"I think we have to talk," Uncle Jian said as he descended, standing on his sword and settling next to her. Tang Yin looked at him. Indeed, he had all the right to ask questions. But first...

  "Ning Wu," she said, and he shook his head, his gaze wandering to the fallen man.

  "There is no saving him anymore," he told her, and she felt cold shivers run down her spine.

  "But..." Her voice trembled as she ran towards him and rushed to her knees, turning Ning Wu around, her hands searching for a sign of life, knowing there was no saving him. His neck was half cut off, and there was nothing to save her. He had been dead in less than a second. Her gaze wandered to Uncle Jian, her mind numb somehow as she felt the bile rising, feeling sick.

  "The vilge?" she asked faintly, and Uncle Jian's hand wandered on her head and ruffled her hair. "Alive, no one harmed."

  A weight somehow fell off her shoulders as she nodded, happy but still numb — at least that, at least that much.

  Her body started trembling as she got up.

  "What are we going to do with Ning Wu?" she asked Uncle Jian, and he suddenly picked her up. She turned around and tried to hit him, her body still on alert, reacting to his touch.

  He caught her hand, stopping her effortlessly. "We will take his body in a storage ring and bring it to his family, who will bury him," he told her and raised his hand. Then, Tang Wu's body vanished, and only blood remained. Everything was back to before, if not for the blood; it was as if nothing had happened.

  Still numb, she felt them rise into the sky, the vilge, and the forest passing beneath them at bzing speed.

  "What about the others from the caravan?" she asked.

  "I think they are fine," he said, looking at her. "You were the goal. It was a mistake on my side to leave and assume you were safe just because nothing happened until now."

  Lucy.

  The name still sounded like an ominous curse in her head. The image of Ning Wu appeared again and again, like a movie scene pying on repeat."I don't want your secrets," he said, their moving stilling as he looked at her. Her body was still cold and trembling as she looked up at him. "But I think I will need to know some of them to protect you and fulfill my niece's wish to ensure you arrive safely at Haishen Isnd."

  She stilled and then resigned herself. He had already seen her second martial spirit, her wings on her back, the crimson ring she called her spirit, and most of her secrets. There was no use in not telling him anything.

  "I have twin martial spirits, a century millennium spirit ring, and a spirit bone," she told him.

  "I noticed," he said. "I see why that could make people go after you."She looked at him.

  "But that is not why they are after me," she sighed. "At least that is not the real reason I don't know... I can only guess."

  Lucy.

  Tang Yin bit her lower lip. Had she noticed? Had Lucy noticed? Most likely. Why else would they be after her? Or was she just bein paranoid and someone had figured out her secrets. She never showed off her abilities. She could count the people who knew their full scope on her fingers.

  Tang San, the Grandmaster and Jiang. The others who might be able to guess or piece it together because they knew parts of it were the Grandmaster, Xiao Wu, Ning Feng, Yu Hua, Damian, and Gale. That was it. And even among them only San and Jiang knew about her spirit bone.

  To that short list of people was now added Uncle Jian, a man she had come to know well over the st few months but not well enough to entrust him with such secrets—not by choice, at least.

  "I see," he said and then sighed. "I understand."

  "Nothing to understand," she said. "The only thing there to understand is that, my secrets are to remain secrets."

  "I see. I won't tell anyone about my student's secrets," he said.

  "Well, I am not a proper student. I am an unofficial student; we did crify this quite clearly in the beginning," she pointed out. "That is why I wanted to point it out. I cannot force you to keep my secrets."

  "Unofficial or not, you are my student," he said. "I do not abandon my students, especially those who have proven themselves. Nor do I speak about their secrets, much less when it is my mistake that they have been harmed."

  She huffed as she felt them slow down. "It wasn't your mistake. It was only a matter of time before you would have to deal with something for your cn and leave us behind for a while." Her voice was slightly strained as she felt exhausted. Uncle Jian's cold hand was on her back as he descended.

  "Still, the timing was unfortunate," he said and helped her stand on her own two feet. "And you should have enjoyed your free time," he said, and she stumbled as she settled on the ground.

  "So much for that," she said, then looked at him. Ning Wu appeared in her mind again, his empty expression and the blood. Burying her head in her hands, she forced herself to think of something else, to compartmentalize. It didn't work.

  "You won't be able to forget," Uncle Jian said, and she looked upwards at him.

  "What?"

  "You will never forget the first person killed in front of you. Nor should you ever forget them," he said, and she closed her eyes.

  "I am dealing with it," she stated. "I will also forget eventually. I am good at forgetting things, better than most." Ironically, this was a thing she wished she could forget.

  "You won't," he answered her coolly. "You won't ever forget."

  "Well, damn," she sighed and leaned back, getting up. "Then I'd better get going and learn to deal with it." Her smile was bitter as she felt the empty ache in her heart. An ache that she knew was due to Tang San. She wished for him to be here, to cry and scream, but Tang San wasn't there anymore.

  Then she found herself picked up again. "Cry," he said, and she was still."Scream," he added.

  "I won't," she said, her voice cracking but dark with determination. "I won't cry or scream."