As Lu Yang cautiously inspected his room, Wu Lei, the one he had beaten up earlier, was pacing angrily in his own quarters, frustrated from waiting.
'Damn it! That dog Lu Yang's been at the guard post for two hours. Why hasn't anyone come to tell me anything?'
'Lu Yang, just you wait! I'll make you pay for this,' he fumed, stomping around his room, until the door creaked open.
Seeing a servant he didn't recognize step inside, he asked, "Who are you?"
The servant said respectfully, "Young Master, the eldest young master sent me."
Wu Lei's face lit up with anticipation. "Finally! I was getting tired of waiting. What did my brother say?"
"Young Master, your elder brother asked that you stay in your room for a few days until your injuries have healed," the servant replied.
"What! But why? And what about the academy? What about Lu Yang?" Wu Lei's confusion grew.
"I don't know, young master," the servant replied simply.
Wu Lei scratched his head, deep in thought for a moment.
'But why? I don't want to stay at home.'
'Hmph. Well, if my brother says so, I guess I'll listen.'
"Okay, you can leave." He gave a hand signal to the servant.
Dismissing the servant, Wu Lei walked over to his bed, sat onto it, and threw one foot over the other, staring at the door.
After the servant left the room, Wu Lei fell into thought.
'I wonder how my brother will handle Lu Yang. Maybe he'll just finish him off.'
"Ahh... Anyway, my brother will handle it."
Confident that his brother, born from the same mother, would deal with the matter decisively, Wu Lei relaxed, poking gingerly at a bruise on his face.
"Owww!" Lying on bed, he thought. 'Yeah, maybe I better lay low—if father sees me like this, with all these bruises and scars, there'll be trouble.'
Without realizing that his father already knew everything, Wu Lei worried that his father might find out he got beaten despite having backup and being one level above Lu Yang's.
"So long as I stay in my room until I'm healed, it'll be fine." Knowing that his father had been having a rough time dealing with the Lee and Han families lately, Wu Lei let the matter drift from his mind and settled in comfortably on his bed.
Meanwhile, Lu Yang, having left his wooden hut at the foot of the mountain, strolled happily toward his favorite spot for one of his usual routines.
"Wow! What a perfect day!" he exclaimed, looking around and enjoying the scenery as he walked for half an hour with a bag in hand.
Arriving at the edge of a small hill, he looked around before placing the bag on a little table in the middle.
"Not a single cloud today—the sky's truly beautiful," he murmured with a slight smile before looking toward the sun. 'Better get this done quickly,' he thought, starting to gather dry grass and twigs.
Soon, as Lu Yang enjoyed the crackling of the fire and the aroma of tea in the air, he sat, watching the sunset with a gentle smile, cup in hand. At first, he felt content, but after a while, a strange pang settled in his chest.
Hilltop spots like this he'd found two years ago while wandering in grief after his family's passing was actually quite sought by the academy students, thanks to its perfect view of sunrise and sunset.
It was well-known that the best Earth energy could be absorbed at dawn and dusk, especially from locations with a direct view of the sun. Martial practitioners placed great importance on finding and securing such locations for their training.
Such locations were a privilege that only the strongest students in martial academies could enjoy. In big cities, fighting for locations like these was very common.
Though the academy students would surely be enraged to see Lu Yang here, knowing all of this, not training but sipping tea, they had no idea he'd only practice during sunrise and sunset when he was feeling down. If he was in good spirits, he'd rather enjoy a nice cup of tea as the sun came and went.
Today, with the added pleasure of having dealt with Wu Lei, Lu Yang was enjoying his tea during sunset on this hill. But that strange, unplaceable feeling weighed on him.
"What's with this feeling?" he muttered as he took a sip, a faint sadness creeping into his voice.
"Fuuu…" With the last sip of his tea, he placed the cup back on the table, taking one last look at the sun with a solemn expression.
As darkness settled in, he felt no need to linger, so he stood up, extinguished the fire, grabbed his bag, and cast a final glance at the mountains where the sun had disappeared before walking back to his wooden hut.
After walking all the way back along the path he had taken before, he stopped abruptly when he saw someone standing in front of his wooden hut in the moonlight.
'Who's this?'
Hearing Lu Yang's footsteps, the man turned around and addressed him in a cold voice, "Finally here, kid—I've been standing here forever."
"Who are you?" Lu Yang asked, his voice tense.
Ignoring Lu Yang's question, the man continued, "You're the kid named Lu Yang, right?"
"The academy director sent me. You've been expelled. By sunrise, you're to leave this mountain."
Without waiting for Lu Yang's reaction, the man turned and walked away, leaving Lu Yang standing there in stunned silence.
"Hahahaha..." Lu Yang's laughter filled the air as he processed the news.
"So that's what this strange feeling was about."
After a few more seconds, his laughter faded. With a calm expression, he walked to his hut's door.
Moments later, he emerged, a large cloth bundle on his back and a small bag in hand. Shutting the door behind him, he set off down the mountain path, not looking back even once.