In slightly more than 24 hours from this announcement going out, the Deathblade Clan is heading back to China for the first time in almost 6 years. We've been planning this trip for about a year, and I've been busting my butt behind the scenes for several months to allow myself to take a bit of time off but also ensure that chapter releases continue as normal. From your perspective as the reader, nothing will change, although I might fall behind temporarily on reading comments (I usually read all of the comments on the latest public chapter release and the top sponsor chapter).

The purpose of our trip is primarily to see family and friends. MDB, Battle Boy, and I have not seen our loved ones there for a long time, and Princess Deathblade has never met (in person obviously), her grandparents and other family members. Oh, and we plan to eat lots of food!!! We will do a teeny bit of sight-seeing; hopefully we'll make it to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, plus some other noteworthy locations near where we call home in China, which is a few hours away from Beijing. I plan to post pics and updates on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, so feel free to give me a follow if you're interested in that kind of thing.

In the meantime, enjoy the story at whatever point you're reading. I'll be back in the U.S. toward the end of June, although to reiterate, things should continue as usual with the updates, so you probably won't even notice my absence.