— The Emperor’s Imperial Record, Entry No. 19 —

  Strength came out of nowhere.

  Maybe it was the last kick of a dying man, but it was enough.

  I was on the shallow side now.

  I ran out, with the water weighing me down. We had both bled, but most of that was from me.

  Near the banks of the river, I dropped onto the ground, half of my body still submerged, but now, there was air. Glorious air,

  The spirit beast, however, was far more energetic than I was, seeing me at such a weak point, it let go of my hand, stomping its way to my head, I turned my body away from it, making sure it was always facing my legs, but that now meant my head was getting closer to the water.

  I had to get rid of this thing.

  And yet, I couldn't take my eyes off it. ‘I have to find something to kill it.’

  All of a sudden, I remembered, ‘The traps!’ I had made sure to build them close to the rover, ‘Where…’ I grabbed around with my hands, ‘where…Aha!’

  Now I was angling towards the trap, but the beast didn't realize, still stalking me, thinking I'd be foolish enough to put my head in the water again.

  ‘Just a little more…a bit more.’ Then I scrunched up my body and kicked.

  The spirit beast realized too late as it tried to run. My leg caught it on the side of its hind and sent it careening towards the trap, while it frantically tried to use its claws to stop.

  But the water dripping from it had made the already wet bank muddy, and its constant turning of the mud with its claws didn't help. It slipped,

  “Eiyaao.” It was in again, I got up, but it'd be out just as soon.

  ‘Where is my knife?’ It was beside me. It had fallen to my side as I ran out of the water. I gripped it with a large grin. I was just glad the water tide didn't swallow it in.

  I ran towards the other trap, the one where I had kept its children. The one I had strapped to my body must have flung off during the fight.

  Before that, the beast was out again, this time, the mist coming off it had turned grey instead of white. I pulled the cub out of the trap, just as the beast got behind me

  It paused. Eyeing the cub in my right hand, mangled as it was, and the knife in my other hand.

  I wasn't going to let it get out of here alive, but it'd kill me if I killed the cub, and I was too slow to be able to run over to the other traps to get more.

  We were at a standoff, but I couldn't wait it out, time was on the beast's side, no matter how poisoned it was.

  I had to do something. But what?

  My arrows and bow weren't anywhere close, and the beast would be upon me before I could use them.

  Water dripped from my brow.

  The beast took a step forward, and I took a step back

  Dagger in hand, held out, I doubted I seemed very intimidating at that moment.

  “Yip yip,”

  I whipped my head around to the noise, as did the beast. It was the other cub, the one I had forgotten to put inside a trap, it was the biggest of all the cubs, with clearer eyes and darker gills.

  It ran and jumped onto my leg, nibbling it with its underdeveloped fangs.

  The spirit beast took this moment of unawareness to pounce, but I didn't survive years of hunting in the forests and wilderness to be that unobservant. I watch it out of the corner of my eye.

  ‘Closer,’ I wanted it to be closer, this was my one chance. If I missed this, I'd be as good as dead, all the beast would have to do was wait.

  When it got near enough, I whipped around, my dagger like a scythe, I was going to take this thing's life away.

  I plunged the dagger into its throat, its momentum pulling it deeper into my life-sucking embrace, then I dropped the cub I was holding, the other one still nibbling on my leg, yipping louder as if that would help.

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  Like a beast of instinct, instead of a man, I clutched the back of the beast's head, pushing my dagger deeper.

  The little nibbler continued to bite, and yip. Louder this time, and actually drawing blood.

  The spirit beast struggled in my bosom, moving its body in short, energetic spasms, but I didn't have the time to wait, its mist was coming out again, trying to heal it through the wound.

  I pulled my knife out, arm throbbing at the back of its nape, then slit its throat with my left hand.

  All the cubs started to yip now. Loudly. The one that drew blood, yipping the loudest.

  The spirit beast was dead

  I dropped to my knees. The beast’s body next to me, eyes wide open,

  The two remaining cubs clawed their way out of their traps and surrounded their mother, and one more wiggled out of the bushes to join the rest.

  ‘I won.’

  At the scene of death and destruction, I stood victorious, the cub’s yips irrelevant.

  – 玄 –

  The world is cruel, I’d write years later—and I would grow crueler to survive it, to rule it.

  – 玄 –

  “Hahahahha!”

  I burst out in maniacal laughter, not at the beast but in the face of The Skies.

  My enemy lay severed at my feet.

  No cultivator, no emperor, just I, Khan—an orphaned hunter spitting at fate.

  What mortal had killed spirit beasts like me?

  What mortal had spit in the face of his destiny like I had?

  I may not be equal to the cultivators, but I couldn’t be just a nobody anymore. I was a spirit beast killer.

  “Hahahahaha.”

  I took a few minutes for myself, ripping strips from my mangled clothes to wrap around the wound on my arm. I’d stopped the bleeding—well, slowed it, now it was like a deeply crimson flower, slowly blooming as it seeped through the makeshift dressing.

  But every twitch of my arm sent bolts of rising fire up my nerves.

  I smashed my teeth together, the lesser pain distracting me from the greater one. Cub by cub, I pulled the little spirit beasts from their mother. Their palm-sized bodies squirmed against my loose grip.

  Except for the biter—- I chose to call him Chi Ya.

  Was it Cruel? Yes. Efficient? Most definitely.

  But that brought in a different question.

  ‘Should I kill them?’ I looked at Chi Ya. Underneath his scarred brow, his eyes glinted with what looked like some sort of awareness.

  What if it remembered? What if these were the vindictive type of spirit beast? Tracking me down years from now?

  Were these even spirit beasts? Would they grow into one? I sighed.

  Those were questions for another day— I would leave it up to Azul to decide. He could sell them or kill them. That didn't matter now.

  The wildlife around here had fled, but with so much blood around here, scavengers would be all over the place soon.

  I couldn't make a sled, not with all the damage to my right arm and the constant shivers. So I improvised.

  ‘Why was it so cold?’

  I stuffed the spirit beast’s corpse into what was left of the sack—the bag my father had made me. Its weight dragging on my good arm, at least I had gotten some revenge, and tucked the cubs in close.

  Chi Ya went in with its mother—my ethics be damned, I wasn’t coddling these things, especially not the nibbler.

  I almost didn’t walk back, the thought alone filled my mind and body with more exhaustion.

  I trudged through the forest, making sure to move as fast as I could with blood still flowing off my torso and other wounds dripping onto the dirt underneath me, creating a trail of puddles wherever I walked, clutching the sack tighter.

  With such a clear path to me, I would have thought the predators would have tried to do something harmful. But they knew better than that.

  I smelled of spirit beast blood.

  By the time the city gates came into view, it was still early, my breath was ragged, steaming the morning air.

  Every inhale tasted like copper and sweat…and mud. The guards were at the gate. This time, I only saw Jie Rui and not Mu Ke.

  I waved from afar, a frail swipe of my hand, but they couldn’t see me. Jie Rui was talking to someone. No doubt it was about either women, food, or bribes.

  “Heeey,” I hollered, voice hoarse. “You guys have a cart?”

  They perked up, their eyes narrowing against the dim torches of the night, before realizing it was me.

  I had become some sort of a familiar face, having to constantly run around hunting and hauling things back.

  They waited for me to come nearer, though. None of them stepped forward.

  “When did you leave? We haven't seen you in days,” the nameless guard said.

  I glared at the guard, I didn't know his name. But I didn't like his attitude.

  Maybe it was the blood loss.

  “Hunting”

  “Hunting, eh? What for?”

  Jie Rui held him aside. “Let the man go,” he shook his head, then fixed me with a look. Mu Ke and I haven't taken you up on your offer yet. I hope you haven’t forgotten.”

  “I was just wondering when you guys would come by.” I wasn’t. That was a lie.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Hmmph,” head in.

  The one good thing about being so early was that there were barely any people around. Sure, it was dark, but my eyes had adjusted to seeing in the dark for a while now. It wasn’t too hard to find my way to Azul’s tannery.

  This time, he was there, working. I didn't care, just wanted to lie down, my head was heavy. Like it was made of metal.

  I raised my hand to knock, but he noticed me first, through the window.

  “Ah,” he ran forward, opening the door hastily and dragging me in. He didn’t notice that he had blood on his hands now.

  He looked around, for a bit, figuring out something to say, hesitating, “...all this from some beavers?”

  I shook my head, too exhausted to speak. ‘Where had my energy gone?’

  I had some stacked away beaver carcasses from when I was hunting the spirit beast, some of them should still be in good condition. All of this would just have to do.

  I dropped the makeshift sack at his feet, Chi Ya and its mother spilling out of it, and the other cubs falling after it—the ones I had tucked away in my arm, out of sight,

  My knees crumbled. Then, the floor started rising upwards. What was happening? Another fight?

  But I was so…worn…out.