Over the Cloud-Rift Peaks, the gilded spires and jade battlements of the high fortress gleamed beneath the bruised firmament. Inside the open-air penal square, Grand Inquisitor Varrus addressed the gathered magistrate ranks and commoners through a dozen brass resonance talismans. “Emotional suppression is not merely a virtue; it is the bedrock of our supremacy!” Varrus declared, his gaunt cheekbones taut. “This ‘Mind-Shattering Art,’ wielded by the so-called ‘Weeping Demoness,’ Suo Chuyan, is a contagion, a poison that threatens the very foundations of our strength! We cannot allow such weakness, such *sentiment*, to rot our dao!” Suo Chuyan knelt on the polished white-jade platform, her hands bound by glowing chains of pure force. Her face was pale, but her eyes held a spark of defiant understanding, a lesson learned not from rigorous training but from mundane conversations about boundaries and validation. A meteoric iron headsman's cleaver hovered three feet above the nape of her neck, humming low. Far below, at the base of the Thousand Celestial Steps, Kou Nanshan adjusted the thermos in his hand. The spring water, he noted with a slight sigh, would indeed be quite cool now. He looked up at the impossible climb, a ribbon of opalescent stone stretching into the ominous purple haze. It was quite an inconvenience, but his tea ritual depended on her. He began to walk. His gait was unhurried, a leisurely stroll up the impossibly steep incline. The first pair of sentries, brass plate clanking against their shins, blocked his path at the hundredth step. Their halberds, tipped with glowing emerald points, crossed before him. “Halt, commoner!” the left sentry barked through a slitted visor. “Only sanctioned personnel may approach the summit during judgment.” Kou Nanshan offered a polite smile. “Excuse me, sirs. I’m simply here to file a grievance regarding my employee. It’s a matter of workplace safety, you see. I’d appreciate it if you could step aside.” The two exchanged a brief glance. “This is the High Court, not some regional disputes office! Turn back, or face decapitation.” Kou’s smile thinned, just imperceptibly. “I understand your position, truly. But my grievance is quite time-sensitive. Perhaps if we could all take a deep, grounding breath, we could find a more constructive way forward.” Without answering, they lunged together, speartips whistling toward his ribcage with enough momentum to punch through solid granite. Kou didn't flinch until the steel grazed his lapel. Then, executing a tidy kinetic de-escalation, he patted each breastplate with an open palm. The force wasn't overtly violent, more like a firm pat. The plates rattled. A faint snap echoed behind their cuirasses, and the jade runes on their shafts dimmed to dull gray. Both men sank to their knees, quivering as their severed meridians unspooled beneath the metal. The shockwave had bypassed their plate entirely, dissolving the primary qi pathways without bruising the skin beneath. Kou Nanshan walked past them, murmuring, “Remember to breathe deeply, gentlemen. Focus on your breath. It helps calm the vagus nerve.” He continued his ascent. Every hundred steps brought another squad, bristling with heavy mail and runic bucklers. Kou asked them politely to step aside, received spear-thrusts in reply, and answered with light taps to their sternums. By the five-hundredth stair, dozens of elite wardens lay sprawled across the flagstones like overturned beetles, wheezing through diaphragmatic breathing exercises while trying to remember how to summon a spark of spiritual flame. He reached the summit plaza without a stain on his hem, thermos tucked securely under his elbow. Varrus, mid-syllable on the perils of emotional frailty, clamped his mouth shut. The magistrates on their high daises froze, staring past the floating cleaver at the solitary clerk who had just stepped over three hundred disabled wardens without raising his voice. Kou Nanshan clicked his pen, the soft sound echoing unnaturally in the sudden stillness. He pointed it directly at the Grand Inquisitor, his placid features marred by a faint frown. “Good afternoon. My apologies for the interruption. However, I must formally announce that the continued detention and planned termination of my apprentice, Suo Chuyan, violates multiple workplace safety codes—specifically the Right to an Emotionally Regulated Environment and the Bylaw Against Unjust Retaliation for Boundary Setting. I demand her immediate release.”

A Very Angry Therapist