"Demon!... Ruthless demon died - I'll kill you!!!"
In this world, there existed, even then, two undeniable kinds of people when danger bared its teeth - those who ran, and those who stayed.
Yet within these two paths lay their most extreme forms: there were those who embodied cowardice in its purest, most unclouded state, souls who fled at the faintest intuition of peril without hesitation or self-deception, and there were those who stood unyielding and filled with courage, who regardless of circumstance would always step forward into adversity.
Curiously, fate or perhaps the heavens seemed to favor both extremes.
The utterly cowardly were granted an almost ungodly fortune, escaping death time and time again by instinct alone, while the truly courageous carved their paths through despair itself, emerging from trials that should have consumed them.
But it was not these extremes who suffered most - it was those caught in between, those who wavered on the thin line between fear and bravery.
In a world where the edge of a blade was forever married to one's throat be it Mortal, Immortal, or Venerables alike - it was they who faltered and more often than not paid with their lives.
This was the fate of the guard in front of her, who had a chance to escape which was life but chose not to, it was not that he did not want to escape but for some reason he could not.
He wanted to get far far away from here, he wanted to survive.
He also wanted to defend the clan and kill the demonic cultivator in front of him who had just now massacred half his entire clan.
In all ernest he wanted to do both - survive and get vengeance for his clan.
And with his mind contemplating thoughts of escape his legs continued to carry known forward.
As a Mid Stage First Realm Cultivator such as himself charging towards a High Stage Second Realm Cultivator was nothing short of a suicide act and he knew it but for some reason it did not stop him as he did it anyway.
The guard lunged, and whatever technique he had conjured up at the last moment to either attack the cultivator in front of him or defend himself it was not worth mentioning as neither were realized, because in the next instance with minimal movement the demonic cultivator Xie Han stepped in cutting him down in a single motion.
He fell at her feet, blood ran along the stone and over the edge of the wall, she did not look at his face as she wiped her sword once on his sleeve and turned.
There were bodies laying around her as the night wind pushed smoke across the battlements, below the Yan clan fortress burned with flames climbing the inner halls causing the roof tiles to crack and fall, someone screamed then stopped.
Xie Han moved to the stairs, her steps were steady and she kept her sword low ready.
A servant rushed up from below, he saw her and froze, his hands shook and he opened his mouth.
"Where is the clan lord?" Xie Han asked.
The servant pointed down the corridor, "H-He fled to the east hall-"
Xie Han passed him before he finished, she did not slow and the servant pressed himself to the wall and did not follow.
The corridor was lit by firelight, doors stood open, some rooms were empty while some held bodies, Xie Han checked each turn and listened for movement, hearing only the crackle of fire and the distant clash of steel.
At the end of the corridor the doors to the east hall were shut, one hinge was broken and smoke leaked through the gap.
Xie Han kicked the door.
It gave way, the hall inside was wide and mostly empty, a table lay overturned and scrolls burned on the floor, at the far end a man in black robes tried to stand.
He was old, blood covered his chest, one hand clutched a jade slip while the other held a short blade that shook.
"Stop," he said.
Xie Han walked forward.
"Haven't you taken enough?," he said, "You still want to take our clients only lifeline...leave the clan's legacy, and we will not seek revenge or pursue this matter any further."
Xie Han did not answer instead she closed down the distance.
The clan lord raised his blade and moved to strike as spiritual qi surged through his meridians forming a flickering arc of dark light around the edge.
But his arm slowed halfway under the crushing pressure of Xie Han's killing intent as her own cultivation erupted into motion and she stepped in with a single refined technique that split the air with a cold, silent flash, and in that instant her blade passed through his defenses as though they did not exist, cutting once as his wrist fell cleanly away and the blade dropped.
He gasped and sank to his knees, "Stop...You don't understand what you're taking...Ashen Fairy, please don't do this."
Xie Han stepped behind him and cut his throat.
He fell forward, the jade slip slipped from his hand and slid across the floor until it stopped near the burning scrolls.
Xie Han bent and picked it up, she turned it over once and the surface was warm.
Footsteps sounded outside the hall and two guards rushed in, they saw the clan lord's body and charged.
Xie Han moved first as her qi flowed in a precise circulating pattern beneath her skin.
She stepped to the side with a light footwork technique that left a faint afterimage and let the first guard pass before turning with a swift, controlled slash infused with spiritual force that tore through his defenses and cut his back as he turned causing him to fall.
The second guard swung wide with his blade carrying a surge of brute force qi but she met it head on as her own technique condensed along her sword to block and redirect the strike before she pushed in without pause, her blade piercing forward with focused intent as it went cleanly through his chest and he stared at her in disbelief before dropping.
The hall was quiet again.
Xie Han stood still for a moment and listened as the fighting outside moved away while the fire spread fast and the roof beams creaked.
She walked to the center of the hall and knelt by the clan lord's body, searching him with quick hands finding a ring, a key, and a small pouch containing a jade slip with nothing else.
She took the ring and jade slip out the pouch but left the key.
The heat rose and sparks fell from above as Xie Han stood and walked out of the hall.
The corridor was thicker with smoke now and she moved faster, at the stairs the servant was gone.
Xie Han climbed back to the wall where the air outside was clearer and the fire had taken most of the inner compound, a group of Yan clan members tried to break through the main gate but they were cut down by other lone and demonic cultivators waiting outside - also in on the Yan clans downfall and reaping the benefits thereof.
She watched for a few breaths but no one aimed for her and no one climbed the wall.
Xie Han stepped away from the edge, she wiped her sword again and slid it into its sheath then looked at the jade slip in her hand.
She broke the seal with her thumb.
A thin line of light ran across the surface and words formed one by one.
Xie Han read in silence and her face did not change.
Behind her a section of the wall collapsed and stones fell into the courtyard as flames surged higher.
She did not look back.
Her eyes moved across the lines on the jade slip and she read them twice before closing her eyes for a brief moment as if fixing the words in place.
When she opened them she spoke under her breath.
"It would seem only three fragments remain."