Chương 15: The Grey Hilt's Hooks

"Hurry, now! Daylight's burning. If we want His Radiance's aid, we must move swiftly!" Master Wan proclaimed, ushering Xing Jia, several wide-eyed Calcinators, and Hao along the road out of Verdant Plains Town. The townsfolk seemed all too relieved to see them go.

"Junior Long, gather our people. Take the caravan west on the Lonely Road. We can't linger here." Fairy Geng accompanied them, her presence easing the frantic energy humming about Hao and Master Wan's crew. She strode gracefully through the streets, her serenity easing the fear so many felt at the sights of the tense cultivators. Even Hao found his nervous edge blunted by her steadiness.

"Peace, child," Fairy Geng whispered to a small, terrified child who quailed at Master Wan's thunderous voice. She knelt, taking the little boy's grubby hands in her own immaculate ones. She murmured something that brought a hesitant smile to the boy's lips before she rose to rejoin Master Wan's group. Hao couldn't help but watch the Fairy, lost in thought as Master Wan barked orders and hurried them along.

She was the only pleasant thing about this whole experience; Fairy Geng's grace belied her strength, but there was something underlying which enchanted him, distracting him from the keening hisses of the Grey Hilt's eldritch chorus. Mortals watched her worshipfully, their fear at whatever had sparked the confrontation soothed by the inclusion of Fairy Geng. She was trusted. Beloved. Not for her appearance or skill with a blade, but for her nobility. It was strange to one raised in the halls of the White Rivers.

Only strength mattered there. Even Master Wan's Calcinators, tense and fraught with anticipation, relaxed as the Fairy flowed through their ranks, her aura washing over them like a cleansing river. She nudged one young man with her elbow, bringing a flush to his pale cheeks as she corrected his grip on his sword. It wasn't just her physical appearance. Most every true cultivator was beautiful. Consciously or not, cultivation involved shedding imperfect aspects of oneself.

Neither body nor spirit was spared, or so Master Bolin said. Cultivation was to treat oneself as a garden, pruning away undesired elements so those that were treasured could flourish. But the longer Hao watched Fairy Geng, the more certain he was that it wasn't her sculpted features which so entranced all that came near, nor was it a spell. There was a purity to Fairy Geng's spirit which had nothing to do with her skill as a cultivator.

It shone through her, flowing out into the world, and it was so utterly foreign to Hao that he couldn't help but study her as they strode out of Verdant Plains Town, past the hordes of caravans outside, and miles out into the grasslands. Her aura quieted the Grey Hilt's hissing chorus. Master Wan eventually led them out to a small patch of grass downtrodden by plodding oxen.

The golden stalks all laid flat against the ground, making it easier for Xing Jia to order her juniors around as they arranged a formation circle.

"What is this?" Hao stood next to Master Wan, who watched his disciples work with a discerning eye. They set down formation flags to guide qi, arranging them just so.

"A qi-gathering formation?"

"You fought the heretic, yes?" Master Wan glanced at Hao. Distaste flickered across his weathered features as he took in the Grey Hilt's storage ring. It squirmed inside, pressing against Hao's will, but seemed to recognize the danger if it emerged now.

"Even outmatched, they are dangerous, spiteful foes. We will take no chances."

"She's quite the taskmaster," Fairy Geng said, speaking up from Master Wan's right. She motioned at Xing Jia, whose sharp words set her Calcinator subordinates to work.

"Quite the change from the little girl I once knew."

"Junior Xing has come a long way," Master Wan said simply.

"Junior!" Xing Jia spun around, alert.

"Check Junior Yao's work."

"You heard the Master!" Xing Jia bellowed, groaning as one of the Calcinators made some error so minor that Hao couldn't even perceive it.

"No, you idiots, not like that! Do you sense how the qi twists into a knot there? We don't have much to work with in the Lonely Plains. You have to be efficient— no, not like that either! That angle will cause a blowback. Ugh, I'll do it myself!" Hao watched Xing Jia hurry to correct small flaws in the complicated array of formation flags. They directed qi according to angle, the material the flags were woven from, and the shape of the flag itself.

Tiny alterations induced flows of qi from one flag to the next, shaping the energy into a desired conformation and effect. He knew piss-all about formations, though he could pick out the most basic arrangements. This one was arranged into a series of funnels which would essentially pull in qi from the external environment, concentrating it into a limited space. The Grey Hilt wouldn't like that at all.

Such considerations buzzed in Hao's thoughts as he watched them set up, although Master Wan suddenly spreading his arms to bask in the afternoon sun distracted him a wee bit. The chant which followed rang through the air, seeming to linger longer than they should.

"Bless us, O Emperor. Guide our hands as we sear the blight of this sorcery from your domain," Master Wan murmured, praying as the harsh sun bathed him in its rays.

"Shield our bodies and souls, if you so desire. Armor us in your Radiance, Emperor, and let the shadows know your brilliance…" Hao shifted uneasily. Every Sunbeam citizen held respect for their Emperor. Cultivators doubly so, especially for those in the Corelands. His presence permeated their every breath, seeping into them, saturating the air. The Emperor's might was woven into the land, the sea, and the sky. Some just took that respect to new heights.

"You're very devoted," Hao said once Master Wan's prayer ended. He leaned upon the Cheng Spear. There was no point concealing it out here. Master Wan scanned the formation array for defects and called out a few improvements for Xing Jia to make before responding to Hao.

"I've seen what lies in the Dark. You know what the heretics are capable of, but you can't imagine what nightmares the Emperor shields us from."

"And you do?" Hao challenged. The Grey Hilt was quiet the closer he was to Master Wan, like a tiger hoping to escape a dragon's notice.

"Strange for a merchant to be so well-informed, even for one who supplies the Acolytes."

"It comes with roaming the Blue Night Mountains and the Lonely Plains for a few centuries," Master said with a sigh.

"We aren't far from the Dark World. Heretics always seek to expand their influence. They slip out from the Dark World every so often; it only takes one to start an infestation."

"They must be exterminated swiftly," Fairy Geng said, cutting in.

"Their arcane knowledge cracks the Empire's very foundations. It is every cultivator's duty to cut them down wherever they arise." Some of Boss Xia's frantic last words swept through Hao's thoughts.

"The bandit leader, Xia Ye, wielded abilities that I couldn't have imagined from a Distillator. Curses which twisted reality, bending space and tearing time. She spoke of another, Black Glaive Shang. A superior, perhaps?"

"There are many like this Xia Ye. Those who are desperate for scraps of power make for easy prey. Sorcery opens doors which should remain closed. They are poisonous, self-destructive arts, particularly those granted to unimportant scum like your bandit." Unsurprising. Most of those in the White Rivers who had the misfortune to face heretics within Sunbeam or on expeditions into the Dark World refused to speak of their experiences, as if even speaking of heresy was enough to invite it to take root.

Only the lowest, most desperate of scum would descend to such depravity.

"And just as there are always hungry bottom-feeders, there are always ringleaders stirring up trouble. They can't bear to stand in the light, so they breed in the dark."

"You really are remarkably attuned to their proclivities," Hao said, narrowing his eyes. Suspicion smoldered within him.

"You're a strange one, Master Wan."

"Tell you what, Cultivator Xiao…" Master Wan began.

"Prove yourself here and I'll share a few things with you. You're the right sort: sharp, strong, and determined. Not just any cultivator could resist an artifact's allure." That ominous statement earned a frown from Hao, but before he could question Master Wan further they were interrupted by Xing Jia rushing up to them and bowing low.

"Master! The preparations are complete. The Two-Pronged Radiance Funnel is prepared. I've measured the yang qi concentrations and attuned the formation to ambient levels," Xing Jia declared, looking up at Master Wan with bright eyes.

"We have enough to sustain our defenses. Shall we begin?" Hao gripped the Cheng Spear tightly as Master Wan nodded. That same sense of something shifting within the spear ran through him, warming his hand. A hunger filled him to match the Grey Hilt's squirming. You're about to die, Hao thought, directing his qi to poke the Grey Hilt. Make it a fight worth remembering, eh? The Grey Hilt squirmed, bursting against its bonds, but Hao gritted his teeth and held it tight.

Qi drained steadily from him, though he had plenty left for the battle. It wouldn't be wise to twiddle their thumbs for too much longer, however.

"Ready, Fairy Geng?" Master Wan directed at the regal woman, who nodded.

"Assume positions! Junior Xing, guide the others through their mantras. We can't allow a scrap of corruption to escape the formation. Fairy Geng will provide our final layer of security."

"And what about me?" Hao said, rapping his knuckles against the Grey Hilt's prison, still forcing it down with his fiery will.

"Should I just stand here and look pretty?" A wan smile flickered across Master Wan's face. His heavenly jade-edged blade manifested into his hand, raised high to catch golden sunlight across its surface.

"I'm afraid not, Cultivator Xiao. Step into the center of the array alongside me. Release the abomination as soon as I give the signal. If we move swiftly, we can destroy it before it can fight back." Hao nodded, striding into the center. Some hungry part of him yearned to explore the Grey Hilt's potential, to trade the foul thing over to the Acolytes, but more than anything he wanted it destroyed. Its whispers, its gnawing tendrils, its terrible poetry. All of it.

Hao wasn't sure just how much he trusted Master Wan at this point, but at least he was certain that the Ruminator wasn't a heretic. Everything else was forgivable… if Master Wan held up his end of the deal. What few abilities Master Wan had displayed was enough to convince Hao that he would at least be a potent ally against Yuchen. Master Wan was no ordinary Ruminator.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Hao said, hurrying into the center of Xing Jia's formation. Master Wan soon followed. Fairy Geng remained on the outside, her eyes locked upon Hao's left hand. Hao gasped as a flush of warmth filled him, intensifying the sensation of the sun caressing his skin. He'd grown accustomed to the pitiful dregs of qi the Lonely Plains had to offer. Standing in the formation circle was like wandering through a desert and stumbling upon an oasis.

He gasped and sucked in as much qi as he could, savoring every breath as the Grey Hilt shrieked.

"Focus, Cultivator Xiao. There's work to be done." Hao snapped out of his stupor and nodded. He glanced around to see Xing Jia circling around the four Calcinators and barking orders. They all raised their blades, eyes locked upon the center of the circle. Fairy Geng flicked her wrist. Moisture condensed from the air and forged into a watery blade. Liquid swirled within the structure's confines, though it never escaped a sword's shape. The Ruminator's eyes turned fierce. Master Wan kept his own blade raised high.

Sunlight soaked into the heavenly jade and transferred into the steel, leaving it a brilliant gold.

"Listen well! This formation channels high concentrations of yang qi into this space to counter the artifact's yin qi. The yang qi will dampen the artifact's influence, forcing it to exhaust its energy reserves more swiftly. Our attacks will weaken it further, exposing the abomination to the Emperor's rays."

"Yin qi?" Hao frowned. Yin qi was the stuff of the night, of still rivers and lakes. Soft, dark, and peaceful. Yielding. The Grey Hilt had been anything but.

"Harmless on its own, but the Dark World's horrors root themselves in this realm using yin qi as a medium," Master Wan explained.

"They infect it, shrouding themselves in shadow like a swaddling cloth. It is a layer between them and the Emperor. Banish the yin qi and they will be rejected by this world."

"Understood. When should I release it?" Master Wan inhaled. Sunlight poured down upon them, sharper and biting, like a mighty beast suddenly aware of an intruder in its lair. For a moment, Hao swore that the sunlight wrapped around Master Wan's blade in the shape of a serpentine dragon, though the vision vanished almost as soon as it had appeared.

"Now!" Hao didn't waste a second. He sent a thread of qi into the Grey Hilt's storage ring to force the monstrosity out. It pointedly refused. Grey hooks barbed into the eroded space within the ring, tying it there, refusing Hao's call. He growled, ripped the corroded ring from his finger, and hurled it into the center of the formation.

"Come out and play!" Hao roared, raising up the Cheng Spear and flipping it. He shattered the rotten ring with a single thrust and grimaced as a storm of shrieking power erupted forth, coalescing swiftly into the Grey Hilt's malice. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Take Us, rise, Wielder, Accept Our greatest blessings, Grant Us safe harbor!

"I don't think so." The Grey Hilt tried to shift into its dormant form. Trickling sand sounded in their ears as the alien glyphs etched into it swirled like oil upon its metallic surface, hardening it and cutting it off from the world, but Master Wan was faster. Even as the erratic writhing of the glyphs seared into Hao's retinas, slowly painting a cohesive picture of a convergence of worlds, a synthesis of the disparate into something new and wonderful, Master Wan struck.

Sunlight burst into golden flame, twisting into the shape of a dragon circling Master Wan's blade as he brought it down with a Ruminator's strength. Grey filth erupted from the Hilt, swirling up into a shield, but it was slower to act than in the Cloven Pass, forced to expend more power for less results. The Grey Hilt survived the first impact. Leaden veins erupted from it, spewing curses as it attempted to twist reality in its foul haze.

All light fades, flames die The sun sets, your strength shrivels Minds bare, shriveling... Hao froze as the Wildfire dissipated in his chest, cooling from a roaring blaze to a simmering coal. His limbs felt extraordinarily heavy. It took all his strength just to remain upright. Worst of all, darkness crept around them. A miasmic fog spewed outwards, filling the circle, and in the mists Hao saw things creeping. Visions of the Grey Palace, the stars of alien worlds swirling overhead, struck him.

His thoughts were carved open, exposed like a raw nerve, and the Grey Hilt's barbs tore long-buried memories from his mind, seeking what would hurt him the most—"Come, child. It's time to leave your cradle behind," Bolin said, pulling him away from his father. Xiao Sun wouldn't even meet Hao's eyes.

"Your potential is wasted here. I will not allow such a ripe fruit to wither on the vine." Hao followed like a lost duckling, stunned. Master Bolin's cool voice brooked no disobedience.

"Brother!" He spun. His little sister chased after them, shrieking as she slipped free from one of the merchant's wives' arms, trying to catch him. His father was too shamed to even show his face to Hao, instead staring blankly at the sack of mid-grade spirit stones hanging from his limp fingers.

"There's another?" Bolin assessed Hao's sister, eying Nuan critically, then clucked his tongue. His golden eyes froze Nuan in her tracks.

"Only a minor talent. Stay here, girl. I have no need of you."

"Master—" Hao protested, trembling.

"Please, let me say goodbye!"

"It will only make things harder. We're on a schedule, Little Hao." Master Bolin pulled Hao away despite his protests. The caravan grew more distant. A little piece of Hao died, clinging forever to his father and sister. He was silent for a long time.

"Stand tall, Little Hao." Master Bolin patted Hao's head as he would a dog's. The godlike man smiled. His face wasn't made for it, Hao thought.

"Take pride. You fetched a fine price for your father. I believe you just paid his way to Rumination. They will flourish. Talented children are truly the best investment…" Hao staggered beneath the psychic assault, gasping at the rawness of the memories. His vision took a moment to focus. A Calcinator moaned. The flow of yang qi ebbed.

"Mantras!" Xing Jia's voice cut above the rest. She was prickly, but Hao found himself respecting the coherence of her voice. His thoughts scrambled, though his qi swept away the Grey Hilt's mental barbs as it flowed through him. Strength and acuity sharpened.

"Don't let the abomination create a foothold! Support Master Wan and Cultivator Xiao!" Voices rose up around, high and clear, joined with familiarity. Qi bled into every word, reinforcing the cultivators and biting back the Grey Hilt's corruption.

"A Man of the Golden Sun ascended in the East!" The Grey Hilt's choir raged as the sunlight tore through its haze and pierced it. Hao felt his body return to his control. New vigor erupted through him as he rekindled his Wildfire—Hao roared and thrust the Cheng Spear downwards, channeling a thread of flame qi through the heavenly jade. A slate-hued fog caught the spear in time, freezing it in Hao's grip, but the sunlight burned it away just as surely as the flames did.

He fought through the Grey Hilt's defenses inch by inch, aching to bury his weapon deep inside the artifact. The Cheng Spear quivered in his grip, aiding him along, bucking the eldritch power even as it hooked into Hao's memories once more.

"A gift for you, Little Hao."

"A gift?" Hao blinked. Master Bolin showered cultivation resources upon him, but he never referred to them as gifts. His confusion only grew when Master Bolin plucked a snoozing baby white rabbit from a pocket in his robes and placed it into Hao's outstretched palms.

"What is this, Master?" Master Bolin looked supremely unimpressed with Hao's question.

"It is quite plainly a rabbit." Hao just stared at the fuzzy little creature. It was so tiny! At least it was old enough to be soft and cute rather than resembling a wrinkly scrotum like a proper newborn rabbit. The rabbit twitched to wakefulness in his palm, sniffing around and peering at him with big eyes.

"... Why?"

"For you," Master Bolin said with that easy smile of his.

"To help you grow strong."

"What am I supposed to do with it, Master?" Hao eyed the little rabbit skeptically. He tentatively reached out a finger to stroke its tiny forehead. It was warm and soft. He couldn't hold back his smile as the rabbit's hind leg thumped happily against his palm.

"It's a spirit rabbit. I can sense the qi in it. But…"

"Name it. Feed it. Watch it grow," Master Bolin urged.

"There is pleasure in watching something small and weak become strong. Such lessons are precious." Huh. Something soft and almost-forgotten during his six months in the White Rivers flickered to life in Hao's heart. The baby rabbit curled up and snoozed in his hands. He felt the thump-thump-thump of its tiny heartbeat pounding in its delicate chest. How could anything be so fragile? Oh, he couldn't wait to show Sister Fu! She might play all high and mighty, but she was a sucker for cute things…

"He grasped the stars in His palm, studying them, drinking their light." Another line of the mantra reverberated with the yang qi permeating the formation, beating back the Grey Hilt's foul power just long enough for Hao to tear himself free of its grip. Master Wan's sunlit blade ripped through the Grey Hilt's defenses with ease, cracking it with a single brutal blow. The Grey Hilt curled in upon itself like a wounded insect, its spectral wails striking against Hao's protective qi.

With its defenses shattered, the Grey Hilt erupted with visions of other worlds, gouging into their minds and spirits. It flayed Hao alive— He guarded the little rabbit—soon given the auspicious name Senior Hops—jealously, ensuring the bullies in the viper's nest of the Outer Sect kept their distance. He broke bones, sharpened his skills, and leveraged Sister Fu's talents with poisons to frighten away any cruel eyes.

He fed Senior Hops scraps from his plates, venturing to the market to spend his stipend on fine greens and curated vegetables, roaming the countryside near West Lake City with Senior Hops cradled in one arm so that they could pick out qi-rich delicacies. Senior Hops' eyes gained a glint of awareness. He cuddled closer to Hao at night, his little heartbeat thump-thump-thumping away, and the beginnings of a bond formed…

"His light bathed the land, nourishing all." Hao screamed as he brought his spear tip down upon the Grey Hilt. The Wildfire drove him, aching to conquer, to consume, to burn his abominable enemy to ash even as it directed all its attention against tearing Hao's spirit apart—"You've done well. Just as I asked," Master Bolin said, smiling at the sight of Senior Hops. He reached out a finger to stroke the rabbit, who inquisitively nuzzled at Master Bolin.

"Senior Hops has grown exactly as I hoped."

"What comes next?" Hao asked, cradling Senior Hops close. He never felt comfortable in Master Bolin's estate along the banks of the subterranean White River. Monuments to Master Bolin's great deeds loomed above, ranging from victories to defeats. All was recorded.

"Will we establish a spirit bond? We share dreams sometimes, I think. We're getting closer! Are we going to forge a contract?"

"Your final lesson comes next," Master Bolin said, rubbing at Senior Hops' ears. The spirit rabbit snuggled into Hao's elbow.

"You have poured yourself into raising something precious. So shall I. I require a spirit rabbit's feet for a charm. Senior Hops' will do."

"What?"

"Are you deaf, Little Hao? I require Senior Hops' feet. By virtue of strength, my existence is greater than his, thus so is my need. As my apprentice, it is your duty to carry out my will." Hao gasped, snapping back to reality as he tore his way free from those rotten memories. He angled the Cheng Spear down, snarling and spitting as the Grey Hilt's curses flew. Master Wan's flickering blade sundered the sorceries.

The Grey Hilt waned as the Cheng Spear dug into its ugly for, but it fought now, screeching for its life, unleashing all its alien malice into the world. Memories flurried through Hao one after another in a dizzying rush, losing cohesiveness as the eldritch artifact spun cruel remembrances before his eyes.

"I'll kill you before I let you touch him!" Flurries of fists and flames. Spiritual pressure like a mountain crushing the life from Hao and Senior Hops both. Twin heartbeats pounding away.

"... I will have my prize, be it by my hands or yours. I won't be as gentle as you, Little Hao. After all, Senior Hops isn't my rabbit. Perhaps I'll only take his feet, not his life. Does he even need them? You carry him everywhere." Master Bolin snorted.

"A proper cultivator must kill their heart and do what is necessary to advance. I am not cruel. I desire results, not suffering. I will even show you the most painless way…" Hatred fed the Wildfire, ripping him free, only to be hurled right back into the abyss of memory as the Grey Hilt broke beneath his rage—"Two for me and two for you," Master Bolin said, effortlessly manipulating two threads with his dexterous fingers to loop between the pairs of soft white rabbit feet.

He placed one of the necklaces around Hao's neck, ensuring it fit correctly. It was painfully soft. Hao wished it was a noose instead.

"May it bring you good fortune." Detachment. A cold flame. Bloody hands that Hao wished he could cut off. But he still needed them to make things right. Master Bolin plucked the other rabbit foot necklace and placed it around his neck, adjusting the folds of his voluminous silk robes. A second rabbit foot necklace was revealed—this one with two black feet—around his master's neck before Senior Hops' feet settled next to them.

"Think about what you have learned," Master Bolin said, dismissing Hao.

"You will return for dinner at dusk. You are neither boy nor man now. You are a cultivator." Hao nodded dully. He rose on shaking limbs and turned to stumble away from the beautiful courtyard and the trickling stream and the butchered corpse on the pavement. He wanted to dive into the ethereal White Rivers and be washed away. He deserved nothing less.

"And Junior?" Hao stilled.

"You could have stopped me if you were stronger." The Grey Hilt gave. Frenzied hate drove Hao as he forced the Cheng Spear downward, tearing into the abomination's chitin-like carapace, sundering it. Unearthly choruses wailed. mysteries in the flowing sand swirling through his mind grey barbs sinking deep, begging for purchase"When the Darkness came, He spun sunlight into His spear and shield!" Xing Jia roared, enhancing the flow of yang qi into the formation and breaking the Grey Hilt's last defensive efforts.

Fury raged within as he fueled his Wildfire, thinking of the Grey Hilt's victims and the memories it had dredged up. He'd kindled the Wildfire for years, ever since Master Bolin left him in a burning forest with nothing but his wits. Now it burst through him hotter than ever, indignant at this new rival, and purged it in a river of fiery qi.

"No!" Hao bellowed, plunging the Cheng Spear so hard into the Grey Hilt that it pierced deep into the ground, splitting the abomination in half. Stars swirled within like grains of sand. Motes of pale light seared his eyes with eldritch abstractions: rending eye-rimmed claws, impossible angles, and an endless night studded with the stars of foreign realms.

"No more."

"And smote the Shadows with His fury, sealing the horrors with the Sun's Light…" The mantra dissipated the worst of the Grey Hilt's lingering influence, intensifying the sun into piercing daggers which drove through the haze. Hao collapsed, exhausted by the brief battle, and watched the lingering remnants of the Grey Hilt burn away to nothingness. Master Wan's shadow fell over him. His sword was nowhere to be seen. The old man offered Hao a sturdy hand, hauling him to his feet as if he were just a child.

He blinked, shaking off the malice which had woven through his thoughts, gnawing at the edges of his spirit. It was as if he could see clearly for the first time in days. What disturbed him most was the sense of loss, of emptiness, almost like when he'd burnt away his lifeblood with the Transient Burning Leaf.

"The Grey Hilt…"

"It is nameless, remember? Don't grant it a chance to linger in the world. It is a Neophyte-grade artifact, but no less dangerous for it," Master Wan said sharply.

"We're fortunate you came across it in its infancy. No doubt the heretics hoped to fatten it up before transferring it elsewhere."

"I feel empty," Hao said, aching against the weariness which settled into his bones. The Grey Hilt might not have harmed him physically, but it felt as though it had gnawed at the foundation of his spirit. He leaned heavily against the Cheng Spear, which flushed warm against his skin.

"I told you the Grey Hilt was sinking its claws into you," Master Wan replied, flicking a bit of withering dust off his blade.

"You're strong enough to resist its influence, but the abominations are insidious entities. They grow like a cancer until there is nothing of their host left." The thought of the Grey Hilt's tendrils seeping through his flesh disgusted Hao. He trusted in his own strength, but the thought of becoming a mere extension of that thing left him feeling ashen.

"It's dead now," Hao said, reassuring himself. The Grey Hilt was utterly gone, burnt away by the Emperor's light. They'd cast it from this world.

"Finished properly," Master Wan agreed.

"You're a good spear, Xiao Hao. We'll leave the formations up for a few minutes to purge any remnants of the arcane, then we'll be on our way to rejoin the caravan."

"Hopefully we won't have any company," Hao growled, glancing back at Verdant Plains Town.

"We attracted our fair share of eyes back in the plaza." Master Wan nodded.

"We'll make ourselves scarce. This is hardly the first time we've had to leave a town on short notice." He sounded as if this was all in a day's work.

"Fairy Geng's word carries weight. She'll ensure we aren't followed, though I would have liked to have tea with her before we left…" Hao stared at Master Wan. How could anyone be so casual after destroying such a terrible artifact? Even Xing Jia and the young Calcinators were laughing, utterly at ease despite the horrors the Grey Hilt afflicted them with.

"Who are you?" Master Wan smiled. For a moment, the sun wreathed around him, painting him golden.

"A watchful pair of eyes. A blade ready to be raised in defense of the innocent. Surely you suspect my nature by now?" Master Wan's gold-flecked eyes sparkled with amusement.

"You haven't been shy about your suspicions thus far." Hao deliberated for a long moment, thinking back to the terrors of the Grey Hilt Bandits and the nightmares poured into the world by the artifact's curses. Of the lives they had taken. Of the futures they had ruined. Of the futures he had changed by purging their corruption. He considered the way that Master Wan and his disciples had handled the Grey Hilt like a doctor dealing with a routine cold.

Even the White Rivers wouldn't have treated a heretical artifact so lightly. That Fairy Geng had specifically requested Master Wan's expertise when dealing with the Grey Hilt bandits…

"I do," Hao whispered, reeling as the pieces came together. There was only one explanation that made sense, though it bred a dozen new questions in turn.

"But it's impossible."

"Little is impossible in our world." Master Wan paused.

"You proved your courage today, Cultivator Xiao. I truly regret the terms of our initial meeting, you know. I won't deny that I was hasty upon detecting the artifact's influence upon you, but you proved my suspicions wrong. Forgive this old man for his mistakes. May we meet on fresh terms? Let us be honest with each other. I believe we both have much to gain from each other. Hao nodded shakily, any hints of duplicity forgotten. Honesty was the only option dealing with one of them.

"Xiao Hao, formerly of the White Rivers Sect." Master Wan offered Hao a shallow bow. A smile played across the old man's lips.

"Wan Qing, Warden-Errant of the Sun Dragon Acolytes."