“Wandering by like a leaf in the breeze~ Just searching for a place where I can be~”

Deep in the night, a gentle melody echoes across the otherwise silent hall. A man steps through a wide hallway, lined with reinforced steel doors on both sides, singing and humming to himself as he goes about his daily tasks.

“A place to rest, set my aching heart at ease~ Just searching for a place where I can be~”

Behind him, a rectangular bucket on wheels transports a few liters of water, splashing back and forth with the rhythm of his steps. He lifts his white sleeve, adorned with green markings of herbs and plants, and wipes the sweat from his forehead, making sure to keep his elbow tucked to his side so as to not drop the mop wedged beneath his armpit.

“I’m losing my way~ So take me away~ I’m floating away~ Hmmmmmmhmmm a way away~”

Entering another room, he dips the mop into the bucket before planting it against the floor. With nimble steps, he glides across the room with the head of the mop before him. Starting from the outer edges, he carefully works his way towards the center, making sure to avoid the furnace in the center.

“I can’t see a way~ So show me the way~ I’m drifting away~ Hmmmmmmmhmmm a way away~”

Upon finishing, he tucks the mop back under his armpit and makes his way towards the next chamber.

“Stargazing by the mountainside~ Wipe the tears from beneath your eyes~ Stay a moment, just a while~ Anything to protect your smile~”

As he approaches, he raises a single eyebrow at the reddish-brown set of footsteps trailing into and away from the steel door. Assuming it to be mud and dirt, he dips the mop into the bucket before sweeping the stains away.

“Stargazing through the parting skies~ No more tears underneath your eyes~”

He unlocks the door before pushing it open.

“Stay forever, forever while~ I gaze upon that… that perfect… sm-”

The melody comes to a pause as the door slides fully open. His arm, previously tense to keep the mop securely tucked beneath his armpit, suddenly relaxes before dropping by his side. The mop head slaps against the floor with a muffled slosh, followed by the rhythmic tapping of the handle as it bounces.

“Heavens…” He mumbles, staring with disbelief at the scene before him.

The man had walked into another concoction chamber, yet there was barely any resemblance to the previous chamber. The shelves and cabinets lining the walls had been scorched black, some burnt to a crisp. Scorched metal shrapnel pierced deeply into the stones-stacked walls, protruding into the room. More shrapnel lined the floor, radiating outwards like a flower. Tracing the path of the charred metal, the man realizes that the furnace that rests at the center of each chamber is no longer present in this one.

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This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Beads of sweat accumulate atop a pair of white eyebrows, gliding towards the slightly drooping corners. With a hand as steady as a weathered tree, Grandmaster Yi pierces a needle into Anning’s upper abdomen. A faint azure glow pulses between her skin and the thin circumference of the needle as it pierces through.

Grandmaster Yi carefully withdraws his hand, lifting his head to get a full view. He observes the petite girl, covered from head to toe in bandages and needles, mentally noting the radiance and frequency of the pulsing glow. After a few minutes, he leans back against the chair, letting the sweat accumulating at the corner of his brows fall onto the floor.

Meanwhile, against the pristine walls of the hallway, the students wait with bated breath. The three girls sit side by side, holding each other’s hands in anticipation of good news. Across from them, the boys furrow their brows as their eyes trace the floors, walls, and ceiling. Although everything seems unchanged, the boys exchange knowing glances each time they spot hints of what transpired earlier that night.

The slightly sunken areas on the wooden floors, the impossibly thin deep red lines crisscrossing along the walls, the cracked joints at the corners where the overhanging beams meet the pillars- the boys pick up on it all. They remain silent, speaking to each other through their eyes, each knowing that something happened while they were inside the dining room- something that Instructor Sun did not want them to witness.

“Yuyu…” Sun’s voice breaks the silence, calling out to the little girl nodding off between Xi and Maoyi. “Come, it’s getting late.”

“No! No! Yuyu isn’t sleepy!” Yuyu jumps awake, flailing as Sun reaches under her arms and pulls her from the girls. “Yuyu wants to stay with everyone else!”

“...” Sun freezes upon hearing the unfamiliar word from Yuyu’s mouth, trying to recall the last time, if ever, he heard her vehemently disobey him.

“Come in.” A voice calls from within the chamber.

Following the voice, the double doors to the chamber swivel open. Upon seeing the doors open fully, Yuyu lifts her knees and kicks her feet against Sun’s abdomen, flailing herself free from his hands. She runs into the room and kneels beside the bed, gripping the bamboo frame with both hands as she watches Anning’s chest rise up and down. As the little girl stares at Anning, Grandmaster Yi turns towards the door to see a cast of tense faces.

“Relax your hearts, children. Gyohoho! ” He chuckles for the first time since the long night prior. “The worst has passed.”

Everyone breathes collectively, expelling the tension that had set roots deep within their hearts. One by one, they make their way into the room, lining the edges of the bamboo frame. Sun, slightly stunned from Yuyu’s first act of disobedience, shakes the incident off before stepping into the room.

Just as he passes the doors, he pauses and turns around and sets sights on a lone boy. Despite being wrapped in thick layers of bandages, Sun is still able to see the slight trembling in the boy’s arms. Judging from the intense gaze, it’s clear that the boy wants to step through the doors, yet his back doesn’t break away from the wall. Seeing this, Sun approaches him and places his hand on the boy’s head.

“Heavy, isn’t it?” Sun askes as he ruffles the boy’s hair. “The weight of responsibility.”

The boy bites his lower lip, trying to distract himself from the tears forming by the bottom of his eyes. He lowers his gaze as the tears escape. The tears stream down his cheeks and to the point of his chin, pausing for a moment before falling onto the floor one after another each time the boy nods.

“You heard your father, the worst has passed.” Sun says as he folds the opening of his sleeves between his fingers. Lifting his hand towards the boy’s face, he wipes the tears from beneath the boy’s eyes. “Hide your tears and straighten your shoulders, Yi Dan.”

Dan clenches his jaw, trying his best to straighten his shoulders. Although trembling, he manages to keep his tears clear from his face as he lifts his gaze towards the doorway, meeting his father’s eyes. Grandmaster Yi smiles before nodding at him. With the silent encouragement, he pushes himself off the wall. The muscles between his shoulder blades tighten, pulling his slightly slouched shoulders back to align with his ears, as he takes the first step.

“To smile in the face of adversity…” Sun’s lips curve into a soft smile as Dan takes another step and plants his foot into the cracked wooden floor. “...is part of that heavy responsibility.”