She had been about to turn around when she heard a scream from the bamboo forest  at the edge of the field.

“No, ZhaoDa, please, do not hit him. He was just helping me, don’t hit him!” that was Ming ZhenYa’s voice. 

Her eyes widened as she thought, filled with doubt, that nothing like that happened in the novel. With a small jump she quickly reached the edge of the forest. Leaping with agility over the tall bamboo stalks she arrived in a small clearing that was probably the area where people cut the wood for their daily use. She saw Shi XinNian on the ground and opposite him Ming ZhenYa who was trying to hold Zhang ZhaoDa back. The boy was accompanied by two other disciples she often saw in his company but whose names she did not know.

“Oh really? And was it an accident he was all over you?”

“We fell over trying to put that sparrow back in its nest!” the girl exclaimed.

She saw the antagonist righting himself with a dark cloud over his face.

“Leave it be Shijie, he wouldn’t be able to understand you even if you wrote it down.” he said disparagingly.

She widened her eyes in surprise, where had her sweet disciple gone? The expression on his face was dark indeed as he looked at his fellow pupil. She smiled, that was the Shi XinNian she knew. A proud heart, fighting even though the world was - without a shadow of a doubt - against him. Also, when the need arose, he had cold and cutting remarks.

Damned author. She thought again.

She leant forward slightly as the accuser got progressively angrier after hearing his words.

“Grab him!” he shouted at his minions. The two threw themselves at the other boy, but he sidestepped them with an elegant movement. 

Her lips parted in surprise. Aren’t those the steps to the eighteenth movement? He was like a drop of water, forever brushed against by those angry hands but never grabbed. Ming ZhenYa looked at him in astonishment, while the three boys only had murder in their eyes. Her wonderful top student obviously wanted to participate but he could not move away from the beautiful Shimei so he only shouted in anger.

“What the hell are you doing?”

One of the two turned around, frightened.

“ZhaoDa, it is the eighteenth movement, we cannot handle it!” he said hesitantly.

The boy clenched his jaw, while that little slip of a thing that was Shi XinNian challenged him further with a ghost of a smile across his lips. Zhang YueLiang shook her head. Is he having fun, bringing misfortune upon himself? 

It was at that point that Zhang ZhaoDa lost his patience. He took a stone and, infusing it with spiritual energy, threw it at the other boy while his back was to him.

Coward.

It was a hit, and Shi XinNian fell over. The other two ran to grab him and made him kneel with his head bent over.

“ZhaoDa, please, don’t hurt him, I told you…”

“I believe you, little Ming, but I have a bone to pick with him.” he said, pushing her to the side and grabbing the other boy by the chin so as to force him to look up. The boy was looking at him with a venomous air. His breath was catching and an eye that was purpling for the hits he had taken earlier. It was then that something in Shi XinNian’s ear caught the afternoon sunlight. Up to then it had been covered by his hair which fell gently just over his lobes, but because of the position he was now in it fell back and revealed his secret. The Mistress leant forward and paled.

It’s not possible, why does he have the earring? I know he always carries it, but I did not believe he wore it!

ZhaoDa’s curiosity was piqued upon seeing the shiny object and only then was Shi XinNian’s arrogance seemed to waver, transforming into perhaps doubt.

“What do we have here?” he asked curiously as he raised his fingers to stroke the lobe of his ear. Even Ming ZhenYa stretched forward to see what was being pointed at.

“Leave it, ZhaoDa. It’s important to Shi-Ge.” 

At those words both Zhang YueLiang and Zhang ZhaoDa purpled. Damn it, girlie. Shut your mouth.

“Ge?” asked the other boy while she looked at him, obviously scared.

Ignoring the girl’s request, as was to be expected, he turned somberly towards his young victim and bent so they were eye-to-eye. They studied each other for a few moments, and in her opinion Shi XinNian’s expression was a bit too aggressive. And yet, her top student moved his hand with surprising swiftness, grabbing the earring and yanking it with a fluid and confident movement. Zhang YueLiang could only imagine the pain the Demon felt as she brought her hand to her stomach, trying to calm her indignation. Blood started pouring liberally down Shi XinNian’s stunned cheek to drop wetly in a red puddle on the ground. Getting over his initial shock and pain the boy moved abruptly and hit his persecutor squarely on the nose, sending him flying to the ground. The two minions managed to grab him just before he could launch himself onto the other boy and hit one of his legs, making him crumple on himself from the pain. However, he ignored it and lifted his head with tears shining in his eyes.

“Let him go!”

Zhang ZhaoDa wiped the blood off of his face and lifted the earring, studying the object that had elicited such a reaction. The pendant was a miniature sword, approximately five centimetres long. Because of where she was standing, Zhang YueLiang could not see it well, but she knew it to be exquisitely made. And of course it would be, it was the sword that had disappeared in a glaring plot hole. The gift Shi XinNian’s sister had given him as a small baby before she had disappeared and had abandoned him. There was nothing the antagonist loved more, and it was the most criticised object in the entire novel seeing how, considering its value, its absence was unjustifiable. In reaction to the sinister grin on the thief’s face she clenched some bamboo. She was starting to suspect what end that earring would meet, meaning that plot hole was inching closer by the minute.

“This trinket? And where has a tramp like you stole it from?” he asked with a chuckle. The other two joined in the laughter and the boy’s face darkened with rage.

Junk, sure… one of the most sacred treasures of an Immaculate Demon being called a piece of junk. She could hear the ancient Demons turning in the dark caves they had been chased into.

“Take your filthy paws off it and give it back.”

Zhang YueLiang shook her head. Shi XinNian’s demonic side was obviously still buried deep within him seeing how he was still a teenager, but when he got angry, the older he got, the more aggressive he would become. She turned around in a frenzy, looking for a way for her to interfere, but a communication window opened up unprompted and showed her the embarrassingly low score for her Coherence. She paled, how could she help him? She was looking at the pipe she had left unattended and that was lethargically floating midiar near her when she had an eureka moment, exactly as Zhang ZhaoDa hit Shi XinNian in the face. She could only grimace in distaste in reaction to that sound.

My friend, I’d stop digging your own grave now if I were you. You are hitting one of the strongest Demon Kings in the entire novel. Shaking her head once more she jumped lightly and disappeared between the sparse leafy branches of the bamboo plants to hide herself. While she was looking at the stalemate in front of her she lifted her fingers and her pipe moved accordingly, twisting on itself. As the object’s rotations increased in speed the bamboo branches around it vibrated until they pulled out of the ground and splintered into small pieces, forming a sharp whirlwind. Once she had decided that would be enough she looked once more in the direction of the small group.

“So, Ming, do you still plan on calling him Shi-Ge after seeing what a worthless creature he is?” he asked sarcastically.

Ming ZhenYa looked at him, full of worry.

“ZhaoDa, Liang-Ge will not be happy…”

“Tsk, that one too? - he asked as he made the earring, still specked with the other boy’s blood, dangle. - He is just another shamelessly lucky orphan. But if you’re from the street, like a dog, a dog you’ll remain. Isn’t that right, Shi Shidi?” he asked, touching Shi XinNian’s face with his foot.

The boy moved quickly though, quick enough to bite his leg. Zhang YueLiang had to contain a bubble of laughter. The boy’s teeth were not sharp now as they would be when he took on his demonic form, but she was sure it would hurt nonetheless. Zhang ZhaoDa paled and tried to shake him off.

“Hey, get him off me, get him off me, he’s ripping out a chunk of me!” he shouted.

The other two tried to do as they were told but were not successful, so they hit him along a meridian impairing his abdominal strength so the boy could do nothing but let go and curl up on the ground. The Mistress thought her time had come when she saw that terrible tormentor and future butcher’s meat kick him in the stomach so the other boy had to curl up even further. Shi XinNian did not make a sound, only pressing his lips to the point of making them whiten. 

“Now stay down, dog.” he swore, stepping with his good foot on the leg they had already hit. 

As she heard the boy whine she sighed to expel some of her irritability. What the fuck, would it be too much to ask you to be nice? Without feeling any guilt at all she waved her fingers and the whirlwind surrounding her pipe followed the lead of the object that had started spinning again. A few splinters started in the direction of the boys and injured the three aggressors in passing. They were all so surprised by the attack that they fell to the ground trying to avoid them.

Ming ZhenYa hurried in Shi XinNian’s direction and helped him to his feet, unlocking his meridian. The boy lifted his gaze also confused but he stretched forward to grab the leg he had bitten, which was now bleeding.

And I’d say there is way too much of it, considering it’s a squabble between teenagers. Thought the Mistress.

“Give me my earring back.” he said, pulling him towards himself and crushing him a bit.

Zhang ZhaoDa did not answer, and instead threw a punch that swapped their places and put Shi XinNian under him.

“What the fuck did you do?” he asked instead, choking him.

Shi XinNian blanched, and Zhang YueLiang with him. She quickly picked up more splinters, but before she could intervene she saw a shadow quickly passing beneath her to tackle Zhang ZhaoDa making it and the other roll a few metres away.

Liang HaoHan! The protagonist involved in a scuffle? Since when?

The young man brought his fists down on the other who tried to protect himself by raising his arms. The other two did not move. The newest arrival who had only appeared a few days prior was already known to every disciple of the Tree-lined Springs, and they were all very much aware of his display of power on his first day. They had also been able to witness how he moved during the hours of training. Additionally she thought they must be cowards through and through. 

She opened her hand so the pipe stopped turning.

“Liang-Ge, please, stop!” Ming ZhenYa intervened after having made sure Shi XinNian was fine.

She took him by the shoulders and dragged him away from the other boy.

“Touch him again and I will cut your fucking hands off!” he shouted as he fought to catch his breath.

Zhang YueLiang widened her eyes in surprise. She had not believed their bond to be that strong.

Shi XinNian spat on the ground.

“Don’t waste your breath on him, Liang-Gongzi. He can try again whenever he feels like it, I’ll give back as much as I take.” he said in a dark tone.

Zhang ZhaoDa was helped up by the others, but he struggled in their grip.

“What the fuck did you do earlier?” he shouted, directed at Liang HaoHan this time.

Oops, do they think it was him?

The other boy looked at him in evident confusion as he helped his friend stand up.

“What the fuck are you talking about? I just got here.”

One of the other boys sneered.

“You attack someone from behind and don’t even have the guts to admit it? Oh, I knew it, Mount Wei only gives up losers. After all, they aren’t the weakest without reason.”

Liang HaoHan had been about to hit him, but Shi XinNian stopped him.

“Don’t lower yourself to their level by fighting them. As lowly as Mount Wei might be, at least Liang-Gongzi is part of a well known family of Cultivators. You are nothing but reserves.” he said darkly.

The other three widened their eyes. 

She saw that things were about to precipitate into another fight and she sighed, it would be best she avoided three of her students brawled… again. She snapped her fingers and the pipe twirled, sending forth a shower of splinters that hit everyone. She took care to blunt the ones that would hit the two main characters and Ming ZhenYa who, despite being the main reason for all this mess, was an innocent bystander.

“Who the fuck is out there?” Zhang ZhaoDa shouted in obvious irritation.

She noticed then that the boy no longer had the earring, which must have fallen out of his hand during the earlier kerfuffle with Liang HaoHan. One of the boys stepped closer to him.

“They say Mount QingLong hosts guardian spirits that keep its inhabitants safe from evil influences. Maybe we’ve disturbed one?” He was obviously frightened.

“Foolishness…” he replied in a grumble. He had however taken some precautionary steps back.

He pointed at Shi XinNian and Liang HaoHan with obvious anger.

“It doesn’t end here, boy. And you, don’t believe you are safe because some Master favours you.” and he slipped away with the pusillanimity Zhang YueLiang expected from such a person.

She observed him from her vantage point, deciding she could punish him randomly. Maybe just make him clean her apartments, nothing too daunting. She turned once more and saw Ming ZhenYa blotting at Shi XinNian’s ear. The boy’s gaze was fixed on some far point. Liang HaoHan stepped closer to assess the damage for himself, but the other waved them away irritably. The young girl sighed as her eyes filled with tears.

“Shi-Ge don’t worry. That earring cannot have cost too much, right? We could go down into town and…”

“No.” he replied as he got up. He pushed her away gently and turned away.

The protagonist looked at him and bit his lip. He might not know of the origin of the object, but it was obvious it was very dear to him. Or at least it was obvious to someone who had known him as long as he had.

“Nothing else would ever be the same.” Shi XinNian whispered, as if confirming his thoughts.

Zhang YueLiang studied him, it looked as though something had broken in him. She shivered. Could it be that this was the event that changed him?