It was a snowy January morning, snow fell through the dark city. Chisheng Wei and Chen Hai battled in a game of Go, Jinghua sharpened his sword, and Bingwen and Dai Fang took sips of tea at the tea table of the shelter. Chen Hai then spoke up, "You three only have a year left until you leave, isn't that right?"
"It is. I almost forgot…" said Bingwen. Dai Fang set her cup down. "May I ask why you guys are hiding? You never seemed to tell us." she said,
Bingwen gulped, Chisheng Wei held her breath, and Jinghua sighed.
"We're running from my clan, they're after Yusheng Jin. My father wanted me to kill him. We needed a place to hide until we go back to our clans. I plan to kill my father. End his awful doings." Jinghua said with hatred in his tone of voice. Suddenly, bloody screams from outside the shelter interrupted the short silence between the five. Bingwen, Jinghua, and Chisheng Wei prepared to step outside. They drew their swords but Bingwen hesitated as he held on to the sheath, Baiyu only halfway drawn. "What is it? What's stopping you?" asked Jinghua. Bingwen hesitated. "Those screams..the people out there are dying." Chisheng Wei then opened the door quickly and yelled, "A better reason to go save them!" But she stopped before she ran too far from the shelter. An army of undead beings were attacking and killing the citizens of the city. Wild ghosts and spirits ran through the alleys and homes. Shops were being destroyed. It was a bloodbath. Attacks like these never happened often. And the three kin had never battled this big of an opponent.
Chen Hai pushed through with his sword in his hands. Dai Fang yelled after him, "Chen Hai, please don't do this!" Bingwen then knew what had to be done. This battle couldn't be won by combat, it had to be cultivated. The souls of these attackers were clearly unsettled. "We can't end this by fighting them off. The undead and spirits are clearly drawn to something here so we have to show them their place and make them leave. Yes, a bit of combat would work but not for every opponent." said Bingwen, but it seemed Chen Hai had already gone off. Chisheng Wei scoffed, commanding her sword, Qiuyue, to go up in flames. "Too late now! I'm following Chen Hai!" She said, then running off and attacking every undead creature she saw. A spirit launched itself towards Bingwen but Jinghua blocked it using his chi. The two were back to back fighting off undead and ghosts and spirits. Suddenly, Bingwen could hear the blood-curdling scream of Dai fang. He turned to see the shelter was surrounded by wild spirits. He wanted to go help her but he was busy being surrounded as well, him and Jinghua. Her screams eventually stopped which pained Bingwen. He knew she was gone. He sent Baiyu to attack the spirits around Dai Fang's body. Chisheng Wei's sword, Qiuyue, suddenly whooshed pasted and knocked out all the undead Bingwen and Jinghua were battling. "We need to go, like right now! Dire spirits, like big ones, are at the front of the city. We can't help everyone here and we need to leave." said Chisheng Wei. Bingwen panicked as Jinghua and Chisheng Wei hopped on their swords. Baiyu was still doing the job it was commanded to do. Chisheng Wei wanted to leave right away. "We have to leave, Yusheng Jin!"
"But..my sword-"
Jinghua grabbed Bingwen's arm and pulled him onto Jin Si. "Leave it, we'll come back for it." Bingwen didn't want to leave his sword though. He needed it. He watched as the city got smaller and small as they flew to the southern region, a region more broken than this one. The city burned, the screams were faint, Dai Fang and Chen Hai were gone.