The old man's name was Shao Wei. He was an elder of a sect Wen Dao had never heard of — the Pale Flame Sect, which apparently no longer existed.
'Destroyed,' Shao Wei said, coughing again. 'Three months ago. I'm the last of us.'
'Who destroyed it?' Wen Dao asked.
'The Iron Claw Gang. Backed by the Zhao family. Politics.' He waved one hand weakly. 'It doesn't matter now.'
He had a wound across his abdomen that had been roughly bound with cloth. Even in the dark, the binding was dark and wet.
'You came here deliberately,' Wen Dao said. Not a question.
The old man's eyes sharpened. 'You're observant. Yes. I followed you for two hours. I wanted to see what kind of person carried the Iron Body Scripture in a burning forest.'
Wen Dao kept his face still. 'And what did you decide?'
'That you're unusual. You're not a child. You think like someone much older.' He studied Wen Dao's face. 'Where are you from, really?'
A long pause.
'Somewhere very far away,' Wen Dao said.
Shao Wei seemed to accept that. He reached inside his robe and drew out a small jade pendant. Green, shot through with gold veins, carved in the shape of a flame.
'I have an inheritance to pass on. My sect's core technique. I cannot carry it further.' He set the pendant on the ground between them. 'Take it.'
Wen Dao didn't reach for it immediately. 'What does it cost?'
The old man made a sound that might have been a laugh. 'Nothing. I am dying. I choose you because you're awake when you should be sleeping, you're training when you should be hiding, and you have that scripture which suggests someone trusted you with it. That's enough.'
'And what does it do?'
'It carries the memory of our sect's first technique. The Pale Flame Breath. It will anchor in your dantian when your cultivation reaches Qi Condensation. Until then, keep it against your skin.'
Wen Dao reached out and picked up the pendant. It was warm. Unnaturally so.
'One question,' he said.
'Ask.'
'If I become strong enough — do I have any obligation to avenge your sect?'
Shao Wei studied him for a long moment.
'No. I give freely, with no chains attached. You have your own path.' Then a strange smile. 'But I think you'll end up doing it anyway. Not for me. For a reason of your own.'
He slumped. His eyes were losing focus.
Wen Dao moved closer. 'Is there anything else I need to know?'
'The Iron Claw Gang patrols these woods. They are looking for me.' A labored breath. 'Which means they are also... going to find...'
He stopped.
He was gone.
Wen Dao sat with the body for a moment. Then he stood.
He woke the children. 'We move. Now.'
Mei sat up immediately. She looked at the old man. Said nothing.
They moved.
Half a mile later, torchlight appeared behind them. At least six men. Moving fast through the trees. Hunting.
They had found the body.
'Run,' Wen Dao said.