Chi Huang ascended in utter silence, his muscles contracted as he moved toward the cave mouth. Death and blood had clung to him for so long that it was now nothing more than a familiar scent, but he didn't notice that anymore. The corpses of his fallen comrades were his path to freedom, their bodies piled under him as he pulled himself up. It was a cruel irony--using the dead to escape--but there was no other choice.

  His muscles scorched, his breath shallow as he hit the st few feet. He could already feel the chill of the night air on his face, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, he knew freedom. His racing heart, his cold head. The presence of the butterfly inside him numbed his emotions, leaving him with calcution and purpose.

  Almost there. Almost.

  His fingers felt the roughness of the cave's entrance, and he hauled himself out, his body clearing at st the crushing darkness beneath. He drew a light breath, feeling the weight of incarceration begin to leave him--

  "The fuck do you think you're doing, human?"

  Chi Huang went rigid.

  His entire body stiffened as his eyes snapped towards the sound.

  Standing a few paces away, half-hidden behind the thick trees, was a towering beastman--his bodyguard.

  Shit.

  The beast-man was enormous, nearly double the size of a regur man. His lower body was that of a giant serpent, coiled and tense, and his upper body was muscur, cd in dark, scaly armor. Long, curved cws jutted from his fingers, and the face was distorted to resemble man and snake together, his piercing yellow eyes focusing on Chi Huang with predator-like intent. His forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air.

  He could smell me. That's how he detected me.

  Chi Huang clenched his fist on his sword. He had barely drawn a breath of fresh air before this son of a bitch ensnared him. The beast man grinned.

  "You little moron piece of crap. You thought you'd be able to slink outta that cave and I wouldn't know?" The creature chuckled, a low, rasping sound. "Pathetic.".

  Chi Huang swallowed his rage, controlling his breath. Having the butterfly within him calmed him, but it did not make him invincible. He was still at Qi Condensation's first yer, and this beast before him seemed to have torn apart men far superior to him effortlessly.

  The beast man flexed his cws. "You know, I was getting bored standing around all night. This is perfect. I get to tear something apart."

  Chi Huang's mind was reeling. I can't fight him head-on.

  Running wasn't a choice either. If the beastman already tracked him once by smell, he'd do it again. And worse yet, he'd warn the others.

  The only exit was to fight.

  Chi Huang drew heavy breaths. If I hit him in the head, this would be done with one. But I only have one to employ.

  Beastman's eyes sparkled with delight. "Oh? You aren't begging for your life? You aren't whimpering about mercy? Ha, I love that. That makes it so much more entertaining when they crack."Chi Huang remained silent. Instead, he vanished.

  At least, that is what it seemed like.

  The strength of the butterfly ran through him, diminishing his form, and making him become part of the night itself. His steps turned ethereal, his respiration silent. The beast-man's evil grin changed tone as he looked out at the border.

  "Hiding? You little shit--"

  Chi Huang charged.

  His sword fshed out, a ribbon of silver slicing through the night. He targeted the beast-man's throat, channeling all his Qi into the attack. But just as he was about to strike, the beast turned in an unnatural movement, his snake-like reflexes sparing him from death.

  CLANG!

  The beast man deflected the blow with his cws, the impact sending out sparks. The force of the block jolted a shock up Chi Huang's arm, causing his fingers to tingle as if numb.

  The beast man grinned. "Nice try, asshole."

  The beast man hadn't time to retreat when the beast counterattacked.

  A gigantic cwed hand came at him, and he ducked just in time as a second struck--this one speedier, sharper. Chi Huang was able to spin barely in time, feeling the wind of the blow on his cheek.

  The creature's tail shed out.

  Chi Huang sprang, avoiding the heavy coil as it crushed into the ground where he'd stood only a moment earlier. Rock and dirt erupted into the air.

  "Something wrong, kid?" The best man's face creaked wide into a smile as his tongue darted in and out of his mouth. "Too damned slow?"

  Chi Huang didn't say anything. He charged the beast man once more, this time at the side. His sword fshed.

  SHING!

  The sword bit but only went shallowly into the beast man's thick hide.

  The beast man growled in irritation but wasn't hurt. He counterattacked immediately, nding a vicious punch.

  Chi Huang parried with his sword, but the impact sent him careening backward.

  The beast man ughed. "That the best you've got? You're hardly scratching me!"

  Chi Huang gritted his teeth. He had underestimated the toughness of this asshole. The energy of the butterfly was keeping him calm, but his body was fatiguing. He did not have time for a protracted fight.

  Then, when the beast man rushed at him once more, he felt it at st.

  The way the creature was moving. The way it stalked him.

  He was not using his eyes alone. He was tracking him.

  By scent.

  That's why he keeps finding me.

  A pn formed in Chi Huang's mind.

  He spun around and ran deeper into the woods.

  The beast man guffawed, slithering behind. "Running now? Where's that tough guy attitude gone, huh?!"

  Chi Huang tuned him out, his thoughts preoccupied with his pn. He wanted something--something to hold in his smell. And then he saw it. A huge lying log, hollowed out the middle, rge enough for a man to crouch within.

  Perfect.

  Chi Huang pulled off his shirt and stuffed it into the log hole. His scent would remain there. He then jumped into a nearby mud puddle, covering himself in mud entirely. It was disgusting, but it masked his smell.

  He wedged his body against the ground, remaining completely still.

  Seconds ter, the beast man crashed through the trees. His massive body stopped in front of the log. He sniffed the air, his tongue fshing out.

  It worked.

  The bastard thought he was hiding inside the log.

  The beast man ughed with vicious amusement. "Really? This is your grand fucking pn? Hiding in a goddamn log?"

  The massive creature raised his cws, poised to crush the log into splinters.

  Now.

  Chi Huang exploded out of the muck, sword already moving. He had been building all his remaining Qi into this one strike. The Light Blue Sword thrummed with power, humming with killing precision.

  The beast man didn't have time to turn.

  SHING!

  The sword tore through the beast's massive neck.

  For one second, nothing happened.

  Then the head of the monster hit the ground with a sickening thud, its face twisted in surprise. Its enormous body rocked back and forth for a second before it crashed down.

  Chi Huang stood there, his muscles trembling with effort.

  It worked.

  Not waiting a second longer, he retrieved his shirt from the log, donned it once more, and disappeared into the forest. He wasn't yet safe, but he had succeeded.

  And that was all that mattered.