Under the Sun
Beneath the warm sunlight, upon a bed of soft green grass, a boy suddenly awoke from a deep slumber.
With a startled jolt, his body twitched—an instinctive motion that sent a sharp wave of pain through every limb.He groaned and tried to sit up, but his body refused him. Every muscle screamed in protest.
For a long moment, he just lay there, breathing through the ache, until he finally managed to roll over and push himself upright.
His small eyes scanned the world around him—sky, grass, trees—each detail sharp and unfamiliar. Confusion clouded his gaze.
He looked down at his hands. They trembled slightly, dirt-streaked and blood-speckled. His arms, his legs… all of them hurt.That's why he couldn't leap up like usual. The body simply wouldn't obey.
He reached up and brushed a hand against his scalp. His fingers came away sticky and red. Blood?
Who was he?Where was this?And… what was he supposed to do now?
The classic three questions of a soul lost and reborn echoed in his mind—then the memories struck.
Fragments. Faces. Screams. A blur of training, a cliff, a sudden push—then nothing but the wind.
The pain returned with a vengeance. His head throbbed as if it would split open, and he collapsed back to the ground, a low cry breaking from his lips.
"Found him! Found Young Master Gu!"
A voice shouted nearby. Footsteps rushed closer.
From between the trees appeared a man dressed in fine livery—an attendant by his bearing—who knelt beside the struggling boy.
"Xuan… Little Xuan…"
The boy looked up weakly. In the haze of pain, he saw an old man—tall and broad-shouldered, though his thinning hair betrayed his years.The old man's face twisted in horror and relief at once.
And then, darkness took the boy again.
The Storm in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect
"Rongrong! You've gone too far this time!"
Inside a lavishly furnished room of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi sat at the head of the table, his usually calm demeanor shattered by fury.
Before him stood a small girl—adorable, tearful, trembling—but the words she'd just spoken only deepened the chill in the room.
Beside Ning Fengzhi, two elders—Chen Xin and Gu Rong—remained silent.Especially Gu Rong. The old man who usually spoiled the little princess now sat motionless, eyes like cold steel.
"I—I didn't mean to!" Ning Rongrong stammered, her voice trembling. "He wouldn't play with me! He was always training! I just… pushed him a little. I didn't think he'd fall!"
Crack!
The armrest beneath Gu Rong's hand splintered into shards.
"Silence!" Ning Fengzhi roared. "You dare make excuses?"
He slammed his palm on the table, his anger finally breaking free. "Guards! Take the young lady away. She's grounded until Xuan recovers. Without my permission, no one is to visit her!"
Two maids hurried in, bowing low before they swept the sobbing girl away.
When the door closed, the silence that followed was suffocating.
"Gu Shu," Ning Fengzhi finally said, his tone weary, "Rongrong was reckless—Fengzhi failed to discipline her properly. Don't be angry. I'll see that she's punished. As for Xuan, I'll summon the best healing spirit masters in the empire. And…"
He hesitated before adding, "I'll offer a fifty-thousand-year spirit bone to aid his recovery."
Gu Rong's eyes flickered. That was no small offer. A fifty-thousand-year spirit bone could change a person's fate entirely.
Ning Fengzhi pressed on, voice quieter now. "Rongrong… she pushed him when he was exhausted from training. He fell from a cliff. And when she saw what happened, she hid it. We lost precious time before we found him. I know there's no excuse."
Gu Rong said nothing for a long while.
Finally, he sighed—a sound heavy with years of disappointment and grief. "Fengzhi, you know my grandson's temper. From now on, keep her away from him. Let him heal in peace."
Ning Fengzhi nodded solemnly. "You have my word."
A Prodigy's Shadow
Gu Xuan, grandson of Gu Rong, had always been the pride of the sect.Where other children played, he trained.Where others slacked, he studied in the sect's library, learning the lore of spirit rings, ancient beasts, and cultivation techniques.
He was the child parents compared their own to—the one everyone envied, and many resented.
Even Gu Rong, usually stern, couldn't hide his pride.
But today, that pride had nearly died with the boy.
Had they found him moments later, even the best healers might have been too late.
Ning Fengzhi knew it too. That's why he was willing to pay any price—to keep Gu Rong from walking away, and to keep the sect from fracturing.
After the others left, Gu Rong sat alone, head bowed.
Through the open doorway, he could see the glow of spirit power flickering in the adjacent room.Countless healing spirit techniques lit the air like fireflies, each pulse of light a desperate prayer.
He clenched his fists."Xuan'er… you must live," he murmured. "You're all I have left."
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