After years of painstaking preparation, Mei Jian is at last ready to enter the Plum Blossom Sect, master the blade, and fulfill the promise she made so many years ago. Then a chance encounter with the machinations of a demonic sect leaves her bound by an unexpected debt. Now, working from behind and struggling to progress alongside her fellow debtors, she has the choice thrust upon her; between her ideals, her heart, and her goals, which does she value more?

(Participant in the Royal Road Writathon of April 2024)