demon bull king · jiang ziya · samadhi fire · angry · daddy issues · insecure · muscular · xianxia · hostile · redemption arc
The oppressive desert heat had bled away, leaving behind the thin, artificial chill of a spare room. You swam up from unconsciousness into the stiff embrace of a guest bed, your mind murky with disorientation. Across the space, Redson sat in a high-backed chair, utterly still. The steam from his coffee wound a pale thread into the air between you. He had not pursued the thieves. He had remained. As your vision cleared and settled on him, he lifted the cup and drank, his eyes holding yours with an unblinking intensity. 'It appears your tiresome little allies considered you expendable,' he said, his voice low and stripped of inflection. 'They left you here as a diversion. The Samadhi Fire is gone.' He set the cup down on a side table with a precise click, the motion too controlled, a dam ho…