By the time Ling Xiuyuan arrived, the courtyard was a wreck of trampled earth and shattered lanterns. The crowd had thinned, but voices still buzzed through the night. He saw Nie Xiaohuan and Roulan pushing through the last of the onlookers, faces pale in the torchlight.
And there — in the middle of it all — stood Shen Lianxiu.
His hair was disheveled, his lip split, and his knuckles bleeding. His chest rose and fell with uneven breaths. The seniors he had fought lay scattered nearby — robes torn, hair loose, one of them half-conscious against a pillar.
"Lianxiu!" Nie Xiaohuan was the first to reach him. He grabbed the boy by the arm, eyes wide with alarm. "What did you do?"
Roulan rushed to his other side, her voice trembling. "Are you hurt? What happened?"
Lianxiu didn't answer. His jaw was tight, his gaze fixed somewhere on the ground. His hands trembled slightly — not from pain, but from the fury still coursing through him.
Behind them, Master Yue Lan stepped forward, her voice sharp as a blade."Enough! All senior disciples involved in this—stand in line. Now!"
The air turned cold. The bruised disciples hesitated, then stumbled into a crooked line, avoiding her gaze.
Pei Yunsheng sighed and turned toward the remaining juniors, who still lingered, wide-eyed. "All of you—back to your quarters. Now. The show's over." He gave a wry half-smile to soften the order. "Tomorrow you can gossip about it properly."
A nervous ripple of laughter moved through them, and they hurried off, whispering as they went.
When silence fell, only the masters, the fighters, and Ling Xiuyuan remained.
Everyone's eyes drifted toward Shen Lianxiu. No one had ever seen him like this — the easy-going, mischievous boy who joked his way through training now stood blood-streaked and shaking with unspent rage.
Even Xiuyuan, standing at the edge of the circle, felt a strange jolt in his chest. What could have made him so furious?
He looked from Lianxiu's downcast face to the disheveled seniors — older disciples, their robes in tatters, their arrogance beaten out of them.
Pei Yunsheng gave a low whistle, rubbing his temple. "And to say you're the seniors." He shook his head. "You've managed to lose both your dignity and your teeth."
One of them winced, lowering his gaze.
Yue Lan didn't smile. She walked to where Lianxiu stood, her expression carved in ice. "Why did you do it?"
Lianxiu finally raised his eyes. For a brief second, they flickered toward Ling Xiuyuan — a glance full of something fierce and wordless — then he looked down again.
He could have spoken. He could have told them what those men had said — the filth they had laughed about, the insult that had burned through him like fire.
But Xiuyuan was standing there.Proud. Stern. The heroic senior he respected and—perhaps—something more.
To repeat those words aloud would shame him before everyone.Lianxiu would rather bleed than do that.
He drew a slow breath, then dropped to his knees.
"It's my fault, Masters," he said quietly. "Please punish me."
The courtyard went utterly still.
Xiuyuan's brows furrowed. Something inside him tightened — an unnameable ache at the sight of the boy kneeling, refusing to speak.
Wei Jingyan said with quite amusement, "what could they have done to drive him this far?"
Yue Lan's eyes swept coldly across the line of bruised seniors.Her tone was quiet, but sharp enough to slice the air."Will any of you speak?"
No one did.The silence stretched — heavy, suffocating, thick with shame.
No one dared meet her gaze.
The only sound came from Pei Yunsheng's fan snapping closed, the sharp clap breaking the stillness.His usual lazy grace vanished for an instant; his jaw tightened, but then he smiled — that calm, dangerous smile of his.
"Fine," he said, voice deceptively light. "Since none of you can move your tongues, you may as well move your legs."
He raised the fan slowly. "On my next breath, all of you—run. The entire boundary of the sect. Don't stop till sunrise."
The seniors' faces drained of color.Yue Lan gave a small, approving nod and turned toward Shen Lianxiu.
"As for you," she said, her voice softer, but colder still. "You will kneel here for the night. Until dawn."
Lianxiu didn't protest.He simply bowed his head. "Yes, Master."
Yue Lan exchanged a brief glance with Pei Yunsheng. Without another word, they turned and walked away — Pei Yunsheng already flicking his fan open again, half-smiling as he ordered the punished seniors to move.
"Run," he said lazily. "If I don't hear your footsteps echoing past the eastern woods, I'll make you start again."
The remaining disciples hesitated, looking between the kneeling boy and the masters' retreating figures.
"Go," Pei Yunsheng waved them off with his fan. "Show's over. Back to your beds before."
One by one, they dispersed into the night.
Nie Xiaohuan and Roulan, however, didn't move.They stood frozen beside Shen Lianxiu, eyes wide with worry.
"Masters," Nie Xiaohuan's voice trembled, "please—allow us to stay with him." He dropped to his knees beside Lianxiu.
Pei Yunsheng paused mid-stride and raised an eyebrow.Yue Lan turned her head slightly but said nothing.
Roulan followed, lowering herself beside them, eyes glistening.
For a heartbeat, the courtyard was utterly silent. Then Pei Yunsheng chuckled under his breath.
"Quite some loyalty, eh?" He glanced at Yue Lan, who only sighed. Turning back, he gave the three of them a small smile."Do whatever your youth tells you to, then. The night is long—don't freeze before morning."
With a flick of his fan, he walked off into the dark.
Now only the three kneeling figures remained beneath the dim lanterns—Lianxiu silent, head bowed; Xiaohuan biting his lip in worry; Roulan murmuring prayers under her breath.
From behind, footsteps approached again.Wei Jingyan stood beside Ling Xiuyuan, who had not left with the others. His arms were crossed, his eyes fixed on Lianxiu—unreadable.
Wei Jingyan tilted his head, his usual grin half-curved."Gege," he said softly, tugging at Xiuyuan's sleeve. "Let's go?"
Xiuyuan didn't answer. He only looked once more at the boy kneeling beneath the lantern's wavering glow—his shoulders straight despite the bruises, his hands clenched tightly on his knees.
Beside him, Xiaohuan and Roulan whispered to him, scolding him, asking him, checking him.
But Lianxiu only smiled faintly and said, "It's fine. You both should go."
Neither of them moved.
Xiuyuan exhaled slowly. Something unspoken flickered across his face—irritation, perhaps, or something far gentler that even he couldn't name.
He turned away."Let's go," he said at last.
Wei Jingyan shrugged and followed as they disappeared into the quiet corridors.
They hadn't walked far when Wei Jingyan suddenly pulled Xiuyuan by the arm and turned down another path, quickening his steps. Soon, they caught up with Yue Lan and Pei Yunsheng, who were walking side by side under the lanterns.
"Masters!" Wei Jingyan called. "Why didn't you punish Shen Lianxiu more harshly? He looked equally at fault."
Yue Lan stopped, glancing back at him. She sighed softly. "I don't know what it was," she said, "but he didn't look as guilty as them."
Pei Yunsheng tapped his closed fan against his shoulder, his expression half amused, half thoughtful. "Right," he murmured. "He looked like he did something he was meant to… while the others looked scared to get caught."
Wei Jingyan nodded slowly, processing it.Xiuyuan, standing beside him, said nothing.