Bai Lianfei was meditating inside one of the chambers build specifically for that purpose deeper within the main sectarian building.

These rooms were made to be soundproof, and had no windows nor exits other than the only door leading inside; their interior was extremely minimalist, and they were modeled after cells that aesthetic monks used to retreat to during the times of Lan Caolu’s youth.

The master believed that meditation is a sacred practice, and to reap most benefits for one’s cultivation from it, one must undergo it for prolonged hours, without any distraction; no food, no drink, and no contact with the outside world was permitted; those who could do it for at least 24 hours, were admitted into the Shuangshan inner circle, and train directly under Lan Caolu. The members of this elite group were designated by red ribbon tied around their dominant arm….

….and one of them was now guarding the chamber where Bai Lianfei was said to be.

“You must not disturb her” said the adult man, a cocky smile plastered upon him painfully handsome face “miss Bai is now in the middle of initiation ritual….once she gets out tomorrow, she will be one of us, above lazy good for nothings such as yourselves!”

These words angered Wang Shunji, and he spoke back to the senior:

“And who are you to command us, jerk?”

Ming Libai didn’t say anything but keep nodding his head affirmatively over and over again, letting his friend take the lead(and the burn if the entire thing backfired).

However, the red ribboned guy just laughed and bowed in a mocking gesture.

“My name is Chen Mengyao. Perhaps you heard about me?”

Ming Libai’s face went pale white, and his head movements ceased. However, Wang Shunji was not so easily discouraged.

While everyone who belonged to this sect heard about Chen Mengyao, who was considered a prodigy and most accomplished student of the sect, it didn’t mean a thing to him. For Wang Shunji considered himself an even greater genius and wasn’t the one to bow down before anyone, no matter who they were.

(He did kowtow before master Lan on several occasions though, mostly to beg for lighter punishment for one of his countless rule violations)

“Listen! We are her FRIENDS! She’d be overjoyed to see us!”

“No way, she told me specifically not to let anyone in before 24 hours pass.” the guardian dismissed his words as easily as if they were an insignificant fly bothering him. In fact, he even made hand motions resembling shooing some insect away, which only purpose was adding an insult to the injury. “Or…do you want to try to break in by force?”

A killing intent thicker than air followed these words, and in response to this, both Ming Libai and Wang Shunji involuntarily took a step back. Having the guts to talk back to a senior is one thing, but actually fighting a renowned martial hero was the whole other!

Neither of them participated in the annual marital tournament yet and had experience in combating other cultivators. Additionally, Chen Mengyao was known as a combat genius, multielementalist, accomplished exorcist, and a merciless killer- often traveling the land to purge the undead and hunt down devil cultivators.

Without doubt, they’d lose this encounter, even if they teamed up on him 2 vs 1!

“Bro…let’s retreat…” whispered Ming Libai, and without waiting for the response, jogged away.

Wang Shunji soon followed, cursing his powerlessness, as Chen Mengyao’s mocking laughter echoed behind his back.

“Listen! We are going to fight in the martial tournament this year!”

“..Are we?…?”

“Yes! And we will become the strongest warriors, and the ones like him won’t be able to push us around!”

Hearing that, Ming Libai’s face brightened, and he flexed his muscles.

“All the ladies will see me in action, too!”

“Yeah!”

Then they fist-bumped and spent the rest of the day doing all kinds of fun activities, trying to distract themselves from the humiliation they just suffered.

…….

The next day, Bai Lianfei’s meditation training was over, and she was officially admitted into the inner circle. A red ribbon was now adorning her right hand, and there were fresh dark circles of fatigue under her eyes.

However, just as she was making her way to get some well-deserved sleep, Wang Shunji intercepted her.

“Hii, long time no see!” he tried to smile, but it felt a bit forced, as he was quite offended at being ignored for so long.

She looked him over, then bowed respectfully.

“Wang Shunji…I heard you were looking for me. Was there anything in particular you wanted?”

There was not a hint of emotion in her voice, and the phrasing was artificially polite. This knocked his confidence down just a little bit, not enough not to follow with the most important question:

“You promised me souvenirs from Yafan! Where are they?” he took a demanding tone, expecting her to play along. However, once again, his question was met with ice-cold indifference.

“I am tired. Forgive me, but I’m going to retreat to my own quarters now…”

“Wait a minute!” he was desperate to talk to her, and his haughty facade cracked ever so slightly “We…I was actually worried for you, you know! Never mind presents, how did it go? Is your mother fine? Why didn’t you talk to me until now? What’s up with joining the red ribbons?”

Once he started barraging her with questions, he couldn’t stop. She listened to his little rant patiently, and then after a brief pause, answered.

“My mother…committed suicide.”

And then she turned around and left, without explaining even a word further.

Cold sweat drenched his forehead, and he suddenly felt stupid, wrong, immature, and embarrassed for bothering her with his insensitive attitude until now.

In a rare moment of self-reflection, he retreated and got seriously drunk, paying double the fee to old man Mo…

…but their friendship never recovered, and they drifted further apart, soon becoming rivals, soon having nothing but contempt for each other and it was all his fault…

all his fault…..

……

“Not!”

Exclaimed Wang Shunji, waking up from an old nightmare, tears of anger dripping down his face.

Nothing was his fault! Nothing! It was all a conspiracy, a work of mastermind, a monster pulling the strings from beyond the scenes!

How Bai Lianfei changed, how Ming Libai changed, his own qi deviation, death of master Lan, the Incident at Chenfei!

These weren’t isolated incidents, there was a connection, there had to be!

At first, he intended to play stupid, to play a good boy, and pretend to be submissive while secretly investigating the inner circle of the Shuangshan sect. The opportunity was perfect, because in the month following the battle that razed the twin hill village, there was a lot of chaos, and something, some clue was bound to be overlooked in all that!

More importantly, in late August, Bai Lianfei left for faraway town of Yafan, to attend an assembly of all the northern sects in response to ‘Wuyun’s unforgivable actions’. Chen Mengyao, always seen by her side and usually in charge of managing Shuangshan affairs in the master’s absence, also disappeared somewhere, and the only ones left were idiots such as Ming Libai.

…Ming Libai, who remained as unnaturally chipper and devoted to Bai Lianfei as he was during the day following the tournament. Although it pained Wang Shunji, he had to hide his intentions from his best friends, and despite being crippled, secretly try to find out as much as he could…

Over the course of this investigation, he knocked down one of the red ribbons, making it look like an accident, and before anyone else could arrive, went through their personal belongings.

There, he found nothing out of ordinary…other than a small box containing suspicious pills he had never seen before. He did not dare test on himself, but borrowed a couple, wishing to one day study their composition, if he happened to find an experienced and trustworthy alchemist who could be relatably charged with such a difficult and potentially life-threatening task.

However, the final clue arrived from the south.

It had the form of orange-haired yaren, who looked nothing like the refugees arriving from the Kiyi city, where some kind of massacre took place recently.

He was heavily armed and rode a well-bred horse; he didn’t look particularly malnourished, but one of his arms was broken and stabilized with cloth tied around his neck; and perhaps most importantly, he had a lot of money, and he kept spending it rather frivolously left and right, asking about….

….just one thing….

“Bai Caoren”

Of course, he quickly drew the attention of the red ribbons. Most people in the sect knew the name of Bai Lianfei’s mother and the tragic backstory of the new sect leader.

Thus, they suspected mischief and wanted to interrogate the young fox. That’s where Wang Shunji intervened.

Driving by in his wheelchair, he spoke up in the newcomer’s defense, urging the overzealous sect warriors not to jump to conclusions, and volunteering to personally conduct the interrogation.

No worries, Ming Libai, who was now an esteemed elite member of the inner circle, would accompany him in this task!

And thus the two of them ended up talking to Fuhei in a small house that was re-purposed into temporary jail for the potential troublemaker.

“Another interrogation,” said the youth, a mocking smile plastered on his face “I’m beginning to get used to it!”

Wang Shunji faked concern as much as he could, utilizing all and any acting abilities he possessed, and exclaimed:

“Dear Heavens! Someone would interrogate such an innocent and cute young boy as yourself?”

Ming Libai laughed, assuming it’s a joke; Fuhei looked equally unconvinced and snapped his fingers.

“Wheelchair man, you are just like the scarface woman. Not a thing about you is genuine!”

Noted. His acting sucks. Don’t try faking emotions again….

However, despite this rather poor first impression, the rest went rather smoothly.

The fox boy narrated to them how he used to fight against Wuyun sect, how he got the ring from the devil cultivator, how he got arrested by them and then escaped during the riots; and finally, how his fellow friends and brethren got mercilessly massacred by the black clouds.

“…However, before dying, Yan Bojin, the wanted man who gave me that ring, mentioned the name of his master…” seeing that he has their attention, he smirked, and exclaimed triumphantly “It was Bai Caoren! That’s why I’m looking for her! To join forces, and have my revenge!”

Madness lit his eyes, and he laughed, clearly quite proud of his punchline

“What say you? I understand this village suffered because of them quite a bit as well…why don’t YOU guys tell me everything you know? We can yet be friends~”

Wang Shunji nodded and smiled. “That’s right, these guys are the worst! So be it, we’ll tell you everything…”

“Oy!” Exclaimed Ming Libai, not at all convinced by Fuhei’s narrative. However, Wang Shunji just winked at him, and raised his hands defensively.

“Where’s the harm? She already died two years ago…” he then subtly shifted his eyes to Fuhei, and added, “in the town of Yafan, where she had a mansion…”

After that, the red ribbons dragged him out, allowing Ming Libai to conduct the interrogation on his own.

…And the following night, Fuhei broke out of the pathetic prison they constructed for him, taking a horse, and silently thanking his crippled benefactor who arranged his escape.

“Bai Caoren, huh…” mumbled Wang Shunji, as he watched Fuhei’s silhouette disappear into the distance. “And the town of Yafan. Perhaps there was a reason why her daughter didn’t want me to accompany her there….”

And so, in September, he joined a trading caravan traveling north, under the guise of wishing to reconnected with Wang Shunhu, his estranged twin brother.