The rhythmic fwick-fwick of turning pages was the only sound in the suffocating silence of the Jaded Knowledge Library.

  A single candle sputtered on the desk, its weak flame casting long, dancing shadows that played across Bi Kan’s tired face.

  His fingers, stained with ink and dust, traced the coarse illustrations of the Screeching Croak’s ecosystem.

  Marsh-Hopper Frog. Iron-Mandible Ant. Rot-Root Leech.

  He scanned the anatomy of a hundred morbid creatures.

  He saw sketches of bloated, slime-coated amphibians and furry, multi-eyed rodents that lurked in the mud.

  He memorized their hunting patterns, their diets, their weaknesses.

  But the page turned, and the next one turned, and the answer refused to appear.

  Outside the pagoda’s narrow window, the sun began to bleed into the horizon.

  The sky bruised purple and orange, the clouds forming beautiful, mocking shapes against the dying light. Night was coming.

  And with the night, the true predators of the swamp would wake.

  "It's not here."

  Bi Kan let the heavy, leather-bound tome fall onto a stack of two others with a defeated thud.

  Dust motes danced in the candle's glow.

  "I've gone through the local bestiary. I've even cross-referenced the bordering forests."

  He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, trying to rub away the gritty feeling of exhaustion.

  "None of them match. A spider’s body with a scorpion’s tail? It doesn't exist in this region."

  Wei Zing, standing behind the high reception desk, glanced up from his ledger.

  He paused in his organizing, sliding a book back onto a shelf with a precise click.

  The sharp, bitter aroma of strong coffee wafted through the air, overpowering the smell of old paper and dry rot.

  Bi Kan raked his fingers through his messy hair, his grip tightening at the roots.

  "Maybe it was a mutation? An alchemy experiment gone wrong?"

  He slumped forward, his chin hitting the cool wood of the table.

  "No... that can't be. Even if it were a mutation, the base anatomy is wrong. Scorpions don't thrive in the humidity of the Screeching Croak. That kind of tail doesn't belong on anything living there."

  With a groan, he peeled himself off the table.

  The image of Ying Xia charging blindly into the mist flashed in his mind, fueling a spike of anxious energy.

  He strode toward the reception desk.

  "Senior Brother Wei Zing." Bi Kan folded his arms, his posture rigid.

  The dark circles under his eyes seemed starker in the lantern light.

  Wei Zing lifted a steaming ceramic mug to his lips, taking a slow, deliberate sip.

  "Junior Brother, you look like you're about to collapse. What seems to be troubling you?"

  Bi Kan let out an exasperated sigh, the sound heavy in the quiet room.

  "I've skimmed the entire anthology of the Screeching Croak. I've read the compendiums for the neighboring swamps. But the beast I'm looking for... it’s a ghost. It doesn't match a single entry."

  Wei Zing set the mug down. Faint steam curled around the wire rims of his glasses.

  He took them off, pulling a cloth from his sleeve to wipe the lenses.

  "Where did you find this description? Did you see it with your own eyes, Junior Brother Bi Kan?"

  Bi Kan shook his head firmly. "No. I learned of it from a victim. A survivor."

  "Survivors are notoriously unreliable narrators," Wei Zing murmured, holding his glasses up to the light to check for smudges.

  "Fear distorts memory. Perhaps they exaggerated the size? Mistook a shadow for a limb? It happens often in the panic of a life-or-death struggle."

  He slid the glasses back onto his nose, nudging the bridge with a slender finger.

  "I'm positive," Bi Kan insisted, his voice low and tight.

  "The description was specific. The mechanics of the attack, the venom... there's no way it would be that detailed if it were just a blur of panic."

  Wei Zing studied Bi Kan for a long moment, reading the certainty in the Outer Disciple's gaze.

  He rubbed his chin, a thoughtful frown creasing his brow.

  "Then describe it to me," Wei Zing said finally, leaning forward.

  "If it is truly not a beast native to our lands, it is an anomaly. Such things are rare, but not impossible."

  Bi Kan nodded.

  He recounted Mi Jin’s story—the eight segmented legs, the bulbous arachnid body, and the thick, muscular tail that arched overhead to deliver paralyzing venom.

  Wei Zing’s eyes narrowed behind his lenses.

  His brow scrunched up, then his eyes widened in a flicker of recognition that quickly soured into frustration.

  That look... Bi Kan’s stomach dropped.

  Don't tell me it's something worse than I thought.

  "This is quite the surprise," Wei Zing muttered, half to himself.

  "Why would a creature like that venture into the Screeching Croak?"

  He turned abruptly, ignoring the main shelves.

  He walked to a restricted section in the back, reaching for a shelf coated in a thicker layer of dust than the others.

  He pulled down a heavy book bound in black hide.

  He blew the dust off the cover, a grey cloud swirling in the air.

  "The beast resides in a place far from the Screeching Croak," Wei Zing said, his voice dropping an octave.

  "And I don't say this lightly."

  He slammed the book onto the desk, fixing Bi Kan with a grave stare.

  "Even I find it hard to believe that a creature from that far has wandered all the way here."

  Bi Kan’s blood ran cold.

  Xia... please hold on.

  The cloaked Rogue stared from the shadows, his head tilted as if studying a strange, new species.

  [His dead eyes were not fixed on her spear, nor her stance, but on the empty air just above her head, as if inspecting a halo of light only he could see.

  "You're different from the others."

  The voice was a dry rasp, like dead leaves skittering across stone.

  "Different?" Xia scoffed, a predatory grin spreading across her face.

  "Of course. Even disciples from the Inner Court—"

  With an explosive push from her heels, Xia’s form blurred, closing the ten-pace gap in an instant.

  The shadow took an involuntary step back, a flicker of surprise in his posture.

  "—tremble before my name!"

  Her spear became a golden blur, thrusting with enough force to punch through solid rock.

  But just as the tip was about to taste flesh, the Rogue’s figure seemed to ripple like a heat haze before dissolving completely.

  The spear pierced nothing but empty air.

  "H-Huh?!"

  Her forward momentum carried her a few steps past where he had stood. Her instincts screamed.

  She didn't think, she just moved, pivoting on her heel and swinging her spear in a defensive arc behind her.

  CLANG!

  A wide, cleaving swing met her spear shaft with a jarring shriek of metal on metal.

  The Rogue had reappeared directly behind her.

  The impact sent a shockwave of force up her arms, but she held her ground.

  Through the darkness of his hood, she could feel his shock.

  He leaped back again, the shadows of the forest swallowing his form.

  "My cards..." the Rogue whispered, the sound barely carrying on the wind.

  "I can't afford to lose them here. But harvesting you... will be rewarding."

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  His blade lowered, the tip aimed at the ground. A heavy, condensed power began to gather around the steel, making the air feel thick and static.

  Xia’s grin tightened.

  His realm feels like Body Tempering, but he isn't using its raw power.

  He relies on these tricks. What are they?

  "Even if my cards run out..."

  The Rogue’s form distorted again, the edges blurring into the background.

  There! What kind of technique is that?!

  "...you made me use it all on you."

  He materialized at her side in a flash, his blade already a silver arc aimed to shear her in half at the waist.

  Xia’s spear was already there to meet it. CLANG!

  "You really are predictable!" she laughed, the force of the block making her boots skid an inch in the dirt.

  "Your one big move is cleaving disciples in half!"

  She used his momentum against him, twisting her spear to lock his blade.

  With a grunt, she thrust forward, not with the tip, but with the entire length of the weapon, aiming to shove him off balance and pierce his chest.

  "Is that all you're capable of?!"

  Her spearpoint found its mark. It punched clean through the thick fabric of his cloak and into the flesh beneath.

  The Rogue let out a choked hiss of pain before leaping away, clutching his chest as dark blood seeped through his fingers.

  He stumbled, his breath coming in ragged pants, before letting out a sharp click of his tongue.

  He straightened up, and to Xia’s surprise, the edges of the wound began to knit together, the flow of blood slowing, then stopping.

  "I didn't think I'd need to use that as well," the Rogue rasped. "Three cards gone to waste."

  Xia swung her spear, flicking a spray of his blood onto the forest floor. "You keep mentioning 'cards'," she said, more to herself than to him.

  "Are you referring to talismans?"

  That teleporting trick... and now regeneration.

  If only Gu Moyu were here. He'd know.

  "I will not leave this place until you are killed, special one."

  "Good!" Xia grinned, launching herself forward again, her spear a golden streak.

  How can she be this formidable? the Rogue thought, his dead eyes widening.

  Everything until this point was easy pickings.

  She's unique.

  Is there more to her ingrained within?

  He weaved out of the way, his movements fluid but lacking the impossible speed of before.

  He blended back into the deep shadows between the trees.

  Xia pouted, skidding to a halt.

  A wide, brutal swing erupted from the darkness to her left.

  She parried it with an annoyed grunt.

  "Hey! When are you actually going to fight for real?!"

  Another swing came from her right. She blocked it again.

  He's not like Lu Pu at all!

  There's no technique, no form, no art!

  Every swing is just a raw, efficient attempt to kill.

  A clean cut!

  From the darkness, the Rogue watched her, his mind a cold, whirring machine.

  "She's arrogant... but not like the others I've slain. Theirs was born of privilege. Hers... is born of absolute confidence in her own power."

  The forest floor convulsed. Without warning, thick, thorny vines, the color of dried blood, shot up from the earth, coiling around Xia's legs like hungry serpents.

  "Huh?!"

  Great, the Rogue thought from the shadows.

  She can sense my attacks, but not those that come from the cards.

  He erupted from the darkness again, his blade a silver arc aimed to cleave her in half.

  The vines held her fast, a perfect, stationary target.

  CLANG!

  Xia twisted at the waist, her spear a golden wall that met his blade with a ground-shaking impact.

  The collision was a physical shockwave, vibrating up the Rogue’s arms and rattling his bones.

  "Damned that spear!" he hissed, his voice cracking with disbelief. "What kind of weapon is that?! That is far beyond your level!"

  She's only in the Qi Sensing Realm! How can this be possible?!

  "I've had enough of this," the Rogue growled, leaping back. "I won't hold back any longer."

  Xia’s grin widened. With a single, sharp twist, she sheared through the vines with the edge of her spearhead.

  "Good. I was getting bored hitting a target that just runs away."

  A strange, foreign Qi began to emanate from the Cloaked Man, a faint hum of power that made the hairs on Xia's arms stand on end.

  There it is! she thought, her senses sharpening. That feeling... just like when he was about to distort, just like when he was healing.

  An event is about to occur!

  From the deep shade of the underbrush, two identical figures exploded into view, one from the left, one from the right.

  Their topknots were severe, their hair flowing like ink, and their eyes glowed with an abyssal purple light.

  "Twin Vipers Fist!" they shouted in perfect, chilling unison.

  It was a seamless storm of fists and feet.

  A punch from the right, a sweeping kick from the left.

  To block one was to be struck by the other.

  It was a perfect pincer movement designed to overwhelm and crush.

  "This is tricky! Another unique case!" the Rogue muttered.

  He didn't dodge. He didn't block. His blade became a silver blur, a single, fluid motion that intercepted both attacks simultaneously.

  A line of crimson bloomed across both their chests.

  "Tsk!" the twins grunted, staggering back.

  Before they could even register the pain, a hand clamped onto the back of each of their robes.

  Xia spun, using their own momentum to hurl them to the side.

  They crashed hard into the mud, the sound of metal trinkets clinking from within their robes.

  "Such reckless twins, aren't they?" the Rogue rasped.

  I've figured it out now, he thought, his dead eyes fixed on Xia.

  Her techniques aren't in any archive.

  Her attacks are pure instinct.

  I can't dismantle a fighting style that has only just been born.

  The twins pushed themselves up, gritting their teeth. "H-How could that be?! He almost killed us while we were in formation!"

  The Rogue's gaze flickered to them, then back to Xia. If it were just the twins, they would be dead by now.

  That girl... His left foot dug slightly into the soft earth, a subconscious preparation to flee.

  She's not impossible to defeat, but she intercepts my attacks, and that weapon is beyond my own.

  Even with everything I have, I cannot destroy it.

  His eyes narrowed.

  Her skills are far beyond what a conventional Qi Sensing disciple should possess.

  I never imagined this place would be home to such a monstrous talent.

  "I'm at a disadvantage here," he announced, his voice a low growl.

  "I shall let you live. But I will return, and the next time, I'll play my cards right—"

  "Who said you'll escape?!"

  The shout echoed, a unified war cry from the twins that cracked the air.

  The Rogue’s focus, which had been locked on Xia, had left him vulnerable.

  Spinning their daggers, the twins lunged, their blades slashing downwards.

  "S-Shit!"

  A spray of blood erupted from his shoulders.

  He instinctively reached out to grab their necks, but it was too late.

  Xia was already there. Her spear thrust forward.

  The sound of piercing flesh was sickeningly loud, followed by a satisfying crunch of shattering bone as the spearhead punched clean through his chest.

  His form began to waver, the edges bleeding into the background like ink dropped in water before he vanished completely.

  There! He activated another talisman!

  Xia yanked her spear back, her senses on high alert, scanning the empty space.

  I knew it...

  Hidden behind the thick bark of a distant tree, the Rogue materialized, clutching his chest as he coughed a gout of blood into his palm.

  Even in this invisible state, her senses are beyond anything I've seen.

  She can detect the faintest movements.

  I must go. I have few cards left, and it isn't worth wasting them all on her, only to be finished off by those twins.

  His gaze locked onto her distant, alert form.

  ...before she finds me and destroys me completely.

  Her spear was a golden anchor in the sudden, heavy silence of the forest.

  Xia was relentless, her senses stretched to their absolute limit, tracking every whisper of wind, every rustle of leaf.

  Her gaze flickered to the twins.

  One of them clutched his chest, his eyes wide as he checked the shallow cut for any sign of discoloration, any hint of poison.

  The other stared at her, the fear in his eyes slowly being replaced by a dawning, brilliant light of awe.

  A long moment passed. The forest held its breath.

  Finally, the tension broke, and Xia let out an exasperated sigh that plumed in the cool air.

  "Phew. He escaped."

  The twins finally moved, dusting the mud from their robes and pressing crude bandages against their wounds.

  "You two," Xia said, her voice flat. "What are you doing here?"

  She spun her spear, the golden tip coming to rest an inch from their necks. The playful battle-lust was gone, replaced by a cold, hard stillness.

  "We're alone now."

  Bi Kan’s voice, quiet and pragmatic, echoed in the depths of her memory, a conversation from weeks ago, when she had just been accepted into the sect.

  "Xia, I know you're talented. You're amazing at fighting."

  He had leaned closer, his dark-circled eyes intense. "But that doesn't mean everyone rewards that kind of talent. Some will praise you, while others will plan to pluck you out before you can truly blossom."

  His palm had rested on the warm metal of his dented furnace.

  "I'll make sure you get enough resources. I know you'll make enemies. But be wary. Disciples are often killed outside the sect. It may look like it's caused by outside forces, but... just like those two assassins who tried to kill me..."

  He had stared at her then, a rare crack in his facade of secrecy. "I've already killed three disciples outside of the sect."

  Her vision snapped back to the present, to the two trembling disciples before her.

  "C-Calm down, You Battle Maniac!" the aggressive twin shouted, his hands shooting up in surrender. "W-We'll explain!"

  Xia let out a huff, pulling her spear back. "Hmph. It's not like you could deal with me in that state. So fine, I'll listen."

  The twins let out a synchronized sigh of relief. The cautious one stepped forward.

  "At first, we were hesitant to take on the rogue cultivator mission," he explained, his voice still shaky.

  "But the contribution point reward kept getting higher. We found a trail of blood that led us near here. After that, we heard relentless reports of Outer Disciples' bodies being hacked in half."

  He gestured to the bisected corpse. "But this is the first Inner Disciple we've seen."

  "The reason we found you," he continued, "was because of the ruckus in the nearby village. We asked around and eventually, a blonde mortal told us everything—about the body, and about you investigating. We were in a rush. We first thought of... stealing the kill from you... but that guy proved to be way above us!"

  He dropped to his knees, his forehead hitting the damp earth with a soft thud.

  "H-Hey! Are you seriously bowing?!" the aggressive twin yelped.

  "We are truly thankful for your help!" the kneeling twin's voice was muffled by the dirt. "If it weren't for you, we would've been dead by now!"

  A smirk touched Xia’s lips. "Glad you know. But, 'stealing the kill'? That, I won't forgive."

  She dragged the tip of her spear through the mud, etching a deep line between them.

  "If you ever cross this line," she said, her smirk fading, her eyes filling with a cold, serious intensity, "I'll behead you with a clean cut. So you better tread carefully whenever you think of ruining things for me."

  The twins took in her expression, and the threat landed with the weight of a physical blow.

  "T-Tsk..." the arrogant twin breathed out, looking away. "W-We understand."

  Xia then turned her attention to the gruesome scene by the boulder. "Now, help me bring this back to the sect. My mission is postponed. This way, that rogue won't be able to roam around so leisurely."

  A new, calculating light entered her eyes, one that mirrored Bi Kan's own pragmatism.

  "Once we've made a report," her ears perked up, listening to the forest one last time. "He'll be..." she slowed her speech, savoring the thought, "...in big trouble."

  The twins exchanged a look of pure confusion, completely lost on the nuance of her slow, deliberate words.

  "Hey..." the cautious one started to ask.

  Her body snapped toward the deep canopy of the forest, her head cocked at an angle. "Isn't it too quiet?"

  The usual chorus of insects and unseen birds had died, replaced by a heavy, expectant stillness. The coppery tinge of blood in the air was suddenly stronger, fresher. Her senses, which had relaxed for a moment, flared back to their absolute peak.

  Did he return? Her stance shifted, the confident posture of a duelist melting away into the low, coiled readiness of a hunter in a predator’s territory.

  No... A slow, feral grin spread across her face. I've hit the jackpot.

  Eight glowing orbs, the color of venom and bile, shifted in the deep shadows between the trees. The twins froze, their hands instinctively flying to the daggers at their belts. A low, eerie skittering sound pressed against the muddy ground, the sound of something heavy with too many legs crawling over wet earth.

  "Hurry! Take the body before it is consumed by that beast!" the aggressive twin hissed, his voice tight with panic. "We'll be shamed by the sect!"

  He dashed forward, his misplaced sense of duty overriding all caution. He scrambled towards the bisected corpse, his only thought to preserve the evidence.

  Just then, the Spider-Scorpion spewed out a torrent of viscous, white strands from its clicking mandibles. The web shot through the air, enveloping the disciple in a sticky cocoon.

  "S-Shit!" His dagger swung, but the web was denser than steel, the blade sinking into the strands and sticking fast.

  "W-What the he—"

  A chitinous blur of motion cut his words short. A sickening thud, the sound of something sharp punching through flesh and armor, echoed in the clearing.

  The Spider-Scorpion’s muscular tail had already whipped forward, the venomous stinger buried squarely in the disciple’s chest.

  A raw, agonized scream tore through the unnatural silence, echoing through the dark trees as the forest birds finally took flight in a terrified, flapping wave.