More calmly, I said, “I can control my qi if I try hard enough. I know it.”
Ren closed his eyes, his energy dwindling. “I forbid you to do it.”
“You can’t forbid me.” I tried to spread open my hands, but he held my fists tight.
“I said no.”
My temper flared. “Ren, listen to me—”
“I’ll do it,” a new voice interrupted.
I stiffened, turning to face Master Zhang. He drifted forward, his gaze flitting to Feilin and her mother, still collapsed on the ground, then settling back on me. Gone was the rage he’d worn like armor. Now his shoulders drooped in shame, his face resigned.
“You’ll do what?” I asked, my body angled protectively over Ren’s.
“I’ll offer him my qi,” said the former town leader. “In return for saving Feilin’s life.”
“He wouldn’t have had to do that had you not attacked him.” I nodded at the shambles of the marketplace, the residents cowering in their midst. “Had you not harmed everyone here.”
The old man bowed his head. “I was wrong. I understand that now.”
“I’m not the one you need to apologize to.”
He turned to the residents he’d once called friends, seeing in their eyes the same thing I saw—fear, hurt, grief. They stared, pained, at the man whom they’d considered a hero. Now he was a thief who had robbed their strength, albeit unknowingly, and brought chaos to their town.
Master Zhang fell to his knees, face crumpled by remorse. “Forgive me,” he said, his voice echoing through the street. “The last thing I wanted was to hurt you. I was so angry… I didn’t realize the harm it brought.”
The people shrank into themselves, silent and afraid. I almost pitied the spirit. But he had no one to blame but himself.
A frail voice broke through the tense quiet. “Master Zhang.”
All eyes turned to Feilin, who was untangling herself from her mother’s anxious arms.
“Feilin,” Master Zhang whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know.” She smiled wanly at the man she’d once admired. “But what’s done is done. Perhaps, as Mistress Kang said, the only way to fix this is to move on—for you and everyone here.”
“How can I leave you all in such a state?” he asked brokenly.
Feilin hesitated, then reached forward, her hand hovering over his. “You’ve always treated me like a daughter. Now I need you to trust me like one—trust all of us. We’ll recover andbecome strong enough to protect ourselves. But you must first let us go, as we must you.”
He nodded and sighed. “You’re young, and yet you have much more wisdom than this old man.”
Feilin’s eyes crinkled lovingly.
Master Zhang straightened with newfound determination. The resentful energy that had once anchored him to this earth gradually faded, and the tension in the air eased as a collective sigh rippled across the town. Even the sun had reappeared, peeking over the edge of a cloud.
Master Zhang turned back to address me. “You needn’t forgive me for what I’ve done, but please allow me to do what’s right.”
I studied Ren’s peaked complexion and weakly rising chest. Now wasn’t the time to be bridled by my own pride. As incensed as I was with Master Zhang, Ren’s survival was more important.
I stood to meet Master Zhang’s stare. Removing a new purification talisman from my bag, I said, “Where is your spirit anchored?”
He smiled faintly. “This entire town was my life’s heart. Place your talisman anywhere, priestess, and you’ll free my soul.”
His love for his neighbors filtered through me in visions of him sharing a meal with a friend, walking through the fields with fellow farmers, visiting a newborn child with a basket of fruit for her parents. Beautiful memories, born out of true affection.
I nodded, glancing at Feilin. “Will you please hand me my staff?”
