[b]Foxpearl![/b]

You are bravely staring down a tummy laser. See, in legend, Xing Tian was the warrior who survived being decapitated, and his chest became his new face, and it's a little weird that Xingtian (the armored supervillain) has a helmet when the myth was very famous for missing the helmet (because of the decapitation), but that snarling face in the breastplate is crackling with evil ghost power.

Well, morally neutral ghost power being used for wicked ends.

[b]"Damnation! You Allowed The Bloodstained Thug To Escape Her Just Reward For Longer Than She Deserves... And You Will Be Punished For Your Interference, Willing Tool Of The "Deep State"! But First..."[/b] Xingtian holds out their gauntleted hand to you, burning foxgirl with your scarf more thickly padded than before. [b]"Return To Me, Be One With Me, Join Me In Our Holy Quest And Together, We Will Overthrow The False Mayor And Restore True Harmony To The City!"[/b]

Behind you, Vermillion Princess pushes herself back onto her knees. It'll take her a minute to get back up onto those heelies, even with the sash providing her with some lift. A minute she might not have if you don't distract the raving fire-spewing villain.

[hr]

[b]Rain![/b]

"Oh... hell," Branch says, slowly. "That was it, then. That bitch hit me too hard. [i]Damn[/i] it. I thought... so that was it. Twenty years on this bitch of a planet and I get my neck snapped by [i]Horse[/i]. Well, I get points for loyalty, right? I died in the line of duty. I didn't let Stone Monkey down. That gets me points with King Yama, right? I looked after my grandma after work. I tried not to be vulgar. I only let my charge get kidnapped the one time, and that's the time that killed me, so it doesn't count. Am I going to be stuck here because of the idiots who did the ghost explosion?"

Those sure are some names! Names that you can follow up on. How much do you know about the [i]jianghu[/i], the underground world of martial artists and criminals, River? Do you know anything beyond the word on the street about their boss getting assassinated?