Chen Shun had expected his first solo mission to involve fighting.
Instead, it gave him a squeaking cart.
He pulled it south toward Stonebridge Village.
Two sacks of grain.
One medicine chest.
Three sealed packages.
One hundred Achievement Points upon full delivery.
Simple.
At least on paper.
The road narrowed after midday.
Then ended beneath a landslide.
Rock and soil covered the path.
A smaller detour curved through the forest beside it.
Chen Shun examined both routes.
The detour would take longer.
He looked at White Fang.
Then at the rocks.
Three thrusts later, he had his answer.
Darkness Qi gathered faintly around the spearhead.
Qi Initiate Level Three could not produce much.
It didn't need to.
Nether Emperor Lance was built around a simple principle.
Straight.
Condense.
Pierce.
The first thrust cracked the largest stone.
The second widened it.
The third broke the obstacle apart.
Chen Shun lowered White Fang.
Efficient.
Cleaner than taking the detour.
Then wood creaked behind him.
He turned.
The cart was rolling downhill.
He had forgotten to secure it.
Chen Shun lunged.
White Fang struck the road.
He grabbed the cart handle with his free hand.
The wheel stopped less than a pace from the edge.
For several breaths, Chen Shun simply held it.
Then he looked at the broken rocks.
All that effort proving he could clear the road—
and he had almost lost the mission behind him.
He secured the cart properly.
"A mission isn't a duel."
The words sounded obvious now.
He continued south.
The thieves appeared an hour later.
Three men.
Short saber.
Knife.
Wooden club.
The first stepped onto the road.
"Leave the cart."
Chen Shun did not.
The saber came first.
White Fang moved once.
The spearhead struck the man's wrist.
His weapon fell.
The shaft followed into his chest.
He hit the ground.
The second man came from the side.
Chen Shun turned.
The spear stopped beside his throat.
Not touching.
Close enough.
The man froze against a tree.
The third thief took one look at them and ran.
Chen Shun almost chased him.
Almost.
Then he looked at the cart.
Medicine.
Grain.
Sealed packages.
He stayed.
The mission mattered more.
He bound the two remaining thieves to a tree and left a Chen Clan patrol marker beside the road.
Then continued toward Stonebridge.
The village held fewer than two hundred households.
By the time Chen Shun arrived, several people were already waiting.
Not for him.
For the medicine chest.
The village steward hurried forward.
"Cooling powder?"
Chen Shun nodded.
The man's shoulders dropped in relief.
"Seven children. Two elderly. Valley fever."
The grain suddenly felt less important.
The sealed packages too.
They opened the medicine chest first.
A boy no older than eight stood near the doorway, watching.
"You're a cultivator?"
"Outer Court."
The boy nodded as though there were no difference.
"You brought the medicine?"
"Yes."
The child smiled.
"Thank you."
Two words.
Nothing grand.
They struck harder than praise after a victory.
Chen Shun watched the medicine carried inside.
If the cart had gone over the cliff...
He stopped the thought.
The steward checked every delivery item and stamped the receipt.
Mission complete.
Chen Shun chose the safer road back.
The landslide remained where he had broken through it.
He could have taken the same route.
Instead he used the detour.
There was nothing left to prove to a pile of rocks.
For a while, the road was quiet.
His thoughts drifted once toward Chen Ba.
Comparing return times was meaningless.
Different missions.
Different distances.
Different risks.
Achievement Points were not the comparison he really wanted anyway.
Cultivation.
Technique.
Combat.
Those would answer the question properly.
Chen Shun pushed the thought aside.
Then a horse screamed ahead.
Wood cracked.
Someone shouted.
"Help!"
Chen Shun stopped.
Around the bend, a merchant wagon lay overturned across the road.
Several figures moved around it.
Something had happened only moments earlier.
And whatever had caused it—
was still there.