Liu Xi looked up. His eyes were red and swollen, but the chaotic, lustful haze that had clouded his vision for years was completely gone, replaced by a clear, painful resolve.
"Okay," Liu Xi said, his voice steady for the first time that night. "I give you my word. I swear upon my soul and my master's teachings, I will do exactly what you have told me."
He paused, a flicker of genuine apprehension crossing his face.
"However..." Liu Xi continued, forcing himself to meet Yoriichi's intimidating gaze. "I need a little bit of time before I leave this city. I... I need to compensate a few people here first. The maids in this very compound... I wronged them today. I cannot leave without facing them."
Yoriichi's expression remained stoic, but a faint, internal spark of approval warmed his chest. The man was actually taking the first step. He wasn't running away to do it later; he was choosing to face the humiliation immediately.
"Okay," Yoriichi nodded, stepping back to give the man space. "But make it fast. The sun will rise in a few hours, and the Jia Lie Patriarch will want answers. You must be gone before he can detain you."
"I will," Liu Xi affirmed.
With a heavy groan, relying heavily on the residual, miraculous energy of the Green Lotus Recovery Pill, Liu Xi managed to push himself up from the ground. His legs were incredibly shaky, and his silk robes were a ruined, bloody mess, but he stood entirely under his own power.
He offered Yoriichi a deep, formal, ninety-degree bow—the highest form of respect an alchemist could give.
"Thank you, again," Liu Xi said sincerely.
He turned his battered body and began to limp painfully toward the guest pavilion's main doors. As he walked, a sudden, profound realization hit him. He was leaving behind the most terrifying, yet awe-inspiring night of his life. He had been beaten by a phantom girl, nearly crushed by a cloaked giant, and saved by a martial saint.
'What is this brother's name?' Liu Xi thought, pausing in his tracks. 'Who is this youth who not only saved my life with a precious pill but fought off that monstrous heavy-ruler wielder with his bare hands?'
He knew he could never forget the face, but he needed the name. If he actually managed to reform himself, if he ever reached the heights of Tier 3 or Tier 4 Alchemy in the future, he needed to know the name of the man he owed his entire existence to.
Liu Xi slowly turned his back, looking over his shoulder at the tall, dark silhouette standing in the moonlight.
"Um... brother," Liu Xi called out softly, his voice echoing slightly in the empty courtyard. "Can you... can you tell me your name? I do not want to forget my savior."
Yoriichi stood perfectly still.
He could have said Xiao Ning. It would have cemented the Xiao Clan's absolute dominance in the man's mind. But as he looked at the broken alchemist embarking on a new path, Yoriichi felt the familiar, heavy weight of his own past life pressing against his soul.
He was Xiao Ning but also the originator of the Sun. He was the blade that severed demons.
"Yoriichi," he replied quietly, the foreign syllables rolling off his tongue with ancient, practiced grace.
Liu Xi's brow furrowed slightly at the strange, highly unusual name, but he etched every phonetic sound permanently into his memory.
"Yoriichi," Liu Xi repeated softly, testing the name. He nodded, offering one final, slight bow of deep respect. "May the heavens favor your path, Master Yoriichi."
Without another word, the alchemist turned and limped into the dark corridors of the Jia Lie estate, embarking on his painful, humiliating path to redemption.
Yoriichi remained in the secluded courtyard, entirely alone once more.
He let out a long, slow breath, looking down at his large, calloused hands. He didn't know if what he had done tonight was objectively "good" or "bad." He had let a predator walk free, albeit a broken and repentant one.
'In my past life, demons could not change. Their cellular structure bound them to slaughter,' Yoriichi mused, his mind delving into deep philosophical territory. 'But humans... humans possess the terrifying capacity to choose their own hell, or build their own heaven. I hope that young alchemist chooses to be better. If not... my blade will always be ready.'
Satisfied that the crisis had been averted, and the Xiao Clan was safe, Yoriichi decided it was time to return to his own courtyard. He had lost precious hours of deep elemental meditation.
He reached down and casually dusted a few blades of grass and dirt from his dark training robes.
He bent his knees slightly, preparing to launch himself back into the Shadowless Sun Tread and scale the high stone walls.
But just as his muscles coiled with kinetic energy, an unnatural phenomenon occurred.
There was no sound of footsteps. There was no spike of aggressive Dou Qi. There was only a faint, incredibly subtle rustle of the night wind directly behind him.
Yoriichi did not flinch. He relaxed his muscles entirely, standing perfectly straight, and slowly turned his head to glance over his shoulder.
His crimson eyes, usually pools of unshakable, bottomless calm, widened slightly in surprise.
Standing less than ten feet away from him, bathed in the pale moonlight, was a figure of ethereal, otherworldly beauty and terrifying, absolute power.
She was dressed in a sleek, form-fitting, light cloth that accentuated her graceful, lethal agility. Her long, dark hair flowed freely in the unnatural wind.
But it was her eyes that demanded absolute attention. Her golden eyes were glowing faintly in the dark, entirely devoid of warmth, empathy, or childhood innocence.
It was none other than Xiao Xun'er.