Remember when I sent Han for some "important work" prior to entering the palace? It was to send him straight to the town's main gates and direct Master Juechen towards us when he inevitably arrived. I know, I know, it took us almost a full week to reach Ironbell from Longyao, but Master Juechen is... well, he's a master after all. I knew he'd arrive within twenty four hours maximum.
The wonderful and rhythmic snap of robes fluttering dramatically in the wind was more melodious than any music to my ears.
Feichen froze. His strike died mid-air and his eyes fixed on the sky in a state of pure disbelief. His focus shattered so completely that his domain technique completely evaporated.
I turned around with a massive, triumphant grin splitting my face because I wanted to savor the sight. This was it. The fight was over. Against the backdrop of the rising sun, a silhouette hovered suspended in the air, framed by a halo of gold. It was the most relieving sight of my life. We had actually made it. We were going to live.
My smile held for exactly five seconds because then, the math stopped adding up. Why was Master Juechen just... hovering? He wasn't exactly the type to, what do they call it, "aura farm"? Or wait for a dramatic cue while his student was in the middle of being turned into a corpse. I squinted, trying to pierce the glare of the sun. The robes were fluttering, sure, but the profile was wrong.
The robes sure were fluttering dramatically in the wind, but his beard was missing. He had a really long one, reaching all the way down to his belly button. Surely, it should be fluttering too, right? I thought maybe he'd shaved his beard for some reason. But you see, he was way too fond of it. He'd never shaved it in centuries!
In that moment of dawning confusion, I turned back around to Feichen and he was looking at the sky, shaking like he was watching the literal grim reaper there for his life!
I just blinked once, and there he was standing directly behind Feichen with a wide grin.
LONGWEI!
I'll be honest, even Feichen's deadliest techniques hadn't paralyzed me half as much as Longwei's casual presence did. I stood there, wondering if this was a hallucination or if the universe had just decided to skip the middleman and kill me directly, because I suddenly remembered Longwei's warning back at Tianlan.
"Found you," Longwei muttered casually as he took a hold of Feichen's collar and lifted him effortlessly into the sky.
He stopped mid-air and looked Feichen in the eye. His voice went from casual to sub zero. "Where is it?"
Feichen didn't even stutter or try to act tough. He just started singing like a damn canary! "It's in my necklace! But the guy down there took it away from me! I don't have it now, I swear!! Please spare me!!"
"If only you'd shown me this kind of honesty a few weeks ago, Feichen," Longwei said with a genuinely disappointed look. "Would've really saved me a lot of trouble and effort."
Longwei then simply let go of Feichen as he fell towards the ground below. Longwei didn't let him hit the ground though. Halfway through the fall, I blinked my eyes and Longwei was somehow behind Feichen, and he kicked him violently back towards the sky as he said a single name, "Haoran." I blinked again and another devastating kick, while saying "Yuxuan." Then another. Then another. Each time with a different name I didn't recognize.
He kept this brutal play going for a good forty kicks before he finally held Feichen by his back collar and threw him to the ground. He then dragged him through the dirt all around the entire battlefield in circles. I couldn't even hear Feichen screaming anymore. I just looked at all the chaos around me, wondering if I'd be next on his list.
By the time Longwei was done with him, Feichen's two arms had been completely severed from his body, half his leg was missing, and there was absolutely no flesh left on his face. I could only see it from afar but the sight scared me to death.
Longwei then let go of Feichen's mangled dead body with a final throw. His gaze then locked onto mine and stared for a few long moments. I thought it was done for me. No way to escape. Gotta just accept death.
I did the only thing I could. I blinked. And he was standing right in front of me. There was tense silence for a good few seconds before I spoke. "Please make it painless."
He chuckled lightly, "Relax, kiddo. I'm not here to kill you."
"What... what do you want then?"
"Hmm. I've seen you before," Longwei rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Were you one of those guys who discovered that Spirit Pearl a while back?"
"Yes," I answered plainly, not seeing any point in lying to man who could probably kick a hole through reality.
"Haha! Knew it! I never forget a face!" He smiled. "What's your name by the way?"
"Ziyang."
"Alright, Ziyang. Let's have a chat," he said casually. "Did you take some kind of necklace from the guy I just shredded to pieces?"
"Yup. It's gotta be somewhere outside the palace. My bird has it. It's all yours." I then looked at the lifeless body of Feichen. "Just... don't do me like him."
"Ugh, just chill, Ziyang! I'm a man of my word! I won't kill you," Longwei said as he gestured for me to start walking. "Let's walk and talk, shall we?"
My legs wouldn't move for a moment. But I forced them to start walking.
"So, Ziyang," Longwei continued conversationally, "how long have you been able to perform that little qi sharing technique?"
"The wha- how long have you been here watching?" I asked, shocked.
"You don't answer a question with another question, kid."
"Maybe more than ten years. We don't do it too often though."
"Juechen taught you that technique?"
"Huh? Yes. He did, why?"
"Hmm. Interesting. Now answer this carefully," he said. "Did your body lose the ability to generate qi, or were you born without it?"
He looked at me with intense focus while asking me that. Like he was genuinely curious about it and not just making casual conversation.
"I was... born without it," I replied hesitantly.
His eyes lit up! "Isn't that fucking FANTASTIC, Ziyang! Haha! Nice!"
"Um, why would that be nice?"
He didn't explain. Instead, he launched into a barrage of questions that felt like the world's highest stakes job interview. He asked about my childhood, my parents, my grades at Tianlan, my five year plan. I answered everything with total, desperate honesty. You don't lie to a hurricane.
We eventually reached the palace entrance. I could see them in the distance. My friends, the King and the remnants of the royal guard.
Longwei stopped me for a second and said with a smile, "You go first. I'll follow you from behind. It'll be a surprise, haha."
"Yeah, why not? Let me just surprise my friends by tagging along with the biggest villain of Shouyuan," I muttered.
I then walked slowly towards the gate and all of them looked at me. Their faces became bright with relief. My friends smiled widely knowing I was safe and they were about to come running towards me.
That's when Longwei made his dramatic entrance behind me with a wide grin.
Everybody's smile vanished in an instant.