I had learned, long ago, to recognize danger before it spoke.
Lin Xueyi was dangerous.
She sat three tables away, posture straight but relaxed, hands folded neatly on the table. Her clothes were plain—traveler's garb in muted blues and whites—but the fabric was high quality, reinforced at the joints for combat. A sword rested beside her chair, sheathed, unassuming.
Yet the air around her was… cold.
Not literally. Not yet.
It was the kind of stillness that came from absolute control.
"You don't sound like someone who regrets it," she repeated, meeting my eyes without hesitation.
I smiled. "Regret requires better alternatives."
Her lips twitched—just slightly.
Interesting.
"Running from a sect," she said calmly, "usually means one of three things. You committed a crime. You offended the wrong elder. Or you were too talented to be tolerated."
I took another spoonful of stew. "I like how you skipped the part where I might be innocent."
"Innocent people don't carry themselves like you," she replied.
Fair.
I leaned back. "And you? Let me guess. Traveling alone, avoiding sect colors, controlling Qi so tightly it barely leaks… You're either hiding, hunting, or both."
Her eyes sharpened.
Definitely both.
We studied each other in silence.
To anyone watching, it probably looked like idle curiosity.
To us, it was a duel already halfway fought.
"You can relax," I said finally. "If I wanted trouble, I wouldn't have waited until after dinner."
She nodded once. "Likewise."
A pause.
Then she surprised me.
"My name is Lin Xueyi."
I blinked.
Straightforward. Honest.
Either she was very confident—or very tired of lies.
"Li Shen," I replied. "Professional disappointment."
That earned a soft huff of laughter.
The ice cracked.
She gestured to the empty seat across from me. "May I?"
"If you sit down, people will start thinking we're together."
"Let them," she said, already pulling out the chair. "It discourages idiots."
I liked her already.
Up close, I could sense it clearly.
Her cultivation wasn't shallow.
It was compressed.
Like a blade folded again and again.
"You practice cold-aspected techniques," I said casually.
Her spoon paused midair.
"Observation or guess?"
"Pattern recognition," I answered. "Your breathing stabilizes Qi by lowering its temperature. Efficient, but hard on the meridians."
She stared at me.
Then, slowly, she smiled.
A real one this time.
"You're not normal."
"Been hearing that a lot today."
She leaned forward slightly. "Then I'll be honest. I'm being hunted."
I raised an eyebrow. "That makes two of us."
"A core disciple of the Frost Veil Pavilion defected," she continued. "He took something valuable. They think I helped him."
"You didn't?"
"I refused to stop him."
I nodded. "That counts."
Her fingers tightened briefly around her cup.
"They won't stop," she said. "Pavilion trackers are… persistent."
I thought of Instructor Gao.
Of the men on the road.
"Yeah," I said quietly. "Sects hate losing control."
The tavern door creaked open.
Three men entered.
White-and-blue robes.
Frost Veil Pavilion.
Xueyi's eyes went flat.
Mine lit up.
"Well," I said cheerfully, standing, "looks like dessert came early."
The leader scanned the room, gaze locking onto her instantly.
"Lin Xueyi," he called. "By order of the Pavilion, you are to be detained and returned for questioning."
She stood smoothly.
"I decline."
Qi surged.
Frost crystallized along the floorboards.
Patrons screamed and fled.
I stepped beside her.
The leader frowned. "This does not concern you."
I shrugged. "I'm offended by bad manners."
He sneered. "Kill him if he interferes."
I sighed.
"So rude."
They moved together—precise, practiced, confident.
Too confident.
The first blade came at my neck.
I turned my wrist.
The sword rang.
I felt the structure of his technique collapse in my mind before it even finished.
I smiled.
"Let me show you something new."
[Technique Synthesis — Instant]
Frost-Repelling Circulation
+
Rolling Tide Severance
Result: Flowing Sun Breaker
Heat surged along my blade—not fire, but motion intensified.
I cut.
The frost shattered.
The attacker flew back, crashing through a table.
Xueyi moved in the same instant.
Her sword whispered.
Ice bloomed.
Two men froze mid-step, expressions locked in disbelief.
The leader staggered back, eyes wide.
"What… are you?"
I tilted my head.
"A problem."
When it was over, the tavern was wrecked.
The Pavilion disciples were unconscious—or worse.
Xueyi exhaled slowly, steadying her Qi.
She looked at me.
Really looked.
"That technique," she said. "You altered mine."
"Borrowed," I corrected. "Improved."
Silence.
Then she laughed.
Clear and unrestrained.
"I think," she said, sheathing her sword, "traveling with you might be very dangerous."
I grinned.
"Funny," I replied. "I was thinking the same thing."
Outside, the night wind stirred.
Two fugitives stood under the lantern light.
Unaligned.
Unbound.
At the beginning of something far bigger than either of us understood.