Fu Qianli

The first time Fu Qianli ever walked such a long road was from her hometown to Well of Heaven. The north wind cut like a blade, and the snow was deep enough to swallow her to the knees. Every step sank hard. At one point, half her body disappeared into the drift before the senior brother ahead of her turned back and hauled her out. When she looked up, all she could see was white, stretching far and wide until it seemed to meet the sky. Well of Heaven was still a thousand miles away. But her senior brother only smiled and pointed toward a faint light far off at the horizon. "There. That's it. We're almost home." Home. A new home. Qianli means "a thousand li." Everyone there said Fu Qianli had been given a fine name. Her senior brother said it sounded grand. Her junior brothers and sisters envied how free and bold it felt. She liked it too. That thousand-li journey had brought her home, to the best home she could have hoped for. In spring they practiced with the blade. In the heat of summer they trained their bodies. When autumn came they gathered hides for winter coats. In winter they sat by the fire and warmed wine. The seasons passed like that, one after another, steady and ordinary and peaceful. She no longer had to keep moving from one place to the next. She no longer had to walk such long roads. And yet, perhaps her name had foretold it all along. In the end, she set out on another thousand-li road. The Hutuo River ran for a thousand li. Mount Taibai lay two thousand li away. But the bodies of the disciples of Well of Heaven lay piled within three paces of one another. Her sword was growing heavier in her hand. The smell of blood filled her nose. And yet in her ears rang the voices of her junior brothers and sisters when they had stood before their master and asked to go. Ever since she had found a home, there had only ever been one thing that could send her a thousand li from it, and only one thing that could keep her from returning. "Master's command. Three hundred disciples. Not one can be left behind." "Senior Sister... what if we can't bring them back?" "...Then we fight to the death. Three hundred disciples. Not one can be left behind."