The putrid scent of sweat and naked flesh wormed its way into the man’s nostrils the moment he entered the small village.

 

It was only putrid because of the stink of evil that accompanied it.

 

Villagers looked on in a mix of curiosity and worry as the man followed the scent. His face was obscured by a black douli hat, marked with the character mie—destroy—in white. His tall, imposing form was draped in loose fitting grey robes, under an open shenyi garment that fell to his ankles. White cloth wrapping padded his shins and forearms.

 

He wore a strange amalgamation of monk’s robes and old Ming clothing. And his hair had clearly been cut, against confucian values, but was allowed to grow out, contrary to the practices of warrior monks.

 

While most looked away, some couldn’t help but watch the monk’s spade strapped to his back. The wide, flat blade at its top bore a faint red tint along its sharpened edge.

 

The monk’s strides were purposeful and confident, his head held high so he could chase after that evil scent.

 

He moved past the clusters of wooden shacks with thatched roofs, eyes on one particular building that was indistinguishable from the others aside from the lack of windows.

 

“Oi!”

 

The monk glanced behind himself at two men in bright red douli and shirts bearing the Qing insignia, muskets in hand.

 

“Your presence is causing the village to panic! Who are you, stranger?” the soldier asked.

 

“Qilin.” the monk said. “I’m here on important business. I’d appreciate it if you allowed me to attend to it.”

 

“Those are Shaolin robes, right?” The two soldiers raised their guns. “You’re coming with us.”

 

Splitting Fist, Fourth Form: Clearing the Brush.

 

Qilin spun on his left foot, his right arcing a swift hook. The soldiers were flung back by the blow and landed in the dirt some meters away.

 

The villagers gasped.

 

Grunting in pain, the soldiers staggered to their feet, and fired their guns.

 

Splitting Fist, Second Form: Flash of Steel.

 

With blinding speed, Qilin’s hand swept across his body. The movement was accompanied by the clattering of musket balls, cleaved in twain by his strike.

 

“If you insist on apprehending me,” Qilin said. “Can you at least wait until I’ve finished up my work here?”

 

“Why you…” one of the soldiers growled. “I’ll have your head!”

 

The soldier drew a single edged Dao sword from his hip and rushed at Qilin.

 

Splitting Fist, First Form: Woodcutter’s Axe.

 

Qilin raised his hand overhead and struck down on the soldier’s conical hat. The sheer force caused the man to crumple beneath the blow, losing both his grip on his sword and his consciousness.

 

Qilin glanced at the other soldier, who didn’t hesitate to scurry off.

 

He scoffed and kicked the fallen soldier’s dao into his hands. He looked over the blade.

 

“This weapon’s rather nice. A shame its wielder is so incompetent.” Qilin tucked the sword in the cloth wrap around his waist, under his shenyi, strapping the sword to his hip. “I think I’ll offer it a better home.”

 

Without anyone else seeming like they were willing to stop him, Qilin entered the building that he had been heading towards.

 

As his nose had suggested, the inside of the building was a brothel.

 

The scent of flesh on flesh and the bodily fluids that came with such acts mixed with incense, being burnt to maintain a fresh scent to ordinary folk. All of it masked the faint scent of evil on the wind.

 

The interior was draped in bright red and pink curtains and banners, while prostitutes both mingled among the few customers they had at this time of day and played instruments to fill the brothel with music.

 

Qilin glanced upwards at the second floor balcony that stretched along the walls, searching for the source of that evil scent.

 

“Well, this is quite unexpected…”

 

Qilin’s gaze returned to the first floor, focusing on a prostitute who had approached him.

 

She was slight in stature, though she hardly looked frail. The smile she bore on her face was far more boisterous than the delicate grace one would expect of a prostitute.

 

Her black hair was somewhat messily pinned up with detailed, decorative hair pins. She wore a blue dress that fit just over her breasts and a translucent garment over her shoulders, with long, flowing sleeves.

 

“We don’t get many monks in our establishment.” the woman smiled. “What can I do for you?”

 

“I’d like to speak with the madame of this brothel…” Qilin said.

 

The prostitute pursed her lips, “You see... the madame is currently busy. But if you wait around long enough, I’m sure she could find the time to meet with you. If you could leave your weapons at the door, I can find you a nice place to sit.”

 

Qilin grumbled, but he set his newly acquired sword, along with a menagerie of other weapons, on a rack that was being guarded by a mercenary. Though he left his spade strapped to his back.

 

“I believe you’ve forgotten the polearm on your back.” the prostitute said.

 

“This is a spade. Just a tool.” Qilin said.

 

“A tool for digging graves and holding enemies at bay. I can assure you that you’ll have to do neither here.”

 

Qilin sighed, but set his monk’s spade aside as well, before following the prostitute to a small, round table. He took a seat on a wooden stool across from her as she called to one of her coworkers for two cups of wine.

 

“First one’s on the house if you’ll tell me your name.” the prostitute said.

 

“I don’t drink.” Qilin said. “But I’ll tell you my name in exchange for yours, xiao jie.”

 

“My name is Xu Qin.”

 

“Jin Qilin.” The monk said.

 

“Good to meet you, Mister Jin.” Xu Qin bowed her head. “What brings you to our little neck of the woods?”

 

“I’ve come here to wait, not make idle small talk.” Qilin said. “And I can assure you, I won’t be purchasing your services.”

 

“Oh, I’d expect nothing less from a monk.” Xu Qin said. “But I’m in the precarious situation of being swallowed up by boredom otherwise. So I ask that you please indulge me.”

 

Qilin hesitated for a moment.

 

She didn’t smell of anything out of the ordinary...aside from a strange metallic scent, but that could be just about anything. And it certainly wasn’t a common scent to that of evil.

 

“I have business with the madame. My masters suspect that an evil force lurks somewhere among your village and that she may be able to help root it out.” Qilin said.

 

“Ah, so you’re an exorcist.” Xu Qin pursed her lips.

 

“If that’s how you want to put it,” Qilin said.

 

“Though you know, you lot tend to brand anything remotely resembling a Daoist sorcerer as evil.” Xu Qin muttered. “I don’t mean to offend, but are you sure you aren’t just chasing an alchemist?”

 

“Both alchemists and yaoguai can be considered sorcerers. But only one truly reeks of evil.” Qilin said. “And I don’t mean evil in a moral sense. I mean the stink of abandoned divinity.”

 

“You kill demons, I see.” Xu Qin chuckled, resting her chin on her hand. “Tell me more.”

 

“You don’t find that the least bit odd?” Qilin asked.

 

“I’ve lived in the same village all my life.” Xu Qin shrugged. “Who am I to say what does and doesn’t exist?”

 

“Currently, I believe I’m on the hunt for a-”

 

“You will rot in hell for this blasphemy, Huang tai tai!”

 

Qilin glanced at a man stomping down the stairs of the brothel. He was a foreigner, dressed in the black robes of Christian priests.

 

“And you call yourself a Christian!” The priest left the brothel in a hurry.

 

“I guess she’s available. Well...let’s hope that Madame Huang is willing to put up with another meeting.” Xu Qin stood from her stool, just as her coworker came back with those cups of wine. Xu Qin grabbed both of them and downed their contents in no time. “If you’d kindly follow me, Mister Jin.”

 

Qilin stood and tailed her as she climbed the stairs to the second floor and through the beaded curtain of the Madame’s office.

 

Madame Huang was lighting a thin pipe to smoke from as they entered. She lounged on a stool that stood behind a low to the ground wooden desk.

 

The scent of the tobacco smoke was overwhelming, invading Qilin’s nostrils.

 

She was a woman of middle age, common among those who owned brothels. She wore her hair up in a far more elaborate fashion than Xu Qin or the prostitutes and wore a traditional Manchu cheongsam, which was far less revealing than the dresses the other women wore.

 

Madame Huang’s gaze locked with Qilin’s as she smoked her pipe. When she set it down, that seemed to be the cue for Xu Qin to speak.

 

The tainted shadow in the recesses of his mind tingled slightly. The demon was certainly near.

 

“Madame Huang, this is Mister Jin Qilin. He is an exorcist who claims to have important business with you.” Xu Qin bowed.

 

“An exorcist?” Huang raised an eyebrow. “First a priest and now a monk. The gods certainly insist on eating up all my time today…Speak then, Mister Jin.”

 

“There’s a demon in this village. I’ve come to kill it..” Qilin explained. “But I believe that the demon is hidden among the prostitutes you keep here. I have a strong suspicion that my enemy may be a Huli Jing, a fox spirit masquerading as a human. Have any of the women here been acting strangely?”

 

Huang sighed. “You have beliefs and suspicions. Do you have anything else? Anything perhaps more concrete than what appear to be mere hunches?”

 

“My work is rarely ever done on concrete evidence. An exorcist’s most valued skill is his intuition. If I am given some amount of information, I will be able to make the spirit reveal herself.” Qilin said.

 

Madame Huang picked up her pipe again, but before she could put it to her lips, Qilin pressed his thumb against the glowing tobacco, smothering the light.

 

“I may be able to provide you with something more concrete if I can follow a scent.” Qilin muttered. “You don’t smoke often, I noticed. The scent of tobacco hasn’t seeped into the walls of this room.”

 

“I am having a particularly stressful day.” Huang said. He could smell it clearly, as the smoke faded. He could smell the source of the scent.

 

“Ah, but then you’d have the stench of mental fatigue about you, Madame Huang…” Qilin said, leaning in closer towards her. “Rather than the stench of evil.”

 

Splitting Fist, First Form: Woodcutter’s Axe.

 

QIlin raised his arm up as though he were about to split a log. And while he was expecting a response from the Madame, something from behind restricted his attack.

 

Qilin was dragged to the ground by a rope dart that had coiled around his wrist.

 

Xu Qin held the rope in her hands, glaring at Qilin.

 

Were the other prostitutes in league with the Madame? No, Xu Qin’s stance was perfect. Each and every muscle in her body was relaxed, a trait only found in well trained martial artists. Who was this woman?

 

Qilin snapped the rope and turned back to attack Madame Huang, but the woman was nowhere to be seen.

 

He didn’t wait around to figure out Xu Qin’s connection to the Madame and threw his body against the wooden wall, crashing through to the outside.

 

He landed on the dirt path and watched as Madame Huang rode past him on a galloping horse.

 

Qilin inhaled for four seconds exactly, held it for four seconds, then let it go for four seconds. Well, it was as exact as he could get it. As he continued to breathe and near that perfect breath of exactly twelve seconds, blood rushed through his legs as he leaned forward and dashed after the horse. His Perfect Breaths powered continuous forward momentum in his body.

 

As long as he breathed, his forward momentum would never die.

 

Qilin had never tried to outrun a horse before, but as his legs started to burn, it didn’t look like he’d have the stamina to keep this up.

 

Still, he never wavered.

 

As Madame Huang gained more distance, Qilin launched himself into the air.

 

Splitting Fist, Ninth Form: Iron Echoes.

 

With a flash of movement, he kicked the air, sending a wave of wind hurtling towards the horse.

 

The blade of air slashed through the surrounding bamboo stalks and cut through the hindquarters of the Madame’s steed, causing it to collapse on her.

 

Qilin approached his target, though without the intent to kill. Not yet, at least.

 

He grabbed Madame Huang out from under the weight of the squirming horse and lifted her by the neck.

 

“Three years ago, there was a town in Fujian named Taoyuan.” Qilin growled. “You were there, weren’t you?”

 

Madame Huang choked her answer out. “Maybe I was. What does it matter to you?”

 

“Answer the question!” Qilin’s grip around her throat tightened until he could almost feel his fingers wrapping around her windpipe.

 

“I was there!” Huang coughed out.

 

“Who ordered the attack?” Qilin roared.

 

But before Huang had the chance to answer, he was forced to drop her when a rope dart slashed his side.

 

Qilin whirled around, face contorted in rage. Only for a fist to ram into his gash like a geyser bursting through the ground.

 

He crashed into a collection of bamboo stalks. The impact didn’t affect him past his toughened skin, but the injury at his side sent waves of agony through him.

 

Still, Qilin stood again, facing the perpetrator.

 

Xu Qin had caught up to him. She flourished her rope dart before sinking into a defensive stance.

 

He’d seen this type of stance before. It was common among the Shuishi exorcists. Water stance monks.

 

“What the hell is an exorcist doing defending a demon?” Qilin growled.

 

“What the hell are you doing here, after the higher ups already sent me?” Xu Qin asked. “I’ve been at this for a month. I won’t be upstaged by a damn metal stance monk.”

 

“If you’re gonna get in my way, then I won’t hold back from killing you too.” Qilin said.

 

“Oh really?” Xu Qin scoffed. “That’s rich! I’m Shuishi! Water rusts metal.”

 

Splitting Fist, Fourth Form: Clearing the Brush.

 

Qilin’s hand swept through a bamboo stalk, cutting it to the perfect size for an improvised bo staff. He flourished his new weapon before rushing in for an attack.

 

The splitting fist was naturally weak as a fighting style against the drilling fist. But that would not stop Qilin from dispatching of this interloper.

 

Qilin evaded a series of swipes from Xu Qin’s rope dart as he closed in and slammed his staff into Xu Qin’s side.

 

The girl was thrown to the dirt.

 

“If you’re really a Shuishi monk, shouldn’t you be a tad bit more nimble?” Qilin asked.

 

Xu Qin responded by leaping to her feet and charging at Qilin. He countered her attack by simply stepping forward and ramming his elbow into her.

 

But Xu Qin’s body seemed to warp around him as she appeared at his backside.

 

Three strikes from her sent unyielding pain coursing through Qilin’s body. Qilin collapsed, his body quivering with sudden weakness.

 

But his mind broke through the agony and he managed to sweep Xu Qin’s legs out from under her.

 

Qilin stood over her, but before he could knock her out, Xu Qin kicked the back of his leg and threw a punch to his jaw from the ground.

 

He attempted to crush her ribs with an elbow strike, but she managed to wrap herself around him and pin him to the ground.

 

Qilin forced Xu Qin off of him with an awkward throw, but it did the job.

 

He pushed himself to his feet, only to find that Huang had vanished once again.

 

“Damnit!” Qilin snapped. 

 

“Shit! I am not sharing that bounty.” Xu Qin hissed as she stood.

 

“Qi si wo le, I would’ve just given you the damn bounty if that’s all you wanted!” Qilin sighed in exasperation.

 

“Wait, really?”

 

Qilin huffed and turned towards the village. “Never shoulda put my spade down.”

 

“N-now hold on, let’s not part ways so quickly.” Xu Qin scurried in front of him. “If you’ll give me the bounty, I’ll give you...whatever it is you want from all this. Let’s help each other.”

 

Qilin raised his eyebrows. “Sorry if I’m not very inclined to help someone as skittish about money as you are. And there are reasons beyond that I would insist you avoid me.”

 

“Well, I have an idea of where her den might be.” Xu Qin said. “And you never know when you’re gonna need some extra help on a job.”

 

Qilin pursed his lips. “Twenty-five, seventy-five, majority to you. I call the shots.”

 

“Done.” Xu Qin said a little too quickly.

 

“I’m going to go gather up my things. Meet me at the edge of town just after sundown.” Qilin started back towards the brothel.

_____________________________________________________________

 

Xu Qin fitted her black douli hat over her head, trying not to disturb the long, loose braid she’d tied her hair into, as she squatted atop the roof of the brothel. The hat bore the character mie, printed in blue across the metal plating on the surface of the hat.

 

She’d opted for more practical clothing for combat, rather than a prostitute’s dress. It felt good to get out of all that expensive silk. She wouldn’t have to damage it anymore before selling it off. 

 

She had ensured to bring three rope darts this time and a meteor hammer, all coiled in the blue sleeveless garment draped over her improperly tied navy robes. Her forearms were wrapped in cloth, tied to her skin with coils of rope that could be pulled to increase the spin of her drilling fist.

 

Who did the higher ups think they were, sending another exorcist to do her job?

 

Sure, it was taking her a while, but a good job was never a rushed job. And a bad job invariably resulted in death. And she wasn’t very keen on meeting her end so soon. If not for herself, then at least for her village.

 

That iron skull was walking in the open moonlight, wearing reflective as hell white to sneak up on a Huli Jing.

 

Xu Qin leapt from the second floor and landed gracefully on her feet, the impact being absorbed by her abnormally strong bones.

 

“You look about ready to just knock on her door and demand she surrender.” Xu Qin muttered. “I thought we were waiting for night in order to sneak in.”

 

“That’s not how I do things.” Qilin muttered, sniffing the air.

 

Ass.

 

“By all means, if you see an opportunity to catch her by surprise, be my guest,” the metal stance monk said. “But I think it’s unwise to try and outclass a demon in a skill they’re probably better at than me by nature. Now, you said you knew where the den was?”

 

“I had an idea.” Xu Qin said. “We’re headed north.”

 

Xu Qin sprinted towards the north of the village, the metal monk in close pursuit.

 

Under the cover of night, the two were like shadows, indistinguishable from the silhouettes of branches and bamboo in the darkness.

 

Eventually, Xu Qin climbed to the top of one of the bamboo stalks, causing it to lean.

 

“I’ve followed Madame Huang out here about one a week for the past month.” Xu Qin said. “Unfortunately, I’ve never gone much further than here. Can you smell her?”

 

“Wind’s coming from the south.” Qilin said. “If she’s north of us, I won’t smell a thing.”

 

“Mm...Alright, I’ll see if I can hear anything.” Xu Qin cupped her ear. “I was really expecting you to be a bit more useful.”

 

“Then you’ve misplaced your expectations,” he muttered.

 

“Shut up, I need to hear.”

 

Through all the wind and the animals that come out at night, Xu Qin could hear the faint sound of jingling chains. Likely the bindings for human prisoners. The noise echoed several times after reaching her ears. No doubt, bouncing off a cave wall.

 

“Got her.” Xu Qin said. “Come on.”

 

She slid down the bamboo stalk and proceeded to a small clearing in the forest, where she’d heard the noise coming from.

 

Further listening drew her to the edge of the clearing, which was actually a cliff. The sound was coming from a cave mouth on the side of the cliff.

 

“Hm...I’ll bet you another twenty five percent of the bounty there’s an easier way in.” Xu Qin looked at Qilin.

 

The monk glanced over the cliff. “No time. This way’s easy enough.”

 

Qilin jumped off the cliff without so much as a second thought and swung himself into the cave mouth.

 

“Ma de...Damn metal heads…” Xu Qin murmured to herself.

 

She followed Qilin’s tracks and managed to land inside the cave, though she stumbled a bit on her landing.

 

Qilin had the gall to shush her.

 

Part of Xu Qin really wished she’d gone and studied Wood Stance for that sweet, sweet supernatural eyesight as Qilin started making his way deeper into the cave.

 

“Wh-what are you doing?” Xu Qin heard the voice of a very, very scared man, accompanied by his panicked heartbeat coming from another cavern.

 

“Filleting you. I can’t afford to stay here anymore.” Madame Huang’s voice.

 

“Wh-what? No! No, I beg of you, please don’t!”

 

“Oh, shut your mouth. This was always going to be how it ended for you.”

 

Qilin and Xu Qin crept into a larger cavern, where dim torchlight illuminated the jagged rocks and reflected off a pair of manacles that were bolted to the wall and restrained a man’s wrists. Only a few meters away, Madame Huang was sharpening a rather nasty-looking knife.

 

The two exorcists hid behind a large rock formation.

 

Huang’s body was no longer completely human. Along with the setting of the sun, the Huli Jing’s nature was trying to release itself from her own shapeshifting.

 

A pair of fox ears poked through her black hair and nine bushy tails spilled down her backside, like a second layer to her dress.

 

Then, without warning, Qilin sprung up from their hiding spot and rushed at Huang.

 

Idiot!

 

Xu Qin didn’t move as Huang noticed Qilin’s charge.

 

The fox demon summoned three spheres of blue fire in the air around her, launching them as projectiles at Qilin.

 

The monk dove out of the way, as the balls of fire hit the ground, exploding in violent flashes of flames.

 

“Is that you, Mister Jin?” Huang asked. “I felt it before. I can feel it now. What’s that shadow you’ve got behind you?”

 

What? What was she going on about?

 

Likely using a Perfect Breath, Qilin closed the distance between himself and Huang with supernatural speed, slamming the crescent shaped blade of his monk’s spade against Huang’s throat, sending her staggering backwards.

 

“Splitting fist, first form: Woodcutter’s Axe!” Qilin’s roar quickly followed the raising of his weapon overhead.

 

But before Qilin could land his finishing blow, Huang scratched him across the chest with a set of razor sharp claws on her hand.

 

Qilin and Huang both fought furiously. Qilin’s movements were sharp, quick, and precise, not unlike a sword. Huang fought more like an animal, trying to maul her opponent more than actually kill him. Both had practically abandoned their own defense.

 

Metal stance monks were all about moving quickly and being impatient. The style was a fool’s excuse for kung fu.

 

But while Xu Qin wouldn’t respect the style, she had to admit it made for a great distraction. And entertainment, depending on the circumstances.

 

But something about Qilin’s metal stance was off. It was less like a sharpened sword and more like a red hot iron being swung about by a monk who’d forgotten a good chunk of his training.

 

So she waited in silence.

 

Eventually, the fight brought itself towards her hiding spot.

 

She waited until Huang was right in front of the rock she was watching from. Then, she could pounce.

 

Drilling Fist, First Form: Scorching Geyser.

 

Xu Qin slammed her fist against the rock in front of her and twisted her arm. The force caused the rock to shatter and fly out towards Huang right where she’d hit.

 

The blow caught Huang off guard, giving Xu Qin a chance to take over.

 

She lashed out her rope dart, the blade piercing the Huli Jing’s arm. Xu Qin yanked the demon towards her and refused to give her any reprieve as she struck Huang with her elbow, knee, and foot.

 

Huang staggered right into Qilin as he used the flat of his monk’s spade to crush the back of her skull, causing her to vomit up blood. He slammed the crescent blade of his weapon into her neck and pushed her up against the cave wall. A swift metal-stance kick elicited a nasty crack from the demon’s ribs as she cried out in pain.

 

The Huli Jing freed herself by coiling Qilin’s weapon in those blue flames from before. The iron skull dropped his spade and leapt back, shaking the heat from his seared hand.

 

Xu Qin quickly moved to take his place, having been given some time to rest.

 

She started wrapping her rope dart around her body as she engaged Huang with a series of kicks. It was enough to take her focus away as Xu Qin loosed her weapon. It swung from over her shoulder, completely opposite to where her limbs were poised to strike.

 

The dart ran through Huang’s eye, bringing little more than a snarl to the demon’s lips.

 

Without decapitation, a demon was in no real danger of death. But that didn’t make Xu Qin’s attacks hurt any less.

 

Xu Qin let go of the rope dart as azure fires consumed the twine.

 

Both of them backed off somewhat, in need of a breather.

 

Xu Qin pulled out her meteor hammer and started twirling it slowly. The weapon was constructed just like a rope dart, except the head was blunt. Better for crushing damage, which took longer for demons to regenerate.

 

Huang didn’t bother healing her eye. Rather, the Huli Jing took up a stance and began moving her arms very fluidly. Xu Qin recognized it as Tai Chi.

 

She was accessing the Tao.

 

Xu Qin’s eyes widened. Ordinarily, yaoguai and other demons had nominal access to Taoist sorcery. But to go so far as to channel the Tao’s power into oneself? That took extensive training, even for the Wu Tang...

 

Qilin joined Xu Qin as she took up a defensive stance, kicking his spade back into his hands.

 

Under a demon’s control, energies of the Tao were different from a human’s usage. More...physical. More dangerous. Any iron-skulled attempt to cut her off could result in everyone in this cavern going up in flames.

 

Huang’s body began to contort and shift. She became more fox-like, though still maintaining a humanoid appearance.

 

However, as the guise of humanity lifted from the demon, Xu Qin could hear the crackles of power in the air around her.

 

When her transformation was finished and there was no longer any danger in intervening, Qilin immediately rushed in for the kill.

 

The Huli Jing knocked Qilin’s spade away and sent him flying into the cave wall with one palm strike.

 

“Your paths end here, monks!” Huang snarled.

 

Huang made a move towards Qilin and without even really thinking about it, Xu Qin launched her meteor hammer out to try and grab the yaojing’s attention.

 

Huang grabbed the hammer with her bare hand and yanked on it, dragging Xu Qin towards her. Xu Qin rolled to her feet before she lost balance, but was assaulted by a flurry of claw strikes.

 

Xu Qin had to bear the brunt of two of them before she managed to evade one and catch Huang in the jaw with a quick jab.

 

Drilling Fist, Third Form: Hailstorm.

 

Xu Qin unleashed a storm of blows, each working into the small crevasses and acupuncture points of the human body.

 

But all of that seemed to have no effect on demonic physiology. Either that, or the Tao was preventing any interruption to the flow of the Huli Jing’s qi.

 

Xu Qin let herself be on the backfoot as Huang’s attacks pushed her further and further away. Once out of arm’s reach, Huang summoned another volley of azure flames, much faster than before.

 

Xu Qin had to duck and dive around the projectiles, her movement completely under the control of the Huli Jing.

 

One of the fiery spheres landed within a meter of her and exploded, sending her body flying like a ragdoll and scorching her right arm.

 

She landed hard against the cave floors, pain coursing through every inch of her body.

 

At least now she knew why the bounty was so high…

 

Xu Qin tried to lift herself off the ground, but her right half wouldn’t respond to her brain’s commands.

 

Ta ma de…

 

She was out of this fight. And if Huang kept it up with the fire, she was as good as dead.

 

Huang summoned yet more blue fireballs around herself, while Xu Qin was forced to just watch as the Huli Jing was allowed a free shot at her.

 

“Splitting Fist, Fourth Form: Clearing the Brush.”

 

The tip of a dao sword swept across Huang’s abdomen. Her balls of flame vanished as blood started leaking out from her stomach.

 

Both Xu Qin and Huang stared at the wound, shocked for different reasons.

 

Without a moment’s hesitation, Qilin grabbed the Huli Jing’s top half of her now severed body and dragged it away from her lower half.

 

Huang screamed in panic, “No! No! Unhand me, you moron! Let me go!” she tried to scratch, claw, and struggle from the iron skull’s grasp.

 

“I asked you a question earlier today.” Qilin threw Huang against the cave wall. “Taoyuan. Who ordered its destruction?”

 

“If I tell you, let me live!” Huang half pleaded, half demanded.

 

“How about,” Qilin muttered, a subtle growl behind his voice. “I instead offer you a clean cut to the neck. I’m sure you’d prefer that to the twenty odd minutes I’d be spending, cutting through your neck with a rope dart.”

 

“You...you’re supposed to be a monk! A Buddhist monk!” Huang screamed. “Show some damn mercy!”

 

“You’re in no position to be making demands.” Qilin drew a severed rope dart, one he’d cut earlier during his and Xu Qin’s skirmish and began sawing the blade at Huang’s neck.

 

“No! Please! I don’t know! I don’t know who made the order!” Huang pleaded.

 

For every moment this display continued, Xie Wei’s eyes felt like they were getting wider. True, Huang was a Taoist sorcerer, a rival to Shaolin Buddhism, and without a temple, the moral codes travelling monks abided by were loose, but...this was barbaric.

 

“Then you’re of no use to me.” Qilin muttered.

 

The rope dart broke Huang’s skin. She thrashed and squirmed as she wailed in agony. The dart was very slowly making its way around her neck.

 

Xu Qin tried to turn her head and look away, but it seemed she was unable to do even that.

 

“P-p-please! I...I know who told me about it! Maybe he knows!” Huang cried.

 

“Names.” Qilin said.

 

“G-general Cao Zheng! Stationed in Guangdong, I think!” Huang gasped in the small moment of respite she had. “H-he’s a bull demon!”

 

“See? Was that so hard?” Qilin set the rope dart down.

 

Even though she was a demon, Xu Qin still hoped he would spare Huang after all he’d put her through.

 

Unfortunately, Qilin stuck to his word. He grabbed his dao and decapitated her in one swift blow.

 

Her torso collapsed to the ground, while he still held her head in his hand.

 

The corpse started to dissolve into ash, as most demons did once they were dead.

 

Qilin sheathed his blade and walked over to Xu Qin. Somehow, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. But that didn’t need to be the case for the fear pounding away in her chest to exist.

 

He knelt and investigated her wounds.

 

She could hear his breaths. They were quivering and uneven. He gulped, like he was trying to swallow bile in his throat.

 

“You’re pretty badly burned…” Qilin muttered. “We should...we should get you to a physician.”

 

“Hey…” Xu Qin groaned. “What...what was that? About Taoyuan?”

 

“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Qilin said as he picked her up and started carrying her out of the cave.

 

“H-hey! What about me?”

 

Oh right. There was a prisoner.

 

“I’ll be back to get my spade. Maybe I’ll consider letting you go then.” Qilin scoffed.

 

Xu Qin didn’t know what to think of the man before her.

 

All she could really do was take solace in the fact that there seemed to be at least a bit of his humanity left.