—

 

Zhao Zhihao had never thought much of Viktor. He knew he had a mythic core but right now he was just a kid who he could squash very easily. He was pumping him full of negative energy specifically to kill him and make Elena suffer as per Hundun’s request so he was more afraid of Andrei and Elena than he was of their child.

 

Until that moment that is.

 

Zhao Zhihao had learned about Vikentiy Ivanov. Of his overwhelming strength and incredible cruelty. And just like anyone else—he had also learned about his blood-red pupils. He had learned about this specifically from Hundun…

 

Vikentiy Ivanov could control minds in a way that even Hundun and the four were unable to.

 

Zhao Zhihao didn’t even realize what was going on. But upon seeing “Viktor’s” eyes and hearing him say that word… his body moved all on its own and he fled the Ivanov household and never returned.

 

— years later, China

 

Fei Xiang sighed as he sat in the outdoor corridor of Baihe’s shop. He had returned from the Xia family home after Guiren’s formal funeral and it all really began to hit him. Lian Bai had gone with him but she immediately went to Yue’s side once they returned.

 

Yue had all but destroyed his body in his rage against Hundun. It was an overwhelming victory for him of course but it wasn’t a battle he could escape uninjured, not in his mental state and certainly not with a broken sword.

 

Through his experience in the past few days, Fei Xiang was reminded of why he spent hundreds of years on his own without anyone by his side. And he was most clearly reminded of why he never wanted disciples to begin with. The loss of Xia Guiren and his wife and child…invoked feelings he had thought he’d forgotten.

 

“Pleas–” Fei Xiang opened his mouth, fully intending to ask Baihe who approached to leave him alone for a while so he could just sit in the moonlight by himself and think of what he would do from now on.

 

Baihe surprised him though, immediately after he began to speak she thrust a jar of rice wine in his face.

 

“Let’s drink.” She said plainly and sat beside him. 

 

Fei Xiang stared at her with dull eyes, he truly did want to be alone but he knew she would not leave.

 

“You know…I never expected him to become such a family man.” Baihe spoke, she knew Fei Xiang wouldn’t.

 

“He seemed like the type to not even really look at girls. I thought Yue or my girl would be the first to get married. Yue has always been incredibly charismatic that way. Not little lord Xia though…I thought he’d just be a traveling master like you one day.” Baihe chuckled.

 

“And then suddenly he grew up..and came to me all on his own to ask me how he could get Miss Chen’s father to understand him…”

 

“That was your Idea?” Fei Xiang spoke up at last, raising an eyebrow as he took a drink.

 

“It's the bare minimum I would expect if a martial artist tried to marry my daughter.” Baihe grinned.

 

“‘Your sword is your life, your protector, your closest friend…Give it to her.’, Of course, I had meant it literally, to offer her his sword. He brought his own meaning to it though, he carved her name into his sword and told them it was a reminder for him, a reminder of who he fought for.”  Baihe laughed, “He was quite the unexpected romantic.”

 

“A great father too.” Fei Xiang sighed, looking up at the sky.

 

“Indeed…”

 

They sat in silence for a while, sipping their drinks.

 

“Baihe…you should take Lian Bai back. She shouldn’t continue traveling with me.” Fei Xiang murmured.

 

Baihe was not surprised that he said that, she was expecting it.

 

“What about Yue?” Baihe asked.

 

“We…are better off together. Lian Bai is a grown woman…she should get to live a normal life. If she stays with me I cannot guarantee she won’t meet the same fate as Xia Guiren.” 

 

Baihe had planned to just deny his request and insist that he talk to Lian Bai instead but she could not hide how scared she was to lose Lian Bai.

 

“…I would like to take her back…but it’s not up to me,” Baihe murmured and she turned around.

 

“What do you think?”  she asked Lian Bai.

 

Fei Xiang knew Lian Bai had been approaching but he allowed their conversation to be heard anyway.

 

“I don’t want to.” Lian Bai didn’t say much more than that before sitting down directly between Baihe and Fei Xiang and taking a drink.

 

Baihe chuckled, Lian Bai sat like a lady but her mannerisms when drinking were just like Fei Xiang’s. All of his disciples were like that. They had all learned to drink from watching him. She felt a twinge of sadness as she recalled their futile attempts just recently to try and get him drunk and chuckled to herself softly.

 

“I am not Yue, I don’t know what the future holds from now on but I know that I will not let Hundun have their way with the people I care about again.” Lian Bai said and stared out into the yard.

 

Fei Xiang sighed, Lian Bai and Xia Guiren were very different people but Lian Bai’s words just now were exactly what Guiren would have said if the roles were reversed. 

—

 

Fei Xiang warned Elena about Hundun holding a grudge against them for destroying the mountain after Xia Guiren died. Elena had assumed she had gone unscathed until she learned of Zhao Zhihao’s involvement with Hundun. Then she was certain Viktor had been affected by him.

—

 

“You can’t do this to me, Yue! I’m your brother!” 

 

Yue was certain he’d have nightmares from a scene like this but he didn’t look away, if he wasn’t carrying it out himself then he had to be there.

 

Yi carved Xia Guiren’s core out of the person he had defeated. Immediately as he did the person’s appearance drastically changed into that of someone who resembled Zhao Zhihao.

 

‘You can stop this from happening to people you care about, you know?’

 

Yue was confused by what Yi meant by that.

 

‘…things that exist on the islands cannot simultaneously exist anywhere else.’

 

Yue was still confused but Yi just looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set.

 

“…It’s more beautiful through your eyes…” 

 

Yi gave Yue control again. His body returned to normal and Yue was left to stare at the core in his hand. He thought for a while.

 

“…Is there a way to put Guiren and his family in the island realm..?” He asked himself quietly.

 

He still had so much he didn’t know about the island realm but he didn’t have the time to figure that out yet.

 

—

 

Mai and Huy had been fending off Hundun forces for a while when they noticed a collective change in their behaviors. They all seemed to be trying to run into Malaysia after actively avoiding it for a while. Some of the Vermillion Bird followers tried to chase after them but Huy quickly stopped.

 

“Stop! This isn’t right, they must have some sort of plan.” Huy exclaimed watching as the Hundun soldiers ran into Malaysia. They seemed to be running like normal but as they went farther more and more of them started to fall. 

 

But instead of laying there dying, they got up shortly afterward. Their eyes and extremities turned black and continued to run farther into Malaysia.

 

“Ahn! They’re probably going toward Hundun to help it fight back against us!” Mai quickly exclaimed and flew up next to him.

 

Huy nodded then turned to his followers. He couldn’t take them with him any farther in.

 

“Stay outside the border, if anything happens contact me immediately.”

 

Huy quickly jumped into the sky and almost completely disappeared, flying too fast for Mai to see. Mai was confused for a second about why he had left her but she blinked and suddenly she was by his side flying without even thinking about it.

 

“H-How?”  She looked around, they were surrounded by flames. Huy didn’t respond immediately and looked a bit surprised as well. He had intended to loop around and carry Mai since her top speed was a bit slower than he had planned to go but suddenly Mai was already with him and it wasn’t like she was flying it was more like she was being pulled along with him.

 

“I’m not sure what’s happening but let’s think about that later!” Huy exclaimed and brought Mai a bit closer as they flew.

 

—