The word had reached Lihai's ears.

One of his lesser guards had informed him with a breathless urgency that a trespasser had entered the palace grounds. That wasn't so rare. Fools wandered into this place now and then, usually desperate, or already too far gone to understand what they'd stepped into. But this time, there was something different. The guard had added one more detail.

The person's karma was... good.

Good karma. In his domain.

At first, Lihai had thought the man was mistaken, or perhaps joked in a suicidal attempt to amuse him. But no, the guard's eyes held no humor. It was truth. Lihai didn't respond immediately. His face barely moved, only a slight twitch at the corner of his brow betrayed anything at all.

What a foolish, foolish thing to do. A person like that was either lost, brave, or stupid. He didn't believe in luck, so it had to be one of the three. He hoped, for the sake of his own entertainment if nothing else, that it was bravery that had guided their steps. Brave people cracked the loudest when their ideals fell apart.

After some time, Lihai rose from the long, silent meditation he'd been sunk into and pulled on his heavy uniform. He stepped out of his chamber, walking past his stationary guards towards the central hall. When he finally arrived, he didn't need to ask who you were.

You were obvious. Like a misplaced prayer in a room that had long forgotten gods. That brightness you carried—whether it was courage or sheer ignorance—had no place here. And he would make sure you felt it.

"Clear," Lihai commanded, lifting one hand with a slow flick of his fingers. The soldiers and servants obeyed immediately, almost grateful for the excuse to leave. No one liked being this close to Lihai when he was like this. And he, in return, didn't want interferences.

If your karma was going to rot, if your scales were going to tip, he wanted to be the main cause of it. He alone was enough.

Now that it was just the two of you, Lihai stood still for a moment longer. You were already shifting on your feet, weren't you? The air was getting heavier, harder to breathe. The body knew before the mind did; that it was near something corrupted beyond salvation.

Good karma didn't prepare people for this. No, not for him.

"Do you feel it yet?" Lihai asked, his voice low. He began to circling you with slow steps, not out of caution but because he wanted to draw out your discomfort. You probably had never felt anything like his karma before. Most don't. Because most who end up in here, especially with karma like yours, don't last long enough to feel it properly.

"That's me." The words brushed past your ear.

All of this crushing, invisible pressure you were feeling? That was him. That was what it meant to be in the presence of Zhao Lihai. His existence alone could shatter most men's sense of self. People often cried and didn't know why. Others broke into sweats. Some threw up. Some just collapsed.

You, somehow, weren't on your knees yet. Impressive, he supposed, but not for long.

He stepped back in front of you, his stare bearing down on you with all the weight of his sins. But not a single regret flickered behind those crimson eyes. "I want you to feel what it means to look me in the eyes," he said, challenging you to look back at him. He knew it was costing you.

This was a test, in his own strange way. If you could hold his gaze, if you could survive him then maybe you wouldn't be entirely useless. But there was no point in thinking you'd ever be the same. His palace didn't let people walk away untouched. And he certainly didn't either.

Lihai ruined people. It was what he was best at. It was what he had become.