A shiver shot down my spine, the bowstring biting into my fingers as I drew another arrow, releasing it at once. Lightning hissed, scorching a path through the air as it plunged toward him. Something shimmered across his body—a shield—just as my arrow struck. Veins of white light crackled across the barrier. As it fractured, his energy surged forth to seal the crevices. Drawing back his arm, he hurled his axe at me, spinning through the air in a silvery blur. I dropped to the ground, pressing my cheek and palms into the powdery earth. The axe whistled over my body, slamming into the trunk of an osmanthus tree, petals scattering down like rain. As I rolled away and sprang to my feet, his weapon twitched before jerking free and plunging back into Master Gang’s grasp. Light sparked ominously from his hand as another arrow formed between my fingertips, already soaring toward him—even as he swerved deftly, the bolt vanishing into the night.

“How many times can you do this?” His tone was pleasant, almost conversational.

“As many as it takes to kill you.”

Sweat beaded my skin as I grasped my energy. He swung at me again, but this time, I held my ground. Magic surged from my palms in glittering coils of air, binding him fast. With a flick of my hand, he was flung against the ground, the back of his head striking a rock. A groan spilled from his throat as his eyelids fluttered shut, his axe falling from his grip. I approached cautiously with an arrow drawn, my nerves jangling. He seemed too strong to be felled so easily, and I had been taken in by his pretense before—

A gasp broke the silence. “Master Gang! Are you hurt?” Ping’er cried from behind me, rushing to where he lay.

“Ping’er, get back!”

I leapt out to block her path—too slow—as Master Gang’s eyes flicked open. He sprang up, seizing her arm. As his axe flew back into his grasp, he wedged its monstrous blade against her neck.

“What are you doing?” As Ping’er struggled against him, he tightened his grip, the edge slicing her skin. She froze at once, her chest heaving.

“Let her go.” I drew a deep breath, quashing the urge toward recklessness.

“Drop your bow and step back,” he warned me. “Let me leave, and no one will be harmed.”

“What will stop you from killing us then?” I demanded.

“I give you my word.” He spoke as if it were worth anything, as though he had not come to our home clad in deceit.

As I hesitated, his weapon dug into Ping’er’s flesh, a dark trickle of blood streaking across her pale robes. A strangled sound slid from her throat, though she remained deathly still.

“Hurt her again and you’ll regret it tenfold,” I said in my most menacing voice. “I need no weapon to make you pay.”