The crowd gasped as a stunningly beautiful young woman, dressed in golden robes like a goddess descending from the heavens, glided towards Xing Jue and Elder Zhu. The air crackled with shock, and then with something altogether more unsettling…fear.
Everyone in the Inner Palace recognized those golden robes. They were the unmistakable symbol of the elite Inner Palace disciples - all one hundred of them.
And everyone, without exception, recognized the young woman. Li Xiaohan. Considered the most beautiful woman in the entire Yu Feng Sect, she was a figure of awe, admiration, and, if they were being honest with themselves, unrequited desire.
Evidence of that unrequited desire was on full display. As Li Xiaohan drew closer, several male disciples, overcome by her beauty, felt their noses begin to bleed. Yes, it was that bad.
But what was she doing here? Why was Li Xiaohan, the untouchable goddess of Yu Feng Sect, intervening on behalf of Xing Jue, a nobody, a recent transfer from the Outer Palace? It made no sense!
As the disciples whispered frantically amongst themselves, Xing Jue, ignoring his audience, turned towards Li Xiaohan, and what he said next nearly stopped their hearts.
Color, returning to his face, Xing Jue smiled broadly at Li Xiaohan and drawled, "Well, well, well. Look who it is. My dear wifey, come to see her hubby, has she?"
"Pfft!" Several disciples choked, spraying saliva everywhere. Was this guy suicidal? Did he actually just call Li Xiaohan… wifey?! He was the first person brave – or stupid – enough to ever try that!
"This guy's dead meat, I guarantee it," one disciple muttered to his friend.
To everyone's astonishment, Li Xiaohan, rather than erupting in fury as expected, merely smiled at Xing Jue's outrageous greeting.
"Am I late, Xing Jue?" She spoke softly, her voice like silk.
If Xing Jue's words had been a blow to their collective gut, Li Xiaohan's response was a full-on sucker punch to…well, to everything.
At this point, even Xing Jue was speechless. He'd blurted out that "wifey" nonsense in a moment of insane, giddy excitement and had immediately regretted it. He could only imagine what Li Xiaohan would unleash upon him, humiliating him in front of everyone in the Inner Palace.
Apparently, he hadn't imagined this. Not only was she not furious with him, she was actually calling him "Xing Jue." She'd never addressed him so informally in public before. It was…baffling! He was speechless. Literally.
"Miss Xiaohan," Elder Zhu practically groveled. His earlier arrogance had vanished, replaced by a fawning deference bordering on fear.
Li Xiaohan, however, was not interested in the old man's pathetic attempts at ingratiating himself with her. Her expression hardened, and her delicate hand shot out, catching Elder Zhu squarely in the chest before he even realized she'd moved.
It was a move so swift, so unexpected, so ruthlessly efficient, that many in the crowd didn't even see it. What they did see, however, was the aftermath.
"Bang!"
Elder Zhu, propelled backwards as if he'd been struck by a runaway ox cart, crashed through tables, chairs, and anything else unlucky enough to be in his path. He came to a stop at the base of a massive pillar, his body crumpled in a heap. A spray of blood splattered the floor beneath him.
Li Xiaohan watched Elder Zhu's unceremonious flight with cool detachment. "Consider that a taste of your own medicine," she said nonchalantly. "A little gift from Xing Jue."
Elder Zhu, still in shock, stared back at her in stunned disbelief. This…this was impossible! Who was this kid to Li Xiaohan? Why hadn't anyone told him Xing Jue had friends in high places?!
If he had known, he never, ever would have challenged Xing Jue, not for all the tea in the Middle Kingdom!
Li Xiaohan's reputation as a force to be reckoned with suddenly made a great deal of sense. Even the Second Elder of the Inner Palace was nothing compared to her.
"And one more thing," Li Xiaohan continued, her tone icy, as Elder Zhu's cronies rushed to his side. "Tell the Second Elder that if he tries anything else…anything at all…he can deal with me directly."
A tremor of pure terror ran down Elder Zhu's spine. She…she knew? How could she possibly know?!
He didn't bother to ask. He and his bruised ego had a date with a very large cup of shut up.
Once Elder Zhu and his entourage had departed, Li Xiaohan turned her attention back to Xing Jue.
The crowd, consumed by a truly impressive cocktail of envy, hatred, and disbelief, watched, open-mouthed, as Li Xiaohan gently helped Xing Jue to his feet before slipping a healing pill into his mouth.
This tender display of concern from their ice queen goddess nearly sent them over the edge.
"Wow, you're strong," Xing Jue said with a grin, accepting the pill gratefully.
He'd felt Elder Zhu's strength firsthand. The man had been like a raging bull, but Li Xiaohan had taken him down in a single move. His beautiful protector was obviously far more powerful than she looked.
"Oh, this?" Li Xiaohan dismissed his compliment with a wave of her hand and turned to face the stunned crowd. "Let me make this perfectly clear, in case anyone here is a little slow. Xing Jue is my boyfriend," she announced, her voice ringing with power. "If anyone in Yu Feng Sect so much as looks at him the wrong way from now on, you will answer to me. And it won't be pleasant."
The crowd froze. Literally froze. Li Xiaohan, their Li Xiaohan, and Xing Jue…a couple?! No. This had to be some kind of bizarre, cruel joke!
Li Xiaohan, seemingly oblivious to the effect her words had had on her audience, smiled sweetly at Xing Jue.
"Come on, let's get out of here."
And without another word, she led a very dazed Xing Jue out of the Dining Hall.
"Xing Jue, what's wrong? Are you overwhelmed by my sudden change of heart?" Li Xiaohan asked, her eyes twinkling playfully.
They were in the main hall of Xing Jue's residence in the Inner Palace, and for the last few minutes, Xing Jue had been staring into space, his expression unreadable.
Xing Jue chuckled awkwardly. "No, it's not that," he mumbled.
The truth was, he was feeling a little uneasy about what had just transpired back at the Dining Hall. Li Xiaohan was clearly a very important person in the Yu Feng Sect - a fact driven home by her effortless takedown of Elder Zhu - and he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd just been handed a "Get out of Jail Free" card in the form of her protection.
As of today, no one in the Yu Feng Sect would ever dare to mess with him again. Everyone had just witnessed how far Li Xiaohan was willing to go to defend him.
But the thought of living under her protection, of being known as "Li Xiaohan's boyfriend," made him profoundly uncomfortable. He was a man, not a trophy! He wanted to earn his own way, not rely on his girlfriend's influence to get ahead.
Xing Jue took a deep breath and met Li Xiaohan's gaze. Time for some answers.
"Xiaohan, would you mind telling me who you really are?"
"Does it matter?" she countered, her brow furrowed slightly in confusion.
"Yes. It matters," Xing Jue said firmly. "It matters a lot."
Li Xiaohan sighed dramatically. "Fine," she said, rolling her eyes playfully. "But you've brought this on yourself. Yes, I'm an Inner Palace disciple, if those fabulous golden robes didn't give it away already."
"But seniority has nothing to do with why those fools are so afraid of me. I'll have you know that my master is the Second Elder of the Inner Palace."
She paused, watching Xing Jue's face carefully for signs of…well, anything really. Shock? Disbelief? Aneurysm?
She was a little disappointed when all Xing Jue did was smile and raise an eyebrow.
"Is that all?"
"All?!" Li Xiaohan sputtered. "Well, no! There's… there's one more teeny tiny thing you should probably know. The Supreme Elder of the Yu Feng Sect…is my grandfather."
This time, Xing Jue's carefully constructed composure slipped a little. He'd been able to handle the "Second Elder" thing, but the Supreme Elder? The Supreme Elder was like…well, he was the Supreme Elder! Even the Sect Leader answered to him!
"So, yeah, that happened." Li Xiaohan bit her lip. Surely this would be enough to make him run screaming for the hills. She'd been worried about overwhelming him with her many, many accomplishments, but this... this was ridiculous!
Deciding to lighten the mood – and hopefully forestall a full-blown panic attack on Xing Jue's part – she leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "What you really want to know is why I chose you to be my boyfriend, right?"
"Pffft!" Xing Jue choked on the piece of fruit he'd been chewing, spraying bits of apple and spittle everywhere.
She was right! How did she always do that?
He quickly dabbed at his mouth with his sleeve, his face burning with embarrassment. He'd known all along that Li Xiaohan wasn't just some ordinary girl, but the Supreme Elder's granddaughter? That was a lot to process!
And that was the crux of the matter, wasn't it? Why him? What did she see in him? The first time they'd met, he'd been a nobody – a low-level Martial Lord surrounded by Inner Palace disciples and the most eligible bachelors in the entire Yu Feng Empire. He'd been a speck of dust in a very glamorous galaxy, and yet…
Li Xiaohan, misinterpreting Xing Jue's silence, jumped to her feet.
"I knew it!" she said, her lower lip trembling in that way that had always made him want to give her whatever she wanted. "You think I'm making fun of you, don't you? You think I could never be interested in someone like you!"
And with that, she stormed towards the door, each step a tiny earthquake of indignation.
"Xiaohan, wait!" Xing Jue scrambled to his feet but stopped short, unsure of what to say or do. He'd offended her, he knew that much, but how? What had he done?
Li Xiaohan paused in the doorway, her back to him, and Xing Jue's heart sank. He was losing her!
"Xiaohan, please..."
But before he could humiliate himself further, she turned around, her face serious. Gone was the playful, teasing Li Xiaohan he knew. This was the Li Xiaohan everyone else knew– the untouchable goddess, the ice queen.
And then she spoke, the words tumbling out in a rush, as if she couldn't hold them in any longer.
"I don't care if you believe me or not, but when I first saw you…I…I fell for you."
And with that, she was gone, leaving Xing Jue standing alone in the middle of the hall, his head spinning.
He stood there for a long time, his heart pounding in his chest, before a slow smile spread across his face.
"I believe you," he whispered.