The next day was quiet. One day a week they gave the students a day off so they could relax and conduct any personal research.

It was evening by the time she wound up wandering in the areas reserved to the students. Every time she came across someone their eyes became the size of saucers with a twinge of fear, but seeing her peaceful expression they dared to bow their heads and greeted her with a respectful Shizun while she tried not to smile and only replied with a small nod. The OOC was lurking around every corner.

After they put some distance between themselves and her, she could hear them whispering among themselves and although she tried to hear what they were saying they always seemed to be very careful not to be overheard. She smiled to herself. Was her presence there so sensational?

She raised her face to the purplish sky and took a deep breath of clear evening air. Actually, yes. The Original had hated all areas that were not her own Pavillion. She grumbled to herself, how could that woman always be so angry? She found it physically impossible to hate all those things and do nothing to improve her relationship with all the people around her. Starting from her brother, whom she loved dearly, or her disciples who, although were still shy, admired her immensely as would become clear later on in the story.

While she was busy wrinkling her nose she noticed Ming ZhenYa zooming past her with a worried expression on her face. She stopped in surprise and the girl did so too a few seconds after having gone past her. The girl turned around to face her.

“Ming? Why were you running?” she asked.

The girl lifted her face and looked around as if she were waiting for someone to come save her. And the hero arrived to her rescue. Liang HaoHan appeared from behind a corner and stopped on his tracks himself. An embarrassed triangle of people who were not breathing formed.

At the end of her stick she spoke.

“So?”

She saw that Liang HaoHan was holding a small bowl filled with water while Ming had some cloths. Both looked at her with unease, then the boy stepped forward.

“Apologies Shizun, Ming Shijie had no intention of bothering the others, I asked her to hurry.”

The woman looked around.

“But this is the male section…” she pointed out.

The division between the two sexes was quite sharp. Although students were allowed to study together, it was forbidden to go into each other’s living areas. She did not disagree with this division, they were teenagers after all. She did realise though that did not stop them from engaging in not so pure relationships. 

Ming went even paler at those words and opened her mouth a few times without saying anything. Ling HaoHan bit his lip and was about to intervene when she lifted her pipe to stop him.

“So?” she asked the girl.

She was tired of seeing her hide behind her fellow pupils. It was not just annoying, but it went against all notions of female emancipation and inclusion she had. Too many times in these novels she had seen women play accessory to the plot, and even when they had strong personalities, they still were just a garnish on the side. Ming ZhenYa was an example of exactly the kind of delicious garnish she meant. She was beautiful and helpful, always kind and nice, her power was mediocre… but just that, mediocre. She would try her hardest to change even just a hair of the girl’s colourless personality. 

The girl looked at her, then lowered her gaze, rubbing her fingers together. 

“I… I… - she dared look up for a moment and then closed her eyes entirely. - Shi-Ge has a bad fever, so I came to help Liang-Ge take care of him.” she confessed breathlessly. 

Zhang YueLiang was taken by surprise.

“Shi has a fever?”

The disciple at her side nodded.

“Yes… he, uhm, got hurt and it must have gotten infected.”

She turned around and gestured to the boy. “Take me to your lodgings.”

The two were surprised, but then followed her as they gave her directions to Liang HaoHan and Shi XinNian’s apartment.

When she arrived, she found a room that looked exactly like every other one. The boys who lived in that area poked their noses out the windows, and upon seeing an Immortal of her calibre walking through their living space called their friends to witness such a thing.

Go study, little fleas.

They finally stopped in front of a door. Liang HaoHan opened it.

“My apologies for the mess… but I…” he blushed furiously and Zhang YueLiang looked at him with a kind smile.

“You should learn to take care of your belongings even when Shi is unwell. Better for you, and for him too.”

The boy felt even more embarrassed and only lowered his head in acceptance.

“Can I come in?” she said as she looked around.

The room was more austere than her own, but it still had everything they would need to live comfortably. Shi XinNian was lying on one of the two beds and barely opened his eyes hearing her come in. His skin was flushed and covered in a light sheen of sweat. When he recognised her he looked shaken, but he did not have the strength for anything other than a weak question.

“Shi… Shizun?”

She folded back her sleeves as she put YuHua away. She then sat on the bed and got a hold of his wrist.

“Do not worry, I am only here to see how you are doing. Had I not told you to go get checked at the infirmary?” she asked with a little steel in her voice.

He looked at her through what seemed to be a veil over his eyes while his two friends stood still next to them. He wet his dry lips.

“Apologies, Shizun. But I thought I could take care of myself.”

“So the infirmary is there for adornment, is it?” her tone had not softened as she took the tea for the other student’s hands to hand it to Shi XinNian. He needed to rehydrate first. He hesitated at first, but then sat up a bit to drink from her hands.

“And this is what happens when you are pig-headed and want to do it all for yourselves.” she went on with a sigh. She filled up the cup once more and made him drink some more.

“Liang, please give Ming the bowl so she may wet a cloth.” she said softly. 

They moved quickly, and soon she was handed a wet cloth. She placed it on Shi XinNian’s forehead as he tried, and failed, to hold a stern look on his face. As soon as she had touched him she had realised how hot he was running, so she touched the tip of her fingers to his neck and transferred some of her spiritual energy to him with a sigh.

After a few minutes, his colouring had already improved and he seemed to be breathing easier.

“Good, the fever should be manageable now. - she said as she got up and dried her hands. She looked at all three of them and nodded. - I’m going to make something for your Shige, stay with him and change that cloth when it warms up.”

Liang HaoHan and Ming ZhenYa moved their hands in her direction and were about to move forward at those words.

“You do not need to worry about that, I will…” the girl tried to say, but she shook her head.

“I will add some medicinal herbs to the broth to help him during his convalescence, this way he will improve by tomorrow. You stay with him and help him with anything he might need. I will be back in half an hour.” with that she walked out of the room.

The two stood still staring after her until they heard Shi XinNian moan. Liang HaoHan turned towards him and saw he was trying to get up. He moved quickly to stop him.

“What the heck are you doing? You heard Shiz…” 

“I heard her very well, and it is for that reason that I’d like to stop…”

“Don’t move. If Shizun saw we let you move, she'd cut us into tiny pieces.” intervened the girl as she pushed him back down.

The boy was too weak to fight back and he fell back on the bed. He looked at them hatefully then turned on his side in anger.

“There was no need for Shizun to bother, and the same goes for you. I can take care of myself.”

His friend rolled his eyes at him.

“Last time you said that you got so ill I thought you wouldn’t make it. Instead of complaining, we should be thankful for Shizun’s care.”

“That’s true. How could you say something like that, Shi?” asked Ming, clearly irritated, as she wet the cloth once more to put it back on his forehead.

The boy snorted, remembering how the woman had already taken care of his wounds once before. 

How? How could he come to terms with the way she was behaving now and the cruel look of when she had ignored him? She took a deep breath through his nose, wishing he could sink in his pillow so no one could see him. He had promised himself he would hate her, but just then he felt all sorts of things, but hate was not one of them. Those eyes that had frozen him out before, had been nothing but warm and welcoming recently, as though they were asking to be let in.

He had found himself to be unable to ignore them. Actually, he felt as though he had already seen them and thanked them before, during those years he had been alone and had had nothing to live for.

What a silly notion, as if we could have met before.

He buried his face in the pillow to smother those stormy emotions that were at war in his frail and feverish body.

“Hey, sit straight, or the cloth won’t be of any help.” said Ming ZhenYa, telling him off once again. She could not get him to turn around though, so she resigned herself to placing it on his hair. Liang HaoHan shook his head.

“You could just accept our help, you know.”

Shi XinNian mumbled something in an annoyed tone and the other boy shook his head once more, this time with a smile.

“I am sure you’ll be able to pay her back.”

Sure! - He thought grumpily. - I’ll be able to pay her back for accepting me in her school, for nursing me, for giving me a place to stay. Not an insurmountable debt, not at all!

However, he did not make his displeasure known. What he was feeling then was not anger, and he would rather blame his fever for the warm feeling at the pit of his stomach rather than acknowledge what he was really feeling. It had to be it, and surely not due to the fact she had placed her waif-like fingers on his neck and given him some of her spiritual energy to make him feel better.

Zhang YueLiang’s arrival in the kitchen unsettled the cooks. She did not say anything but moved about quickly looking for an already made broth containing the herbs she needed. After exchanging a few looks, one of the men approached her.

“Shizun… what are you looking for?”

She looked at him briefly and finally conceded to asking. She stood straighter and folded her hands in her sleeves.

“Do you have some vegetable broth ready to go? And I’d like some Willow bark with… - she touched the pipe to her lips lightly as she tried to remember the name of the plant used most commonly in the novel to cure all sorts of ailments. - …aha! - she said, in a eureka moment. - Cinchona of Dawn. Do you have liquid extracts from these two plants?” she said, looking at them expectantly.

It was actually quite easy to remember those names, all one had to do was remember the true name of the plant and add of Dawn or of Dusk and so on. They had stronger properties and were therefore more convenient to the plot than their normal counterparts.

The people around her looked at each other, then one woman nodded.

“I believe your brother has extracts from both Willow and Cinchona of Dawn.” After that, she turned around and went into a connected room. Everyone else stood around in silence until she reappeared holding two small vials she handed her.

“Here you go.”

She smiled, bowing her head in thanks and turned her attention to the bowl of broth the cooks had prepared for her. She was pleasantly surprised to see they had added some celery chopped into small chunks.

“Does someone have a fever?” asked the woman who had given her the extracts. She nodded.

“One of my disciples. - she took the bowl and a spoon. - Thank you for your help.”

And with that she bowed once more and left. The people there looked at each other in surprise until one of them started laughing.

“Pinch me, Zhang YueLiang is preparing a broth for one of her students? - he said, waving a hand in front of himself as he turned once more towards his task. - Now I’ve really seen it all.”

The woman from before hit him.

“Don’t be so disrespectful. Zhang Qianbei isn’t heartless.”

“And you’re too gullible, woman.” replied the man.

At that, the woman hit him once more with a wooden spoon and the cook complained loudly.

“This year Zhang Qianbei seems much improved, perhaps the ghosts that were haunting her have decided to leave her be.” she said with a shake of her shoulders. He looked at her with a bemused expression.

“Ah, you women are all dreamers.”