Yao Yue was reading a book about teleportation spells when she heard Huo Ping let out a small groan. The book disappeared from her hands as she got up and walked over to Huo Ping.
"You're finally awake. How do you feel?" she asked, sitting down on her bed.
He glanced around, trying to figure out his surroundings, before grabbing his still clenched fist.
"Don't worry, I didn't check what was in there." Yao Yue reassured. "I'm not that type of person. If you really don't want me to see it, I won't force myself on you. However," she gestured how nervous he was, "if you're trying to send a message out, I suggest you use a spirit messenger instead of a fire direct messenger. It takes less energy to create and it's less obvious."
"I...how do you...you cast it?" Huo Ping asked
"You don't know how?" He shook his head. "Alright, here, I'll show you."
Yao Yue settled herself next to him as he sat up next to her.
"First, how about you destroy the fire direct messenger in your hand?"
Huo Ping nodded, immediately setting the message on fire.
"Alright, so first think of the message that you want to send." she closed her eyes as she thought of the message she wanted to send. "Then you write the name of the person who you want to send to," she opened her eyes and quickly wrote Huo Ping's name in the air with her finger. "Now you focus on the name and send!"
A small beam of black light appeared from her forehead and flew in front of Huo Ping. He gently touched it, and the light turned into the words of "This is how you send a spirit messenger. It relies on how strong your spiritual energy is in order to travel far."
"The best part is that only the one who receives the message can read it. Otherwise, it just doesn't appear at all." Yao Yue smiled and pointed at Huo Ping. "Now you give it a try."
He nodded and slowly closed his eyes. He slowly pieced together the message he wanted to send and then opened his eyes, writing the name of the person he wanted to send the message to. But when he wanted to send the message, nothing appeared.
Confused, Huo Ping tried again only to get the same result.
"Hm, I think it's because your spiritual power isn't strong enough." Yao Yue took off her shoes and sat down behind him. "Here, I'll help you."
She took a deep breath, focusing her spiritual energy in other hands. She then placed them onto Huo Ping's back, surprising him as a sudden amount of power began to course throughout his body. He lurched forward at the sudden surge of power, and he glanced back at Yao Yue in shock.
"Go on," she answered, her hair beginning to fly from how much power she was exerting.
Huo Ping nodded, and began to send the message again. As he sent it, a strong red beam of light appeared and zoomed out of the walls of Yao Yue's room at lightning speed.
As soon as the light disappeared from sight, Yao Yue spat out some blood as she pulled her hands off of Huo Ping's back.
"Miss Yao...yao!" He turned around. "Are you...you alright?"
She waved her hand at him as she wiped away the blood from her mouth. "I'm fine, I just exerted way too much energy that's all. I wanted your message to be sent as fast as possible. It was really important, right?"
He slowly nodded. "Miss Yao, I have a question."
"Well won't you look at that? That's the first time you've spoken without a stutter!" Yao Yue laughed as he blushed at her response. "Go ahead, what's your question?"
"Why did you...you help me?"
"That intruder," she paused to look at Huo Ping's reaction, "was sent by the Huo Sect, right?"
A panicked look took over his face, confirming her suspicions.
"The message you wanted to send was to your father, to tell him that he had failed his mission, right?" Yao Yue sighed, falling back into her bed. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. The intruder has already been captured and it wouldn't hurt anyone for someone to report that back to the Huo Sect about what happened."
"But you-"
"I can tell you don't have any malicious intentions, you're just following the orders that you were given." she sighed. "It's a pity that you're not skilled enough to do what you have to do. If you fail you'll be punished, right?" he nodded. "Alright then, I'll help you."
Huo Ping was immediately confused. "Why...why would you help...help me?"
"Because I like you. You're the only person who's been kind to me since I came to Yun Tian Di." Yao Yue smiled at him. "It's the best I could do to repay your kindness."
"Ah... There's no...no need for that." Huo Ping blushed. "I...i just...just couldn't stand people...people talking about...about you like...like...like that!"
Yao Yue laughed as she sat up, patting his head. "Thanks, but I'm still holding out my offer. After class is over, you can always come with me and I'll help you train your spiritual energy and learn more spells in order to help you with your mission."
"Class...class!" Huo Ping immediately fell off the bed as he scrambled to get up. "I...I've missed class! Older...older brother is going to...to kill me!"
"Hey, are you alright?" She quickly got off the bed and helped him onto his feet.
"I...i..." he looked around panicked, and looked as if he was going to faint again.
"Hey, calm down, calm down." Yao Yue helped him up and sat him down on her bed. "I sent a duplicate of myself to class, she was there the whole entire time. If you're worried about not learning anything, I can transfer her memories onto you."
Huo Ping then grabbed onto her arm. "No...no, my...my...my brother..."
"I also duplicated a version of you to attend class. I made sure that he'd disappear as soon as class ended, out of sight so no one suspects a thing. You attended class today, alright?"
"Really...really?"
Yao Yue nodded with a smile, only to see a tear slip out of Huo Ping's eye. Much to her surprise, he immediately embraced her and began to sob.
"Thank you so much! I promise that I'll use my life to serve you!"
She stared in shock before letting out a nervous laugh and patting his back comfortingly. "Aren't you exaggerating a little bit?"
He shook his head. "Because you duplicated a version of me to take my place, you saved me from the wrath of my brother and father. Since you saved me, I owe you my life. If you need anything ever, I'll be there to get it for you, forever!"
Yao Yue just smiled, shaking her head at his naivete. "Alright, if you so wish."