"So good!"
A bald, pot-bellied man in his sixties wore a simple set of hanfu that looked too small for him. A black cat lounged lazily around his neck as he stuffed his face into a bowl of dried meat. He waddled down a narrow street lined with tiled-roof houses. Laundry fluttered from bamboo poles overhead, and children's laughter echoed in the alleyways. Across the street, a stunning woman dashed forward at an incredible speed. Most villagers didn't even notice her, but the powerful presence she radiated made heads turn—not just because of her unnatural speed, but also due to the breathtaking grace that lingered when she abruptly stopped. She fixed her eyes on the pot-bellied man, who didn't glance her way. Yet, deep down, she felt his gaze on her. She looked down and met the cat's stare, which bore down on her like she was prey. She instinctively took a step back.
"What is this feeling?" The sound of a whistle from her assigned post snapped her back to reality. Before she could fully collect her thoughts, chaos erupted.
"Not again!" a woman yelled as she grabbed her child and ran toward the market square, joining the surge of fleeing villagers. Everyone understood what the whistle meant—it was the third time this month the outer village had been attacked by a beast horde. While some ran for safety, others headed to the east gate to prevent the horde from advancing and to minimize property damage.
Even with so many defending against the beasts, they found ways to enter the village.
"Shit," the pot-bellied man muttered under his breath as a panicked villager collided with him, knocking his bowl of dried meat from his hands. Blending into the chaos, he hurried along with the crowd, trying not to attract the attention of the beautiful woman now standing boldly before the incoming wave.
"This wave is stronger than the last one, for them to breach the gate this quickly," she said to the newcomer beside her.
A mustached man in his forties, dressed in a red-and-black robe along with a steel chest and shoulder plate, arrived with a group of five dressed similarly, all armed with swords. He stomped the ground and kicked a piece of earth he had disturbed at a leopard-like beast with long fangs, sending it reeling back. He replied, "I just received word that they seem to be coming all at once."
"This will be a problem," she murmured as her sword flashed, and a fire slash tore through the nearest beast, leaving a pool of blood. In that instant, her aura surged like a burning tide, and her eyes flicked back—sharp and relentless—just in time to see a shadow vanish into an empty alley. She hesitated for a moment, torn between pursuit and the ongoing battle.
"Hold the line!" she commanded.
"You heard the captain!" the mustached man shouted. Trusting her team to keep the monsters occupied, she dashed into the alley… and found it empty except for the smoking remains of one of the flying creatures that had been brought down from the sky.
"What!" she exclaimed, surprised by how fast everything had happened.
"Captain!" an officer called, bringing her back to the present. Remembering the beast wave, her body heated up visibly, and her sword turned red.
----
When the dust finally settled and the beasts lay scattered across the bloodied streets, the Azure Guards began their grim task of clearing away the remains. Cleanup was easier than before, as everyone was getting used to it, and the loss of life was kept to a minimum. In a particular alley, a group of officers in patterned red-and-black robes surrounded a charred carcass, their ranks identified by the embroidery on their sleeves.
"I don't think this was caused by fire," said a bespectacled man, crouching low to examine the body. His tone was calm and assured.
"What do you mean, Jun Liu?" their captain, Chi Xianyan, asked, looking radiant even in her seriousness.
Jun Liu adjusted his glasses. "Captain Chi, this Shadow Roc was struck by lightning. The faint scent of ozone remains, though most has dissipated. Based on the charred tissue and the time frame of your recount of the incident… the beast was an afterthought. Whoever struck it wasn't focused on killing—it was just collateral damage."
"Impossible!" one officer barked.
"Did you hit your head, scholar?" another sneered.
"Even the captain couldn't take down a Shadow Roc as a mere side task!" a third scoffed.
Jun Liu interrupted, sharp and frustrated: "Didn't you hear the captain? She said the man vanished from her line of sight!"
"And that's your great deduction?" a smug cultivator, Ao Tian, folded his arms.
Jun Liu narrowed his eyes. "Do you have a better explanation?"
"Two, actually," Ao Tian replied with a smirk. "First, our captain must have been mistaken in the chaos. He likely slipped away with the crowd." His words earned him a cold stare from Chi Xianyan, pushing him to continue quickly. "Second, the man used fire as a distraction and fled. At that moment, the captain had no time to confirm what she truly saw."
"Either way, there's no proof," Jun Liu snapped. "You can't seriously argue that fire caused this in less than two breaths."
Ao Tian's lip curled. "It's still more believable than some mythical lightning user!"
"You frog in a well!" Jun Liu shot back. "Read the ancient texts once in a while—lightning is rare, but it existed in ancient times!"
'That is not possible. If he is here, then he should have returned by now... Or are there more like him?' While her junior officers argued, Chi Xianyan lost herself in thought. "Jun Liu, are you sure it is lightning?"
Before he could respond, a deep, resonant voice silenced them all. "Did someone say… lightning?"
The air thickened as a man in monk-like robes approached, his presence pressing against the officers' chests like a mountain. His words felt heavy, almost divine.
"The commander!" someone gasped.
"Commander Jing Tu?" another officer exclaimed. "He missed his annual assembly—this must be serious!"
"Don't tell me… a Heavenly Origin beast is about to appear!"
Excited whispers ran through the ranks.
Chi Xianyan stepped forward and bowed slightly, her usual fiery expression softened with respect. "Commander Jing Tu, why have you returned so early?"
The monk sighed, his eyes distant. "He wasn't there." For a brief moment, sorrow flickered across his face. Then he continued, his tone sharpening: "But you mentioned lightning. Did you encounter a user?"
"No," Jun Liu replied, pushing his glasses up with a small smile. "But it seems the commander knows one."
"Your presence proves it. I didn't want to believe it, since if he wasn't there, you would have returned already," Chi Xianyan said enthusiastically.
Jing Tu's expression was uncertain. "Yes, I encountered a problem. I've long suspected he wasn't alone up there. Today, I confirmed it. His companion is far less… accommodating. When I got too close, a Qi swipe sent me flying and nearly crushed me."
He scratched his head with a sheepish grin, as if recounting a minor incident rather than a near-death experience.
"Only Commander Jing Tu," an officer muttered nervously, "can smile while sharing a story of brushing with death…"
"Someone who can injure the commander with one strike must be incredibly strong," another voiced what everyone was thinking.
Jun Liu nearly sprang to his feet, eyes shining behind his glasses. "Commander, tell us—who is this lightning user?"
Another officer said "I think I've heard of him they call him something, I think..."
Jing Tu and Chi Xianyan answered simultaneously, their voices overlapping with a weight that froze the air. "LIGHTNING GOD!"
The younger officers stiffened, their faces pale.
Jing Tu exhaled slowly, his tone becoming serious. "I do not know him personally. In reality, I have never even met him face-to-face. But somewhere deep within the Southern Mountains… there is a man. I know it is not a beast—the Qi is unmistakably human. Around the peak he remains, and lightning rages without pause; a barrier of lightning without clouds is always there." He smiled faintly. "That very storm, I have used to temper my body."
A hush fell over the group.
"No wonder the commander always returns battered," Ao Tian muttered, half to himself, half in admiration.
"Enough! I will issue a search order for him. For now, I think I have found something about the beast horde and why there is a beast wave," Jing Tu brought them back to the task at hand.
By now, their voices had softened, aware that the matter required secrecy. Sensing this instinctively, the officers followed their commander and captain away from the alley. Soon, the carcass and the village noise faded behind them.
In the silence of a private chamber, their conversation finally resumed.