Shadow Step

At the first hint of dawn, Wang Quan returned to the garrison with his squad. The training grounds were thick with an unshakable stench of blood and exhaustion. Commander Chen hunched over as he tallied the casualties. When it was Wang Quan's squad's turn, he stepped forward, clasped his fists, and said in a deep voice, "Commander Chen, we encountered three Snake Demons while patrolling the western section last night. They've been slain. We also discovered an abnormal increase in half-formed members of the Corpse Clan. There may be a mutation."

Commander Chen lifted his eyelids slightly. His murky gaze paused on Wang Quan's face for a moment before he gave a grunt, his voice hoarse. "Got it. That'll do." He waved his hand. "The rest of you are dismissed. Wang Quan, stay behind."

The crowd dispersed in silence, each person dragging away their heavy footsteps. Only Commander Chen and Wang Quan remained on the training grounds. The morning wind swept past, carrying a chill.

Commander Chen turned and gestured for Wang Quan to follow. The two entered his crude stone house, one in front and one behind. He shut the door, cutting off the light and sounds outside. Commander Chen sat down behind the table without lighting a lamp. Shadows shrouded the scars on his face, making them seem especially deep. He remained silent for a long time, so long that even the air seemed to congeal.

"What did you do this for?" Commander Chen finally asked, his voice low and heavy.

Wang Quan stood in the shadows, his face expressionless. His voice was calm. "I just wanted to stay alive. Nothing more."

Commander Chen raised his eyes. His gaze was as cold and sharp as a blade, staring straight at Wang Quan as if he wanted to pierce through his flesh and see what lay within his bones. He kept staring for a long while before slowly saying, "I'll do my best to cover for you. But there are many things beyond my power." He sighed, the sound weighed down by exhaustion and helplessness.

"You know," Commander Chen said even more quietly, as if speaking to Wang Quan and yet also talking to himself, "Anping County wasn't always like this. Ever since something happened to a certain lord... the imperial court has never sent another Sky Patrol Bureau officer here."

He paused, his gaze focusing on Wang Quan once more, carrying a complicated emotion. "If you can hold out until a new Sky Patrol Emissary arrives, I'll recommend you for entry. But right now..." He shook his head, a trace of bitterness appearing on his face. "I can barely protect myself. I can't get too close to you. Otherwise, you'll only die faster."

"If one day, I'm no longer here..." Commander Chen's voice was unusually calm, yet carried an unquestionable resolve. "Then follow your own heart. But remember, only by entering the Sky Patrol Bureau can you cultivate genuine techniques. Otherwise, cultivating in secret will bring backlash, and you'll drop dead on the spot."

"You may leave." Commander Chen waved his hand and hunched his back again, as if the sharpness he had shown moments ago had merely been an illusion.

Wang Quan clasped his fists and silently left the stone house. Sunlight fell across him, bringing a trace of warmth, yet it could not dispel the chill in his heart. The Sky Patrol Bureau? Cultivation techniques? Backlash? One piece of information after another crashed into his mind. He looked up at the gray, hazy sky, his destination clear, and headed straight for Madman Xu's strange-smelling courtyard in the western part of the village.

He pushed open the half-closed wooden door. Madman Xu was squatting on the ground, carefully filing a blackish beast horn with a small file, muttering under his breath. Hearing the disturbance, he did not even turn his head. A hoarse laugh came from his throat. "Heh heh, you've got a tough life. The monsters still haven't eaten you."

Wang Quan walked over to the battered wooden table piled high with sundries. Without beating around the bush, he said, "Old Xu, I got my hands on something. I want to trade it for a cultivation manual."

Madman Xu's movements stopped. He slowly turned his head and looked Wang Quan up and down with cloudy eyes. Then he split his mouth in a grin, revealing a row of yellow teeth. "A cultivation manual? You've got some nerve, kid. I do have good stuff here, but what are you going to trade? That measly bit of pay, or did you pick up some other piece of junk Monster Core?"

Wang Quan said nothing. He pulled the bloodstained cloth bundle from his robes, untied it, and poured three Monster Cores onto the table. They glimmered dimly in the murky light. The largest was dark red within, its aura mixed yet vigorous. The other two were slightly smaller, their energy fluctuations clearly weaker, but they were still genuine Spirit Awakening Realm Monster Cores.

Madman Xu's gaze locked onto them instantly. He suddenly leaned close and snatched up the largest Monster Core with his withered fingers, examining it carefully in the faint light filtering through the window. His fingers trembled slightly. "A Snake Demon's core? And one that was just about to touch the threshold of the later stage... The other two little brats' aren't bad either..." A gurgling sound came from his throat, as if he were suppressing his excitement. "Good stuff! Truly good stuff! Where did you get these?"

"Patrolling the city last night. I got lucky." Wang Quan's tone remained flat; he did not want to explain the process. "These three Monster Cores for one practical movement technique. I'm too slow. Against a stronger opponent, even running for my life would be difficult."

Madman Xu put down the Monster Core and narrowed his eyes at Wang Quan, shrewdness and scrutiny flickering in his gaze. "Running for your life? Heh heh, merely running won't do. A movement technique for fleeing is useless without the corresponding explosive power and stamina to support it. You, kid... You want to be able to slip away when you can't win, and quickly finish off the other party when you can catch them, don't you?"

Wang Quan did not deny it. He simply looked at Madman Xu.

Madman Xu rubbed his fingers together and pondered for a moment, apparently weighing his options. In the end, he seemed to make up his mind. He turned and rummaged through the rattan chest piled with junk. Clattering sounds rang out from inside. After quite some time, he finally pulled out a thin booklet. Its cover was made of some dark-brown beast hide, its edges worn and frayed. Three large, twisted characters had been written across it in some dark-red pigment resembling dried blood: Shadow Step.

"Here." Madman Xu slapped the booklet onto the table in front of Wang Quan, kicking up a little dust. "Shadow Step. I got it from an old thief who made his living stealing chickens and dogs when I was young. It isn't some secret art from a great sect, but it's damn practical!"

He lowered his voice, a trace of boastfulness creeping in. "This footwork focuses on concealing your aura and moving in strange, unpredictable ways. Once you reach a certain level, you can use light and shadow to hide your presence. When you move, you'll be like a ghost—silent and soundless. It's top-notch for ambushes, infiltration, or... heh heh, running for your life. Combined with that crude bit of training you already have, it'll suit you perfectly."

Wang Quan picked up the booklet. It was icy to the touch, the beast hide rough beneath his fingers. He opened the first page. Inside were densely packed lines of tiny characters and several simple human-shaped diagrams. The breathing methods and routes for circulating qi and blood were marked out fairly clearly.

"Thank you, Old Xu." Wang Quan put the booklet away and clasped his fists.

Madman Xu waved his hand and carefully drew the three Monster Cores toward himself, rubbing them fondly without looking up. "What's there to thank me for? We each get what we need. But kid, I've got one more thing to nag you about." He raised his head. The mad look on his face had receded somewhat, and a rare solemnity showed in his eyes. "In this worldly affairs, knowing only how to run won't do, but not knowing how to run will get you killed even faster. Master it, and you'll have a few more chips to keep yourself alive. Hurry up and become stronger. You don't have much time left. These old bones of mine might fall apart one of these days, and I won't be able to protect you for long."