Early afternoon in Lamkha, the innkeeper of the Dmar Wamo at the heart of the village is expecting another quiet day. However, all expectations are discarded the instant Major Nawang of the Gyelsa Special Police Unit enters the inn followed by his retinue of four.

"Good afternoon, Major," Champo greets, perfectly hiding his displeasure at seeing a high‑ranking military officer in his inn. "It's not often we see GSPU officers around these parts, so please forgive my curiosity."

"Can the innocent act," Nawang orders. "We know you're allied to the Order of the Phantom, and we know they're working with the Tiāngǒu. If you want to remain a free man, I suggest you co‑operate."

"There's no need for threats, major," Champo assures. "I'm sure I know nothing you aren't already aware of. I can also assure you that I show the Order of the Phantom the same courtesy I show all visitors, as all are welcome in the Dmar Wamo."

"If there was nothing to be gained here, then I wouldn't have come," Nawang asserts. "A year ago, Bái Shén Měi Lán passed through here, and not only did you provide her with assistance, you informed the Order of the Phantom of her presence. By taking those actions, you assisted a terrorist organisation and guided a Tiāngǒu right into the heart of the Empire."

"I helped a young girl continue her travels, that's all," Champo asserts. "Her identity is of no concern to me; I helped someone who needed it, and that's all there is to it. As for the Order of the Phantom, I have no business with them aside from a few of their number visiting occasionally, as they do all the villages in the outer reaches as well as Gyelsa."

"I'm losing my patience," Nawang growls. "I'm going to make this very simple: either tell me everything now or spend the rest of your life behind bars as a convicted terrorism conspiracist. And before you ask, there will not be a trial."

Champo sighs in defeat. Well, no point pretending anymore. "Since telling you everything I know will result in my arrest anyway, and since you're denying my right to a fair trial, I have no reason to tell you anything at all. Therefore, I will finish with this: if you think the Nine Tails will succeed in taking control of the Empire, then you're living in a fantasy world."

"That's all I needed to hear," Nawang grins malevolently. "Take him away."

Champo remains silent as the retinue escorts him out of the inn.

With the innkeeper out of the way, Major Nawang heads behind the bar and into the back room where he finds a stack of notes next to a compact radio. As I suspected: the innkeeper is working with the Order. Nawang looks through the notes and finds exactly what he's looking for. Perfect: this will make our assault a trivial task.

A few minutes later, Major Nawang arrives at the highest floor of the temple pagoda where the Xia Nuhu is keeping watch. "Mipham, has there been any movement from the mountain pass?"

"None, my Shang Nanhu," Mipham answers.

"Excellent," Nawang replies. "With luck, they'll believe the message I just sent them is from their informant, meaning the first they'll know it isn't is when our troops are inside their base."

"And if they don't?"

"The Tiāngǒu may escape, but the Order itself will still be wiped out."

Mipham lowers her binoculars and turns to Nawang. "Surely our target should be the Tiāngǒu? She's the threat, not the Order."

"You forget your place, Xia Nuhu," Nawang warns. "Our Huxian will not be pleased to hear of your insolence, nor will your Husan Tainai. We will proceed as planned. Keep watch and contact me the instant you see any activity in the mountain pass."

"But‑"

"That is an order, Xia Nuhu!"

Mipham hesitates before replying. "My apologies, my Shang Nanhu; I shall obey."

"Perform well, and I might forget to inform the Huxian of your transgression. Do not fail me."

Mipham watches Nawang leave. Just because I'm the lowest rank, doesn't mean you have to treat me like shit. Sighing to herself, the Xia Nuhu resumes her lookout duty. At least our Huxian and my Husan Tainai recognise my talents… I hope.

Two hours later in the headquarters of the Order of the Phantom, Milla is practising sword technique in the dojo. Having never wielded a bladed weapon before (or any weapon for that matter), it's taking a while to get used to the weight and range of Tiāngǒu's piandao, and a few times she's come close to injuring herself. However, she's also proving to be a very quick learner, and after a few hours' practice, she's developed enough skill to master the fundamentals.

Of course, all that practice works up an appetite. Over lunch, Jampa compliments Milla on how quickly she's learning the basic techniques of sword fighting, and together they work out what lessons to cover in the afternoon to further develop her skills.

However, those lessons are destined to go untaught: as they're about to head back to the dojo, the invasion alarm sounds.

"Shit: they found us!" Jampa exclaims.

"Who?" Milla asks.

"The Nine Tails."

Milla's blood turns to ice. "But… But how‽"

"I don't know," Jampa answers. "I had prayed this day would never come… Milla, you need to get out of here."

"I can't leave you to get captured or killed!"

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. If they get their hands on you again, then all our efforts will have been in vain."

"But‑"

"Stop wasting time and get out of here!"

Milla wants to argue, but the sorrow in Jampa's eyes causes the words to stick in her throat. "I…"

"You have the strength of the Bái Shén," Jampa reminds softly. "Remember that, and you will prevail."

Milla takes a deep breath and suppresses her emotions. "I will save you," she promises.

"I know you will," Jampa replies. "May the Ancients watch over you."

"And may the Five Deities watch over you," Milla replies before sprinting out of the mess hall towards the secret escape route.

Jampa takes a deep breath, steels himself, and heads to the armoury to find a suitable weapon, selecting a staff approximately a little over half his height.

"Where's the Tiāngǒu?" a voice growls angrily behind him.

Jampa turns to see Major Nawang blocking the door. "She's gone," he growls back.

"Where?"

"I have no idea."

Nawang draws his jian, the double‑edged straight blade clearly the product of a gifted swordsmith. "It will be easier for both you and her if you tell me now."

"Even if I wanted to, I can't," Jampa replies. "I literally do not know where she is going. What I do know however is that I will do all I can to ensure the Nine Tails never find her."

"And you've just signed the Order of the Phantom's death warrant," Nawang smiles maliciously, extracting a compact recording device from his pocket. "This recording is all the evidence needed to end your terrorist conspiracies."

"I seek only to expose the truth," Jampa retorts. "If it's terrorist conspirators you seek, look in a mirror."

"Accusing a high‑ranking officer of the GSPU of terrorist conspiracy is a very serious charge," Nawang reminds. "We both know you don't have the evidence to back that up."

"The evidence will emerge eventually," Jampa asserts.

"I tire of this charade," Nawang sighs. "I give you a simple choice: surrender quietly or add 'resisting arrest' to your charge sheet."

Jampa adopts a combat stance. "Like I said, I'll do all I can to prevent the Nine Tails finding Měi Lán."

Nawang stops the recording, pockets the device, and adopts a combat stance. "I cannot wait to inform my Huxian of the destruction of your pathetic Order."

"Your Huxian will fall along with the rest of you," Jampa growls.

Nawang has heard enough; he charges Jampa with a thrust that the yak deflects with his staff. Jampa attempts to counter‑attack, but the staff's reach isn't quite enough, causing him to miss Nawang. The major takes advantage of Jampa's mistake and shoulder barges the yak, knocking him back a few feet.

But Jampa's not going to go down easily: he quickly regains his footing in time to block a swipe from Nawang' jian. However, the sharpness of the jian allows it to slice straight through the staff, rendering it useless.

"You never had a chance against me, old man," Nawang growls.

Jampa discards the two halves of the ruined staff. "I'm far from finished with you," he growls, his fists glowing with jade energy.

Nawang shakes his head in disappointment. "Not only do you harbour a Tiāngǒu, you even practice their forbidden arts."

"Forbidden only by the unjust laws passed under your influence," Jampa retorts, the energy coating his fists glowing brighter.

Nawang sheathes his sword. "Since you insist, allow me to show you real power," he growls, his fists now glowing with intense orange energy.

The sight takes Jampa by surprise. "Since when did the Nine Tails practice the Phantom Arts?"

"The Phantom Arts? Don't be ridiculous!" Nawang laughs as the orange glow resolves into pure fire. "For centuries, the Nine Tails have practiced the only worthy artform: pyrokinesis!"

Jampa barely has enough time to raise a Phantom Shield to block the sudden blast of fire from Nawang. He attempts to counter by collapsing the shield in a burst of energy, but Nawang's comparative youth allows him to dodge the burst and fire off several quick fireballs that strike Jampa, singeing his fur. Jampa counters with a few blasts of Phantom energy, but again Nawang's greater agility allows him to avoid the attack while continuing to rain hits on Jampa.

Eventually, the sustained barrage begins to take its toll on Jampa: his attacks become increasingly erratic, offering Nawang even more openings. And it's not long before Nawang takes full advantage and charges Jampa, slamming the yak into the back wall of the armoury. But he doesn't stop there: Nawang rains a torrent of blows across Jampa's torso before delivering the final blow to the face, breaking the yak's nose and knocking him out cold.

Nawang steps back as Jampa collapses on the floor. "I offered you the opportunity to make this easy on yourself," he sighs. "You should have surrendered when you had the chance: that way, my Huxian may have elected to show you mercy. Instead, you fought back, and for that, my Huxian will make you suffer."

Fifteen minutes later, with the last of the members of the Order bundled into prison vans, Major Nawang climbs into his unmarked police car and activates the radio. "Major Nawang to General Chogori."

"Ah, Major, good to hear from you," General Chogori replies. "I assume the mission went smoothly?"

"Very," Nawang replies. "Only their leader put up any real fight, and even he went down easily. However, I must report that we were unable to locate the Tiāngǒu."

"I know you did your best, but I can't say I'm not disappointed," Chogori sighs. "At least the Order itself is now out of the picture."

"I can send a fireteam to hunt for the Tiāngǒu," Nawang volunteers. "I'll even lead it myself."

"That won't be necessary: an alternative strategy will be employed to find the Tiāngǒu," Chogori replies. "Report back to the capital for debriefing."

"By your command, General," Nawang obeys, then shuts off the radio. My Husan Taiye knows I'm more than capable of leading a fireteam to hunt the Tiāngǒu… I trust he, the Husan Tainai, and our Huxian know what they're doing.

On the top floor of the temple pagoda in Lamkha, Mipham lowers her binoculars. Looks like it's over, and not a moment too soon. Would have liked to have played more of a part though. With a sigh, she turns from the window, leaving her binoculars on the sill.

A moment later, her radio beeps, alerting her to an incoming call. Curious, Mipham picks up the radio and activates it. "Hey Shangsi, I was just about to return to HQ."

"Why?" the Husan Tainai asks.

"The Order's defeated and the Tiāngǒu's been eliminated," Mipham replies. "There's nothing left for me to do here."

"The Order may be defeated, but the Tiāngǒu isn't dead yet," the Husan Tainai corrects.

"But I just saw the Shang Nanhu's forces take down the Order."

"Did you see the Tiāngǒu's corpse?"

"Well, no, but‑"

"Then you don't know if she's dead or not."

"If she's not dead, then why is the Shang Nanhu heading back towards Gyelsa?"

"Because we're finally giving you the chance to prove how capable you really are."

Mipham almost drops the radio in surprise. "I… You really mean it‽"

"You want to prove yourself, do you not?" the Husan Tainai asks. "Of course, if you're not confident you can do it, I can always find someone else."

"No!" Mipham replies more forcefully than intended. "I mean, I believe I'm capable of completing this mission, my Husan Tainai," she corrects, blushing slightly.

"Your responses aren't filling me with as much confidence as they should," the Husan Tainai comments. "Nevertheless, the mission will remain in your hands. Do not fail."

The connection terminates.

Mipham puts the radio down and takes a deep breath. OK… You can do this. You can find the Tiāngǒu, take her down, and deliver her corpse to the Huxian herself. And when you do, she will have no choice but to reward you handsomely.

Mipham returns to the window, picks up her binoculars, and quickly examines the area around the mountain pass. There's only one way she could have escaped… and there it is.