, splattered across his face, soaked into his boots. He fought like a man with nothing left to lose, his movements savage and precise. His limb was gone and in its place was just fury.

I let my sabre slide free from its sheath and stepped forward.

A beast lunged toward the two men, a massive thing with a horned snout and thick fur. It crashed through the broken line, claws raised.

Qi surged through my body.

The pain was instant. My muscles screamed. Bones groaned under the pressure.

I launched forward with a blast of speed that felt like it would tear my tendons clean off the bone.

My blade met the beast’s neck mid-air.

There was a sound, wet and sharp, like meat being torn from a hook and the beast hit the dirt in two pieces.

I staggered as I landed, every nerve lit up with fire. My knees nearly buckled. I caught myself with one hand and forced my breathing under control. I looked back at the split beasts. My blade was dropping with blood.

Was this who I was now? Where was this power when I needed it in the rift?

Oh well. That was one.

Another bounded over the corpse. It was a hound-like creature with scales instead of fur. It snarled, mouth wide.

I ducked under its leap, drove my blade up into its belly, and twisted.

The weight collapsed on top of me. I shoved it aside and rose again.

That was two.

A third beast darted around the edge of the fight, aiming for a woman dragging a wounded man behind her. It was sleek and fast and reminded me of a small cheetah.

It was about to leap at her back.

I’m not too slow anymore.

I pulled my broken dagger and let the Qi burn through my shoulder, braced, and threw.

The blade whistled through the air and sank into the beast’s temple with a sickening thud. It crumpled.

Three.

I moved closer and removed my blade. The woman looked back, her eyes wide and blood drained from her face. It was Lian Rui.

I nodded. “Take him back to master Kai.”

She gave a determined nod. “Thank you.”

I turned as more beasts flooded the breach, a wave of tooth and fang. I charged forward, straight into them.

A claw swiped for my chest. I twisted, let it graze past me, and hacked into the beast’s ribs. It howled, staggered, and fell as I kicked it away.

Another jumped from the side, mouth wide, aiming for my throat.

I slammed my shoulder into it mid-leap, gritting my teeth as pain lanced through me. The beast hit the ground, stunned, and I drove my blade through the back of its skull.

They kept coming.

My breath came faster. Qi tore through me in jagged bursts. I could feel the strain building in my arms, in my calves, in my lungs. Every movement was power and punishment.

My muscles were fraying. I could feel it. Little tears beneath the skin. Places where tendons should hold steady now pulled and screamed with every surge.

But I kept moving.

One more beast. Then another. Then two at once.

I ducked. Swung. Spun. Kicked.

I let my anger carry me. I could finally make a difference. So I would.

Anger that this village was left to fend for itself. That beasts had torn through its homes. Anger at seeing Fi Yan begging not to die alone in a dead-end alley.

That I couldn’t protect the people I loved back home — so maybe, just maybe, I could protect someone now.

And these beasts… they couldn’t stop me. It was time to make good on Wei Lin’s promise and kill every last one.

I tore through another one, my sabre dragging clean across its neck. Blood fountained up and painted my face.

I saw Elder Tian falter. A beast rammed into his side, and the old man stumbled, falling to one knee. His axe hit the ground with a dull thud.

I surged toward him.

The beast loomed, jaws opening.

“No,” I growled.

I shot forward again.

My body howled in protest. My vision blurred. I tasted blood in my mouth, mine.

But I got there.

My blade cut the beast in half before it could touch him.

Elder Tian looked up at me, blood running down his face. “You… you were a cultivator this whole time?.”

I pulled him back to his feet with one hand. He grunted, but stood.

“Later, we’ll talk later. Just keep fighting.” I said.

He grinned, a bloody thing. “You think I’m going somewhere?”

Wei Lin stumbled toward us, face wild, eyes bloodshot.

“Fang Wu,” he breathed. “What in the hells did you do?”

I glanced at him. He looked like a man who’d been through hell and come out swinging. I wanted to say something, something light, something that’d make sense of it all, but nothing came.

We didn’t have time.

The ground trembled.

Just faintly. A ripple beneath my feet.

The other villagers felt it too. Everyone paused.

Then a sound.

Low and deep reverberated up the valley and echoed into the village. It was full of rage and hate.

And then I saw it.

It must have been the Spirit Beast.

It emerged from the treeline like a shadow given flesh. Towering. Lean. Black fur shimmered under the setting sun. Its eyes burned like coals, with nothing but pure hunger in its gaze.

The battlefield went still.

Dozens of beasts parted around it instinctively, stepping aside like servants making way for a king.

I stared at it.

And it stared back and bashed its chest with its arms.

Fuck. How am I meant to fight a jacked up gorilla.