High Five

(Two updates today. I want to play games.)

"Yes, you really could have done better..."

Bai Ye shook his head, then slowly said, "It seems you are already filled with resolve."

"Yes, my mind is made up... I have already run away twice."

Wei Yenwu looked up at Bai Ye and said solemnly, "The first time, I chose compromise, and so my sister and I were forced to leave Yan and come here."

"The second time, I ran again, so I was forced to make a choice and kill my own brother with my own hands."

"If I had been in that position back then, I could have protected both Edward and my sister."

"This time... Kashchey's plan nearly succeeded again. If not for you and Rhodes Island, I fear... the consequences would have been unthinkable."

As he spoke, Wei Yenwu shook his head. "I can no longer run away... My niece, my wife, and Lungmen—if I am to protect them, I can only take that road."

"In the end, it is still blood relatives killing one another..." Bai Ye said softly.

"You are right. This is still a road of kin-slaying."

Wei Yenwu did not deny it.

"Heh... Wei Yenwu, you had been making preparations long ago." Bai Ye smiled. "How many cities do you have in Yan?"

Wei Yenwu said nothing.

"Don't look at me like that. Those Yetis said it themselves: the equipment your Shadow Guards wear requires the industrial systems of several city-states to sustain."

"You have more than just one Lungmen in your hands. You must have your own arrangements in Yan."

Bai Ye paused before continuing, "And your Shadow Guards were never trained by you in Lungmen. They were Imperial Guards you brought out with you from the start, weren't they?"

"Looks like you