His teeth gleamed as his lips parted. “Of course. I would not dare take on so renowned a warrior.” A hint of derision glazed his tone.

I stifled my anger, letting my bow fall to the ground. At once, he shoved Ping’er at me and dashed away. As I caught her, a cloud swept down, bearing him into the skies.

I would have given chase but Ping’er gasped, clutching at her neck. Her palm came away wet with blood as she dropped to the ground. My stomach lurched as I crouched down beside her, folding her icy hands between mine. I released my energy to heal her wound, the torn flesh closing into a thin white line. Clumsily done, but there was no one around who might do better.

Ping’er groaned as she rubbed her temples. “Xingyin, what happened? Why … why did Master Gang do that?”

I frowned. “I don’t know. He is a liar and a thief.”

As she pushed herself up, something fell from the folds of her yellow robe—an oblong pearl hanging from a thin gold chain. It shone with inner fire, almost like that of the dragons’ pearls, but without a trace of their immense power. Had she always worn this? Had it been concealed beneath her garments all this time?

“Ping’er, what is this?” I brushed a finger along the pearl’s lustrous surface, warm to the touch.

Her face clouded over. “This formed the day I left my home. For Southern Sea immortals, only the tears sprung from our deepest emotion transform into pearls.”

“Do you miss your family?” A thoughtless question, a foolish one. Of course she did, though Ping’er had never returned there, not once in all these decades.

A brightness surged in her eyes, which she blinked away. I turned aside, giving her time to herself. Something glittered among the blades of grass—a laurel seed. I picked it up, rolling it between my fingers, its cool, hard surface familiar to me, yet it was the first time I held it untethered from its branch. A pulse of energy grazed my skin. Why had Master Gang wanted this? Why had he gone to such lengths? My gaze darted to the laurel, its trunk riddled with deep grooves as though it had been clawed by some beast, and smeared with a dark liquid. Was it his blood? Had he hurt himself while chopping the tree?

A woody fragrance suffused the air, a lustrous golden sap seeping from the crevices to spill over the bark. The edges of the splintered wood lengthened, braiding together till they merged seamlessly once more. My gaze drifted upward to the laurel seeds that glistened like silvered frost, peeking between the leaves. I had always thought them beautiful. Precious and rare. Yet a coldness shrouded me as I wondered what secrets they concealed within their shimmering depths.

Chapter 3