Xialing returns from a mission, guarded by soldiers assigned to protect her. She isn't sent to the frontlines to fight, but to heal—her duty is to treat the wounded after each wave of battle. The guards are there not for war, but to ensure her safety.
She steps inside Miji Town. Though she could choose to reside in any city or town now, she continues to live here because of Asuna.
But after Asuna left, Xialing had no friends. Kanoru is just an acquaintance.
Before leaving, Asuna told her the truth: they had escaped from Susa Town and were being hunted. To survive, they pretended to be husband and wife. But it was all an act.
Asuna, though… Asuna wanted it to be real.
She fell in love with Kanoru.
She confessed this to Xialing, but said she didn't know how Kanoru truly felt. After all, when she had been under the influence of the Swan's Dance incense, Kanoru didn't act. He could've pretended to be affected, too. But he didn't.
That made Asuna respect him even more.
And it made her question herself.
"Am I… not desirable to him?"
Xialing's thoughts linger on that memory as her guards break formation, allowing her to walk freely into the market. She wanders, hoping to find something useful for her cultivation.
But she stops.
A crowd has gathered near the official board.
She walks up and asks someone, "What's this about?"
The person replies, "Someone killed his whole squad."
She frowns. "Who?"
Another voice answers, "Matsuda Kanoru."
The first adds quickly, "Yes, yes. Matsuda Kanoru—the famous middle-rank samurai who killed a high-ranking beast."
Here is your scene, rewritten with improved clarity, grammar, and pacing while preserving your voice and intent:
---
Xialing stares at the board in silence. Slowly, she moves forward and stops in front of Kanoru's poster.
It reads:
Wanted: Alive or Dead
Alive – 12 Purple Star Coins
Dead – 10 Purple Star Coins
The difference between the rewards is small, too small. She understands what it means. Whether Kanoru lives or dies… it doesn't matter to those who issued the bounty.
She stands there a few minutes longer, but no answers come. Why did Kanoru kill his team? And more importantly, how did the town find out? If he had truly killed everyone, then who reported it?
More questions arise in her mind.
With a frown, she turns away from the board and walks toward the mountain path. Her destination: the Bai family's temporary residence, built high above Miji Town. General Bai Ju isn't there—he's still recovering, thanks to a method Kanoru devised, but he has already regained his fighting strength and is commanding his troops in some part to fight the beast horde.
Kanoru's strange knowledge of blood types—how different bloodlines react, what traits they can carry or reject—offered the key to saving the general. He explained that Bai Ju's ancestral blood could be recovered through a blood transfusion from another person with the blood Rimefang.
The only cure was a transfer of blood from someone of purer ancestry—someone whose lineage carried a stronger version of the same bloodline. But it wasn't simple. The donor's ancestral blood had to be not only compatible but dominant. If not, the situation of Bai Ju would occur to the donor.
Here is your scene, polished and written with clarity, character focus, and tension while staying true to your original style:
---
Only someone from the Bai family could donate that blood. And not just anyone—a person whose blood was stronger than the general's, someone with a body capable of recovering even after losing part of their ancestral strength.
If the method worked, the Bai family would no longer fear the loss of ancestral blood among their key members. Recovery would be possible. Restoration would be real.
Now, Xialing walks with steady steps toward their estate, her mind heavy with questions.
What will the Bai family do now that the man who saved them is being hunted?
The guards see her and step aside without question. No one dares stop her. She passes through the courtyard, knowing that General Bai Ju is absent. But his nephew, Bai Jun, is present. And in the general's absence, he commands the Bai family's private army within Mugen.
A servant meets her at the main hall and quickly escorts her to Bai Jun's office.
She doesn't knock.
She pushes the door open and walks in.
Bai Jun, sitting behind a table scattered with scrolls and reports, looks up in shock. His lips part, ready to reprimand—then stop when he sees her face.
He recognises Xialing instantly. And from the fire in her eyes, he already knows the reason for her visit.
Xialing doesn't wait. Her voice is sharp, her anger barely restrained.
"Why is Kanoru's wanted poster all over the town?"
Bai Jun exhales, shoulders slumping. "At dawn, someone reported that Kanoru killed all of his team members."
Xialing's jaw tightens. Her anger simmers. Only a few hours had passed since dawn—no real investigation could've taken place. And yet, they had already labelled him a criminal and plastered his name across the town.
She closes her eyes for a moment, forcing a breath through her nose to calm the storm inside. This fury wasn't only for Kanoru. It was for Asuna.
When Asuna left, she had asked Xialing—entrusted her—to look after him.
Asuna had shared everything with her. Every memory, every fear, every truth.
But Xialing… Xialing had kept one secret locked away, a truth too dangerous to reveal. That silence, that hidden part of herself, left her with guilt that clung like a shadow.
And now Kanoru was being hunted, and she had failed.
But she couldn't afford to lose control. Not here. Not in this town. Not with the illusion spell active.
To human eyes, she looked like one of them. But she wasn't. If even a sliver of her true self leaked, everything would unravel.
She takes another deep breath and speaks with icy clarity. "So, without a proper investigation, you brand your family's benefactor a murderer? Just like that?"
Her eyes lock onto his. "You nobles pride yourselves on your so-called pure blood, but your blood's filthier than the common folk."
Bai Jun's fingers curl into fists at her words. His pride burns, but he restrains the urge to respond.
Because he knows—he's not her equal.
Until recently, he thought Xialing was just an extraordinary healer. But a few moments ago, her aura flared—and it was no less than a High-ranking Samurai's presence.
And besides… even if he wanted to argue, he couldn't.
It was his fault that they were unable to protect their family's benefactor.
He lowers his gaze and asks quietly, "Do you want to know who reported Kanoru?"
Xialing responds without pause. "Who?"
"Lou Ji," Bai Jun says, voice low. "An elder from the Sky Sword Sect."
Xialing freezes. An elder from the Sky Sword Sect? Her eyes narrow as suspicion floods her mind. When did an elder from a second-rank sect gain enough weight to make a noble family obey?
"Are you joking?" she asks sharply. "An elder from Sky Sword Sect speaks, and you believe him? Do you have no better excuse? Since when does a second-rank force in the Owani Kingdom make nobles jump, especially one without even a single Ascension Realm cultivator?"
Bai Jun flinches. He exhales heavily. "The elder himself wouldn't make me listen."
Xialing lifts a brow. "Then why?"
Bai Jun looks up at her and says, "Have you heard the rumours about the rebels and the beast tide?"
Xialing nods. Whispers of it have spread far. The rebel leader, Hui Ban, when breaking through the Second Turn Great Samurai realm, awakened the bloodline of his ancestor, Xuejing, a Yao race with lizard-like scales harder than diamond, and control over ice and blood.
That awakening made Hui Ban's strength equal to a Three Turn Great Samurai.
And on the beast side, a Storm Eagle—a rare, monstrous being with the strength of a Three Turn Great Samurai—had also entered the fray. Now the beasts and rebels clash fiercely, and the kingdom has lost control over the entire northern region of Mugen.
The storm brews between them, but both sides have yet to direct their fury toward the kingdom's military. It's only a matter of time.
Bai Jun watches her carefully as he speaks. "Mugen still has Three Turn Great Samurai… even Ascension Realm cultivators. But they're all under the Liu family. My Bai family could quash the beast tide or the rebellion alone, in days. But neither the rebels nor the beasts have touched Mugenkai or crossed into Baidi."
Xialing nods again. She understands. If the rebels attack Mugenkai, then the Liu family will have justification to retaliate. And if the beasts cross into Baidi, the Bai family will have their excuse. But until then, both families are bound by law and optics.
But even with that understanding, she still doesn't see why Bai Jun would obey the word of Lou Ji. Until—
Her expression shifts. She connects the final thread. "The kingdom sent someone," she says slowly. "A general with the strength of a Three Turn Great Samurai. To suppress both the beast tide and the rebellion."
Bai Jun doesn't answer. He doesn't need to.
She's right.
The kingdom can't afford to let the Liu or Bai family extend their influence further. One controls the gates to the Yao region. The other rules a whole prefecture. They're already the strongest families beneath the royal line.
Sending an outsider general prevents either family from growing bolder… and perhaps reining in the balance of power.
And that general—he's the true hand behind Lou Ji.
Xialing's eyes turn cold. So that's how it is. She asks flatly, "Who?"
If she knows the one responsible, she might find a way to investigate. A general with strength far beyond Kanoru—who, by comparison, is no more than an ant—should have no reason to target him.
Bai Jun answers with a single name: "JinHai."
Her eyes widen in shock. "Why did the Kingdom send that madman? He won't distinguish between ally or enemy once the bloodlust takes over."
JinHai, the infamous general of the Owani Kingdom—cultivator of the Three-Turn Great Samurai realm—once fought a Sea Beast of the Ascension Realm and survived. But after driving the beast away, he massacred half the population of a nearby town. Had he not fallen unconscious on his own, the slaughter would've continued. Later investigations confirmed the cause: his Yao bloodline. Too rich, too wild. During battle, his ancestral blood overwhelmed his reason, sending him into a berserker state.
Since then, the Kingdom rarely released him. He became a double-edged sword—too dangerous to be trusted, too effective to be discarded. And now, in these unstable times, the Kingdom has unsheathed him again.
"He's cured," Bai Jun says.
Xialing narrows her eyes. As a Dryad—one of the few races capable of opposing the Yao—she knows how rare any cure for madness truly is. "How?"
"The Kongura Clan sent a magic weapon," Bai Jun replies. "After wearing it, JinHai no longer loses control."
Xialing's thoughts spin. The Kongura Clan—reclusive weapon refiners and devout followers of the Buddhist path from the western continent. And now she remembers: the King's first wife is from the Kongura Clan. That makes them the maternal family of the First Prince.
Now it all fits.
JinHai likely isn't targeting Kanoru directly. He's simply moving under the First Prince's banner.
"Then how did Kanoru get caught in the First Prince's net?" she mutters. "Has the Sky Sword Sect already surrendered to his faction?"
Bai Jun exhales and says, "You know Kanoru better than I do. I should be asking you."
Xialing shakes her head. "I don't know."
At that moment, a voice cuts through the air.
"I do."
They turn toward the door. A girl enters—otherworldly in beauty. White hair, eyes like sapphire flame, narrow pupils that shimmer like a cat's. As she steps inside, the room turns colder. A quiet frost gathers in the corners of the floor.