The first to enter was the endlessly tall Golden Witch. She practically ran into the spacious room, tarrying for just a moment to fit her head through the door. Liao Lan hurried after her, her expression awkward, guilty; their meeting was not adhering to proper decorum, and evidently, she felt responsible.

  Bai Guo met his master's eyes of gold. In that moment, the two of them looked like they had something to say, and yet could do nothing but stare.

  Though her face remained impassive, Bai Guo recognized something resembling anger building up in her eyes, and he finally forced himself to act. He kowtowed.

  "This Bai Guo greets his master!"

  Her gaze followed him down. But the silence continued.

  "Leave us." The Golden Witch finally said. At her command the other two women meekly lowered their heads and made their way out. Even Tao Geming, who had been standing outside, took his leave after a slight delay.

  Master and disciple found themselves alone.

  And still the heavy silence reigned long after everyone else had left.

  The Golden Witch stepped forward, her hands snaking beneath Bai Guo armpits. She bodily dragged him up to his feet. The young man grunted in pain; she was not at all gentle with her strength. Her long arm went behind Bai Guo's head and grabbed him by his ponytail. She forced him to gaze into her golden eyes once more. His heart chilled when he discovered that her features were wracked by a scowl.

  "How many times have I told you? Don't do that. Stand up straight and look at me when you talk." She berated. "You know I don't like it, so why do you keep doing it? I swear, the next time you do this, I'll pull you up by your hair."

  "It's the proper way of showing respect..." Bai Guo forced out.

  "Don't try to speak to me of propriety." She interrupted. "You know what's proper? When the disciple obeys the master! But you've made a habit of disobeying me, haven't you? Why don't you ever do as I say?"

  Bai Guo gritted his teeth, his heart beating like a drum. She loomed over him like a white shadow.

  She kept going. "Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I don't know you? You really thought I wouldn't figure out why you decided to drop everything and leave me all of a sudden, after that talk you had with your uncle? As if you left because of Cui Shen. As if we both don't know what he's like! You must really think me a fool. Did you go back to Ouyang at all? You didn't, did you?"

  Her grip on him tightened. But it was her words that made Bai Guo squirm and yearn for escape, far more so than the crushing weight behind her hands.

  "Well?" She demanded. "Out with it! What did you find out? Tell me!"

  But Bai Guo gritted his teeth and wouldn't, couldn't say a thing. His silence told her everything she needed to know.

  "What I did, I did for you!" She snapped. "So that they'd never bother us again! After everything those people put us through, they deserved worse! I'd have put that entire sect to the sword, but I knew you wouldn't stand for it. They nearly killed you, but I just knew that you'd still be acting like this on their behalf. And I was right! I just knew I would be right. But I couldn't, I simply couldn't just leave it alone! They deserved worse, but because of you, I...! And still you tried to leave me because of it?!"

  "Master," Bai Guo finally couldn't take it anymore, "What I learned was that the Sleeping Asura killed everyone at the temple and escaped."

  The Golden Witch halted abruptly. His words caught her helplessly flatfooted. Her anger slowly peeled back, giving way to shock and confusion. Her fingers slackened, letting go of Bai Guo's hair.

  Bai Guo knew that he was making a mistake, but still he couldn't hold himself back. It would have been easier to just admit to it and apologize. But with those words alone he instantly jeopardized his supposed mission. But still something inside him couldn't endure it, couldn't bear to see her like this. Though she was right in part, and it really were those killings of He Yong's household that served as the spark, what she spoke of had long ago ceased to be his foremost concern.

  Bai Guo wanted her to understand the entire truth, the full extent of her actions. In no small part because he, too, shared responsibility for what had transpired. But above all else, there still remained someone out there in need of his help. Before it was too late, before he had lost his only means with which to do so, he felt that he needed to try it this way.

  "I... I told him only to wait for me." She said. "Why would he..."

  Bai Guo frowned. "The abbot told us that he was a troubled man, struggling to keep himself on the proper path. He warned us at length. Your test of skill - whatever it was that you did - it must have set him back. He took charge of a band of marauders and they've been killing their way across the land. Everyone knows this." He said, even though the information was not yet common knowledge to the people of the capital, and had come to him directly from the Bureau. "Undesirables from all over are flocking to his banner."

  "I can fix this." She said. But the young man did not find her words persuasive.

  "I can fix it." She asserted again, with more conviction.

  "And just how are you going to do that?" Bai Guo asked, a tinge of venom in his voice.

  "You know how." The Golden Witch spoke, her head low. "There's only one way. He needs to be stopped."

  And Bai Guo indeed knew. He ground his teeth in anger. "It didn't need to come down to this!"

  The Golden Witch looked away. Guilt took hold within her yellow eyes. "I didn't think this would happen. I'm sorry."

  Bai Guo simmered in his anger. But with a heavy sigh, there was nothing more for him to do but to echo her words. "He needs to be stopped."

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  "Do you know where to find him?" She asked.

  "They have a stronghold in the mountains to the east."

  "Take me there."

  And without further ado, Bai Guo gathered his belongings and the two of them set out. Outside the inn they came across the Golden Witch's small entourage of three, with Liao Lan, her disciple, and Tao Geming waiting on them both.

  The sight of the latter had Bai Guo's ire instantly raised. "Why is he here, master?"

  "Is that any way to address your savior, kid?" Tao Geming mocked. "From what I heard about how it all went down, you wouldn't have made it out of there without my help."

  "He has his uses." The Golden Witch cut their brewing fight short with a dismissive explanation. "Why don't you two just forgive each other so we can get on with it?"

  "That's never happening!" Bai Guo stubbornly rejected the idea. "I refuse to travel with him!"

  The Golden Witch gritted her teeth. After a moment, clicking her tongue, she spoke, "Fine. Tao Geming, stay out of this. For this expedition it will be just the two of us. Just like old times."

  Tao Geming snorted. "I see nothing's changed after all this time. You just never learn, do you? When you've played around enough, you know where to find me."

  When he left, Liao Lan meekly approached the golden haired woman. "Master, what about us?"

  "Wait for me here." She said, coldly passing her by. "This won't take long."

  Liao Lan hung her head, appearing almost as if on the verge of tears. Bai Guo was surprised by how poorly she took it. The sight of her pitiful figure managed to wring out a drop of sympathy even from him.

  Before long they left the city and took to the road. They traveled in silence, as they often had, and at a glance their current arrangement did resemble their old adventures. But there was a tension between them that kept them both stiff and perpetually on edge. Their eyes avoided each other. They maintained an awkward distance and walked at a stiff and erratic pace.

  By the time the setting sun had tinted the sky orange, as they neared a settlement to spend the night in, Bai Guo couldn't endure the atmosphere any longer.

  "Master, what you spoke of before..." He began, "You were right about me, about why I ran away. But what happened with He Yong doesn't matter to me anymore. I realized that it was stupid to fault you for that, that I was in the wrong for doubting you. And you're right that as your disciple, I overstepped on many occasions, and I apologize, and from now on, I promise you that I..."

  "Forget it." She interrupted him. And for a long time, the two of them stood still. Her golden gaze refused to meet his.

  "Bai Guo, you must have realized by now..." The Golden Witch said, "That I never took our bond very seriously. To tell you the truth, I don't care about it all. Instead, I would much rather prefer if we could treat each other as equals. And maybe it's just me, but I feel like we've both been doing exactly that this entire time, perhaps despite our best efforts. We've both done things we didn't really want to do for each other, and we've both... done things we wouldn't want the other to do. Does that really sound like the relationship between a master and disciple, a subordinate and superior? No. But I'm fine with that. And even though I scolded you because of it, I... I didn't really mean it. And on some level I already knew that you forgave me too, because you did return to me even though you didn't have to... I just let my temper get the better of me."

  Bai Guo's eyes reddened at her words. He was glad that she hadn't been looking his way. "I think I understand what you're trying to say, but I'm afraid that no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to consider myself an equal to you, master."

  A small smile curved her lips. "But it doesn't hurt to try, does it? So let's keep trying, just as we have been. And in the end, we'll see which of us will accept the other's perspective."

  "Right... I'm fine with that."

  And with that exchange, a sense of normalcy had been restored. They could even bring themselves to idle chatter.

  "Master," Bai Guo spoke, "So I did go back to lady Ouyang, and I spoke to brother Shen. It turned out that it was just a stupid misunderstanding after all..."

  "How are they all?" She asked, completely unsurprised by how that situation got resolved.

  "I haven't had much opportunity to speak with lady Ouyang and Ling Ling, because they had to leave the next day." Bai Guo decided to omit his argument with Ouyang's young apprentice. "Brother Shen was in high spirits, but his health is still deteriorating..."

  The Golden Witch sighed. "I wonder if I'll get the chance to meet him one last time..."

  "I feel like brother Shen has a tendency to sell himself short." Bai Guo placated. "There could very well be another chance in the future..."

  "Perhaps you're right." She replied with a light chuckle.

  In his rush to soothe her, Bai Guo had briefly forgotten himself. The realization struck him a moment later. He was the one trying to ensure that there would never be a future for her.

  As they settled at an inn for the night, Bai Guo found himself on the brink of exhaustion, worn down to a little nub by the day's events. But still he was unable to catch a wink of sleep. How could it be that just a few words from her had him questioning his promises, forgetting his purpose? After everything he went through these past three months, a single meeting with her brought him back to being that unwavering little disciple. And by knowing the things he knew yet hiding them from her, he could not even be considered to be that.

  He wondered, for a long time, if there really was no middle ground to be found here.

  But of course, no answer came to him that night.