Arc 2 – The Path of ShadowsWord Count: ~1,070
The fog had come early that year.
By mid-winter, it rolled across the valley like a heavy shroud, swallowing the hills and hiding the peaks in gray. The air was damp, the ground slick with frost, and the Assassin Hall—once warm and filled with light—felt colder than usual.
The change was subtle at first. A tension in the air, a lingering quiet when there should have been laughter. A few murmurs, a few glances exchanged in the shadows. But Li Fan noticed it first.
It started with Mei Xiu.
She was the most disciplined of them all—sharp, steadfast. She had always been the one to organize the drills, the one who kept others in line when tempers flared. But now, she had become distant. Her eyes flickered away when Li Fan spoke, and her movements lacked the same fluidity they once had.
Li Fan had seen the signs before.
A fracture.
It was only a matter of time before something snapped.
It came three nights later.
Li Fan had returned from a short scouting trip—his cloak heavy with snow, his breath steaming in the night air. He walked through the darkened halls of the compound, his footsteps muffled by the deepening fog, when he heard voices. Low, urgent, but unmistakable.
Zhao Liang and Mei Xiu.
"Are you sure this is what we need?" Zhao's voice was sharp, a rare crack in his usual calm. "We don't have the luxury of second chances. What happens if we fail?"
"It's not about failure," Mei Xiu replied quietly. "It's about survival."
Li Fan stopped, just out of view. His hand instinctively went to the dagger at his waist, but he hesitated. He needed to hear more.
"The Hall will never survive the way you want it," Mei Xiu continued. "We need power—true power. Not just revenge."
Li Fan's heart sank.
Power. She wants power?
He knew what that meant.
Zhao Liang's voice softened. "You're talking about taking control."
"I'm talking about ending this," Mei Xiu's voice was cold. "Ending the cycle of being hunted. You don't understand what it's like, Zhao. To be weak. To be hunted like animals in the dark. We can't keep playing at being noble. The world doesn't work that way."
"I'm not the one who's playing at anything," Zhao retorted. "This isn't about us. It's about them."
"And that's exactly the problem," Mei Xiu hissed. "It's always about them. How long do you think the corrupt will stay in their seats when we keep cutting down their underlings? How long will the sects allow us to take their lives, their power?"
Li Fan felt his blood turn cold.
"Then what do you propose?" Zhao demanded.
"I propose we take it," she said, her voice thick with ambition. "And we don't stop until the world bows at our feet."
Li Fan's fist clenched around the handle of his dagger. He stepped forward, stepping into the light.
"I hope," he said, his voice soft but unwavering, "that I'm not hearing what I think I am."
Mei Xiu turned, her face pale in the dim light. There was no surprise in her eyes—only resignation.
"I didn't want it to come to this, Li Fan," she said. "But we've gone too far down this path."
The room was silent.
Li Fan stood at the doorway, the weight of her words pressing against him. He had known, in some part of him, that something like this was coming. But hearing it aloud… it was different. It was betrayal, plain and simple.
He didn't speak for a long moment. Instead, he walked slowly toward her, his gaze hardening with each step. When he spoke, it was a calm that terrified her more than any fury.
"You would destroy everything we've built," he said quietly. "For power."
Mei Xiu's lips curled in a bitter smile. "You still don't understand. The Oath isn't enough to stop the world from crushing us. We have to take control—do what the world won't let us. And you… you're weak if you can't see that."
Li Fan's heart thudded painfully in his chest. Weak?
"Do you think I haven't seen the world for what it is?" he asked, voice low. "Do you think I came into this with some naive notion of saving everyone? No. I chose this because I know the world is a place of blood and fire. But I refuse to become what I hate."
Zhao Liang, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "Li Fan… we've all walked this path with you. But Mei Xiu has a point. The world won't just stop with us taking out a few sects and officials. There's too much at stake now. We need more."
Li Fan's gaze turned to Zhao, then back to Mei Xiu.
"You think we need more than the Oath," he said. "But you're wrong. The moment you abandon the Oath, the moment you start thinking like the very monsters we fight… that's when we become them."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Mei Xiu's expression flickered, a storm of emotions crossing her face. For a moment, Li Fan thought she might back down. But then, she stood straighter, her resolve hardening.
"I won't be the one to let this Hall fall because of your weakness, Li Fan," she said coldly. "Not again."
Zhao's face turned grim. "Mei Xiu—"
"No," she snapped. "This is done. You can choose to stay and follow Li Fan and his foolishness, or you can stand with me and take what's ours. The world doesn't wait."
Li Fan's mind raced. Betrayal, he thought. So this is how it starts.
"We don't do this." His voice broke the tension, each word weighing heavy in the cold room. "If you choose this path, I cannot stand with you."
Mei Xiu's gaze darkened, but she didn't flinch.
"Then we're done," she said simply. "I'll do what's necessary, with or without you."
The fog outside seemed to press closer to the walls of the Hall, as though the world itself was holding its breath.
Li Fan stood in the doorway, his heart heavy. Mei Xiu had made her choice. Now, he had to make his own.