Han Li found the girl exactly where he had left her. She was no longer on the log but had slid down to sit with her back against the broad trunk of an old pine, the grey robe pooling around her like a nest. Her head was tilted back, eyes closed, but they flew open the moment his foot crunched on a distant twig. Relief washed over her delicate, dirt-smudged features.
"You… you came back," she whispered, her voice hoarse.
It had been hours. Han Li realized she might have been too exhausted, too frightened, or simply too obedient to move. He knelt before her, his movements calm and precise. From his pouch, he produced a mild Energy Recovery Pill—a diluted version of his own, suitable for a mortal's constitution.
"Take this. It will help with the fatigue."
She didn't hesitate, trusting the one who had given her the robe and faced the monster. She swallowed the pill, and almost immediately, a faint color returned to her cheeks, and the trembling in her hands stilled.
"Thank you, Senior," she said, bowing her head where she sat.
"There's no need for such formality. My name is Han Li. What is yours, and what were you doing so deep in this ancient forest?"
"I am Ying Yue," she said, gathering herself. "I… I am a physician's apprentice. I was returning from Xiang City to the north. A strange fever is spreading there. I stayed to help my master provide free treatments and distribute what herbal remedies we could carry." A shadow passed over her face. "The journey back was supposed to be safe. I never expected…"
"A physician," Han Li murmured, a flicker of respect in his eyes. It echoed a life he had just left behind. "Where is your home?"
"Chang City. And you, Senior Han? Where is your path leading?"
A coincidence, or fate? "My path also leads to Chang City."
Her eyes, a soft shade of hazel, lit up. "Truly? Then… might this one presume to travel alongside you? The road feels less daunting with company." There was a hopeful, vulnerable earnestness in her request.
Han Li considered it for a moment. She was a mortal, and would slow him down. But she was also a victim of the demon beast he had just slain, and her profession stirred an old sympathy. He gave a slight, nod. "Very well. We can travel together. But you must keep pace."
He helped her to her feet. She was taller than he'd first thought, willowy but not frail. She kept his grey robe wrapped tightly around herself as they set off, Han Li moderating his Swift Lightning Steps to a brisk, steady walk she could match.
---
Three kilometers ahead, on the same forest trail, the air was not one of relief, but of sullen anticipation.
Ten men lurked in a cleverly arranged ambush point where the path narrowed between high, rocky outcrops. They were not cultivators. Their Qi was mundane, but their bearing was predatory, hardened by violence. Their faces were covered with dark cloth, leaving only cold, greedy eyes visible.
Their weapons were tools of brutal practicality: notched long axes for hacking, thick-backed sabers, and a few cruel-looking hooked swords. Their clothes were a motley of leather and stained linen, marking them as bandits, but their coordination suggested something more—professional assassins slumming as highwaymen.
One, a man with a deep scar over his eyebrow visible above his mask, spat on the ground. "Another wasted day. Nothing. The Xiao daughter hasn't come back this way, and not a single fat merchant or wandering scholar has stumbled into our net. The Wang family head will have our heads if we return empty-handed again."
A shorter, wiry man with shifty eyes chuckled, a lewd sound. "Boss, I heard the little miss of the Xiao family is a first-class beauty, a true fairy of Chang City. If we find her…" He let the sentence hang, his meaning clear in the suggestive tilt of his head.
The boss, a broad-shouldered man with iron-grey hair at his temples, looked at him with disdain but also calculation. "Our job is to end the Xiao bloodline, not play around. But…" he shrugged, a cruel gesture. "If you boys catch her alive first, do what you want. Just make sure she doesn't walk away afterwards. Cleanly."
A ripple of ugly excitement passed through the group. "Understood, Boss!"
They settled back into waiting, shadows among shadows.
---
Two hours later, Han Li and Ying Yue approached the narrow pass.
The journey had been quiet. Ying Yue, energized by the pill, occasionally stole glances at her companion. Han Li moved with an unconscious, effortless grace. His azure robe was simple, but it sat on his shoulders like royal garb. His profile was clean and focused, his eyes holding a depth that seemed to see beyond the physical path. A strange, warm flutter unsettled her chest. She quickly looked away whenever he seemed about to turn.
'You really have quite the charm, brat,' the senior's voice drawled unexpectedly in Han Li's mind, tinged with amusement. 'It's a side effect of the Celestial Physique seeds forming within you after reaching Tier 9. It purifies your essence, makes your presence… compelling. Unfortunately, it attracts all kinds of attention, wanted and very much unwanted.'
Han Li was about to mentally retort when he caught Ying Yue looking at him. Their eyes met for a fleeting second. She instantly flushed a deep, beautiful scarlet, whipping her head forward as if intensely studying the path ahead.
Han Li cleared his throat, filing the senior's words away for later contemplation. He sought to break the awkward silence. "Ying Yue, since you are from Chang City, do you know of the Xiao Mansion?"
The question had an electric effect on her. Her shyness vanished, replaced by sudden, wary tension. She stopped walking. "The Xiao Mansion? Why… why do you ask about that?"
"I have some business there. Physician Xiao was my—" He cut himself off, the complicated truth of 'master' too heavy to explain.
But he never finished. His spiritual sense, habitually brushed outward, pinged against crude, violent intent.
Shh! He held up a hand, his body going still.
"What happened?" Ying Yue whispered, fear returning to her eyes.
"Nothing. Let's keep moving. Stay close to me." His voice was low, devoid of alarm but full of command.
They walked into the narrow part of the trail. Twenty minutes later, they were surrounded.
The ten masked men melted out from behind rocks and thorny thickets, blocking the path ahead and behind. Their weapons gleamed dully in the filtered forest light.
The boss stepped forward, not looking at Han Li. He pulled a rolled piece of parchment from his belt and unfurled it. It was a detailed, skilled charcoal drawing of a young woman's face—delicate features, intelligent eyes. He looked from the drawing to Ying Yue, who had shrunk behind Han Li's shoulder.
A cruel smile was audible in his voice. "Well, well. The day isn't a waste after all. You are Ying Yue, of the Xiao family, are you not?"
Ying Yue's breath hitched. Han Li felt her hand clutch lightly at the back of his robe.
"I am," she said, her voice small but defiant. "Who are you?"
"Consider us… escorts," the boss chuckled. "Someone has paid us a considerable sum to ensure you take a permanent journey to the West. But," his eyes, above the mask, roamed over her with revolting slowness, "my men here have noted what a fine beauty you are. It'd be a shame to rush such things."
The other men chuckled, a low, hungry sound. The wiry one took a step forward, his intent clear.
A cold, profound anger, different from the battle-fury against the crab, settled in Han Li's gut. It was a clean, protective rage. The way they spoke about her, looked at her—it was as if they were insulting something precious, a younger sister he had sworn to protect.
He stepped slightly in front of Ying Yue, breaking their line of sight to her. His expression was placid, almost polite.
"Honored sirs," Han Li said, his tone reasonable, conciliatory. "This seems to be a simple matter of money. The one who hired you, how much did they pay? We can pay double. Triple. Let us pass peacefully. We have no wish for violence or to create an unpleasant scene here."
The bandits stared, then burst into raucous laughter. The boss shook his head. "Listen to the pretty boy! Thinks he can negotiate!" He finally deigned to look at Han Li, his eyes sweeping over the young man's refined features and unarmed posture. "Who are you, her babysitter? This is none of your concern, little master. If you want to keep that handsome face intact, turn around and walk away. Consider it your reward for delivering her to us."
"Get the girl," the wiry man said, impatient. He strode forward, his eyes locked on Ying Yue, one grimy hand outstretched to grab her arm.
The hand never reached its target.
In a movement too fast for mortal eyes to truly follow, Han Li's own hand shot up. He didn't strike. He simply caught the man's advancing wrist in a grip that seemed casual but was like a vise forged from ironwood.
The laughter died instantly.
The wiry man's grin vanished, replaced by shock, then strain. He tried to pull back. Han Li's hand didn't move an inch. He looked at the man, then slowly swept his gaze across the frozen bandits. The polite, reasonable light had vanished from his eyes. What remained was a calm, bottomless pool of intent that promised not a negotiation, but a reckoning.
"I asked you to let us go," Han Li said, his voice now quiet, each word dropping into the sudden silence like a stone into a deep well. "You should have listened."