Xinyue wanted to bite off her wretched tongue. How dare she ask such a question?
'Are you alright'? Seriously?
Any fool could see that Meilian was terribly injured. She had vowed not to let anyone else get hurt and yet... here she was. Again.
Guilt twisted in her guts, even as she extended a helping hand to her classmate.
"Here. Let me pull you up".
Meilian looked from the Saintess' hand to her face and back to her hand, several emotions twisting and turning inside of her,none of them positive.
Finally, she ignored the gesture and spent a very long time struggling to her feet with the help of her sword, which she dug into the ground with her left hand and used like a stick or staff.
"Can you walk?"Xinyue said "let me help...".
"What are you doing here?".
The icy words, spoken in an even icier tone, made the Saintess flinch,as though a bucket of cold water had been thrown into her face.
"I... came to help".
"To help,"Meilian bit out the words as if they were an insult directed at her"and who told you your help was needed here? I certainly did not request for backup".
"Actually, I kept a talisman with A-Yue, to alert me if she ever gets into danger. That's how I was able to...".
"You kept a talisman,"Meilian chuckled,a short, bitter sound "even though I was accompanying them. Even though I was in charge".
Her voice rose, eerily similar to that of Madame Meng.
"You think me incompetent, don't you?".
"No,"Xinyue spoke quickly "not at all. That really wasn't...".
"Shut the hell up!"Meilian snapped, seizing her by her clothes, roughly enough to rip them"this was my mission. MY goddamn mission, Meng Xinyue. We all know how talented and perfect you are, but that doesn't mean you should suffocate everyone else who's not like you! I have goals and aims too... I have to break myself everyday just to prove I'm enough! And someone like you who never has to try at all could never...!".
Choked by emotion, Meilian could not get any more words out. There were tears in her eyes, but she furiously blinked them back. She would not give this genius the satisfaction of watching her cry. Someone like her who never had to struggle because the universe had unfairly dropped everything into her lap could never understand the feelings of the non-exceptional ones.
Only people like that could afford to go about,robbing others of the chance to prove themselves, and doing it so effortlessly. The sheer injustice of it all, that some people could stifle others, could induce self hatred in others, simply by existing.
She stared into the Saintess' face, into her wide, confused eyes, and in that moment loathed her.
"Forget it"she snapped, shoving Xinyue away just as roughly, before she began to stagger towards the exit.
It was pointless speaking to the damn genius. She would not get it, anyway. The likes of her never did.
*
*
*
Noon the next day met the junior disciples at a top tier restaurant, seated at tables according to their teams.
"I can't believe our trip had to be cut short at just two days!"Yingyue lamented.
"The location isn't considered safe anymore, so of course it had to happen"Chao replied.
"Well, I know that. A-Ling even had to be rushed back to Mist Oasis".
"We should be thankful it's not anything serious enough to send him back to Phoenix Retreat for"Chao said.
He, for one, was more thankful than they knew.
He had been absolutely horrified when he saw Ling's state, and extremely guilty too. After all, Ling had only ended up like that because he insisted on buying Chao time to escape.
"And on the bright side,we get to be treated out!"Yingyue beamed, pulling him out of his thoughts.
Right on cue, their meals arrived: sweet-and-sour fish bathed in a vividly red sauce and cooked with vinegar, sticky rice dumplings, shredded pork in garlic sauce, chicken cubes fried to a crisp, fragrant tea in a swan shaped porcelain pot.
It was a feast.
But what caught Yingyue's eye was the platter topped with fluffy white baozi.
"It's baozi!"she squealed.
"Is it? How clever of you to discover that"Haoran retorted.
"Must you be so nasty?"Yingyue pouted as she grabbed one and proceeded to blow on it"my mother never lets me eat as much of them as I want".
"Why not?"Chao asked.
"Because I always eat too much of them. I don't stop even when I'm full".
"Such ill manners"was Haoran's verdict.
Yingyue munched on the snacks, paying him no attention.
"I swear,if heaven doesn't have these, I won't go there even if I'm invited"she declared.
"Well, fortunately, nobody wants you up there"Haoran retorted.
"I'm quite fine with that, knowing that you'll be kicked out if you ever appeared there by accident"she replied.
"You guys..."Chao sighed, rubbing his forehead wearily.
Was this really a good time to hurl words as each other?
"Are you okay?"Haoran noticed his distress and turned to him immediately.
He had been watching Chao like a hawk since after the whole thing with the beast,as though expecting him to fall over any moment.
He had even insisted that Chao get sent back to Mist Oasis alongside a still unconscious Ling for proper treatment, even though his first aid supplies and some healing pills from Xinyue had already done the trick.
The only proof that Chao had ever been in such an alarming condition was the bandages on his leg.
"I'll be okay if you two stop quarreling and eat. Please?".
"Sure"the two replied promptly.
If there was anything the both of them agreed on, it was that A-Chao was a sweetheart who must not be offended.
So Haoran picked his chopsticks, and Yingyue continued to snack on her precious baozi, silently this time.
It was simply amazing, the power Chao wielded over two of them.
"Hey,"Haoran suddenly whispered"do you think they have liquor here?".
"I'm sure they do,why do you ask?"Chao replied.
"How innocent are you?"Yingyue laughed"he wants to get drunk,of course".
Haoran's face went red, all the way to the tips of his ears.
"I don't!"he declared, his voice a little too loud.
"Of course you don't,"Yingyue sniffed"you just want to research...".
"You...!".
"Should I order liquor for you, A-Han?"Chao cut in.
"W-well... I just want to have some is all"Haoran mumbled.
"Sure. I don't think you have anything to be ashamed of. Liquor is quite alright if taken moderately".
"Aww..."Yingyue pouted,"you just fumbled the bag, A-Chao. I wanted to tease him some more".
Haoran was prepared to spit out a retort, but Chao tapped his shoulder in a placating gesture.
"I'll go order you a bottle".
"Don't bother,"Haoran stood up"I'll do it myself".
Yingyue watched him go up to the counter,a small smile on her face.
"He's a refreshing fellow"she giggled.
"Refreshing?"Chao tilted his head.
"Yup. Don't you think so?".
"I... guess so".
Haoran returned in no time, and Yingyue watched curiously as he poured himself a cup of the alcoholic drink before he downed it in one gulp.
"What is it like?"she asked.
"Why don't you decide that for yourself?"he replied, sliding the bottle across the table to her.
"Nah, I'll pass".
Yingyue had sworn never to taste liquor ever since the day she accompanied a maidservant to purchase a few things back home and saw half a dozen grown men staggering and singing drunkenly outside a popular bar.
Who would want to drink something that did that to people? They say one would be alright as long as they knew and did not exceed their limit, but she was definitely not going to make any attempts at discovering those limits, thank you very much.
"You, A-Chao?"Haoran turned to his friend.
"No, I'd rather not".
"You guys have no idea what you're missing"Haoran said, pouring himself another cup.
Yingyue rolled her eyes and reached for the teapot instead. Why drink something that could drive you crazy when you could have some of this delicious-smelling tea instead?
*
*
*
"Come in".
Xinyue stepped into the Sect leader's office with her head down, shutting the door soundlessly. She put her hands together and bowed in salute.
"You sent for me, Sect leader".
"Maiden Meng. You were with the juniors before they left the forest, right?".
"I'm sorry".
Junjie blinked.
"Why are you sorry?".
"It wasn't my place. I acted selfishly, believing myself to be in the best position to handle whatever danger might arise during the field trip".
"What did you do, exactly?".
Xinyue stared at her hands, clenching into fists on her lap.
"I attached a talisman to my sister, to alert me if she encounters any danger. By doing so, I did not realize that I was looking down on A-Lian,who was the juniors' chaperone".
Junjie did not know whether to laugh at the absurdity of this line of reasoning or cry in sympathy with the Saintess' solemn remorse.
"But you helped out, did you not?".
Xinyue started, looking up at him in astonishment.
"I heard from A-Yue. Guangchang Meilian would have died if not for your timely arrival. You anticipated danger and prepared adequately for it, and as a result, you saved a life. If that is what selfishness is,then I ask that you never seize to be selfish, Maiden Meng".
By now, Xinyue's eyes were twice their size.
"Anyway, I didn't call you here for that. I have some questions for you".
"Yes, Sect leader"Xinyue schooled her expression immediately.
"The beast, what happened to it after you killed it?".
"Its body disintegrated".
"I see. That does not happen with beasts, you know that, right?".
"I know".
"Alright,"Junjie opened a book and flipped some pages,"take a look at this for me, and see if the beast matches this description".
"Yes, Sect leader".
Xinyue accepted the book from his hands and read silently.
(TUNSHIZHE
A most grotesque monster, known to possess three eyes the color of the moon, one of which is on its forehead. It has the appearance of a dog, but is taller than a grown man and has fangs that can chop an oak tree in two. The heavy furs on its body are able to repel any attacks thrown at it.)
"Yes, it did, except it did not have an eye on its forehead,"Xinyue said"and it wasn't taller than me, although it was unbelievably huge".
"I see. Thank you, Maiden Meng. You just confirmed my suspicions".
"Sect leader,if I may".
"Yes, Maiden Meng?".
"TunshiZhe is one of the demon king's pets, but it has not been seen since after the Rain of Blood fifty years ago. And that beast at the field trip was not TunshiZhe, despite the similarities. Could it be that someone is trying to duplicate the actual TunshiZhe, and this duplicate was designed to disintegrate after death so as to hide the evidence?".
Junjie smiled.
"Brilliant, Maiden Meng. That is exactly what is going on".