Han Yu leaned back against the courtyard wall, a half-eaten lotus bun in hand and his expression relaxed for the first time in weeks.
The air was filled with the sweet scent of tea, laughter, and the faint rustle of wind through the plum blossoms. Kui One and Kui Two sat nearby on woven mats, both comfortably stuffed with buns and talking with the lively abandon of people who hadn't seen each other in far too long.
"Man, I can't believe you're already eighteen," Kui Two said, patting his own round belly. "Feels like just yesterday you were sweeping the outer sect latrines with me."
"I still have nightmares about that," Han Yu muttered with a grimace.
They all laughed, the sound warm and unforced. But as the buns disappeared and the tea cooled, their conversation gradually turned from jokes to the more serious matters of cultivation and the time Han Yu had been away.
