* The suffix 'er,' such as in Xiu-er, means the two people speaking are close to each other (close friends, family..)

Xiu kept a straight posture while all but leaning against the wall. She spotted Tao Lan entering and beckoned him over. That's when her attention was drawn to the shadowy corner. An ugly smirk smeared across her delicate features as she pushed herself off the wall. 

Turning toward Yau Ming, she pointed at the hidden boy, "I found the coward, both of you with me." She marched determinedly, stopping steps away from the waste of space. 

"Well... look who's here~." 

Xiu smirked tauntingly as she gave him a once-over... black circles under his eyes, pale complexion, and hunched posture – like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Xiu almost snorted at the sight. Maybe he finally understood that his dream of cultivating is just that. One could hope, but knowing the brat, that wasn't the case.

Yaru insisted on staying, and for some god-forsaken reason, he was allowed. And like a parasite, he kept leeching off the temple and the actual disciples. That aside, Xiu wondered what happened to make him come today looking like a corpse. 

Nothing unusual happened yesterday, or one of her people would have informed her, and he didn't look like he got in another fight, so that wasn't that either. Not that getting into a fight and getting beaten up was a legitimate reason to look like the world was ending - if he couldn't take it, he should drop out. It's not like Yaru could ever amount to anything other than a punching bag.

Xiu loathed, not knowing. As a core disciple, one of her duties was to educate and keep an eye on the lower cast, even ones like Yaru. A sect must maintain order, or it will collapse from within. She made a mental note to investigate it later and discipline the ones that stepped out of line.

Finally, the boy looked up at her and tensed. His eyes darted wearily toward the two at her sides and then at the disciples spread around the training room. No one would help him, Xiu knew. They wouldn't dare to make themselves her enemies while she could easily cripple them.  

Crossing her arms across her chest, Xiu turned to her friend, "Yau Ming, how many times have I told this waste of space not to come?" 

"A lot," he said with a roll of his eyes, "really, at this point, I wonder why you even bother. He's too dumb to understand simple words."

Tao Lan gave Yau Ming the stink eye before answering in his stead, "seventy-four times, Xiu-er*."

Yaru cursed in his heart. Just his luck. Why did he have to run into this cruel bitch?

Xiu loves to humiliate him. She was influential and powerful, so it was impossible to get back at her. Frankly, the only thing he can do is grind his teeth and endure. Or, he can talk back to her since she will order her cronies to hurt him no matter what he does.

Umm... 

"This is a public space, and anyway, the arrival for each training session is mandatory," Yaru spat barely hidden contempt at the trio of troublemakers. 

"That's for real disciples," Yau Ming pointed out, "you're more like a beaten dog that keeps coming back."

If anything, the only one here to resemble a dog is Yau Ming, with how he kept barking all the time. 

"Fuck off, and we might let you leave with all your bones intact," Tao Lan threatened with a grin. 

Yaru gritted his teeth. His eyes blazed like an inferno. "Look, I don't want any trouble, and I don't intend to 'fuck off' because I have a right to be here."

"Not at all, Xiu," the boy bowed deeply.