“Xiaochun,” Zhao Tianjiao said, his tone serious, “as you know, everyone participating in this ten-year-long trial has to go out on at least three missions beyond the wall. You can choose when to do that, but there is no way to get out of the responsibility. In other words... you have to go out of the Great Wall at some point!”

Zhao Tianjiao clasped his shoulder. “When the time comes, you’ll have to go, even if you don’t want to.... Otherwise, you’ll fail the final test, and won’t be able to go back to the sect.”

Bai Xiaochun’s heart trembled. The thought of going out three times on missions made the world seem like a much darker place. Although he had heard of that arrangement, he hadn’t give it much thought before, and had assumed it wouldn’t be anything worth worrying about. But after seeing the dangers on the journey so far, he realized that the slightest misstep could lead to him losing his poor little life....