100 Epilogue

Hong Xin looked on sadly as the woman in red walked out through the village gates after a long stay. She had truly enjoyed the nights when the woman played her songs, allowing Hong Xin to dance to her tunes. In fact, it was only a few days after Hong Yinyue's arrival that the woman had requested she join her act, dancing to her graceful music.

The act had been a success; working-class men and nobles alike had frequented the tavern to watch the graceful show. Hong Xin had lost count of the marriage proposals that flew her way. She had refused them, of course, following a script that the experienced performer shared with her to minimize hard feelings.

And now, it seemed like all of it would disappear and vanish into thin air. Hong Yinyue had long since told her that she disliked staying in one place for very long. She simply followed where fate pulled her, going with the flow. And now fate was pulling her back toward her home city. Life is a dance, she always said.

Hong Xin sighed as she thought of the wonderful weeks that had passed by so swiftly. Not only had her mood fully recovered to her usually cheerful disposition, her cultivation had also advanced by leaps and bounds. "It's natural for a dancer to progress when there is music," Yinyue had told her. "Everyone needs music in their life, and some more than others."

"Why don't you just ask her if you can tag along?" the innkeeper said an hour later while chopping and preparing vegetables for the upcoming night. He didn't make as much as usual, as business was sure to slow down with Hong Yinyue having departed.

"Wouldn't that be rude of me?" Hong Xin said, thought she was seriously considering the matter.

"I don't see why it would be," he said. "You guys get along great. I don't think she'd refuse."

By the time he looked up, Hong Xin was gone, running upstairs to her room and hastily gathering her possessions. She had learned her lesson last time and was always ready to leave at a moment's notice.

"Thank you for everything!" she yelled before darting out the door.

"Don't forget to come back if she says no!" the man yelled back, smiling and shaking his head.

Hong Xin ran through the city streets, running into various patrons that she had met over the past few months. They looked at her with knowing smiles. The guards waved as she passed through, and they pointed her in Yinyue's direction.

It took a few hours for Hong Xin to catch up. As she approached, an overwhelming feeling of nervousness invaded her thoughts.

What if she says no? What if I need to go back? Can I really ask her?

As she was pondering these things, Yinyue stopped. "Is it really so hard to ask?" she said, turning around. Her alluring, bright red cloak was in stark contrast to the flat fields that surrounded them.

"Can I?" Hong Xin said, her eyes tearing up.

"Of course," the woman said dotingly. "But you can't slow me down, and you need to listen to me in all things. Otherwise, things might get dangerous."

"Of course!" Hong Xin said, running over. "Where are we off to?"

"We're going back to my home town," Yinyue said, grim faced. "It's a long way back, especially when walking. However, I think you'll like the city I'm from."

"What's its name?" Hong Xin said curiously.

"Perhaps you've heard of it before," she said. "Gold Leaf City."

***

"Finally, fresh meat after so long," a skinny, greasy-haired man said to his eleven companions. "It's tough being a bandit when there's no one to rob."

The others chuckled as they looked at the approaching figure. They couldn't make out the figure's features, as the sunlight was shining from their direction.

"Let's play it safe and wait until he gets close," the leader said, his hand quivering in anticipation. It had been so long since he'd drawn blood. Unfortunately, he was different than his companions. They could survive with nothing but gold and food to fill their bellies. He needed to kill to survive, to sate his inner rage.

Soon enough, the figure in the distance became clearer. "It's a monk!" one of the bandits whispered. "Awful bad luck to rob a monk. Plus, they're always poor. We should just let this one run along."

"Nonsense," another bandit said. "Don't you know that they take offerings all the time? Their temples are gilded in gold and filled with jade. Of course he'll have something on him." This was also one of the more eager members of the group, one that the leader appreciated greatly.

"I don't think that's a he," another said, shaking his head. "She might be bald, but I can tell a woman from a mile away. It's bad enough luck to attack a monk, much less a helpless woman monk. Let's let her pass, boss."

"Do I pay you all to think?" the leader snapped, holding his saber. He could barely control it, and killing a monk would go a long way to sate his thirst for blood. If he killed her, he might be able to go for a month without killing again. At his signal, the bandits readied themselves to jump out for an ambush. The bald woman wore an orange kasaya, and she walked without a care in the world.

Suddenly, only a few feet from the ambush point, the figure stopped. Her eyes seemed bright like diamonds as she looked toward their hiding place. "Come out," she said, smiling, "there is no need to hide. I'm sure we can talk this through."

The leader cursed as his eleven companions sheepishly stepped out from the bushes. He could only follow suit. One of his companions mumbled apologetically, "I'm sorry, my lady. It's really bad luck to try robbing a monk. You may pass."

"It's no problem," she said. "Here, take these few gold pieces so that you may fill your bellies. There is no need to kill or rob innocents to make a living."

All of the bandits, including the bandit leader, were all filled with a sense of deep shame. Three of them even collapsed on their knees, unable to restrain their sorrow.

"I'm so sorry," the fattest bandit said, weeping. "I killed a man once. I deserve death."

"I can't continue living," another man said, his eyes red. "How can I stand myself after all the harm I've done?"

The leader shivered when he saw this monk's charisma. He also felt a sense of crisis. As he thought this, the monk simply smiled and walked up to them, placing a gold piece in each of his eleven companion's hands.

"I'm sure you have learned your lesson," she said. "Repent and help others. Protect them. And if you can't do that, lay down your weapons and become farmers or pick up a craft. Use your good deeds to atone for your sins."

The bandits nodded and wept.

Then she looked over in the leader's direction. Her blue eyes felt like vast oceans filled with light. "Show yourself," she said gently.

Shivering at her command, the bandit had no choice but to show his true form. His red eyes glowed like blood, and his veins bulged as he held his saber firmly.

"Don't you feel ashamed at what you've become?" she continued.

The other bandits paled when they saw this. Only now did they realize they had been in the presence of a monster.

"I do," he said, shivering. "However, there is no repentance for me. I can only continue this way. In my next life, I will surely be reborn in Hell."

The monk smiled and walked up to him slowly, ignoring the saber in his hands. She stopped only two feet away from him. "There is repentance for everyone," she said. "Allow me to relieve you of your burden." She laid her hand on his forehead. A red projection appeared behind him, wailing in agony as it was pierced by multiple beams of bright light. Wherever they pierced, whiteness spread. It only took thirty seconds for the red soul projection behind him to turn completely white.

Then it disappeared into the distance, and the man collapsed, dead.

***

"Was it necessary to save that man?" Gong Lan said as she walked along the dirt road. All of the bandits had chosen to renounce their former identities and spread out in every direction. Some said they would become farmers, others decided to become guards. This she understood. These men were not beyond saving, just like her.

"It is most difficult to show mercy to your enemy, but in this case, it was necessary," a childish voice said to her. Green tendrils spread out from a locket on her neck that was made with an exceptionally large bodhi seed. "You saved a man's soul, and while he is not deserving, this is one soul deprived from the devils, one less soul they can use to turn this plane against us. You have weakened the devils in Hell by depriving them of fresh blood. Saving this man hurt the real enemy."

Gong Lan sighed. "Very well. We will continue doing such things. When must we return?"

"I'm not sure," the seed replied. "It could be years or decades. Less than a century. However, rest assured that the time will come. When this is all over, you can transcend without worries."

Gong Lan nodded, and they continued on.

***

Huxian lay at the peak of the mountain, licking his wounds as he listened to the spirit-tail chicken choir. They sang hymns of praise for him, and before long, they brought forth their latest sacrifice. Soon the chickens left with solemn appearances. The offering was no more.

Huxian sighed, depressed at the failure of their expedition. The beast tide he had been so confident in had ended up floundering at the last moment. The reason behind it was quite simple: walls.

Walls had been an enemy of spirit beasts since ancient times. Despite understanding their construction, and despite having the strength to tear them down stone by stone, every spirit beast held an instinctual fear of walls. Only kings amongst them could urge the lesser beasts forward, and only barely. This crushing blow to their morale had caused countless spirit beasts to fall like flies, and Huxian had no choice but to call them back to the mountain.

Unfortunately, he was now too weak to do much. His fight with the bear sovereign had cost him precious blood essence, and he would need to recover it before making his next move. He glared at the mountain beside them. It had its own sovereign, comparable in strength to the previous sovereign. If he couldn't invade the humans and their walls successfully, so be it. He would go for the next best thing: annexing the nearby beast territories. He was a king after all, and he deserved his own dominion.

***

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Cha Ming asked the village mayor.

"Yes, I'm confident," the mayor replied. Cha Ming nodded and activated a line that he'd drawn. It glowed brightly as it traveled up the stone trail, into the waterfall, and through the tunnels. An incense time passed before a sudden explosion shook the land nearby. Rubble flowed from behind the waterfall in great quantities before finally stopping.

Cha Ming probed the collapsed tunnel before turning to the mayor. "It's all done. The cave is collapsed, and it shouldn't be obvious that it's a spirit-stone vein unless they do significant digging. Not that it matters, since over nine tenths of the mine has already been excavated."

The mayor nodded. "Make sure you take all of the stones with you. We want nothing to do with them."

Cha Ming smiled and tossed a medium-sized bag to the man. It jingled loudly. "Here are five thousand low-grade spirit stones. It's not a vast sum of money, but it should be enough to purchase a currency that the village can use."

The man was hesitant but accepted it nonetheless. Then he looked at the buildings that were quickly rising from the ashes. The entire town had come together, and soon it would be fully rebuilt. "Thank you. It will be difficult to survive the winter without purchasing provisions."

"From now on, you won't have to hide anymore," Cha Ming said before leaving.

Before long, he arrived at Li Yin's tent. It was Wei Chen's old tent, and it had been serving as a temporary hospital. The man smiled when Cha Ming came in. "Is it done?"

"Yes, it's done," Cha Ming replied. "Soon the village will be back to normal."

"As normal as it can be," Li Yin said. "Mental scars like this stay with people for a long time. We were fortunate, however. It could have been a lot worse. We were enslaved, but our women and children maintained their dignity. By the way, how are your hands?"

Cha Ming revealed a nimble set of pure white fingers that were covered in freshly grown skin. It had been an easy but excruciating process to regrow the lost flesh.

The doctor sighed. "My greatest regret is that my life's work was lost. How will I be able to teach without those books? It will be very difficult."

Cha Ming chuckled before sweeping out his hand. A dozen large books appeared on the table. Li Yin looked shocked for a moment but instantly recovered. "I saved them just before the bandits came," Cha Ming said. "I didn't think you would want your life's work burnt to the ground."

The doctor, who had lost all hope earlier, was now grinning ear to ear. Cha Ming left him to flip through the pages and returned to his own tent. After closing the flap to ensure he wouldn't be disturbed, he took out a gray candle in a bronze holder. He needed to gain strength as quickly as possible. After all, he had discovered much information relating to the bandit leader from Wei Chen's bag of holding, and one thing was certain: The leader would come soon, and he would come with a vengeance.

This small village had finally found their light in the darkness. And he would protect it with everything he had.

--

Book 3 End.