Fang let her sentence trail off when she noticed the boy was unconscious. She sat there for a moment watching the slow rise and fall of his chest. She had never had the opportunity to study him up close.

Her family was not particularly superstitious, but there was no question that he was bad luck, demon-touched from birth. She let her hand hover over the white hairs on his brow and eyelashes. The blood from his cuts stained some of the white hairs pink. Shang shifted in his sleep, and she jerked her hand back. She felt a pang of pity for the boy. The delicate lines of his face were mottled with budding bruises and crusted blood. Gingerly, she started to clean his wounds with a damp cloth.

Fang was always an observant child. Though she preferred the company of scrolls, when she was forced to socialize with others, she was more interested in watching and studying those around her. It started as a mechanism of defense, but soon became a source of comfort. The boy had always stood out to her.

At first, she thought it was due to his peculiar features. It was not hard to stand out when everyone in the village had the same jet-black hair and eyes, but there was something else as well. It was a nebulous difference at first—a penchant for getting in trouble, a disregard for common edicts of behavior, a spark for life, a wild abandon. In these ways, he was entirely different from her. She, who was so shackled by the weight of her family’s expectations, envied him.

Fang noticed from a young age that everyone put forward a false face in front of her family. Actors playing at life. Instead of studying a person directly, it was always easier to understand them by observing how they were treated by those close to them. So much implied in a shifty glance or a terse remark. The little interactions between two actors were harder to fake.

The most obvious thing that made Shang special were his friends. They orbited around him like he was the center of their world. Despite being older than Shang and infinitely stronger, they always lead Shang lead them.

Fang had expected the relationship to change as YiHua and Xin continued to excel in cultivation. But, if anything, his friends seemed to only latch on harder. Their previous attachments compounded with a new layer of worry and concern at Shang’s weakness. It caused her brother and many others to whisper about Shang’s cravenness and his conniving nature. They seemed convinced that he had tricked them into being his friends, but Fang saw things differently.

She rinsed the blood-soaked cloth with fresh water before continuing to scrub off the dried-blood from the boy’s face. She was not the overtly caring type and couldn’t recall ever doing this for someone other than herself. The act made her feel vulnerable, and she was glad he was not awake to witness it. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice someone approaching until they were already in the practice yard. It was an aura she was very familiar with. She had just enough time to throw the bloodied rag under the cot before the intruder barged in. The force of her entrance nearly knocked the doors off their hinges.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to come into someone else’s home uninvited YiHua ?” YiHua ignored Fang and rushed over to Shang’s cot. Her usually neatly pinned hair was in disarray and her eyes were wide and red from worry. She hovered her hands over Shang’s body, unsure if touching him would cause him more harm. Fang watched quietly as the tops of YiHua’s cheeks heated with emotion. Her full lips quivered as she sensed the injuries throughout his body. When she was done, her expression darkened.

“I knew your family were a nest of snakes, but I never thought that even you would stoop so low as to beat up someone defenseless. You truly have no honor.” YiHua did not look at Fang as she spoke. Her voice was cold and biting. Fang didn’t have time to respond before the healer arrived. They were promptly rushed out of the room as the healer worked to reset his shoulder and arm. YiHua wanted to stay, but her skin turned ashen at the sight of the odd bend in Shang’s arm. They both stood outside in the training courtyard. The silence between them was deafening. “Why is he even here?” YiHua asked, face still furrowed in anger.

“He didn’t want his mother to see like this, so he didn’t want to go to the healing halls,” Fang said shortly. YiHua and Fang always had a strained relationship. Fang’s loss at the first-year trials had earned her severe punishment from her father, scars from which she still had to this day. Fang recognized she was not gifted like YiHua was. YiHua managed to complete the first stage of expulsion while she was still a lower-third cultivator, without any instruction, and in the midst of battle. Being able to expend that amount of qi before opening her fourth meridian was astonishing. The way she did it was almost frightening. Normally, there would be no shame in losing to a prodigy. The heavens had blessed YiHua, and who were mere mortals to test the will of the heavens?

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Fang’s father did not have such reservations.

Fang knew that it was not YiHua’s responsibility to reign in her father’s cruelty, but the resentment was still there. Her earlier accusation ate at Fang, but she was not surprised. She knew she came off cold and no different than her brother. She liked to think that her brother’s casual cruelty was bred into him, but she still remembered the innocent child he used to be. Fang found it impossible to reconcile the image of her brother crying at a skinned knee and his expression of bloodlust as he continued to torment Shang.

The thought twisted her stomach into knots. Was she any better?

It wasn’t long before she could sense a much heavier and darker aura approaching the courtyard. Xin barged in much like YiHua did. Except this time, the door to the courtyard did crack at the seams. He rushed towards YiHua, his breath huffing white plumes into the cold air.

“Where is he?” His normally open face was clouded with anger. YiHua gestured to the closed door.

“He’s in there.” She put up a hand to stop his charge into the room. “The healer’s with him.” Xin stopped with visible effort and nodded.

“Your friend isn’t an infant. You two don’t need to mother him like that,” Fang said. YiHua spun at her words. Her nostrils flared in anger.

“You, need to shut it. You think we care what a dishonorable viper like you thinks about us.”

Fang was a bit taken aback by the ferocity of her words. YiHua was inches away from her now, hands clenched and shaking. Fang let her hands hang loose at her sides but started cycling her lower meridians.

“YiHua, stop.” Xin’s big frame squeezed in between the girls, completely obstructing Fang’s view. “I heard from one of the students that she was the one that pulled Xiao off him.”

YiHua’s mouth hung open in shock, but she was not ready to relinquish her anger. “So other students saw? I heard from Xiao’s little minions what happened, but it seems like everyone at the school is a coward. They just stood by and watched while Shang almost got killed.” She pushed past her friend to pace around the courtyard.

Xin turned to Fang and dipped his head in apology. “Forgive her, she’s not herself right now. I appreciate what you did. If you weren’t there, maybe Shang would really be dead,” Xiao said. His voice was weak, cracking at the last word.

“I meant what I said,” Fang insisted. “You both think he’s some weak child. He was holding his own, at least for a while.”

Xin nodded his head in agreement. “You’re right. I think we both tend to be overprotective. It’s weird for us. Growing up, it was always Shang that helped us, but now…things are more complicated. We know firsthand how much strength he possesses, but it’s hard not to feel worried given the circumstances.” Xin’s large frame was slouched, and his hands were fidgeting as he spoke. While he cut an impressive image both physically and spiritually, his personality was…much less imposing. “Either way, we apologize for coming to your home uninvited. That was rude of us. And sorry…about the door. We will pay to get it fixed.” His head dipped lower in apology.

“Stand up straight, it’s weird seeing you bent over like that,” Fang grumbled. “It would also be nice if you both apologized.” She glanced over at the pacing YiHua. Fang could tell that she heard though she refused to acknowledge it. It seemed YiHua also had an issue with pride. Xin gave a conciliatory smile before joining YiHua. Fang stood apart from the pair, feeling more alone than she could ever recall. She was about to retreat to her study when the healer exited the room. Her assessment was much the same as Fang’s. It would take a couple of weeks at least to gain functionality in his arm but there was no long-term damage. Her healing techniques were of little use to him because she could not force qi to flow through his broken meridians.

YiHua and Xin rushed into the room and Fang, with some indecision, followed suit. Shang was sitting up, his headwound was freshly bandaged. The side of his face was swelling and turning a deeper shade of green as the bruise settled. His damaged arm was bound to his waist to avoid unnecessary movement. He broke out in a toothy grin at his friends’ arrival.

“Oww, that hurt,” he said. He continued to smile, however, as his friends attacked him with questions.

“Yes, yes! I’m fine. I’ll be as good as new in a week, tops.” YiHua shook her head.

“You need to stay bandaged up longer than that. It seems like that’s the only way to keep you out of trouble. But you should be pretty much fully healed when the sect leader arrives. If Tora Aran Kei sees you like that he might run away and never come back. Then we would never get our chance,” YiHua joked. She was trying her best to appear lighthearted, but Fang could tell that she was still roiling with emotion. Her hands were hidden behind her back, but they shook slightly despite her easy smile. Fang was about to leave when Shang’s voice halted her mid-step.

“I can’t help but get better under elder sister Fang’s care. I must say, you have very gentle hands. In another life, you could have been a wonderful healer,” Shang said, with that same toothy grin on his face. YiHua and Xin looked back at her their disbelief clear in their expressions. Fang retreated from the room without comment. She told herself that the heat in her ears and the swiftness of her steps were only due to fear of upsetting his father by bringing guests into the home without permission.