The Jade-Mist Forest was ancient, and it felt that way. The trees were gnarled, pale-barked
giants that blotted out the sun, casting the forest floor in a perpetual, misty twilight. The air was
damp, heavy, and smelled of wet stone and a thousand years of decay.
The cistern was even worse. It was a crumbling, half-swallowed stone structure at the bottom of
a gully. The entrance was a dark, gaping maw that seemed to exhale a cold, hissing draft.
"Okay," Ren Wei whispered, his hand resting on the h-lt of his new, sect-issued steel sword.
"Spiders. 'Shadow-Weavers.' The manual said they're weak to sudden light. We'll use Qi-Flares
on any we see and be out in an hour."
"Ren Wei," Li Mei whispered back, her hand gripping his sleeve, her knuckles white. "I... I really
don't like this. It... it feels wrong."
"It's okay," he soothed, giving her his most confident 'Head'-of-the-team smile. "I'm right here. I
won't let anything get to you."
They stepped inside.
The cistern was vast, dark, and utterly silent. And... empty. There were no webs. No scuttling
sounds. Just the drip... drip... drip of water from the crumbling ceiling.
"Mei," Ren Wei said, his voice dropping low, his 'Head' screaming that the problem was wrong.
"This... this is a trap."
"I know," she breathed.
A cold, sneering laugh echoed from the darkness above them. "Well, well. Look what crawled
into the parlor."
Three figures dropped from a high, crumbling ledge, landing with the light, practiced grace of
born predators. They landed in a perfect semi-circle, blocking the only exit.
They were Inner Disciples. Their robes were of fine, water-marked silk. Their swords, hanging at
their hips, seemed to hum with a faint, contained energy. They were third-stage cultivators, at
least.
The leader, a tall youth with a sharp, cruel face, smirked at them. "The 'Rat-King' and his 'Poison
Queen.' We heard you two cheated your way in. Poisoning Zhang, threatening Wang. The Inner
Sect is for the strong, rats. Not... pests."
This wasn't a mission. It was an ambush. An execution. They had been lured here to be
"cleansed" by this arrogant clique.
Ren Wei's mind raced, his 'Head' role taking over, but his voice shook. "Look," he said, holding
up a placating hand. "We don't want any trouble. We'll... we'll give you our stipend. We'll leave.
We just—"
The leader barked a laugh. "We don't want your trash. We want to clean house." He signaled his
two followers. "Kill them."
It was terrifyingly fast. The leader's sword was a blue blur, aimed directly at Ren Wei's throat.
These were not Outer Sect brawlers; they were trained killers.
Ren Wei parried, a desperate, clumsy block. The impact was so violent it shattered his cheap
steel sword, the shards flying in a spray of sparks. He was disarmed. He was dead.
The leader's sword didn't even slow, lunging for the killing blow.
NO.
Li Mei moved. She didn't attack the leader. She moved sideways, away from Ren Wei, as the
two followers circled in to flank him. She met the first follower head-on.
He sneered. "Stupid bitch—"
He never finished the word. She didn't use a sword. A 'Silken Thread' of Qi, invisible in the gloom, shot from her finger and wrapped around his ankle. She pulled.
He stumbled, his balance broken. As he fell forward, Li Mei's hand shot out. Not a fist, but an
open palm. It didn't strike his chest; it struck the air an inch from his face. A 'Mental Shock' art. A
needle of pure, concentrated fear shot into his brain.
His eyes rolled back. He froze, his body paralyzed by a psychic blow.
He was wide open.
Li Mei's other hand slammed into his dantian. It wasn't a clumsy, shattering blow. It was her
'Vibrating Silken Palm.' His own Qi, struck by the vibration, detonated inside him. He convulsed
and dropped, his cultivation, and his life, finished.
The leader saw it. His lunge at Ren Wei faltered for a half-second. "LIU!"
The third disciple panicked, seeing his partner fall. He changed targets, charging Li Mei with a
roar.
She didn't move. She waited, calm.
Ren Wei saw it. The leader's back was to him. He had no sword. He had his mind.
"HE'S DEAD!" Ren Wei screamed, a desperate, brilliant lie. "She... she killed him! You're next!
Your partner is down!"
The leader panicked. He believed it. He turned his head to check.
In that instant, the third disciple reached Li Mei. She ducked under his wild swing, and as she
did, a tiny, black needle, slick with poison, shot from her sleeve. It embedded itself in his throat.
He gurgled, clawing at his neck, and fell.
Two down.
The leader was alone, his eyes wide with a terror that had replaced his arrogance. He was
staring at Li Mei. This was not a shy mouse. This was a demon.
"You... demonic witch..." he whispered. He turned to run.
"Ren Wei," Li Mei said, her voice perfectly flat. "Your words. Now."
Ren Wei understood. "STOP!" he roared, his voice echoing in the cistern. "You run, she'll put a
needle in your back! You won't make it five feet!"
The leader froze. His own logic was his cage. He slowly, trembling, turned around.
Ren Wei stepped out of the shadows. He was unarmed, his chest heaving, his hands empty. Li
Mei stood a pace behind him, a small, black knife now in her hand.
Head and Hands.
"You messed up," Ren Wei said, his voice shaking but cold. "You thought we were prey. You
were wrong. You were the bait."
"What... what do you want?" the leader gasped, his sword heavy in his shaking hand.
Ren Wei looked at Li Mei. Her face was blank. She was waiting. For his order.
He was the Head.
He turned back to the leader, a cold, terrible power filling him. "You hurt my partner's feelings,"
Ren Wei said, his voice dropping. "She... she really doesn't like spiders. Or... pests."
He gave Li Mei a single, sharp nod.
She moved. The leader's scream was short.
Ren Wei stood, his heart hammering, as a spatter of warm blood hit his face. He looked at the
three bodies. He looked at Li Mei, who was calmly wiping her knife on the leader's silk robe.
He was disgusted. He was horrified.
He was alive.
And, deep in his gut, a cold, dark part of him... was thrilled.