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But there was no way I could tell Yu Li any of that.

Especially knowing what the Fire Birds truly were now.

Telling her I was moving out was the best I could do.

But even that wasn’t going well so far.

Yu Li’s face was twisted with incomprehension and a hint of rage. “How the hell can you be moving out, Chun?” she said, bouncing Su Ling at her hip. “Aren’t you supposed to be defending and saving us all? How are going to do that now if you’re not even here? It feels like you’re abandoning us!”

“Whoa, hey,” I said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I’d never abandon you, Yu Li. Any of you.”

I thought on my feet. “It’s for safety. I don’t know how many more enemies I’m going to make doing all this, but until I can own this place outright, I think it’s best not to lead any more trouble back to you or Su Ling.”

That seemed to soften her some, her brows reversing from a scowl to a look of worry. “You’re doing this for me?”

In a way, I thought. “I’m doing it for everyone.”

“Chun, this won’t change anything,” Yu Li said. “These people here still hate me. I’d feel much safer with you here. What if they come for me again? And where are you going to go anyway?”

“I’ll find someplace,” I said, purposefully ignoring her first question.

“Where?”

“Best that you not know that either.”

Yu Li folded her arms, looking vexed. “If you’re damn well flaking after all this, Chun, I swear to the heavens, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Hey,” I said with a laugh. “When have I ever flaked out on anything?”

“How about your whole school career for one.”

I laughed again at the irony of it all. I was perhaps a better student than Mu Lin now.

Yu Li finally released an exasperated sigh. “I’ve trusted you on this, Chun. With everything.”

“Then you should know you can trust me some more,” I said. “This is just…something I need to do, okay? But it’s all part of the plan. It’ll all work out in the end. You’ll see.”

She shook her head but eventually pulled me into a one-armed hug along with Su Ling. “I know I can’t stop you anyway, so I might as well give you my blessing. When are you planning to move out?”

“Tomorrow,” I said.

“Then come and have dinner with us tonight,” Yu Li said and turned about to head into her small kitchenette. “The least I can do is feed you before you end up—who knows where—eating trash on the damn streets.”

I laughed again. “I’ll head down to the square and get us some fresh meat. My treat.”

I left and ventured into the square and dropped some copper on some braised pork belly and chicken. On the way back I spotted Jian Yi and the question Yu Li had asked me earlier came back to my mind.

What if Jian Yi and her gang did come back for her while I was gone?

It was something I didn’t want to think about, much less have a solution for. I made eye contact with Jian Yi from a distance and the girl lifted her chin at me defiantly. Part of me wanted to punch her in the face, but another part wanted me to go over there and just tell her I was leaving, as if maybe that would be enough to satisfy her and leave Yu Li alone.

I nearly took a step towards her but stopped myself. No…telling her I was leaving would be a bad chess move on my part. Jian Yi would see it the same way Yu Li did—abandonment. And she’d milk every bit of it publicly to turn the rest of the neighborhood against me.

I sighed.

I had no stomach for all this politics crap. Punching faces and crushing skulls was more my style. But while I was still weak…I’d have to learn to play the game.

Even against my own people apparently.

Ignoring Jian Yi, I headed back to Yu Li’s and after having a nice farewell dinner finally headed back home. It still felt bad lying to Yu Li about everything, but there was no way around it. No one was supposed to know I was a Fire Bird now, not even her. Still, it felt shitty. Like I was indeed running out on her, on the whole community, just like she’d said.

But I supposed that was just more burden for the Struggler to bear.

Back in my apartment, I began packing my meager belongings. My clothes, my axe, and of course my specialty items: the two martial manuals and the orb. Taking the manuals back to the sect were akin to returning books to a library, so no big deal there, but no way could I take the orb. I wouldn’t trust bringing the thing within a hundred feet of Hong Feng.

I decided the best thing to do was to hide it. Perhaps somewhere in the outskirts of the farming district, where no one could possibly think to look. But there was one more item I couldn’t risk taking to the sect or hiding out in the wild.

Reached underneath the floorboards, I pulled out what was left of the lightning core, wrapped tightly in the rune-covered cloth. I’d been dreading what would have to come next from the time I left Hong Feng’s. So much so that I had made a detour to the alchemist district to splurge a whole Tael on a bottle of high-quality healing salve and a bottle of high-proof spirits.

I didn’t know what secrets I could glean from the Fire Birds in terms of masking my powers, but I knew one thing for sure. If I’d just managed to kill a Core Realm cultivator like Yin Chu, then my fake core needed upgrading big time.

I unwrapped the core and marveled at the lightning bolts flickering inside. It was pure and untainted, unlike the Demon-corrupted cores retrieved from those Fire Birds. Briefly, I wondered what my Frenzy core would eventually look like. More like this, I hoped as I rolled the core between my fingers. I’d hate to think mine was as blackened and corrupted as those Fire Birds were.

I was stalling now, I realized.

“Time to go big or go home,” I said and prepared to place the remainder of the lightning core inside my gut. Grabbing my tanning knife, I downed the bottle of spirits and when sufficient buzz was reached, got down to business.

* * *

I awoke the next morning feeling like I’d been run over by a truck, and it wasn’t just my self-inflicted stomach wound that was causing it either. Although truthfully the magic salve had done wonders overnight. It felt like my incision had almost completely healed already, but besides that, every punch, bruise, and puncture from my battle with Yin Chu was suddenly registered in my brain. I let out a groan as I tried to flex my body, every muscle rebelling in response.

My [Mark of the Giant] technique had healed me from those wounds instantly, but now it seemed I was being paid back in full and the currency was called pain.

But there was something else that was off as well.

And it wasn’t physical.

Rolling painfully out of my cot, I shifted into lotus position and began meditating to check on the condition of my Flame. After a few moments it materialized in my mind’s eye. It was dimmer than I remembered. Like something was smothering it. Opening my eyes, I looked down at the bandages wrapped around my lower torso.

It could only be one thing.

It was the same as before and the reason why I had to use the salve to heal my wound instead of my Frenzy. The core was adversely affecting the power of my Flame.

I huffed out a sigh.

No free lunch after all, I thought.

For as much as it was doing to cover for my new-found strength of my Frenzy, the lightning core was now suppressing it as well.

Damn it, I thought. Had I just set myself back on unlocking my lightning path as well?

Maybe this was the reason I was now feeling all the pain from my battle with Yin Chu also. Either way, it sucked.

But there was nothing I could do about it now.

I looked outside the window at the darkening sky. It was about to rain.

And it was time to go to work.

* * *

I arrived at the gate, half-drenched, to find most of the handlers huddled under the lean-to and playing cards. It was a welcome sight. Most clients didn’t want to head out on excursions in the rain and with my core wound still mending, doing nothing all day was just fine with me.

I took a quick moment to rinse my hands in the washroom, cleaning them of all the mud I’d gotten under my fingernails from burying the orb. I’d picked what used to be the courtyard of an old hotel a few miles from the handler station, placing it under a tall oak tree. I’d memorized the orb completely now, so there would be no need to dig it back up anytime soon. Or so I hoped, anyway. But I felt better knowing it was in a place few people if any would ever venture into to find.

I pulled up a chair at a table where Mu Lin, Lee, and my three handler protégés were all playing a game of Rooster Foot. I almost expected them to question where I’d been or something, but while I’d just gone through several life-changing experiences, I had to remember that to them I’d simply gone home for the night and just returned to work the next day.

I took a little comfort in that. As much struggle and strife that I was going through, there were still people simply living their normal lives. Deep down, I hoped I could keep it that way and maybe, just maybe…make their lives a little better in the end.

Lee dealt me into the next hand and after a while I lost myself laughing, joking, and playing cards with them. Mu Lin filled me in on where she was with her studies, apparently due to take her final exam in only six days’ time. Meanwhile Ren, Rho, and Yi Fu all seemed to be making out well in the field on their own. As we played, they shared stories of some of the outlandish offworld cultivators they had taken on excursion. Like an entire troop of air-based cultivators who insisted on fighting an Awakened Stone Lizard only to be petrified one by one. Luckily the effect wore off in an hour and the boys got the entire group home by luring the lizard off into the swamp. It was a crazy story, but afterwards they all admitted that nothing compared to their first time out with me and the eccentric Li Gong Qui.

We continued on, chatting and laughing, and by the time the rain had stopped a few hours later, I felt more like my old self again––worry free for a bit, simply enjoying the company of my comrades. It was something I would surely come to miss when I’d have to report to my new home in a few hours’ time.

“Hey, Chun! Get your ass over here!”

The vulgarity in Sumatra’s tone broke me out of my short-lived bliss, bringing the Struggler and Demon back into contention over my soul. I got up from the card table and applied [Indifference] to keep the resentment off my face.

I sauntered over to where he was, standing behind the service counter shuffling a bunch of request forms. No clients seemed to have arrived yet. Even the Imperial Guard and enforcers on duty were chatting amongst themselves closer towards the gate.

“What’s up?” I said.

“I’m putting you on half days as of now,” Sumatra said without even looking at me. “You report two hours before noon and then leave two hours after. Got it?”

I blinked. “What the hell am I supposed to do in only four hours?”

“I don’t care,” he said, sounding agitated. “Whatever the hell you want, I guess.” He then looked me sternly in the eye. “But when I call for you to give a tour, you know what the hell that means, right?”

He didn’t have to explain it. “I guess you got a message from Hong Feng?”

“Don’t gloat, you little shit,” he said—even though I wasn’t—and then slammed something on the counter. “Here. Your monthly stipend and your wages in advance. Hong Feng said he’ll pay you this way, through me…until you can prove yourself or some shit. Whatever the hell that means.”

When I looked, I saw he had slammed four Taels of silver down on the counter.

I couldn’t contain the widening of my eyes. Was this how much people got paid for being in a sect? No wonder so many were itching to join one. Or maybe this was more special treatment courtesy of Hong Feng. I scooped up the money and pocketed it without saying a word.

“It’s time for you to go already,” Sumatra said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He looked back down at his paperwork and began ignoring me.

I took that as my cue to leave. It was still mid-afternoon with no clients in sight. My co-workers were still playing cards but with blood money in my pocket, I didn’t feel worthy to join them anymore.

“I’m on a new schedule,” I announced as I walked back to them and began collecting my things. “Sumatra has me on half days now.”

“What?” Mu Lin said, sounding concerned. “Why?”

I shrugged with [Indifference]. “Don’t know. Don’t care. It’ll give me more time to sleep in anyway.”

Lee laughed, giving me a fist bump. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

Mu Lin still looked worried though. “Getting a pay cut isn’t a good thing, Chun. Are we losing business or something? Sure doesn’t look like it.”

“Hell if I know, but don’t worry about me, Mu Lin. You just need to focus on that exam,” I said, ruffling her hair playfully, which caused her to bat away my hands in annoyance. “Pass that thing and being a handler will be a thing of the past for you. Six days, right?”

She rolled her eyes, while fixing her hair. “Don’t remind me.”

I laughed. “You’ll do fine.”

I looked at them all again and couldn’t help but feel I was being pulled further away from the person I was and more into the persona I was playing. I was a Fire Bird now, and it was time to finally join their ranks.

“I’ll see you guys later,” I said as an emptiness filled me and then even more so as I looked at Sumatra. “Stay safe out there.”

* * *

An hour later, I finally dragged myself to the Fire Bird headquarters where Du Mak greeted me at the door. The bald headed, goateed cultivator was all smiles.

“Ah, so you’re finally here,” he said. “Shen Ju said to show you to your quarters before bringing you to him. Follow me.”

As he led me inside through the training area, I got the same glares from my brethren that I had received before, but only now they came with the added flavor of resentment. Surprisingly though, Du Mak was spewing a bit of lemonade.

“So, did you notice?” Du Mak asked.

I paused, wondering what he was talking about. “Notice what?”

“That I didn’t ask you for a rematch,” he said, looking over his shoulder at me. “That means I concede.”

“Is that right? So we’re all good then?”

He laughed. “If I knew you were so strong, Brother Chun, I never would have challenged you, but now…knowing that I survived two full slaps from the man who killed Yin Chu, I’ve gained much respect within the sect. I may even be moved from door duty soon.”

I chuckled. “Glad I could help out.”

“So did you really kill him with a single technique like they say?”

I glanced at him quizzically. “Weren’t you there?”

He smiled sheepishly. “I was, ah… still recovering from our last match at the time.”

I laughed. “I see. Well…I guess you can say it was a single technique.”

If you can call popping a man’s head off with your fist a technique, I thought.

Du Mak whistled. “You must be very strong indeed. Where did you learn these techniques?”

I shrugged. “I slapped a lot of faces.”

Du Mak looked at me strangely, before finally laughing. “Ah, I get it. You like to joke. Yin Chu was never much of a joker. Maybe that’s why he lost against you.”

“Maybe,” I said.

Du Mak continued to yammer on about various other members of the Sect, but without knowing their names or who they were I couldn’t really care. Still, I put on a smile for the guy as he led me to the upper floors of the building to where the walls between what used to be apartments were cleared out to make large open barracks filled with cots.

“Well, this is it,” he said, leading me to a single cot with a small chest at the foot and a small pillow and blanket at the head.

It looked no better than what I had at home, maybe even a little worse, but worst of all was having to live with twenty other cultivators judging by the number of cots in the room. The thought made my Flame dim.

I did not want to be here.

“Okay, pack away your things and dress in the robe that’s inside the chest,” he said. “I’ll take you to see Brother Shen Ju.”

He waited while I stowed my clothes and belongings and then put on the red robe with white trim.

“Huh?” he said, pinching the white sleeve of my robe. “They gave you an initiate’s robe?”

I shrugged with [Indifference]. “Guess I’m on probation.”

Du Mak furrowed his brow. “I guess so. Oh well, try not to make a fuss. If you complain they’ll only ride you harder.”

What the hell? “Who will?”

Du Mask gave me a frown. “Whoever Brother Shen Ju assigns you to.”

Ire started to build within my gut as the noose further closed around my neck. I was starting to hate this place more than the empire already. But this was what I’d signed up for, I reminded myself.

As Du Mak led me to find Shen Ju, I took advantage of the only silver lining to be had from all of this and quietly began cultivating my inner angst into Frenzy. But that led to remembering what I truly needed to get out of this place, besides gaining my sect status, of course.

“Hey, Du Mak,” I said. “Master Hong Feng said there was a fundamental technique that I should try to master right away. He said it was something to mask or flavor your Qi?”

“Huh?” he said, stopping. “You know about [Devil’s Shadow] already?”

“Yes…” I said, rolling with the conversation. “…that was the name. [Devil’s Shadow]. Where can I start learning it? Is there a manual I can find in the library?”

Du Mak scratched his bald head. “I can’t recall. I learned from Brother Tong when I became a disciple.”

“Can he teach me too?”

“No way,” he said. “He’s already dead. But it’s a simple technique. Even I could probably teach you.”

“Could you?” I asked.

I sensed I’d pushed it a bit too far as Du Mak put on a grimace. “I’d probably have to check if I have permission. I’m not supposed to teach anyone, anything. I’m still only an outer disciple and, you…are on probation at the moment.”

“No worries,” I said quickly, not wanting to make a point of it. “I’ll guess I’ll pick it up in time.”

“Yes, it’s very simple,” he said. “Only took me eight months to learn.”

Eight months? What the hell?

The hallway we were traversing deadened at some stairs and Du Mak led me back down to the training room floor. Entering a side room filled with weights and sandbags, we found Shen Ju. He had his back to us, counting reps while overseeing a group of ten or so Fire Birds who were performing sit-ups with heavy stone weights on their chests.

Du Mak waited while the set completed with Shen Ju counting up to fifty before he finally stopped. Du Mak then whispered in his ear and Shen Ju finally turned to face me, a smirk on his lips as he looked me up and down.

“I see the uniform fits,” he said. “The colors too.”

A few of the Fire Birds behind him snickered and I noted they were dressed in all red robes. Lesser disciples I figured, seeing as they lacked the orange stripes of the full-blown members.

“Did Hong Feng say I was to report to you?” I asked.

“All initiates report to me,” he said, before turning to Du Mak. “You may leave.”

Du Mak bowed and quickly saw himself out.

Shen Ju stepped before me with the pride of a man who held power over one stronger than himself. Just the sight of it flared my insides with fresh anger. I sensed a sudden burst of Dark Frenzy and before I knew it, his hand had moved in a blur, striking me in my Dantian.

Pain exploded from my mending wound, doubling me over as a moan escaped my lips.

“There! You see, students?” he said, turning his back to me and to his class. “No matter one’s strength. One must always learn humility in the face of a superior within the sect.” He then turned back to me, grinning. “Our dear new initiate here, Brother Chun, as powerful as he is, is yet to learn these basic precepts. Let us help him on his path, shall we? Everyone up!”

“Yes, Elder Brother!” they all shouted in unison, jumping to their feet.

“Go now, one by one. Teach Brother Chun to bow as I have.”

What the…?

Before I could even steady myself, the bastards lined up and started punching me in the gut. The pain from my wound winded me. Keeping me bent over until I finally mustered the Frenzy to protect myself with [Iron Skin]. But the technique didn’t work well over the still-mending wound, the Qi from the core interfering with it somehow.

The thought made me doubly irate. One: that Shen Ju was even subjecting me to this bullshit and two: that in my current state, I was giving him the satisfaction of a reaction. I gritted my teeth as I took it nonetheless, feeling like I was back on that stump in the middle of the square again. A man subjugated by perverse laws and forced to comply with torture of his own free will.

Anger and rage seethed upwards from my Flame, locking my jaw in place, but I used [Struggler’s Resolve] to keep myself under control and took the beatings blow by blow as they all laughed and jeered like I was some game at a carnival. I bowed with each hit and finally when they were all done, Shen Ju sent them back to doing sit-ups again.

“Next time,” Shen Ju said. “You will remember to bow when you see me, yes?”

The Struggler nearly lost his grip as I forced myself to speak. “Yes, Elder Brother.”

Shen Ju smiled. “Good. Now find a mop and go clean the dormitories. I expect you to be completed before supper.”

New anger flared. “That wasn’t the deal. Master Hong Feng said I would have access to the library undisturbed to study and train.”

“He did,” Shen Ju said before leaning towards me and grinning in my face. “At night.”

I blinked, taken aback. Was that what he’d said?

“And it is a long time from night, now,” Shen Ju continued. “Thus, until that time. You belong to me. And for a new initiate, you must learn to serve your elder brothers.”

Son of a bitch, I thought.

“Now go!” Shen Ju barked at me like a dog. “Go clean our rooms. And quickly.”