When they entered the small house, LanYing immediately noticed that there were signs of a struggle. Her heart dropped as a thought popped into her head.

They couldn’t possibly be-

LanYing took a breath and steadied her hands. She readied her bow and searched the house. As she entered the open room, her eyes were drawn to the older couple. Alive.

She sighed a breath of relief and her grip loosened, but also took notice of an eye catching green in the corner of her eye.

A stunning woman laid unconscious and tied up on the floor. She wore green and black robes, surprisingly complimenting her fair complexion. Her hair was a deep black, similar to LanYing’s own, but she found it even more beautiful. Then she remembered that the woman was tied up.

“What happened?” LanYing asked them.

They looked at each other and He Lin spoke, “This woman attacked us. Luckily for us, we’re not as fragile as we look.”

LanYing smiled, “Thank the gods for that.”

The two smiled back and He Hong motioned towards Wei Yuan and Linghu Jianyu, “Who are they, A-Ying?”

“‘A-Ying’?” The two in question muttered in confusion, but LanYing ignored it in favor of answering the elder two.

“This is Wei Yuan and Linghu Jianyu from my old sect.” She explained.

The two nodded, but He Lin spoke up, “Do you need help to get rid of them?”

LanYing shook her head, “No, I need to speak with them. I-” She paused, “The reason you were attacked, this might be my fault, forgive me.”

She went to bow, but the couple just waved her off. He Hong spoke, “You don’t need to bow to us.”

He Lin nodded, “As for forgiving you, there is nothing to forgive. It was her fault, no action you may have taken would have caused this.”

LanYing bit her lip. She wanted to protest, but she bit her tongue and simply nodded, “Thank you.”

She turned back to her old friends, “Let us speak in the other room.”

The two looked at each other and nodded. LanYing guided them to a private room. Wei Yuan placed a talisman on the wall and activated it.

Most likely soundproofing the room, She thought before he began to speak.

“Around 5 months ago,” He began, “A man stormed into the Sect.”

Linghu Jianyu snorted, “It was no man! It was a demon!”

LanYing startled, “A demon?”

She couldn’t believe it. Demons and Devils tended to stay in the underworld and out of human affairs. The only reason they would be in the human realm was because they were summoned and that was quite literally a death sentence.

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Wei Yuan nodded solemnly, “He demonstrated that himself. He injured a lot of disciples. He demanded only one thing.”

He paused and Linghu Jianyu took over, “You.”

LanYing blinked and stuttered out, “What? W-What do you mean? Why-?”

“My best guess,” Wei Yuan interrupted, “Is that someone made a deal. Care to enlighten us?”

“Excuse me?” She narrowed her eyes, “You think I had something to do with it?”

“I didn’t-” Wei Yuan tried to back track, but Linghu Jianyu cut him off.

“It makes sense, if you did,” He told her, “You always were petty.”

“Petty?” LanYing nearly hissed, “Summoning a demon isn’t what any sane person would consider ‘petty’! It’s destructive!”

“Well, you’re quite destructive too!” Linghu Jianyu shot back.

“A-Yu!” Wei Yuan hissed at him. LanYing let out a noise of frustration.

“Then go tell your Sect Leader I’m not coming back!” She told them, her irritation at its peak, “Why are you even here?! It’s clear you don’t wish to see me! You should have told Sect Leader Mo, I’m sure he would have let you stay away!”

Linghu Jianyu seemed taken aback, his face growing conflicted before he shook his head, “A-Ying-”

“Don’t.” She bit out, “Not after everything.”

Wei Yuan cut in, “You’re in danger, Xu LanYing, and so are your…friends here.”

LanYing bit her lip hard, they were right. She knew they were right, but it was a hard pill to swallow. In order to keep her friends in the village safe, she needed to go with them.

“Fine.” She relented, “Fine, I’ll go with you.”

The two seemed to let out a sigh of relief and Wei Yuan spoke again, “We’ll have to take the woman who attacked that older couple. We’ll bring her before our sect and have them decide her sentence.”

LanYing nodded and Wei Yuan motioned to Linghu Jianyu. He handed her a sack and as soon as she felt it, she knew what it was. She gasped and quickly opened it up, revealing a simple silver sword. The sight made her eyes widen and burn slightly with unshed tears.

“Hépíng shǐzhě.” She whispered in reverence. She looked up at them, “I really can just come back?”

They nodded and LanYing was torn between anger and complete euphoria. They returned her sword. They weren’t just leading her to the sect to be given to some demon. She was truly welcomed back.

But why?

Wei Yuan released the talisman’s power. He left the room, but as she went to, a hand grabbed her arm. She looked at Linghu Jianyu with a confused and defensive face.

“Yes?” She asked, hesitance clear in her tone.

“I-” He began before taking a breath, “Please forgive my words. I didn’t mean them.”

She shook her head, “No, you meant every word.”

“Xu LanYing…” He trailed off. She sighed and turned to him.

“Linghu Jianyu.” She paused, unused to saying his full name, before carrying on, “You can have your opinions. Even if they do not portray me in the best of lights, they’re yours to have. Just, please, don’t share them with me.”

“I-Alright.” He stumbled over his words, “Still, I regret my words. They were disrespectful.”

LanYing gave him a small and hesitant smile, “You were never one to be respectful.”

He let out a huff of laughter, “I suppose you’re right.”

“You ‘suppose’ I’m right?” She raised an eyebrow, “I am right.”

Linghu Jianyu scoffed, but his lips twitched up just a twinge, “Arrogant much?”

LanYing laughed slightly, “I think you’re talking about yourself.”

In truth, she had missed this. The banter and the familiarity. It reminded her of home and wasn't that a bittersweet feeling to have.

“You-”

A crash came from the other room, effectively cutting off their first decent conversion. With only a single glance towards each other, they rushed into the next room. As soon as they entered, LanYing had one thought.

It seemed the woman had woken up.