Elder Long Tusk let out a deep laugh. “A true martial indeed! Begin!”

  A beam of pale yellow light appeared suddenly in front of Rhee’s face before she could even process its source. She barely managed to tilt her head to the side to avoid being hit, but she felt sharp qi graze her right cheek. Her eyes widened at the stinging sensation that stretched across her cheek. Somewhere far behind her, Rhee heard the crunching of stone, but didn’t dare look at what had happened.

  Blood.

  Rhee forcibly suppressed her growing anxiety and focused on the small girl across from her. Shen Hui’s left hand was still outstretched. The young girl’s single eye was narrowed, and without a word, she withdrew two of her daggers.

  Wait, weren’t there eight daggers at first?

  Without a doubt, only five remained around Shen Hui’s hips. Rhee’s instincts processed the implication faster than her mind, saving her life. Before she even realized what she was doing, Rhee had conjured two forearm shadow shields and brought them forward to intercept the attack her martial spirit anticipated.

  Two glowing daggers ripped through her shields. One had its trajectory sufficiently altered, causing it to soar past her right side. The other cut through the shadow shield and lodged itself into her left thigh.

  “Ahg!”

  Rhee fell to her knee, pain wracking her body. The dagger was buried down to its hilt in her leg, ruining its mobility.

  It cut through my shield like it was nothing.

  “Behind you, Rhee!” she heard Ishin shout from the platform.

  She spun around and found Shen Hui had jumped into the air behind her, two more daggers in her hands. Rhee immediately shoved herself to the left, rolling out of the way right before two more glowing daggers exploded into the platform floor. Cracks spread out from the area of impact. Unlike the brute power of Deng Hai’s halberd, these daggers contained concentrated piercing force. To Rhee, this made them far more dangerous.

  Rhee pushed herself up onto her elbows as she watched Shen Hui land easily on the platform. The young girl appeared unamused. No—if anything, she looked annoyed that Rhee had avoided her attack. Rhee brushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes and pulled herself to her feet. Her weight shifted onto her one functioning leg, and she realized that the impaled dagger had fallen out at some point during her evasion. Crimson blood now flowed from the wound, spreading down her left leg.

  Shen Hui turned her glare to the right. “Spectators are supposed to be quiet during a fight.”

  “Indeed,” Elder Long Tusk agreed. Rhee saw that the elder was focused on Ishin, his expression filled with clear disapproval. “Another outburst and you’ll be punished, Disciple Ro Ishin.”

  Ishin faced the elder, and Rhee noticed his jaw tightening. “My apologies, Elder.”

  “Will you be able to restrain yourself, or shall I remove you now?”

  “I will remain quiet, Elder,” Ishin grated out. He then looked to Rhee with concern she fully understood.

  “Continue,” Elder Long Tusk commanded.

  Shen Hui leapt into action immediately, drawing another pair of daggers. Unlike before, this time she ran directly at Rhee.

  Rhee employed her Shadow Fist Echo technique, launching six fists of darkness toward Shen Hui. As the first two were about to strike, the girl suddenly vanished and appeared five feet to the right. She slashed downward, bisecting a nearby shadow fist, then disappeared again before reappearing six feet ahead.

  Is she using a movement technique? Or is that some type of perception technique?

  Ultimately, it didn’t matter. At the rate Shen Hui was seemingly teleporting, she would be beside Rhee in seconds. Rhee conjured four more shadow fists and released them at her opponent, but her qi reserves were beginning to grow dangerously low. This time, she staggered the shadow fists, covering a wider area in anticipation of Shen Hui using her technique to dodge.

  The girl did just that, vanishing before the first attack made contact. When she appeared a few feet to the left, Rhee adjusted the trajectory of the next shadow fist to target her. Once again, Shen Hui disappeared. Interestingly, her next location was closer to her original position, only three feet to the right. Rhee’s third shadow fist surged toward her, and this time, Shen Hui didn’t vanish. Her twin daggers glowed with familiar pale yellow light as she cut the shadow fist apart.

  I still have one more!

  Rhee’s fourth shadow fist followed immediately behind the third. It struck after Shen Hui had left herself vulnerable from cutting apart the previous attack. Shen Hui was hit squarely in the stomach, the wind knocked out of her as she slid a dozen feet back across the platform.

  I got her.

  Rhee spat up a mouthful of blood. Her wounded leg buckled as sharp pain coursed through her stomach. She collapsed toward the platform, barely managing to catch herself with her hands at the last moment.

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  What happened?

  Rhee reached toward the source of pain in her stomach with a trembling hand. Her fingers brushed against the rough handle of a dagger, and her mind raced to comprehend what had occurred.

  Was I stabbed?

  She glanced over at Shen Hui, who was breathing slightly heavier than before but didn’t appear seriously injured. When Rhee looked at the girl’s hands, she saw that only one dagger remained.

  When did she—

  Rhee collapsed onto the ground, her consciousness fading as pain overwhelmed her faculties.

  *  *  *

  Ishin didn’t wait for a command. He jumped onto the platform the moment Rhee sank to the floor. The fight was over, and Rhee was severely hurt. He didn’t care if Elder Long Tusk punished him. Rhee needed to see a healer.

  He had witnessed everything from the side. The moment Rhee’s fourth shadow fist struck Shen Hui, the girl had thrown one of her daggers at Rhee in return. Rhee hadn’t noticed, having been too focused on ensuring the success of her own technique. Fortunately, Shen Hui hadn’t used her earlier pale yellow technique when she threw the dagger, or Ishin knew Rhee would have died.

  “Sister Rhee?” Ishin asked once he was beside her. There was no response. Blood was pouring freely from her left leg, but fortunately the flow from her stomach wound was limited. Good. He needed to be careful not to remove the dagger, or Rhee truly might die. “Rhee?”

  Ishin glared at Shen Hui, who appeared completely unbothered. The young martial only clicked her tongue before walking off the platform.

  “Let it be recorded that Disciple Zhu Rhee is ranked forty-seventh within the Combat Hall,” Elder Long Tusk intoned. There were murmurs of discussion among the onlookers, but nothing substantial. More importantly to Ishin, none of them moved to assist Rhee.

  “Elder, she needs a healer!” Ishin shouted, barely managing to keep his tone respectful.

  “Yes. Take her to the Restoration Hall,” Elder Long Tusk replied without any hint of concern.

  Ishin forced down his irritation with the full force of his will. He didn’t know where the Restoration Hall was. Surely the elder knew that. He looked back at Rhee. Her face had started to turn pale, her breathing ragged. The gash across her cheek marred her once-flawless features.

  “Pardon, Elder,” Ishin said with barely masked frustration. “Where is the Restoration Hall?”

  “I can escort them, Elder,” Jiang Yu offered, surprising Ishin.

  “Very well,” Elder Long Tusk said easily. The elephantine elder turned back to Ishin. “Tomorrow will be your turn, Disciple Ro Ishin. Arrive an hour after dawn to begin the Gauntlet.”

  Ishin stared back at the elder, dumbstruck. “My turn?” Immediately, he mentally chided himself for not adding the honorific, but Elder Long Tusk either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

  “Yes. You’ll have to go through it too to join the Combat Hall. Gauntlet runs are limited to one per day so that the hall’s disciples have a chance to recover before the next initiate fights them.”

  The implications of that methodology raced through Ishin’s mind, but there was only one part he truly cared about. Looking down at Rhee’s wounded form, Ishin realized she would be expected to participate again tomorrow if he defeated Deng Hai.

  Cruel bastard, Ishin silently cursed as he gently lifted Rhee. He angled her body carefully to prevent the dagger from slipping free. She felt frighteningly light in his arms. “I understand, Elder.”

  Jiang Yu leapt onto the platform with a single jump, landing softly beside him. “We should hurry to get her treated.” She pointed toward a blocky, tall rectangular structure at the far end of the Combat Hall. “That’s where we need to go.”

  It’s so close, Ishin thought, relief washing through him.

  Jiang Yu motioned for him to follow and quickly departed toward the Restoration Hall. Ishin followed carefully, mindful not to jostle Rhee. Warm, sticky blood spread over his hands as he heard the soft rasp of her breathing.

  “You’ll be alright, Rhee,” Ishin promised.

  “The Restoration Hall is where the Outer Sect trains its healers,” Jiang Yu explained as they walked. She didn’t bother to look back as she spoke. “It’s located right next to the Combat Hall because of the frequent injuries earned here.”

  That actually makes a lot of sense. As Ishin stared at Jiang Yu’s back, he recalled how she seemed completely unharmed compared to the Outer Sect combatants. Perhaps it had something to do with her being part of the Inner Sect.

  “Is it always this vicious?” Ishin asked, still baffled by the brutality of the Gauntlet.

  “The sect doesn’t believe in coddling its disciples. I was told that a decade ago, disciples were even allowed to kill one another. Though killing was forbidden by the time I was an Outer Sect disciple.”

  Ishin thought back to the Eight Outer Sect Laws. While the third law forbade harming fellow disciples without permission, it didn’t specify restrictions if permission was granted. He didn’t understand why the sect would have allowed such practices, but he was glad they no longer did. Then again, given the barbarity of the Culling, perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised.

  “So that’s normal?” Ishin asked, unable to hide his displeasure. “Is that why so many disciples have scars—or worse?” He recalled Shen Hui’s missing eye and the missing arm of the first disciple he’d met.

  Jiang Yu didn’t answer immediately. “No. A few weeks ago, a new disciple joined the hall. His name was Bai Hao.”

  Ishin’s mind snapped onto the name. He recalled seeing it on the Combat Hall Ranking Board. Rank thirty-eight. He remembered the disciple’s display of power back on Desolate Island. A force of carnage—one Wen Mei had advised them not to challenge.

  “He was the first initiate to climb more than five ranks during the Gauntlet in fifty years,” Jiang Yu continued. They were nearing the Restoration Hall now, much to Ishin’s relief, but his attention remained fixed on her words. “But what truly made him noticeable—even to the Inner Sect—was that every person he defeated, he left them…damaged.”

  Damaged?

  Ishin processed that word. He thought of the claw marks on Deng Hai’s scalp and Shen Hui’s eyepatch. When he finally spoke, his voice was dry. “Was he responsible for Shen Hui’s eye?”

  For the first time, Jiang Yu looked back at Ishin, her stride never slowing. “Yes. And for many of the scars you saw.”

  “I see.”

  Bai Hao. You truly are a monster.

  What worried Ishin most was how strong the man must have been to defeat so many martial disciples without reprieve during the Gauntlet.

  “We’re here,” Jiang Yu announced as they reached the open doors of the Restoration Hall.