Bai li yue landed softly on the ground.

"Bai- Bai li yue! So it's you! Weren't you-"

"The Heavens were not blind to my suffering. You should also call out to them. Although, I doubt they'd hear you."

Meixiu stepped back warily. She knew Bai li yue wasn't just passing by. She'd come for payback.

"Why are you coming after me? Shen duyi is behind all of your suffering. He is to blame!"

"I'll return to him what he sowed in due time. But first, it is only right that you also suffer as I have suffered."

Seeing Bai li yue step toward her, Meixiu quickly slapped a fistful of talisman on her body. A white light emanated from each activated talisman. With each talisman providing a layer of protection against attacks, she would be safe while she escaped. Meixiu ran for the courtyard door, but Bai li yue was faster. She blocked her.

"Always the snake! I'll wait to see what you'll do once you run out of talismans."

Bai li yue said as she attacked. Her sword broke through three layers of talismans. They were immediately restored when Meixiu activated more talismans. 

Under the relentless sword attacks, Meixiu's situation was reaching perilous heights. She had gone through a few hundred talismans- the most she'd ever used in a short time. The used up talismans fell to the ground around her in sheafs; the energy exhausted from the inscriptions. If she didn't take action soon and fast, she would be dead the minute her talismans run out.

She rifled desperately through her spatial bracelet, looking for something- anything to use to her advantage. 

"Ah ha!"

She came up after a few minutes of searching with an onyx statuette. The same one Bai li yue had given her. Meixiu's life has always been the most important thing to her. Why should she care about honour? 

"Bai li yue, did you know this day would come? You shouldn't have been so kind to me."

Meixiu threw the figurine into the air and called out to it.

"Sentinel, protect me!"

The mark was activated and the figurine came to life. It grew to the size of a large tree in a matter of seconds and blocked Bai li yue's swinging sword. She fell backward looking at Meixiu who was jumping over the wall.

"Do you think you are the only one with a sentinel?"

She scoffed, throwing her own onyx figurine into the air in front of Meixiu's onyx sentinel.

"Attack!"

She ordered and went after Meixiu. 

Meixiu hadn't gone very far; she caught up to her on the road. 

"Help! Someone help! A student is about to be killed!"

Her screams drew the attention of several residents. Several heads peeked over the walls. The students watched her as she ran past their courtyards. 

"Bai li yue, there are witnesses around. Are you really going to kill me in front of all these people?"

"Since the moment I started this, there was no going back for either of us."

She walked closer and closer still toward the retreating Meixiu who was quickly running out of options. She had been hoping for her fellow students to intervene but no one was coming to her aid. They simply watched the spectacle from the safety of their courtyards.

Meixiu was out of her mind with fear. Was she going to die just like that? No. No! She'd come too far. Sacrificed too much to die like this. If one door was closed, she had to open another. If her so called sect brothers and sisters weren't willing to help her, she had to appeal to Bai li yue's generosity. Even if it didn't help, it should give her time to come up with something. 

"Bai li yue, I admit I did wrong. I have sinned. I will stand in front of the sect council and confess all my sins. I'll do whatever you want so please let me go. For- for the sake of our past friendship."

Bai li yue sneered at Meixiu's new act. Did she look like a child who could be led by the nose? 

"That just makes me want you dead even more. Did you think of our friendship when you drugged me and gave me to Shen duyi? I can expect anything from that bastard Shen duyi, but you started this. You are the origin of everything. And so you have to pay."

A group of elders-in-training who had been alerted by the racket caused by the fighting figurines happened upon the scene. 

Meixiu was relieved to see the elders-in-training arrive. Bai li yue paid them no heed as they asked for a report.

"Nothing. My friend and I are just fooling around."

Meixiu said with a smile, hoping to earn Bai li yue's goodwill.

"Does the curfew sound like a joke to you? The two of you are coming with us."

The leader ordered.

"Yes, elder."

Meixiu was glad to go with them. She'd humbly accept any punishment if it meant getting away from Bai li yue. Meixiu was on her way to them when Bai li yue finally spoke.

"Elders, this matter doesn't concern you. I came to kill her and you are currently standing in my way. I have already killed some of those who tried to stop me. I don't mind adding you to the number if you remain stubborn."

"What did you say? Say it again if you dare!"

One of the elders-in-training bellowed incredulously, releasing his aura. When did it become acceptable for students to threaten their sect superiors?

Bai li yue's eyes narrowed as his aura washed over her. She shrugged it off with ease.

"I said: I will kill you if you stand in my way!" She repeated herself to his dismay. 

"Arrest her! Throw her into the hole for a thousand days!"

He ordered his followers. 

Bai li yue's grip tightened on her sword. Her eyes flashed in burning hatred.

"Another fool wants to keep me prisoner? Do my words sound like a joke to you all? Do I have to drown this place in blood before you listen to me?"

She asked no one in particular as she evaded the menacing elders coming at her and put her sword to the leader's throat. A rivulet of blood flowed from the nick on his neck.

"What is your answer? Shall I kill one person or kill seven?"

The students watched the scene in fear. They were the perfect kind of audience: captive. The elder trembled, but it was imperceptible under the weight of pressure pinning him in place. He tried to collect himself but the movement brought him against the blade and more blood flowed from the wound. 

"Student, think about what you are doing!"

"This sect no longer has a student like me. Choose! Her or you?"

He hesitated, his mouth was open but no sound came out. There was no easy solution for him. 

Meixiu, seeing the elder's hesitation, was no longer willing to risk putting her life in his arms. She knew better than anyone that most people would put their needs before that of others. Hadn't she done the same? 

All eyes were trained on the Bai li yue and the elder, and the still sword between them; that could at any second sever life from his body. 

Should she risk it? The enlarged figurines were still fighting in the background, in a stalemate. Neither was getting the better of the other. 

The glimmer of hope she'd gotten from the arrival of the patrol was dwindling with every breath. She would just have to take her chances. The mission hall was to her right. As long as Bai li yue didn't catch up to her on the way, she could find a haven there and extend her life until she figured out a solution to the crisis.  

Her body tensed one second before she made a break for it. Bai li yue responded with a palm to the man's chest and hurtled after Meixiu like a rocket. The leader caught himself and winced in pain. 

"After her!"

He ordered his men. They sprung into action after her.

The wind in her ears, Meixiu looked behind her and sped up. Bai li yue was catching up to her. She regretted not putting enough time into getting a high rank movement art. She wouldn't be in this position if that was the case. Regret and bitter hatred emerged in her heart, but she quickly smothered the regret.

Bang!

A light mote that she hadn't noticed in front of her exploded. The explosion caught her unawares. Blinded, she stumbled and righted herself a second later, but it was a second too late. She had lost her momentum. Bai li yue was at her back. Any second now, she would reach her side.

Meixiu's eyes widened. She dodged at the last second and the sword pierced her shoulder. Her life was safe for the time being. Bai li yue now stood in front of her, blocking her path.

"Forgive me."

"Are those your last words?"

"Bai li yue, you are better than this."

"There will be no mercy for the likes of you. I swore to pay you back and I will see that you suffer for every second you smiled and every word you uttered while you plotted against me!"

The group of elders-in-training heard several loud screams and followed the sounds. When the patrol arrived, Bai li yue was already gone. The smell of blood hung thick in the air. All that remained of Meixiu were her dismembered arms and legs in the middle of the path. One of the elders stumbled to the side and threw up the contents of his stomach. The faces of others were grim. A trail of blood led away from where the rest of her body should have been. They followed the bloody trail. They found what remained of her two hundred feet away. Meixiu was already dead. Her body was a husk of desiccated flesh and bones. She'd been drained of her vital essence while she was still alive. 

This was a huge slap in the face to the sect.

"Scour the sect. Find her!"

The leader thundered.