Tiles of flattened mud covered the ground, with divots from a blade carved into it. The wall, built of cheap wooden logs, creaked at even the slightest touch.
At its centre sat a man who gazed at a blade plunged into the ground.
His face was a canvas of scars, each a testament to a war of myth. The air beside him quivered as it touched his sword.
His gaze sharpened.
"It's still vibrating."
His fingers grasped the air as though it were a cloth; he touched something that wasn't here.
"Faster..."
Mud crunched from outside his shack. Someone was approaching. However, the man wasn't bothered, as though he were waiting for their arrival.
He pulled his blade out of the mud and laid it down against its flat. He turned to face the door.
"You may enter."
At his command the door opened. Another warrior, adorned with scars, entered the shack. He bowed deeply as he entered.
His skin grew pale as he entered.
"H—has your training... been fruitful, master Tao?"
His body trembled as he stood by the Blade Master.
To Tao, the quivering in the air was only failure. However, to Tong Xuan...
A single monolithic blade that reached to the foot of the heavens. Its edge, although far, pressed against his skin.
Tao took a deep breath; the quivering air receded into his flesh.
"Tong Xuan, I've told you not to bow down to me many times. It taints the centuries we fought together for."
He leaned to his left, pulled out an old purple pillow, and placed it out in front of him.
"Come, sit and speak."
Tong Xuan withdrew his bow and walked over to Tao. After setting down his sheathed blade, he took a seat. He reached into his robe and pulled out a set of papers, handing them to Tao.
"I've arrested all those from Young Third's faction. How should we deal with the young master?"
Tao took the papers from Tong Xuan and scanned through them promptly. His nostrils flared momentarily as he read through the proven crimes. The blade in his presence sounded a shrill vibration.
The papers within his grip rustled as his thumb bit into it.
"Is it my fault for not overseeing their behaviours? How did a camp slip past the overseer's notice?"
Tong Xuan's eyes faced the earth; his fingers bit into his robe.
"I was negligent. The third had already turned the overseer to one of his own."
Tao set the documents down; his blade was now in place of the papers. His calloused palms caressed the blade's edge and drew blood.
The blood that seeped from his palm tinged the air red, unable to hold its own form.
Cold sweats beaded over Tong Xuan's forehead; his breaths turned to palpitations.
Tao sheathed his sword and wiped the blood of his palm over the papers.
"Bring all those who were involved here tomorrow. If they survive, they can live as always."
Of course, Tong Xuan knew.
They wouldn't survive...
He retrieved the papers from Tao and placed them in his robe.
"Considering the third will die, what should we do about his position and belongings?"
Tao reached into his pouch and pulled out a token. He leant over and handed it to Tong Xuan.
"Sell all of their belongings to me at the highest price admissible and take out a suitable amount of money from the sect's holdings as well. Liberate all the camps; give them due compensation and an offer to relocate outside our domain if they wish."
His words stilled for a moment. He looked up to the sky, only for it to be obscured by the shack's wooden roof.
A hollow breath escaped him.
"Take the child from the sixth branch along for the liberation. After the mission is over, appoint him as the third successor."
Tong Xuan's head shot up. He stared at the Blade Master with widened eyes; his lips slanted into a subtle smile.
"Do you intend to take him as a disciple?"
Tao got up from his seat and walked toward the exit; he turned back to face Tong Xuan.
"No. He has a good teacher already. Allow him all the resources my own would receive and grant him the opportunity to seek my teachings as needed. Finally, investigate the other two successors as well. I do not want this to ever happen again."
As he opened the door, he made one last declaration.
"I will have a dialogue with the young emperor. Slavery has gone on long enough in these lands."
All things with a cutting edge trembled under his words. Tong Xuan understood; it was as it always was.
The Blade Master would get his way, or the emperor would lie in a pool of his blood, again.
His figure melted into the forest's foliage. Tong Xuan lowered his head with sincerity, pledging the completion of his words.
***
Night had fallen in parts of the Blade Master's domain.
Having found what he needed to, Aspartese returned to the Heavenly Peng inn. The commotion from earlier in the day had eased completely. Those who hurriedly retrieved descriptions were now attending to the dinner service.
Without much dallying, Aspartese headed to the dining hall over on the ground floor.
As expected, all those from the branch were busy chowing down on seafood. The first to resurface from their bowl was Vera; he turned to the entrance and found Aspartese observing them in silence.
"Branch master, if you keep watching, there won't be any left for you."
Perhaps it was time that eased the tension from earlier on. But Aspartese knew it was the seafood. He dashed over to Vera's table and picked up a tray of crabs braised in smoked chillies and tomato.
Vera became livid; he grasped the bottom of the pot and tried to yank it away from Aspartese. In the face of premium crab, respect was forgotten.
"You damned ogre, how dare you covet my dinner!"
Of course, a third-rank warrior overpowering a fifth synergy master was something that only happened in dreams.
Having drained the pot of braised crab meat, Aspartese turned to Vera, who stared at him with a scowl.
"If you keep watching, there won't be anything left for you."
A devious grin plastered over his face, he taunted Vera while clearing out the table. The two of them raced to finish the remaining food. The cooks worked up a sweat for the first time in many years.
As the dinner service came to finish, the two of them leaned into their chairs, their stomachs pressing into the table.
Aspartese picked meat from his teeth as he stared blankly into the chandelier on the ceiling.
"Why seafood today? I heard they don't hold that here."
Vera wiped off red stains from the robe he bought with Chang-yu last month; his head turned to the side, avoiding her murderous glare from the mountain of dishes.
"Jin Jian had it prepared for us to celebrate our placement. Thank him when you see him; he has had a hard day. By the way, what did you find from the sect?"
Aspartese flicked his toothpick into a bin by the kitchen. He turned over to face Vera and turned back as he saw Chang-yu glaring.
"Major changes: the entire third faction will be removed from power and judged by the master tomorrow. There will be multiple liberation missions to clear out unregistered camps. Though nothing is changing branch-wise, they are cleaning out all roots of the beggar coalition across sectors."
Vera leaned over to Chun and began wiping down his robes as well. Unfortunately, this was one of the habits he picked up from Vera during their time together.
"Will we be heading back tomorrow?"
Aspartese got off his chair and began collecting the plates to leave at the kitchen station.
"Yes. Vice-master Tong Xuan said he will pass out paid missions to clear out camps near our location, so we should head back early to get a jump on the other branches."
Vera nodded silently and helped the rest of the members clear out their plates.
While the attendants were supposed to take care of this, Vera was uncomfortable with adding to their already hectic workload.
Shortly after, the sixth branch had finished their dinner and headed back to their rooms. As they were to set out early in the morning, they had gone to sleep early.
Vera carried an extra pot of food back to his room to placate Sword Dog, who wasn't allowed in to the dining hall.
Having eaten a good dinner and lived through the day with no new problems, Vera slept like an overworked labourer on a day off.
***
Abysal dark filled the forests near the outskirts of the Blade Master domain. Martial artists in tattered clothes screamed as they ran into the cover of trees.
They were all running.
A silhouette grew onto the ground; dull steps permeated the forest's silence.
Beggar Gong Chan knelt over, holding a bloodied head in his hands; tears flooded his eyes.
"Junior brother Bong!"
His voice tore as he screamed. The head of his dear junior weighed on his hands lifelessly.
The silhouette grew closer. His sword drawn to beggar Gong's neck.
"If you can feel loss, how could you have done this to others?"
The edge of his sword pierced the skin over beggar Gong's neck; blood flowed against its edge and fell to the ground.
Beggar Gong turned to face the man. His eyes were full of grievance.
"We had an agreement with the Blade Master sect. Why are you doing this—"
His body slumped into the ground, his head reunited with that of his junior's.
The swordsman walked toward the remaining members. He wiped the tainted blood off his sword with his vacant left sleeve.
"Rest in peace. I'm not from the Blade Master sect."
Liberation began earlier than Tong Xuan had accounted for. In a single day a beggar coalition encampment was obliterated.
Second-Synergy masters lay sprawled on the ground with no heads to call their own.
The one-armed phantom sword has reached the Blade Master domain.
He gripped the encampment leader by his collar and picked him up off the ground. His eyes, cold as death's embrace, stared into the man's soul.
"Is there really a child of Zhuge in one of your camps?"
The beggar flailed incessantly, trying to break away from his grip. His movements halted at the swordsman's words.
A glint of hope appeared in his eyes at the man's question.
"Will you let me live if—"
His words were cut off, by the tightening of his collar.
"No. If you tell me all you know, you will die quickly."
The beggar's breaths grew erratic. He tried to reach for the swordsman's hand. A sharp whistle permeated the forest followed by pained yelps.
The beggar curled up on the ground, gripping his freshly amputated fist.
The campfire crackled loudly. His sword pressed against the beggar's genitals.
"I'll find another one of you, I guess."
The beggar clawed at the sword, pushing it away from his lower half; his eyes were desperate.
"Wait! I'll tell you. Stop that!"
The man gestured with his sword for the beggar to speak.
The beggar gripped his hair with the one remaining hand.
"We have the child in the sixth sector. But if you kill me here, my men will kill—"
Blood stained the earth beside the beggar. Suffocating in his own warmth, the beggar gurgled at the swordsman.
"I told you! You promised!"
The tip of his sword pressed at the gap of the beggar's toenail. His gaze turned almost mocking.
"I lied."
Screams resounded in the cover of night. Until the sweet release of death arrived. He gazed into the night sky, the brutality from before, no longer in his eyes.
Only reminiscence remained.
"I'll bring them all back before I end your suffering. I promise, Ying Xiong."