Damon continued looking at Jian Yue for several seconds, but he did not answer immediately. The root's reaction still lingered at the center of his chest, small and controlled, while the mark left by Vorn pulsed beneath the bandage as though it recognized the sword fragment. He did not like the way those two forces reacted to the same object for different reasons. The root seemed to remember. The mark seemed to be searching for an entrance. The fragment, meanwhile, made no effort to reach him. It simply remained on the cloth, cold enough to create a thin layer of condensation around it.
"First, let us clarify something," Damon said. "You called this a challenge, but Jian Li did not come here to fight me."
"Not with a sword," Jian Yue replied.
"Then stop using words designed to hide the real risk."
Jian Li looked at her brother, but she was the one who answered.
"The challenge is to separate the root without allowing it to choose a new host."
