Jie snarled as she poured lightning into what was left of Elder Kanev's eye sockets. The flesh of Elder Kanev's face bubbled and blackened like fat on a hot stove as his body spasmed uncontrollably.

  He crumpled under her, and she fell on top of him, still channeling power into his skull even as his face melted and burned.

  Some distant part of her quietly said that he was already dead, but it wasn't good enough. He needed to suffer for what he'd done. Finally, she cut off her attack and pulled her claws out of his skull.

  Then, fresh waves of anger and hatred washed over her, and she found herself hitting his ruined head again and again as she screamed and tears fell from her eyes.

  The world seemed hazy, with thoughts like a distant, indistinguishable hum as rage burned within her like an inferno.

  No matter how many times she hit him, she still felt just as angry. But finally, that distant part of herself caught her attention. A single whisper broke through the hum... a whisper she could not ignore.

  The Chen family have fled.

  She stood slowly and it felt as though she were watching her actions from some small corner of her mind.

  She looked around and scanned the chamber with her spirit sense. It was true. They were gone. She wondered how long she'd been hitting Elder Kanev for them to leave given how slow and weak they were.

  Fresh anger flared inside her. They were part of this. They'd helped kill Pan Tian. Tried to kill all of them... and they thought she'd just let them get away? Just let them leave?

  No. Never again.

  She raced for what was now the only exit from the cavern. The only way they could've gone. She moved faster than she ever had. Strength and power filled her.

  Ming had been right... they all had... the difference between the lower and middle dantian was truly enormous. And it seemed the strange silver whirlwind in her dantian only amplified that.

  It didn't take long to catch up to the first of the Chen family. Chen Lisha held Chen Yi's hand as they stood upon the head of her serpent which slithered along the floor.

  They'd just made it to the room where Jie and her friends had faced the skeletons and the necromancer.

  Neither of them seemed to notice Jie as she appeared on the serpent behind them in the blink of an eye.

  She gripped Chen Lisha's throat with her claws and ripped it open, spraying blood over Chen Yi. He turned his head to look at Chen Lisha as his silver eyes widened with surprised horror. Chen Lisha stiffened and brought her hands to her mangled throat in a vain, instinctual attempt to stop the bleeding as blood gushed between her fingers.

  The serpent they rode upon broke apart as Chen Lisha lost her concentration, sending the pair flying forward as Jie hopped off and landed lightly on the stone floor.

  Chen Yi tumbled over the ground but rolled and whirled around. His eyes immediately went to his sister as Chen Lisha stumbled and fell forward onto her face. He ran toward her as she looked up at him and reached out toward him with one hand. She grasped at the air between them, her dark blue eyes pleading and terrified, as blood flowed between the fingers of her other hand and pooled beneath her.

  Her body slackened before he got to her and she fell still with her empty hand outstretched toward him as blood continued to pump out of her, covering the dusty stone floor.

  Chen Yi reached his sister and fell to his knees as he grabbed her limp hand and held it between his own, tears streaming down his face as his sister's pulse faded into a trickle.

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  Jie walked slowly toward him, her feet splashing softly in Chen Lisha's blood.

  Chen Yi looked up at her with hatred and anger in his tear filled, silver eyes.

  He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Jie decapitated him with a swipe of her claws.

  His head rolled back and bounced behind him as his body fell beside his sister. Blood spurted from his neck, splattering his sister's lifeless body before mingling with her own upon the stone. The red pool oozed outward and dribbled down into the pit filled with bones.

  Jie walked onward, picking up speed as she went until she was running again.

  She found Chen Ai next, racing down a long dark hallway, using her movement skill to pull herself along as fast as she could. As Chen Ai turned the corner, Jie appeared behind her.

  Jie punched Chen Ai in the back. Her fist tore through flesh and bone in an instant and burst through Chen Ai's chest, impaling the girl on Jie's arm. Jie gripped the front of Chen Ai's robes from behind, bringing her to a stop.

  Chen Ai's entire body trembled as she looked down at Jie's blood-covered arm and made wet, gurgling gasps.

  Jie flung Chen Ai backward and her body smashed into the wall behind them hard enough to crack the stone. Chen Ai slid down, leaving a red smear in her wake, her dark brown eyes were still wide with a mixture of terror and disbelief as blood dripped from her trembling lips.

  Jie ran onward, unwilling to allow any of them to escape and wondering just where Chen Huo had got to...

  She found him on the palace steps. Sprinting as fast as he could as his golden wings beat furiously at the air. Jie cycled a weak finger of light attack with tight control on her qi and struck with cold precision.

  The bolt of bright, blazing dragon lightning qi struck his right leg and blew it away to ash just above the knee. Chen Huo screamed, missed a step, and fell tumbling down the long stairway. Jie stalked down the stairs toward him.

  He crawled on his hands and knees, the remaining half of his leg still smoldering.

  Jie felt sick. But, still so very angry.

  She walked beside him slowly as he crawled, his wings fluttering like an injured bird unable to take off. He looked up at her with pleading, bright golden eyes.

  "Please..." he said, "I'm sorry."

  Jie hesitated. The sick, twisted feeling in her gut writhed and she began to feel pity for him...

  Then, she thought of Pan Tian. Of what Elder Kanev and the Chen family had done. Of her family and the words of the men who'd killed them before Ming erased their scummy lives from existence.

  Funny how everyone was only ever sorry when they were about to lose the very thing they'd taken from someone else. Funny how they were never sorry before that moment. Funny how it wasn't remorse or acceptance or guilt she saw in his golden eyes but desperation and fear.

  "No," Jie said as she kicked him over onto his back, "you're not."

  She knelt down, wrapped one clawed hand around his throat, and began to squeeze.

  "But you will be," she said.

  His throat felt soft. Like putty in her hand. She kept her strength measured so she didn't snap his neck.

  He struggled and choked as his wings spasmed against the ground and he flailed madly. Striking her face, her neck, her arm. Each strike hit her qi armor with no more effect than a summer breeze.

  He awkwardly drew his sword and ignited the blade as he stabbed and slashed her. The burning blade clattered ineffectually against her crackling armor. He cycled a martial skill, creating bolts of golden fire in the air. They struck Jie and their golden energy splashed over her qi armor like rain upon a mountain.

  Golden fire wreathed his entire body and he slashed at her furiously as he writhed in her grip... but she held him pinned by his throat until his skill sputtered out.

  His flailing grew slower... and slower...

  His sword fell from sluggish fingers as he beat weakly and uselessly upon her arm. Hardly even noticeable. His boots scraped against the stone floor as he struggled like a dying animal.

  Jie said nothing as he squirmed, his face red as the veins and small muscles of his face bulged. His mouth was open, trying desperately to inhale and failing.

  His movements slowed as his golden wings broke into glimmering motes and he went limp. Jie kept squeezing even after his pulse stopped beneath her fingers and his aura began to fade.

  His golden eyes were glassy and empty, reflecting her own bestial face and her crackling blue qi back at her. She saw the madness in her slitted eyes and watched them gradually shift back to normal, rounded pupils.

  The anger and hatred in them remained and they looked no less monstrous.

  At last, she released her grip and stared at her blood-stained hands as her claws retreated and her scales faded.

  She didn't know what she was supposed to feel. Only that the anger and hatred remained and without killing them to focus on, the sadness and grief slammed into her like a tidal wave.

  It felt like it was drowning her. It thickened in her throat, choking her and turning every breath into a gasping, painful sob.

  She looked out at the dark, ruined city, still resting on her knees, and felt utterly alone.

  Belatedly, she realized that in her rage she'd left Xue vulnerable and unprotected. And she hated herself for it.

  She stood and turned to return to Xue but stopped.

  Pan Tian would scold her if she just left their things lying around.

  "Forgive me, Xue. I'll be right with you," she muttered.

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