Chapter 33 — The Maple Sky
The road curved through valleys painted in crimson and gold. Autumn had touched the land; every gust of wind carried a flurry of falling maple leaves. Ye Tianlan walked in silence, his cloak brushing the dirt path, while Mei drifted beside him in her small spirit form floating like a flickering blue flame.
"You've been quiet since morning," she said finally.
"Planning something dangerous again?"
He didn't answer at once. His eyes were fixed on the distant ridges, where the peaks cut into clouds like blades.
"Not dangerous," he said. "Necessary."
Mei crossed her arms. "That's what you said before blowing up a fortress."
Tianlan's lips twitched slightly — almost a smile. "That fortress tried to kill us first."
"Still counts as overkill."
The Village of Ashfall
By noon, they reached a small village built beside a stream.
Smoke rose from chimneys, and the faint sound of a bell echoed from somewhere deeper inside. It was quiet — too quiet.
Mei's playful tone vanished. "Something feels wrong."
Tianlan nodded. "No animals. No voices. Even the wind feels heavy."
They walked slowly between the wooden houses. The doors hung open, bowls still placed on tables, as if people had simply vanished mid-meal.
A whisper of aura brushed against Tianlan's senses — faint, like fading candlelight.
"Residual spiritual energy," he murmured, crouching to touch a mark on the ground.
The soil was scorched in a perfect circle, and a strange, burnt fragrance lingered — half incense, half blood.
"Who would burn their own village?" Mei asked softly.
"No one," Tianlan replied. "This wasn't fire. It was purification."
Her eyes widened. "You mean—"
"Yes. A sect technique."
The Crimson Saber Sect
They didn't have to wait long to meet its owners.
As they crossed the last street, five cultivators stepped out from the far end — wearing black and red robes embroidered with flame motifs. Their sabers gleamed under the afternoon sun, each etched with talismanic runes.
At the front stood a tall woman with braided crimson hair and cold eyes that seemed to cut through lies.
"The intruders from the east," she said, her tone flat. "Identify yourselves."
Ye Tianlan didn't stop walking.
"I'm just a traveler passing through," he said. "This village was empty. We were curious."
"Curiosity kills," she said simply, her gaze sharp. "The villagers were tainted by corrupted qi. The Crimson Saber Sect was ordered to cleanse them."
Mei floated closer, glaring. "Cleanse? You mean murder innocent people?"
The woman's eyes narrowed. "Spirits should know their place."
Before Mei could reply, Tianlan raised a hand.
"Enough. We're leaving."
But as they turned, another voice spoke — a man from the group, younger, cockier.
"Wait," he sneered. "That mask… I've seen that before. You're Ye Tianlan, aren't you? The exile who killed Elder Han."
The air around them turned sharp.
Tianlan's eyes met his — calm, but cold as a blade. "So what if I am?"
The man smirked. "Then my luck is divine. The sect leader placed a bounty on your head — alive or dead."
Blades and Silence
The instant the words left his mouth, the forest exploded with motion.
Tianlan drew his sword in a flash of silver. The first strike came from the right — a crimson arc of energy that split the air — but his blade caught it, twisting the force aside like wind bending water.
The second attacker came from behind. Mei reacted first, her body glowing bright blue as she expanded into her beast form — a sleek fox-like spirit wreathed in mist and lightning.
She slammed into the man, sending him crashing through a wall.
"Don't you dare touch him!" she growled, her tails flaring.
Tianlan moved like a storm — silent, unstoppable. Each step was precise, each swing clean. He disarmed one opponent, broke another's stance, and spun into the third, the strike so fast it left afterimages.
Within seconds, three of them were down. The woman with crimson hair was the only one still standing.
Her saber hummed with deep flame qi as she drew it across her chest in salute. "Impressive," she said. "But strength means nothing without discipline."
She charged — and for the first time, Tianlan actually smiled.
"Then show me yours."
Their blades met in a burst of light.
Sparks scattered like fireflies as steel met flame. Her strikes were sharp, relentless — but Tianlan's defense was flawless, his movements flowing like water through cracks.
When her energy faltered, he stepped in — too close, too fast — and placed his blade gently against her neck.
"Yield," he said quietly.
She froze, eyes burning not with fear, but anger. "You'll regret crossing the Crimson Saber Sect."
He withdrew his blade. "I already regret many things. One more won't matter."
Aftermath
As the last of the sect members retreated, Mei returned to her smaller form and hovered near him. "They'll report back," she said.
"I know," he replied, sheathing his sword.
"So now, the Crimson Saber Sect hates us too."
He looked toward the horizon, where the mountains glowed faintly in the fading sun. "Let them. The stronger the storm, the sharper the blade becomes."
Mei frowned. "You really believe that?"
He gave a faint nod. "Pain teaches faster than peace ever will."
She sighed, then smirked. "You're impossible, you know that?"
"Yet you stay."
"I'm the smart one," she said with a wink. "You'd be lost without me."
He actually chuckled this time. "Perhaps."
They walked on — the village of ashes fading behind them, the next unknown path waiting ahead.
And somewhere far to the north, a message was already being sent to the Crimson Saber Sect's main hall:
"Ye Tianlan has appeared. He survived."