Liam''s Perspective


    Blood trickled down my arm as I faced the three masters of Divine Dragon Street. Their eyes gleamed with predatory hunger. They''d sensed my weakness like sharks scenting blood in water.


    "You really think you can fight all three of us?" Sara''s beautiful face twisted with mockery. "In your condition?"


    I said nothing, conserving my strength. My meridians were damaged, my internal energy nearly depleted. All I had was my physical body and years ofbat instinct.


    Zhang swung his mace in a vicious arc. I ducked under it, feeling the air disturbed by its passage. Too close. My reflexes were dulled by exhaustion.


    "Not so mighty now, are you?" Zhang taunted.


    I countered with a swift kick to his knee. He grunted in pain but recovered quickly. Lin stepped in with a flurry of palm strikes. I blocked the first two but the third caught me in the ribs. Pain exploded through my chest.


    Sara''s fan sliced through the air. A thin line of blood appeared on my cheek. She smiled, triumphant.


    "Is this truly the man who killed three Guild Elders?" Lin asked, circling me. "Pathetic."


    I spat blood onto the ground. "I''m still standing, aren''t I?"


    Zhang charged again. This time, I grabbed his wrist as he swung, using his momentum to throw him into Lin. They collided with a satisfying thud.


    Sara attacked from behind. Her fan, edged with concealed des, shed at my back. I twisted away but not fast enough. Another cut opened across my shoulder de.


    "You''re running on borrowed time," she whispered. "Why not make this easy on yourself?" <dfn ss="ref-e59977">This text was acquired from *.</dfn>


    I answered with a backhand strike that caught her across the jaw. She stumbled back, surprise shing in her eyes.


    The crowd around us had grown. Dozens of onlookers, maybe hundreds, watching the spectacle of my downfall. Their faces blurred together into a mass of morbid fascination.


    Lin recovered andunched a spinning kick at my head. I blocked with my forearm, bones jarring painfully against bone.


    "What we really want," Lin said conversationally, as if we weren''t in the middle ofbat, "is your cultivation technique."


    My breath caught. So that was it.


    "Everyone knows you cultivated faster than should be possible," Sara added, dabbing blood from her split lip. "We want that secret."


    Iughed, the sound ragged and harsh. "You think there''s some shortcut? Some magic form?"


    "Don''t y dumb," Zhang growled, swinging his mace down in a crushing blow.


    I sidestepped, but my damaged body betrayed me. The mace caught my shoulder. I heard something crack. White-hot painnced through me.


    "Share your technique," Lin demanded, "and we might let you live."


    I straightened, ignoring the agony in my shoulder. "There''s no technique to share."


    Sara''s eyes narrowed. "Liar."


    Sheunched forward, her movements fluid and deadly. Her fan shed across my chest before I could react. Another line of fire bloomed across my torso.


    Zhang followed immediately, his mace connecting with my back. I crashed to the ground, my vision swimming.


    "The mighty Liam Knight," Sara taunted, standing over me. "Reduced to groveling in the dirt."


    "Kill him," Zhang urged. "We can search his body for clues."


    Lin shook his head. "Too public. Too many witnesses."


    "We all know witnesses can be handled," Sara replied coldly.


    The crowd, sensing the shift in mood, began to back away nervously.


    "I''ll give you what you want."


    My voice was steady despite the pain racking my body. All three of them stared at me with surprise as I struggled to my feet.


    "You''ll... share your technique?" Lin asked cautiously.


    "Yes," I lied. "But not here. Not now."


    Saraughed incredulously. "You expect us to believe that?"


    "The technique requires specific preparations," I continued. "Meet me tomorrow in Shince City. I''ll have everything ready."


    "This is a trap," Zhang growled.


    I shrugged, wincing at the pain the movement caused. "Think what you want. But my technique isn''t written down. If you kill me, you get nothing."


    Lin studied me carefully. "Why would you suddenly agree to share?"


    "Because I recognize reality," I said, meeting his gaze directly. "I''m dying anyway. My meridians are destroyed. What good is a technique to a dead man?"


    A tense silence fell over the street. I could almost see the calctions running behind their eyes.


    "He''s ying for time," Sara said finally.


    "Maybe," Lin conceded. "But if there''s even a chance..."


    "Shince City," I repeated. "Tomorrow at noon. The old temple on the east side."


    Before they could respond, a new voice cut through the tension.


    "I wouldn''t do that if I were you."


    All heads turned. Eamon Greene stepped forward, his expression grim.


    "And who might you be?" Sara asked dismissively.


    Eamon straightened. "A disciple of Jackson Harding."


    The name sent a visible ripple through the crowd. Even Lin''sposed face showed a flicker of unease.


    "Jackson Harding doesn''t take disciples," Zhang challenged.


    "Publicly, no," Eamon replied smoothly. "But Master Knight here is under my teacher''s protection."


    It was a lie, of course. A desperate bluff. But Eamon delivered it with perfect confidence.


    Lin exchanged nces with hispanions. "We have no quarrel with Jackson Harding."


    "Then we have no problem," Eamon said. "My friend here will meet you tomorrow as promised."


    Sara''s eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she made no further objection.


    "Very well," Lin said finally. "Tomorrow at noon. But if this is a trick..." He left the threat hanging.


    Sara stepped closer to me, her voice low enough that only I could hear. "If you don''t show, I''ll personally find everyone you care about. I''ll start with that pretty woman in the ck cloak trying to hide in the crowd."


    My blood ran cold. Sofia. She was watching from the shadows.


    Sara saw recognition in my eyes and smiled. "Tomorrow, then."


    As the three masters departed, the crowd began to disperse. Only when we were rtively alone did I allow myself to slump against the nearest wall.


    "That was insane," Eamon muttered, helping me stand. "Jackson Harding? Really?"


    "It bought us time," I said through gritted teeth.


    "Time for what? To bleed out somewhere else?"


    Sofia emerged from the crowd, her face pale with worry. "You don''t have a special technique to give them, do you?"


    "Of course not," I admitted. "But they don''t know that."


    "They''ll kill you when they find out," Eamon said.


    I nodded grimly. "Which is why I need to be gone before then."


    "You''re in no condition to travel," Sofia objected.


    "I don''t have a choice." I straightened, ignoring the pain. "I need to find something called the Center Jade. It''s said to be in the mountains north of Shince City."


    "The Center Jade?" Eamon repeated skeptically. "I''ve never heard of it."


    "Few have," I lied smoothly. "It''s an ancient artifact that can heal damaged meridians."


    It wasplete fiction, but I needed them to believe I had a n, a purpose. The truth—that I was buying time while having no real solution—would only invite pity I couldn''t bear.


    "I''ll go with you," Eamon offered immediately.


    I shook my head. "No. They''ll be watching. I need to go alone."


    Sofia touched my arm gently. "At least rest tonight. Leave at dawn."


    I reluctantly agreed. As we made our way back to our temporary lodgings, Sofia fell behind for a moment. I didn''t see her take out her phone, didn''t notice her fingers flying over the keys.


    I didn''t know that in that moment, she was sending a desperate message into the night:


    "Lord Pavilion Master, Master Knight has been ambushed. Someone wille to kill him tomorrow. Please hurry and save him..."