Three weeks had passed.92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0Domp49bx
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWKY8WFI1X
Liang Wei stood at the mouth of the cave, breathing the salt air. His wounds had healed completely – no scars, no bruises, no memory of pain. The arrow holes in his chest had closed as if they had never been. The cannonball dent in his ribs had smoothed over. Even the burns on his face had faded to faint pink lines.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DlZy6mBrL
He was himself again.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEt7zX8v1M
But more than healed, he had been renewed.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBAWQPJjIM
The cave's strange energy had seeped into his bones, strengthening his qi, sharpening his senses. He felt younger – not just in spirit, but in flesh. When he caught his reflection in a still pool inside the cave that morning, he had almost not recognized himself. The face that stared back was not the weathered, gray‑haired teacher of sixty‑seven. It was a man in his mid‑thirties – smooth skin, clear eyes, no lines of age. Only his eyes held the weight of centuries.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IzMykaa6p
He touched his cheek, then smiled.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0DY99Jkc6
So this is what cultivation can do, he thought.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZuWmkCQhj
He walked to the water's edge and looked down at his reflection in the calm surface. A young man with dark hair and a straight back looked back. He almost laughed.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssPaIaPSAX
They are alive, he thought. General Feng Jian. Li Hua. The crew. Their qi was faint but steady and calm, non‑aggressive. No one was fighting. No one was wounded.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYEpUQWPLO
He smiled.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UUN07HphZ
Then he dove into the water.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttO59Y2Myz
The sea welcomed him. He swam deeper than any mortal could, his lungs filled with air that lasted and lasted. He moved through schools of silver fish, through forests of coral, through canyons of dark rock. His hands shot out – once, twice, three times – and came back with sardines, their scales flashing in the underwater light.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRhGDyyjd4
He surfaced near a flat rock, just outside the cave. He gutted and cleaned the fish with his fingernails, working quickly, precisely. Then he placed them on the rock in a neat row.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtaU4fpbtK4
From the wreckage of the junk – which had washed into a crevice near the cave – he had salvaged a few items. One of them was a small glass vial, translucent, empty. He positioned it on the rock at an angle, catching the afternoon sun. The light refracted through the glass, focusing into a hot beam that fell on the sardines.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Rvoi09qBd
They would be sun‑dried within an hour.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNEn9yMLOW
He sat cross‑legged and waited, chewing on a piece of dried fish he had prepared yesterday.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInBlJTmA2Y
Then he felt it.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZPVKOjCoXv
A presence.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFh1t3pTBE
Not the gentle presence of a passing turtle or a curious dolphin. This was powerful – far more powerful than anything he had ever encountered. It radiated qi like a furnace radiates heat. It dwarfed his own cultivated energy.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwCxViTzvt
He stopped chewing.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniGWbW7IMN
His hand froze, still holding a piece of sardine halfway to his mouth.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPngTip8rLk
The presence moved closer.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwOFLkiyfk
What is it? he thought. A sea creature? A spirit?
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboT0uwZdMs
He could not fight it. Even fully healed, even strengthened by the cave, he knew he would lose. But he could not stand there frozen either. He had to be alive. He had to thank the white dragon that had saved him. He had to return to his people.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHP0TLDyDdf
I will strike first, he decided. Buy time. Run.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq33ITYBYX2
He took a deep breath – not for air, but to warm himself. His qi stirred.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOQd3TojmW
A second breath. Blood rushed to every vessel in his body. His muscles tensed.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBK7jR7v5lO
A third breath. The air in his lungs became a weapon.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9WFxdMNx3
He spun around.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9T27JCicHo
And he blew.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaEckzvlOx
The wind that left his mouth was not a breeze. It was a hurricane, compressed into a single exhalation. It roared across the rocks, tearing up seaweed, shattering pebbles, carving grooves into the stone.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyBK8Xuhsv
It was aimed at the presence.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExLv6SrFiF
But the presence was a woman.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBU0Wz8FZVq
She stood on a rock twenty feet away, her feet bare, her dress made of almost translucent silk that showed the milky pale skin beneath. Her hair was pure white, long, flowing in the wind that should have ripped it from her scalp. Her eyes were gold – not brown, not hazel, but gold, like twin suns. Her neck had a faint shimmer, as if covered in tiny scales.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7ZVK8oKk0
The wind struck her.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwTOerYF4J
Rocks behind her exploded. Waves crashed and scattered. A boulder the size of a cart split in two. The ground around her feet cracked like dry clay.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nvsoqnn1a
She did not move.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQx5O9GtYM
Not one inch. She stood in the center of the hurricane as if it were a gentle summer breeze.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGyjnIgxun
Her lips curved into a small smirk.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8j8BzrW4o
"That is a strange way to thank your savior," she said.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcxJk2O4wZ
Liang Wei's eyes widened. He knew that voice. It had spoken in his mind, three weeks ago, in the depths of the sea.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwQd6rZGNb
Ning.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4I6r4KesT
He dropped to his knees so fast the rock cracked beneath him. He bent forward, reaching for the ground to press his forehead against it – the deepest bow, the highest respect.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrYfp0j61a
Her hand caught his face.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2A8CgP9K9r
Not roughly. Gently. Her fingers were cool against his cheeks, stopping him before his head could touch the stone.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHr5AGwxOx
"Please," she said. "No need for that."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0W61J1MnQC
He looked up. She was smiling – not a smirk now, but a real smile, warm and amused.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRufFlPLsU
"Master Liang Wei," she said. "I am pleased to see you fully healed. Your attack was my fault. I should have announced my arrival. I also should have warned you about this…" She gestured at her body. "Strange form."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE37sJngrBV
He stood slowly. "Thank you once again, Ning. I am utterly delighted by your presence."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAW3usvZJw
She curtsied.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTcCRHsFhx
It was not a casual dip. It was formal, elegant – the way a Chinese princess might curtsy to a guest of honor. Her hands pressed together at her chest. Her knees bent. Her head inclined.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZCscxMtzn
Liang Wei's blood ran cold.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCkIZUBvG7
That curtsy, he thought. That is palace courtesy. She knows Chinese court etiquette.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfJaC6o7p1
He dropped to his knees again – not slowly this time, but desperately. His forehead slammed into the rock with such force that the stone shattered beneath him. Cracks spread outward like a spiderweb.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQRnI9Isim
Ning flinched. Her hand reached toward him. "Are you okay?"
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSJqadmBDj
He did not look up. His voice was tight.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLIP3MOaaB
"You are royalty, aren't you?"
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKUsLyIC7J
She was silent for a moment. Then he heard her voice – still warm, but with a new edge of curiosity.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lQMvodj6r
"How can you tell?"
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDwyL88LPh
"Let's just say I have a sixth sense." He kept his forehead on the broken rock. "Are you a princess? A queen? A dragon lord's daughter?"
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6FBC4Kdzv
She walked closer. Her bare feet made no sound on the stone. She knelt beside him, her translucent dress pooling on the ground.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0xtukKsEP
"Get up, Master Liang Wei. Please. I do not enjoy watching a man of your stature grovel."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPCP3De5am
"I am groveling because you deserve it," he said. "You saved my life. And you are royalty. That is two reasons."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgXsCBl2Bf
She laughed – a soft, musical sound. "Then I will give you a third reason to get up. I need to discuss something with you. Something important. It is difficult to negotiate with a man whose face is embedded in rock."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOawMhELLoX
He raised his head slowly. His forehead was scraped, bleeding slightly. He ignored it.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUwAqNSJxo
"What do you wish to discuss?"
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcCuXH2BwC
Ning stood. She offered him her hand. He hesitated, then took it. Her grip was firm, cool.
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoQpZ4bmyC
"I saved you for a reason," she said. "Not out of kindness. Not out of boredom. I need something from you. And you, I suspect, need something from me."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEqtwsAfUx
"I need to return to my people."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fqnS8ueyG
"They are safe. I have watched over them from a distance. The tall men you met – they are called the Watchers. They guard these shores. They will not harm your people."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbtOpEf3aX
Liang Wei exhaled. "Thank you."
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ftorRNJrP
"Thank me by hearing my offer." She sat on a flat rock, crossing her legs. The sun caught her golden eyes, making them glow. "Sit, Master. We have much to discuss."
ns216.73.217.139da2
and then Add to home screen.