Bai Qinghan

An Jing had known Bai Qinghan for some time. The reason was rather amusing: like quite a few other children, Bai Qinghan had never studied and was illiterate. As a result, she struggled to learn martial arts and could not comprehend the Scripture of Imperial Heaven. An Jing had worried himself sick over this, even giving up his personal free time again and again to tutor these young illiterates one-on-one so they could learn to read and master martial arts as quickly as possible. Bai Qinghan was the fastest learner among them. She was frequently singled out by An Jing for praise, held up as a model student for commendation. Back then, they had each formed an impression of one another, but they rarely spoke. Even when An Jing praised her, Bai Qinghan would only hum softly in response, appearing exceedingly shy. As for their formal acquaintance, that stemmed from a sparring session. As the Eldest Senior Brother, An Jing occasionally served as an assistant to the instructors, helping those who were not adept at battle formations or striking arts by sparring with them to instruct their movements and how to exert force. Especially now that the sparring sessions had drawn closer to "live-blade drills," where one genuinely had to knock their opponent down rather than stopping strikes short as in the past, An Jing's oversight and guidance were needed all the more. Bai Qinghan was one of those students, yet she was somewhat unique. It was not that she did not know how to exert force or execute martial arts; rather, her martial arts were too good, and she kept injuring people—even nearly killing someone. Certain martial techniques were simply not meant to be used during sparring. Eye gouges, elbow strikes, groin shots, heel stomps, blows to the temples, heavy strikes to the heart... Once techniques like these were used, they could easily cause crippling injury or even death. Yet Bai Qinghan could never hold back, reflexively resorting to these techniques. On the surface, she was merely a rather frail young girl with delicate features who kept silent most of the day, appearing just like an ordinary, bashful, introverted girl—at the beginning, she had not even known how to read, exuding a natural, pure innocence. Yet this was merely an illusion, a facade. Her dark, pitch-black eyes were normally dull and lifeless, but during combat drills, they would blaze with astonishing vigor. At those moments, Bai Qinghan was less like a human and more like some ferocious, vicious beast—a starving winter wolf or a hunting leopard. When that ferocious, terrifying aura burst forth, even the boys and girls who had survived calamities could not react in time and would instinctively shrink back—and their recoil provided Bai Qinghan with an instinctive cue that drove her to charge forward with even more savage momentum. Though Bai Qinghan would ultimately come to her senses, remembering that she was no longer in her bandit-ridden homeland but in the relatively safe Suspended Fate Manor, and would pull her strikes in time without severely injuring her peers... ...clearly, after several such incidents, no one dared to spar with her anymore. Left with no choice, An Jing took on the instructor's request to cross hands with this clever yet dangerous individual. And then, An Jing knocked her flat on the ground in three punches, curing her hyper-aggressive instinct to maim. Bai Qinghan's situation was simple: having grown up in an environment where survival hung by a thread, any conflict inevitably became a battle to the death. As a young girl, if she had not struck with utter ruthlessness, how could she have survived the Vast Sea Wilderness? And her parents... likely had their own problems, leaving her with no sense of security whatsoever. In short, this extreme insecurity had inflicted her with a severe psychological wound: once it came down to fighting, she would invariably strike to kill. That she had managed to pull her strikes at all showed she was trying hard to restrain herself. Yet a few months could not undo years of ingrained habits after all. To An Jing, however, none of this posed a problem. Enemies who lacked proper martial arts techniques and relied purely on instinct to kill were actually easier to deal with. Because it meant they could only ever target vital points. Facing Bai Qinghan's strike toward his eyes, An Jing, prepared well in advance, raised his left arm to deflect it, while his right fist struck the wide-open target beneath her throat, leaving her gasping for breath. As Bai Qinghan fell back, she leveraged the momentum to deliver a backward kick toward An Jing's chest. An Jing dodged aside and struck her right leg with a punch, forcing her to roll away to dissipate the impact. Just as Bai Qinghan rose to her feet again and prepared to pounce on An Jing, he had already stepped forward and landed a punch square on her jaw, knocking her out cold. Upon waking, Bai Qinghan was dazed for a while. Just as An Jing began to wonder if he had hit her so hard he scrambled her wits, she suddenly stood up and offered him an apology and her thanks. "I'm sorry... Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother." Bai Qinghan's voice was completely at odds with her actions—soft and gentle, like a sweet-filled pastry made of white flour. "It feels as though I've awakened from a dream..." "Mm." An Jing did not know what to say. Was he supposed to tell her it was a good thing he had beaten her flat? "I'm going to apologize to the others I hurt." Paying no mind to An Jing's reaction, Bai Qinghan kept her head down, staring at the floor as she murmured, "I keep telling myself that I'm safe now, that there's no need to be so terrified... Even in a Demon Sect manor, they won't just slaughter people indiscriminately..." "Wait, what?" An Jing caught the key phrase. Startled, he interrupted her and lowered his voice. "The Demon Sect?" *You know about the Demon Sect too?!* "Yes." Bai Qinghan looked back at An Jing with an odd yet clear gaze, faint wisps of eerie blue fluorescence flickering deep within her pitch-black eyes. "Eldest Senior Brother... don't you know as well? "To live a little longer, haven't we all sold our lives to the Demon Sect?" In the days that followed, An Jing spoke with Bai Qinghan frequently. Unlike her soft, delicate, and endearing exterior, Bai Qinghan was a girl who held extraordinary perspectives on many things. She had known from the start that she had been bought by the Demon Sect, and she saw nothing wrong with that. Her homeland had once suffered a demonic catastrophe. Ten years ago, a Vast Sea Mist True Hornless Dragon suddenly migrated away from its home. The numerous evil demons and monsters that It had once suppressed broke free and ran amok across the periphery of the Vast Sea, leaving countless dead and wounded in their wake. She had been born into such chaotic times, forced from childhood to follow her parents in snatching food from the jaws of others, ferocious beasts, and evil fiends. She had never learned how to hold back. Once a fight began, blood had to be drawn and someone had to die; if not, she would be the one dead. Bai Qinghan's parents were already dead, and she had sold herself. No one was willing to adopt a wild girl from the Vast Sea Wilderness; people feared her ferocity, terrified that if they got close, this little beast would tear their throats out. "Compared to the wilderness and Great Chen, the Demon Sect merely eats people, and they do so with great restraint. Look, over the past six months, they haven't eaten us all. "They are still quite full." That was Bai Qinghan's perspective. She possessed eyes that could see through human hearts—an innate gift of hers. She had long perceived An Jing's wariness toward the instructors and lecturers, and she had deduced the true nature of the Demon Sect. "No." An Jing remained silent for a moment before saying slowly, "They aren't full. They are waiting. "Pulling young sprouts early yields no rice. Slaying young beasts yields no great beasts. The Demon Sect is perpetually ravenous, perpetually feeding. They are merely biding their time, holding out for a lavish feast." "...I see." Bai Qinghan gave a slight nod, looking down at the tips of her toes. She murmured softly, "At least for now, they won't eat us all." An Jing did not answer. He recalled those medicine vats. A moment later, when An Jing regained his composure and warned her not to mention this carelessly, Bai Qinghan looked at him with a strange look in her eyes. "Eldest Senior Brother, I may be uneducated," she said, "but I'm not stupid."