Yu Lin reached her room and opened the door. She heard a gasp and looked behind her to see Tai Yang looking inside her room with his jaw dropped.

“Aren’t you leaving?” Yu Lin asked.

“Just let me look around for a bit,” Tai Yang said as he stepped inside before Yu Lin could stop him. Yu Lin grumbled to herself but just closed the door behind her as she stepped into the room.

“Stop walking around so much and just sit your butt down,” Yu Lin demanded. She watched as Tai Yang nodded and sat down and she sat down across from him. She poured him a cup of tea and rested her head on her hand as she looked up at him. He took a sip of the tea and then smiled as he continued to glance around the room. “What’s wrong? Why do you look so amazed?”

“Huh? Oh… it’s because the white section rooms in my studies are smaller than yours.”

“Hmm… I see.”

“By the way, Yu Lin, do you have any siblings?” Tai Yang asked as he picked up the teacup and continued to drink.

“Me? I do-” ‘Hu Tai Yang? That man… treat him well… he is your brother’ Su Mei’s voice echoed in her head and Yu Lin smacked her head. She looked at Tai Yang and let out a sigh. “I can’t believe I forgot…” she mumbled to herself.

“Hmm?”

“Huh? Oh… nothing… I don’t have any siblings. You?”

“I?” Tai Yang froze for a second and Yu Lin frowned, “Uh… I do. I have an older brother.”

“Older brother? Are you the youngest in your family?”

“Yes… I am the youngest…” Tai Yang cleared his throat and pushed the cup towards Yu Lin, “can I get another cup?”

“Get it yourself,” Yu Lin said as she nodded towards the cup, “and after that leave. I am busy and I don’t have time to play with you.”

“Thanks,” Tai Yang poured himself another cup of tea, “and, I am older than you. Show some respect,” Tai Yang squinted his eyes playfully at Yu Lin.

“And I’m the one who saved your life,” Yu Lin retaliated.

“Haha! Alright then,” Tai Yang laughed, “by the way, what about your parents?” Yu Lin placed her hand down on the table as she sat back. Her eyes shifted around the room and from the corner she saw Hu Die giving her an evil smile. She closed her eyes and opened them and Hu Die was now gone.

“My parents,” she looked back at Tai Yang with confused eyes. ‘I don’t want to tell him… but he is my mom’s son… right?’ she thought to herself. She took in a deep breath to calm herself. “My parents passed away,” she answered. The smile on Tai Yang’s face disappeared as he sat straight and looked at Yu Lin with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry…” he said.

“It’s alright. You didn’t know… anyways, what about your parents? Are they alive?” Yu Lin asked back. Tai Yang’s eyes darted around the room as he nodded his head.

“Yes… they are alive…” Tai Yang replied. Yu Lin nodded her head. ‘He must’ve been adopted… or something like that?’ Yu Lin tapped her finger on the table as she tried to think about it. She opened her mouth, wanting to ask more questions but Tai Yang stood up. “I’m leaving. You seem like you have a lot to do anyway. I’ll come and visit again because I know you won’t visit me!” Tai Yang pointed his finger at her and shook his head.

“Oh, alright then. See you,” Yu Lin replied. Tai Yang smiled as he opened the doors and left the room. Yu Lin stared at his empty teacup before standing up and stretching.

“Let’s get ready,” she mumbled to herself.

-

Night soon fell across the academy as Yu Lin was in her black clothes again. She stared down at the bed which already had the illusion of her sleeping. She waved a hand over her whole body and face, just in case someone pulled off her mask. She made herself looked like how she would’ve looked like if she had been a human. She just tweaked her nose to make it taller and her eyes to make them more slanted.

After that, she started to head to shed from the previous night. She looked around to see no one there and she shot an arrow with a letter tied to it. She made sure to write the letter with her left hand so no one could trace the handwriting back to her. The arrow hit the shed and she then headed to Saruto’s room.

She was a distance away from the room as she didn’t want to fall into a trap. She noticed some figures wandering the vicinity of Saruto’s quarters. She nodded her head as she had expected this and she approached them with caution. She was near one when a needle appeared in her hand. She aimed the needle at the figure’s neck and threw it. The needle landed cleanly as the figure froze before falling to the ground. One by one she started to take each of them down the same way before she reached Saruto’s window. She heard speaking inside and she could hear Saruto’s voice.

“I can take care of myself,” she heard Saruto said.

“No sir. We do not know who that person was from yesterday and we don’t want to risk… wait…” another low voice said.

“What is it?”

“I don’t hear our signal for each fifteen minute interval… we need to go now, sir!”

Yu Lin made her move as she burst through the window. She saw three figures in all black surrounding Saruto as they moved to protect him. Three arrows appeared in Yu Lin’s hand and she moved her hand in a swift motion. This time, just in case the three in the room were wearing protective armor underneath, she aimed the needles to their cheek. All three of them let out a small gasp before freezing and falling to the ground.

“Sir… run…” one of them managed to breathe out to Saruto. Saruto looked up at her with shocked eyes before he raised his fist in a fighting stance. Yu Lin waved her hand in the air and the look on Saruto’s face changed as he looked at her with a confused expression as his fist dropped to his side.

“What are you doing here J-” he didn’t get to finish as Yu Lin stuck a needle to the side of his neck. After that, his eyes grew before he started to fall down. Yu Lin caught him and a rope appeared in her hand. She tied the rope around him before pulling him out of the room with her.

-

Yu Lin had brought Saruto to a cave that wasn’t far from the shed. She noticed the cave when she was following Saruto from the day before. She tied Saruto to a chair as she lit up candles and placed them everywhere in the cave. That way she would get to see the face of her perpetrator well and clear. She set up strings outside of the cave and inside the caves she had them attached to a piece of bamboo. If the bamboo snapped in half then she knew that there was more than one person outside the cave.

After that Yu Lin sat on a boulder reading as she waited. After an hour she heard Saruto groan and her book disappeared as she looked up. Saruto’s hanging head lifted up as he blinked slowly. Yu Lin jumped down from her boulder and walked up to him.

“You’re up,” her voice was clear and easy on the ears yet gender neutral, despite it being muffled behind her mask, as she had drunk an herb that changed her voice for the night. It sounded very different from her usual deep husky voice. Saruto looked up and glared at her.

“Who are you?” Saruto demanded more than asked.

“Just a person who wants to know more about Dragon’s Lair,” Yu Lin replied as she walked behind Saruto, “but it’s strange. Are you not important to Dragon’s Lair at all? It has been four hours already but no one has come looking for you,” Yu Lin lied as she taunted Saruto.

“Four hours?! Y-you!” Saruto clenched his teeth and Yu Lin walked around in front of him. She bent down so they were staring eye to eye.

“Did they throw you away? Are you that useless?” she let out a small chuckle as she stood back up, “Ahhh, I caught the wrong one! I thought I caught a big fish but it was instead a small fry,” Yu Lin shook her head as she plopped down on her boulder.

“I…” Saruto’s eyes looked disheartened as he looked at the ground, “it’s alright… I can be thrown away… he can throw me away, but I will never throw him away…” Saruto looked up and glared at Yu Lin again, “just kill me. You won’t get any information out of me at all!” Saruto yelled.

“That man… that man that you are talking about,” Yu Lin jumped off her boulder as she walked back closer to Saruto, “from the way you are talking about him… are you in love with him?” she asked. Saruto’s face flushed red as his eyes grew and he looked away as if he was caught red-handed.

“I-I d-don-”

“You do like him… there’s nothing wrong with it you know… but if you’re this flustered… could it be you don’t want to know?”

“Stop!” Saruto screamed. Yu Lin brought her face closer to Saruto’s.

“Do you want to tell me what you know as part of Dragon’s Lair or do you want to reveal your secret as I hang your body in the shed?” Yu Lin threatened.

“You!” Saruto’s eyes grew red with rage as he bared his teeth at her.

“What choice are you going to choose?” Yu Lin asked as she held up a knife to his throat, “Number one? Or number two?”

“You!” Saruto yelled.

“Stop!” the voice from previous night rang from behind Yu Lin. Yu Lin turned around to see the man standing in front of her.

“S-sir!” Saruto cried out.

“Are you hurt, Saruto?” the man asked.

“I’m… I’m fine…” Saruto replied. The man turned his head as if to look around the cave before moving closer to Yu Lin.

“Let him go. I’m here as you requested,” the man said.

“Did you come alone?”

“Don’t you know the answer to that yourself?” the man said. Yu Lin glanced at the bamboos to see that they were all still intact.

“Hmm… alright. Throw me your sword,” Yu Lin ordered. The man hesitated for a second before throwing his sword over to Yu Lin. Yu Lin kicked the sword to the side as she looked up at him. “Now, remove your hat and your mask.”

“Don’t!” Saruto yelled. Yu Lin lifted her leg behind her and kicked Saruto and Saruto let out a yelp.

“Hurry,” Yu Lin’s voice was cold, “if you cherished this beast here,” she let out a chuckle. The man placed his hand on his hat and then paused.

“If I show you my face,” the man started, “I want you to return the scarf you stole from me.” Yu Lin frowned. She reached into her robe and pretended that she pulled the scarf out of there as it appeared in her hand from her endless bracelet.

“You mean this?” she held the scarf up towards the man. The man nodded his head.

“Yes, I mean that.”

“Why?”

“It’s important to me.”

“Hmm… alright. I will return it to you so now, reveal yourself,” she said. The man went silent for a moment before nodding his head. The man pulled his hat off with the mesh net and it fell to the ground. Yu Lin furrowed her eyebrows as she saw the man’s head hang down as he started to untie his mask from behind his head. Yu Lin felt something wasn’t quite right and that was when the man suddenly snapped up and kicked his hat at her. She dodged the hat and turned to see the man had already jumped up.

The man reached his hand out towards her neck and she pushed his hand away with her arm.

She saw his other hand reaching out towards her and she ducked as she sent out a kick. The man jumped and then proceeded to land a kick down towards her. She moved to the side as the man continued to press on. The two continued to exchange blows and Yu Lin clenched her teeth as the man was constantly moving his head to make sure she didn’t see his face. ‘I just need one good look,’ she thought to herself. She grew impatient as she threw the scarf up towards the wall of the cave the man jumped up to grab it and she reached her hand out. She grabbed onto the side of man’s mask and pulled it off. The man didn’t care for her as he continued to run towards the scarf.

“No!” his voice was loud and clear now that his mask was gone. The scarf unravel and Yu Lin watched as a necklace hit the cave. The ring that was hanging on the necklace also hit the cave and then broke in half as it fell onto the cave floor. Yu Lin ignored it as she grabbed onto the man’s shoulder and pushed his back against the wall. She brought her knife up to his throat. ‘Got him!’ she thought but as his face came into her vision her eyes widened.

She saw the familiar bright blue eyes and tall nose. She saw the plump lips that looked almost identical to how hers looked when she was still Hu Die. Her jaw dropped as she froze. ‘It can’t be… but…’ She looked down at the crack rings and inside it read Hu Die and Qi Long. She looked back up at the man who looked at her with raging eyes. It has been years but she deep inside her she could still remember.

-

Hu Die opened her eyes as laid in her bed as she took small breaths through her chapped lips. She saw one of the nurses was squeezing water out from a towel by her bedside. She had been in labor for almost 24 hours before her baby was safely delivered. It still took a toll on her as she fainted afterward.

“Where is my child?” her voice was hoarse as she asked the nurse. The nursed turned around and smiled.

“Lady, you’re awake!”

“My child?” Hu Die asked again.

“Ah! I’m sorry. I will be right back!” the nurse ran out of the room. After a moment Hu Die heard heavy footsteps heading her way along with light ones. She looked at the doorway to see her husband along with their elder son running towards her.

“Hu Die!” her husband called out as he held their newborn in his arms.

“Mother!” her elder son smiled. She smiled as the two reached her.

“Hu Die! Look, we have another son!” Qi Long said with teary eyes as he placed the newborn by Hu Die’s side.

“I have a younger brother now!” their elder son cheered. Hu Die turned to her side as she looked at her child. Tears formed in her eyes as she brought her hand up to caress her newborn son’s face as he slept. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Qi Long looking down at her.

“Good job, my love,” he bent down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. Hu Die smiled as she placed her hand over his.

“Have you decided on a name then?” she asked. She watched as her husband nodded.

“Shan Jin Long… how do you like it?” he asked. Hu Die looked at their newborn.

“Shan Jin Long,” the name rolled off her tongue and she smiled, “from now on your name is Shan Jin Long, little one,” she said as she touched the baby’s cheek and smiled.

-

Yu Lin’s hand shook as she moved the knife away from Jin Long’s neck. Without her permission, her hand was already moving up to caress his cheek. Before she could though, she felt a sharp pain in her side. She froze before looking down and seeing that Jin Long had pushed a knife into her.

‘No!’ she thought as she shoved Jin Long to the ground on the side. She held onto her wound, making sure that no blood could drop onto the floor. She bit onto her mask as she started to head out of the cave. She turned around and took one last glance at Jin Long who glared at but didn’t seem to be chasing and she clenched her teeth before running out of the cave.

-

“J-Jin Long!” Saruto yelled out. Jin Long stood up and wiped the dust off his knees. “Are you hurt?” he heard Saruto ask but he ignored him as he walked up to his parents’ broken ring on the floor. He picked each side up carefully as he studied it. He felt anger boiling up inside of him as he placed them inside his scarf and rolled it up carefully. After that he placed the scarf inside his robe and stood up. He walked towards Saruto and untied the ropes.

“Jin Long! Are you hurt?” he heard Saruto ask again as he threw the ropes on the floor.

“I’m fine,” he replied this time.

“Sh-shouldn’t we chase after that person?” Saruto stood up as Jin Long walked up and picked up his sword.

“No need to,” he dusted off his sword.

“Why?”

“Because they won’t live for long anyway,” Jin Long said nonchalantly.

“Huh?”

“I put a very potent poison on the blade. Even if they manage to survive, they will be paralyzed from neck down. We won’t have to worry about anything anymore,” Jin Long stood up, “let’s go,” he said. Saruto nodded as he started to walk towards the entrance. ‘But…’ Jin Long thought to himself, ‘why did that person hesitate to slice my neck?’