Bai Qinghan

An Jing had known Bai Qinghan for a long time.

The reason was rather amusing: like many other children, Bai Qinghan had never gone to school. She was illiterate, so learning martial arts was difficult for her, and she couldn't make sense of the Huangtian Sutra either.

An Jing had fretted over this endlessly, even spending his own time again and again tutoring these little illiterates one-on-one, helping them learn to read and master martial arts as quickly as possible.

Bai Qinghan was the fastest learner among them. An Jing often praised her individually, holding her up as a model for the others.

Back then, he and Bai Qinghan had already formed an impression of each other, but they had barely spoken. Even when An Jing praised her, Bai Qinghan only murmured a few soft acknowledgments, seeming terribly shy.

As for how they properly met, that began with a sparring match.

As Senior Brother, An Jing occasionally served as an instructor's assistant, helping those who weren't good at battle formations or fighting techniques spar with one another, and teaching them their movements and how to apply force.

That was especially necessary now, as their sparring had grown increasingly like "live-sword drills." They really had to knock their opponent down, rather than stopping at a light touch as they had in the past, so An Jing had to watch over them and offer guidance.

Bai Qinghan was one of them, though she was a little different.

It wasn't that she didn't understand how to apply force or use martial arts. It was that she was so good at martial arts that she kept hurting people, and had even nearly killed someone.

Some martial arts techniques couldn't be used in sparring.

Eye gouges, elbow strikes, blows to the groin, heel stomps, strikes to the temples, blows to the heart... Any one of these could easily cause permanent injury or even death.

But Bai Qinghan could never hold back. She used these techniques instinctively.

On the surface, she was merely a rather frail-looking young girl, with delicate features and a quiet disposition. She seemed like an ordinary, shy, introverted girl—and at first, she hadn't even known how to read. There was a pure, natural beauty about her.

But it was only an illusion, a disguise.

Her dark eyes were usually dull and lifeless, but when she sparred, they would flare with startling brilliance.

At such times, Bai Qinghan was less like a human being than some savage beast—perhaps a hungry wolf in winter, or a leopard on the prowl.

When that ferocious, savage aura emerged, even the boys and girls who had lived through calamities couldn't react in time. They all instinctively shrank back—and that retreat gave Bai Qinghan a primal signal, sending her charging in with even greater speed and force.

In the end, Bai Qinghan would always come to her senses. She would remember that she wasn't back in her hometown, where bandits ran rampant, but in the relatively safe Xuanming Manor, and would pull her punches in time. She never hurt her companions too badly.

But after a few rounds, it was clear that nobody dared spar with her anymore.

With things come to this, An Jing could only accept the instructor's request and fight this clever, dangerous girl himself.

Then An Jing knocked her flat with three punches, curing her instinct to hurt people too badly.

Bai Qinghan's situation was simple: she had grown up in an environment where her life was always in danger. Whenever she clashed with someone, it was a fight to the death. As a little girl, how could she survive in the Hanhai Great Wilderness if she didn't strike viciously?

And her parents... might have had their own problems, leaving her without any sense of safety.

In short, that extreme insecurity had left her with a serious psychological affliction. The moment she had to fight, she would always go for the kill.

The fact she could hold back at all showed that Bai Qinghan had been trying hard to rein herself in. But a few months were never going to undo years of habit.

But to An Jing, none of this was a problem.

An enemy who didn't know any specific martial arts techniques and only went for the kill by instinct was actually easier to deal with.

Because that meant they could only strike at vital points.

As Bai Qinghan lunged for his eyes, An Jing, already prepared, raised his left hand to block her. With his right, he punched her in the throat, where her guard was wide open, leaving her struggling to breathe.

As Bai Qinghan retreated, she used the momentum to kick backward at An Jing's chest. He dodged sideways and punched her right leg, forcing her to roll and absorb the impact.

When Bai Qinghan got back up and prepared to pounce on An Jing again, he had already stepped forward and punched her in the chin, knocking her out cold.

After she woke up, Bai Qinghan sat dazed for a while.

Just as An Jing began to wonder if he had hit her so hard that he'd made her stupid, she suddenly got to her feet and apologized to him, then thanked him.

"I'm sorry... Thank you, Senior Brother."

Bai Qinghan's voice was completely unlike her actions, soft and sweet as a white pastry with a sugary filling. "I feel like I've woken up from a dream..."

"Mm." An Jing didn't know what to say. Was he supposed to say he was glad he'd knocked her flat?

"I'm going to apologize to the others I hurt."

Bai Qinghan paid no mind to An Jing's reaction. With her head bowed, she looked at the ground and spoke softly. "I keep telling myself I'm safe now, that there's no need to be so afraid... Even in the Demonic Cult's Manor, they won't just kill people for no reason..."

"Wait?"

An Jing noticed the key phrase. He cut her off in astonishment, lowering his voice. "The Demonic Cult?"

—You knew about the Demonic Cult too?!

"Yes." Instead, Bai Qinghan looked at An Jing with a strange but clear gaze. A faint, deep-blue glow flickered in the depths of her dark eyes. "Senior Brother, don't you... know that too?"

"To live a little longer, we sold our lives to the Demonic Cult, didn't we?"

After that, An Jing often spoke with Bai Qinghan.

Unlike her soft and adorable appearance, Bai Qinghan was a girl with an unusually insightful way of looking at things. She had known from the start that the Demonic Cult had bought her, and she didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

Her hometown had once suffered a demonic calamity. Ten years ago, a Hanhai Mist True Chi had suddenly left its home. The countless demons and monsters once held in check by it had escaped and rampaged around Hanhai, leaving countless dead and wounded.

She had been born into that troubled age. From childhood, she had to fight others, beasts, and demons for food.

She had never learned to hold back. Once a fight began, blood had to be spilled and someone had to die. If she didn't fight that way, she would be the one to die.

Bai Qinghan's parents were dead. She had sold herself because no one was willing to take in a wild girl from the Hanhai Great Wilderness. People feared her ferocity, afraid that if they came too close, the little beast would bite through their throats.

"Compared with the Great Wilderness and Da Chen, the Demonic Cult only eats people, and even then, it eats in moderation. Look, in the past six months, they haven't eaten all of us."

"They're still full, too."

That was Bai Qinghan's view. She had eyes that could see through people's hearts—that was her innate gift. She had long since seen the wariness in An Jing's heart toward the instructors and lecturers, and understood the Demonic Cult's true nature.

"No." An Jing was silent for a while before he slowly said, "They aren't full. They're waiting."

"If you pull up the seedlings too soon, you won't get any rice. If you kill the little beasts, there won't be any big ones. The Demonic Cult is always hungry, always eating. They're just holding back, waiting for one grand feast."

"...I see."

Bai Qinghan nodded slightly, her head lowered as she looked at her toes. "But at least for now, they won't eat all of us."

An Jing didn't answer. He remembered those medicinal vats.

A moment later, An Jing came to his senses and told her not to say such things carelessly. Bai Qinghan looked at him strangely.

"Senior Brother, I just never learned to read," she said. "That doesn't mean I'm stupid."