2026-02-18 21:10:57
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Chapter 637
I made him block high and then low, forced him to shift his weight, to feel the ground under his feet, to hear the sound of the wood and the breath between us.I meant everything I said; this city only lived due to people who knew what to do without waiting to be told, people who stepped into gaps and held them until someone else arrived. Zhang had been that person again and again. He could be that person again.“No.” Zhang shook his head as we continued to duel. “There are still debts I need to repay. Things I need to make up for. And now—now you’re just going to die.” He brought the haft up to catch my next advance hard enough to numb my hands. It was a good choice. He had seen me push the pace and had decided to interrupt it. He stepped in on the contact and shouldered me back. The move was clean and not at all clumsy now. He could fight like this all day when he wasn’t dragging around the weight of so many unspoken words.“You’ve repaid all of it and done plenty more. My healing o
Chapter 636
I held the wooden spear in my hand, its weight comfortable as I looked at Zhang. His heart and mind were clearly not in it. He didn’t want a duel. But what he needed was movement, so I would provide that.We had chosen the inner yard because the ground there stayed level and packed even after the morning drills. The snow had been cleared to the edges and piled against the low wall, where it melted slowly under the steady warmth that bled from the castle stones. Someone had marked scuffs on the yard’s stones where earlier pairs had set their feet for balance drills.The militia had left two racks of practice spears near the entry. The hafts were sanded smooth and oiled to keep splinters down. The heads were blunted, wrapped in layered cloth that had been bound with lacquered twine.I spun my spear once to test balance, then settled into a simple guard. Zhang mirrored me, though his hands were a fraction too tight on the wood. He had suppressed his Chi as promised. Even so, the habit of
Chapter 635
We followed him up the stairs, through the floors, past the meeting room I’d interrupted Zhou Fang in previously, to a rather shabby door. When it opened, it revealed a modest room, almost like a servant’s quarters, where Zhou Fang sat in a meditative posture.The bed was narrow and well used, the mattress turned recently to even the wear. A simple stand held a pot of water and a cup. The wall rack had a plain robe folded on it with the same neatness as the bed, corners square, fabric lined up with the bar. The window looked toward the Divine Tree rather than the square. A small brazier burned low, more for keeping damp off the linens than for comfort, while a single lantern hung from a nail and cast an even circle of light.As soon as he sensed us, Zhou Fang opened his eyes. His gaze moved first to Zhang as if checking the status of the man who had been carrying the district with him, then to me.“A rather modest room,” I commented.Zhou Fang chuckled. “Yes. The bigger rooms didn’t f
Chapter 634
It only took me a few seconds to realize the house didn’t have a silencing formation set to it. I’d gotten so used to having Ren set those automatically. I immediately withdrew my Chi to the best of my extent, muffling the sounds within the house, because I did not want to intrude on their conversation.Even despite all that, however, Liuxiang’s sobs were loud enough for me to hear them when they started. My chest tightened in sympathy. Pain does not need words to make itself understood. My gaze fixed itself to the door, and I couldn’t tear it away.It only took a minute, before Liuxiang left the room, making my heart clench. For a second, I was worried she’d not say anything; the next second, I was worried she’d still insist on sacrificing herself, doing something, anything.Instead, she bowed. “I’m sorry, and thank you.”I could see the place on her sleeve where she had wiped her face. I could see how her eyes were red around the rims and I let out the breath I was holding.I pulled
Chapter 633
The water was warm and plain. It washed the tightness from the back of her throat and made it easier to pull a full breath without it catching on the edges left by tears. She sniffed once, a soft, embarrassing sound she would have tried to hide any other day, and set the cup back on the tray.Matriarch Shie moved the pillow behind her back by an inch, then another, until her shoulders were supported properly when she leant back. It was a small act, but earlier that week, she had needed help to make the same adjustment. Today she did it on her own. Even the Matriarch looked a little surprised at that fact, that her body had made the decision to cooperate without her having to try for it repeatedly.“I ask you to think about what you will wish you had done when there is no more time to change it,” the Matriarch finally said. “Will you wish you shouted more? Or will you wish to have sat and spoken with him about ordinary things for one more hour?”Liuxiang looked down at her hands. The k
Chapter 632
The spider spirit shifted again. Zhi Zhu’s tone was low, not scornful. Listen to the Matriarch, Liuxiang. She is right in telling you to spend the time you have. To use it without wasting it on a struggle that is more about rejecting pain than from any true hope of changing the outcome.Matriarch Shie sighed. “I understand how you’re feeling. I understand how painful loss is. But I’ve done exactly what you’re doing, Liuxiang, and trust this old woman’s words when I say you will regret it for the rest of your life if you behave this way. You have to understand, Liuxiang. Every second you’re wasting now is a moment you’ll look back on a few weeks later… and hate yourself for. You know that, yes? You’d never be able to forgive yourself for wasting it, would beg for just a single moment longer with that boy. One more peaceful conversation, for a moment of laughter, for anything at all. Appreciate him while you have him. Do not waste the miracle of these days you have remaining. Do not thr
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