Senior Sha bunny-hopped in front of the entrance to the outer sect pavilion. He stretched and gyrated his hips. Breathing in strongly, holding the breath until his face turned blue before exhaling, Senior Sha fanned himself.

The boy clapped his palms together and pushed his buttocks out, facing the stone earth — then he squatted 100 hundred times. After squats came 50 lunges and 50 praising of the sun. Slapping himself — leaving a red mark — the young boy clutched his chest as the sheer weight of what he was about to do — needed to do — washed over him.

But the thought of being left behind stilled his trembling arms. With bitterness creased all over his face, Senior Sha dove into the earth. Not knowing the layout of the outer sect at all, Senior Sha shimmied his body up so that his face partially ebbed through to the surface. Haunting the night with his ghost-face, Senior Sha rushed along the pavilion in search of the Grand Halls.

Wandering the pavilion, Senior Sha came upon a cultivator pissing against a tree. Logically, this meant the cultivator also came upon Senior Sha. At first, the cultivator squinted at the odd bump in front of him. Then he started laughing — that awkward pulsating meandering laugh — before bolting away. He did not pull up his pants yet and tripped, slamming into the ground. Pulling up his pants, he fled on all four.

“A ghost! There’s a ghost,” he screamed with tears. Those curious, or enraged, enough to peek out their bedroom doors threw their shoes at the frantic madman.

“The only thing otherworldly here is the Yellow River running down your leg!” Someone shouted before throwing a potted plant at the screaming man’s head. The blue pot slammed into the man’s forehead and promptly knocked him out. “Hmph! Drunken bastard!”

Senior Sha who heard the madman’s words teared up. He said with sunken cheeks, “I’m not a ghost though.”

Sulking, a lingering shadow over his brow, Senior Sha wandered the pavilion some more. Some of the cultivators decided to investigate the “ghost” as they were unable to fall back to sleep. The screams of a “ghost” reached the two division leaders guarding the entrance to the Grand Halls.

Yue Leader Dao laughed as he brandished his sword. The silver blade trapped the elusive dancing of the torce next to him. “As if mere ghosts can penetrate our protective charms!”

Meng Yue flapped opened her fan and sighed. With slight wrist movements, she churned the torch beside her to erratic heights. “Then it must be a stupid outer sect disciple trying to sneak into the Grand Halls.”

“The screams came from the opposite direction — nowhere near here,” Yue Leader Dao retorted, poking the air around Yun Leader Meng. “Perhaps you are getting old — paranoid — dear Sister Meng.”

Using her fan to divert the blade away from her, Meng Yue ran her hand through her hair. “Yue Leader Dao, we have severed our kindred relations on that day — nor have you ever apologized. Never to me, nor to Little Sister Mo.” She gripped the blade with her other hand until blood filtered down the sword . Looking at Yue Leader Dao with sharp, narrowed eyes, she growled, “If you ever do anything bad to Sect Master Mo, I will personally dig your grave. Never act familiar with me again, you Xiao Bai Lian [ Yay~ Another Chinese culture lesson! An insult translating to Little White Face. This insult is not a racist one. Rather it means the person is naive and feminine — like a eunuch for example. I.e. not a man in any sense at all. 小白臉].”

Yue Leader Dao wrested his blade back, causing a deeper cut in Yun Leader Meng’s palm. Sneering, he smoothed his caterpillar brows, “I will keep your words in mind, Yun Leader Meng.”

“I really hope the stupid disciple comes here soon,” Yun Leader Meng said as she fanned her face flushed red.

Yue Leader Dao rolled his eyes and swung his sword about, “I’m pretty sure it was just another disciple gotten drunk from wine again.”

“Or it could be an entire conspiracy to distract our attention.”

“You should keep to your carefree, gentle image, Yun Leader Meng. I heard paranoia causes the yellowing of the skin to quicken.”

“Was that supposed to make me mad?” Meng Yue hid her smile behind her fan.

Before Yun Leader Dao was able to supply a not-so-witty comeback, a group of disciples ran past the two division leaders. Realizing their mistake, they backtracked, scrambling over one another, to pay their respects.

“Junior disciple greet Yun Leader Meng and Yue Leader Dao,” blared their collective shouts.

Rubbing his ears, Yue Leader Dao told them to stop. He asked, “Why you all still up?”

“A ghost, Yue Leader Dao; we’re going to exorcise it,” one of them chirped.

“Or is that ‘ghost’ a disciple in disguise trying to cheat the lottery?” Yun Leader Meng paced the immediate surrounding of the entrance. She dispersed her qi — chilling the already cool night air.

Tiny snow crystals bloomed into existence, hung in the air like fireflies.

“See, Yun Leader Meng, you’re worrying too much. There’s no invisible person caught in your Snow Flower Bringing Spring Array. And now you’ve gotten our fine, young disciples covered in frost — what if they catch a cold?” Yue Leader Dao stared at the group of disciples until they started sneezing and coughing.

Stopping her use of qi, the air warmed. Yun Leader Meng smiled apologetically at the group of disciples. She warned the disciples to go back to their own rooms. Bowing, the disciples left.

Senior Sha exhaled the breath he had been holding for a while. Immediately after, he laughed weakly, clutching his chest and whimpering. Those disciples had been chasing him without rest.

Even though the disciples was unable to sense his qi at all, Senior Sha remained vulnerable to the martial arts the disciples executed blindly. At least he knew the general layout of the pavilion and where the Grand Halls were now.

But as Senior Sha prepared to leave, he felt the death-glare of a goddess and froze. A perennial fear seized him — from the tiniest toe to the quivering heart thick with blood inside of him. It was not that oscillation and fluttering of the heart — no, that was anxiety, and anxiety can never compare with fear. Nor was it that petrification so often felt and confused with fear — no, that was doubt, the death of a part of one’s soul; fear ravages the human spirit much more efficiently and severely. Fear was the seizure of the soul: one was chained by the knowledge of hope but also the inevitability of failure; one was seized but fear and left the acrimonious, brief respite in which one was able to act — yet, found unable to even blink, much less breathe.

And Senior Sha felt this fear hurtle toward him in vast titanic waves, swallowing him whole, from a pair of eyes gone red.

The moniker Scarlet Fairy of Dreams thrusted onto Yun Leader Meng Yue was partially derived from the fairy’s wardrobe. But, the consummate radiance conjured by the red fairy’s signature move: the Cycling Grief of Feng and Huang.

The red fairy tossed her paper fan into the fire next to her. From her robes she retrieved a hand fan of crane feathers. She flung it into the air. Upon reaching the apex of its ascent, the feathers scattered and swirled in the air above. Crackling flames raged and soared up to greet the turbulence above. Melding with one another, the swirl of wind and burst of flames became a set of Wind-and-Fire Wheels, with the crane feathers being as sharp as honed steel.

Flying back to Meng Yue, she caught them in her hands and leapt into the air, spinning. Floating down with the urgency of a meteor, she struck the earth in front of her. The stone-laid path rippled, followed by chasing flames, devouring the crevices in-between stones. The clashing tremors penetrated deep into the earth. Senior Sha felt his organs flatten into mud — that enclosed balloon rupturing with blood. He slammed his teeth and eyelids closed as blood swarmed up in his throat. Swallowing it down, he held back a silent gag from the gritty asperity of iron-copper.

Meng Yue continued her war-dance above. The flames became great birds of prey — wings flapped against the wind — who swept the surroundings. Each thrust, each lift, and every gently laid step produced seismic palpitations, stabbing deep into Senior Sha’s soul. And at the climax, the fire-birds and the Wind-and-Fire Wheels came together as one and dispersed into a storm of needles and stars. Completing her dance, with a flick of her hand, the fires died and the crane-feathers became a fan again in her hands. Meng Yue pocketed the fan back into her robe.

“Yun Leader Meng, do I need to inform the elders that you have gone addled in the brain?” Yue Leader Dao spat and readied his sword. “Look at the crater you have made!”

She fanned herself with another paper fan. Hiding her face, she responded, “I thought I saw a rat. That’s all. The reparation of the path can be punishment for the disciples who were wandering around earlier.”

As the two division leaders engaged in meaningless talk, Senior Sha crawled through the earth, gasping as blood spilled from his mouth. With half-closed eyes, Sha somehow found his way back to the entrance to the outer sect pavilion. Breaking through to the surface, he flopped over and vomited. With paper-limbs, Sha crawled down the stone steps. Reaching the end, he positioned himself and meditated to hasten the healing of his body.

Senior Sha found he was able to manage his qi much better under the oppressive aura of the outer sect. However, he remained at the 6th level of condensation.

After recovering some, Senior Sha left the enclosure of the outer sect and walked back to the Tree.

His face was white as lice and his entire body trembled like an unstopped gong.

Yun Leader Meng knew it was him.

But she did not have evidence — only suspicions, he told himself. If he doesn’t get caught — he just has to not get caught. Nothing else mattered.

A new plan, he told himself. He needed an appendix to his plans. Sha pulled out his Bottle of Hopes and kissed it with tears. Exhausted, Senior Sha skipped his usual cultivation and slept.

On the eve of the lottery, Senior Sha was swimming through the earth. He arrived in front of the Grand Halls. It was time to execute his plan.

First, he sent a small tremor from where he was toward the Grand Halls. Yue Leader Dao felt the insignificant tremor and moved to intercept it with his sword. Then controlling that tremor, Senior Sha sent the tremor off elsewhere. However, Yue Leader Dao refrained from chasing the tremor. Instead, he grunted and went back to his post alongside Yun Leader Meng. In addition, he gave the red fairy a pouch of coins.

Extending the reception of his ears, Senior Sha eavesdropped on their conversation.

“Hmph, do you know who the rat is?” Yue Leade Dao asked. “You realized there was one a few days ago.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Yun Leader Meng responded. She scanned the earth for any semblance of movement. “As long as we stand guard here, we will be fine.”

Senior Sha breathed out. His eyes narrowed into fierce slits; he foresaw this course of action — but he did not want to execute the next part of his plan.

The more pressure Senior Sha felt, the stronger he became. At least, that was his logical conclusion after his weeks of training under the oppressive pressure of the outer sect.

With his body as the epicenter, Senior Sha gathered all his qi and released it. A terrible trembling rocked the entire pavilion. Snow fell from the roofs; dust fluffed up into the air; the buildings danced, causing the shingles to crash down and lamps to topple over. The pavilion roared as it was set

ablaze. A great clanging of gongs reached the division leaders’ ears.

The two division leaders looked at each other with alarm. Yue Leader Dao rushed to help put out the fire stirred by the continuous trembling of the earth, as well as check up on the less experienced disciples.

Yun Leader Meng’s face twisted into a harsh look of disappointment. Her eyes shined red — a raw maroon like flesh — and performed her Cycling Grief of Feng and Huang. She waited with readied weapons in both hands for the terrible scum to move.

Senior Sha kept producing the rumbling until he felt the destruction and confusion to the pavilion was enough. He simply needed to rush into the Grand Halls and sprinkle some of the magical liquid over the paper slips in the lottery box. And then a thought came to him — was the lottery box even kept in the Grand Halls?

Senior Sha slapped his brow. He must not doubt. It has to be in the Grand Halls. It has to be. He swam deeper into the earth and covered himself with the soil. He bolted for the Grand Halls.

Yun Leader Meng spun and slammed her Wind-and-Fire Wheels onto the ground in front of her. A seismic rumbling clashed and blew through the lingering resonance from Senior Sha. The rumbling extended down into the ground and Senior Sha crashed into it and bounced back.

“Ugly Dwarf,” the red fairy said quietly. “Leave now. I still need you to steal back my fan — if you are caught, I will not be able to protect you.”

Gritting his teeth, Senior Sha rushed for the Grand Halls once more. Closing her eyes with a harsh sigh, Meng Yue plunged her weapons into the ground and whipped her arms up in a flourish. A rift carved opened, the flames from the Wind-and-Fire wheels rushed through the rift. Senior Sha braced himself and with great strain, bursted through the flames and the seismic rebound to enter

the foundation of the Grand Halls.

Not missing a beat, Yun Leader Meng rushed into the Grand Halls as well. She caught the sight of a silhouette tampering with the locked chest. The figure plunged his hand into the chest as if the laws of matter meant little to him. Then the figure disappeared completely — even Yun Leader Meng became unable to sense his qi.

Sighing, she walked over to the chest. She deliberated on whether to report the incident. Playing with one of her hair ornaments, she decided not to do anything. She needed the boy. And it was shameful of her to let the boy get past her in the first place.

Besides, everyone knew the transparency of the lottery: kept in the Grand Halls, guarded by the two division leaders. To report the incident meant preparing a new box. And the people will not be satisfied by the results no matter what. The already rampant internal strife will deepen — and Meng Yue was not yet prepared for war.

With this, worst comes to worst, the sect has a scapegoat readied to be tossed to the flames: an orphan with allegiance to no one — a throw-away side character.

On the day of the drawing, the Village of Lost Orphans was fetched by Da Gui and Gui Fa. The two were not the representatives for the inner sect. They handed the children a special talisman to reduce the oppressive air of the outer sect. With little space to showcase the majesty of the outer sect, the children were led quickly to the Grand Halls.

The Yue Division stood at one side, and the Yun Division the other side. The inner sect disciples occupied the inner sanctions of the halls with the least valued outer sect disciples trailing the crowd.

The children belonged to neither division and so gathered at the doors off to the side.

Everyone bowed as Sect Master Mo entered the Grand Halls. Qiu’yue lifted her head slightly, trying to catch a sight of the fairy who gave her this new life. Sect Master Mo noticed this and frowned, but gave no other inclination toward the girl and sat on her throne. The mass of disciples rose.

“Today, we honor the strength and cunning of our sect,” Sect Master Mo announced with regal dignity. Her chin held so high, the crowd replaced her chin as her eyes. “These two disciples have been both blessed with skill and the perseverance befitting to represent us in the Black Pearl Spring Festival.”

The crowd applauded and laughed as one disciple stepped forward from both divisions. The Yue Division disciple was a handsome man possessed of a slender frame, yet exuding both arrogance and elegance.

All the orphans except for Qiu’yue tensed up. None of them realized until Qiu’yue complained about the force Meili and Jang-Guo exerted on her hands. Cai pointed at that Yue Division disciple and told her that he was the one who killed the man he respected most.

Qin Kuai walked up to the throne and kneeled at its steps. Beside him was the Yun Division disciple, a man with a goofy smile and moppy hair — the runner up to Qin Kuai.

Sect Master Mo addressed Qin Kuai first. She stepped forward and tapped his shoulder with her sword, “As the winner of our tournament, Qin Kuai, be certain to claim glory for our Yue Yun Sect. Be sure to come back wiser, stronger, and more understanding of the world and oneself.”

Then Sect Master Mo turned to the happy Yun disciple and tapped him on the shoulder with her sword, “And Gai’zhi, though you lost against Qin Kuai, do not think yourself less. It was a good fight — one which shall inspire your fellow cultivators to strive to become worthy of their arts.”

With that the two representatives returned to their respective divisions. Gai’zhi received the jubilant crowd with shy nods and a smile. Qin Kuai smirked and held out a palm to the encroaching mass of admiration.

“I hate that guy,” Jang-Guo muttered.

“Mm, Qiu’yue hate him too,” Qiu’yue agreed after witnessing Qin Kuai’s treatment of his admirers. “Papa always told me to treat people well.”

With the ceremony completed, Sect Master Mo signalled for the lottery chest to come to her. She shattered the lock with her sword. And then she proceeded to pull out eight paper slips.

Sect Master Mo raised an eyebrow and flicked her eyes at the orphans gathered near the entrance. Yun Leader Meng saw the sect master’s actions and closed her eyes and fanned herself.

“I will now read the slips chosen — surely by the Way — and they will also attend the Black Pearl Spring Festival,” Sect Master Mo announced. Her grip on the pieces of paper was strong, crumpling them. Her eyes pierced the crowd with unforgiving righteousness. “Gu Jin. Long Yong. Yaohua Xiu.

And by some miracle: Qiu’yue, Cai, Tang Jang-Guo, Tang Meili, and Sha.”

At first, the crowd, beside Meng Yue and Qin Kuai, did not understand why the last five names called was attributed to a miracle. Then, the crowd realized, the last five names all were technically outsiders. This realization made the crowd boil with anger. The angry shouts and stomping of a crowd of more than hundreds of people rattled the foundation of the Grand Halls even.

“This is clearly the work of a cheat!” One elder exclaimed as she shook her staff in the air.

“An even more outrageous outcome than if the Yun division had cheated!” Another elder shouted as he brandished his blade.

“You mean the Yue Division!” Someone yelled as he also brandished his own weapon.

“Silence,” Sect Master Mo said. She did not scream. She did not even raise her voice. Rather, her ice-still face lost some of its luster as faint grooves appeared. With a limp wave, she silenced everyone. “Without a doubt, the lottery had been tampered with. Yun Leader Meng! Yue Leader Dao! Report!”

The two division leaders flew out from the sides and knelt in front of the throne.

“Sect Master Mo, I was assisting in the fire crisis last night.” With a furtive glance over at Yun Leader Meng, he finished with a sly smile, “I can offer no more. Only Yun Leader Meng truly knows what happened.”

All eyes layered on the red fairy — all eyes, except for the orphans by the entrance. Senior Sha kept his eyes low, at the ground. He pretended the questioning stares of the others did not exist — especially not the wide eyes of Qiu’yue whose eyes he was unable to flee.

Holding back a breath, Yun Leader Meng raised her head to face the sect master. “I have no evidence — nothing concrete — but the culprit is most likely the boy called Sha. I was unable to get a good look at the person who did tamper with the box since he covered himself in soil from head to toe. But the martial art of travelling under the earth is very similar to Sha’s.”

“Why did you not report this incident before?” Sect Master Mo asked as she massaged her eyes.

“The chest was locked — I did not believe he had tampered with the chest.”

“Or you are conspiring with the boy,” Yue Leader Dao accused. This statement caused murmur to ripple through the crowd.

“Silence,” Sect Master Mo commanded as she slumped back into her throne. “Regardless, we have our culprits. Drag them up here.”

“Culprits,” the children gasped in unison. The disciples surrounded them and dragged them to the front.

“What do you have to say?” Sect Master Mo asked and looked at Sha who would not look back.

“Not even an apology?”

Qiu’yue leapt to her feet with a stomp. Biting her lips, she turned to face the crowd and shouted with tears, “Senior Sha did nothing wrong!”

“Oh,” Guang-ling murmured in surprise. He was the only tame reaction in the crowd. The others hurled insults and death-threats at the girl.

“Little girl, you are the one who costed us the favor of the Empire, are you not?” Yue Division Dao remarked and pointed his finger at her. Qiu’yue was confused, but Yue Division Dao continued. He presented himself to the crowd and reiterated his claims loudly, “This girl is the one who costed us the favor of the Empire! She is the daughter of traitors to the Emperor — may He live a thousand thousand years. Foolish to trust her words!”

“But Senior Sha didn’t do anything!” Qiu’yue continued despite the raucous. Even after the crowd started throwing stuff at her, she continued speaking. She even stood in front of the kneeling Senior Sha. “Senior Sha is kind and generous! He’s a good person! He didn’t cheat!”

Qiu’yue kept crying those words. The others looked at each other and joined their voices in with hers as well.

“Stop it,” Sect Master Mo commanded. The voices died down and the throwing of stuff halted. She closed her eyes and said, “The evidence all points to the boy — and by extension the rest of you.”

“No!” Qiu’yue shouted. To the surprise of everyone, she even marched up the stairs to the throne.

“That idiot,” Cai cursed. “Now’s not the time to be spoiled.”

Then, the little girl kowtowed to Sect Master Mo. “Senior Brother Sha did not cheat.”

The sect master rose from her throne and stepped on the girl’s head. She pushed the girl’s head deeper into the ground. She looked down at the girl who tried not to let her tears out. “Do you think baseless compassion surpasses justice?”

“Senior Sha did not cheat,” Qiu’yue grunted those few words out. She cried out as Sect Master Mo stepped on her back next. Yue Leader Dao hid his smile. Having come to a decision, Yun Leader Meng stepped forward and kowtowed as well.

“Please, Sect Master Mo, excuse the transgressions of the young and foolish,” Yun Leader Meng begged. The crowd went into another uproar.

“She was part of the conspiracy!” Someone shouted.

“Hmph, the Yun Division will always be filled with unruly scum,” someone laughed bitterly.

“Death! Death! Death!” The Yue Division began to chant. The Yun Division remained silent — as their own division leader were protecting the dishonorable cheats.

“To kill children is not part of my ideology,” Sect Master Mo said cooly and silenced the crowd as her qi seeped out of her. Mo Yun removed her foot from Qiu’yue’s body. Frost appeared all over the red pillars and Mo Yun readied her sword. “Qiu’yue, why are you so certain of Sha’s innocence.”

“Because Senior Sha is always so nice and so kind and —”

“Then why did he only care about himself when cheating the lottery?” Sect Master Mo interrupted. She ran her finger over her blade and pointed it at Sha who remained kneeling, avoiding everyone’s stares.

The orphans and everyone else, including Meng Yue, stared at Sect Master Mo with wide eyes. Qiu’yue glanced back and forth between Sha and Sect Master Mo.

“Tell me, why did such a kind and nice senior brother only somehow tamper with one of the slip? Every other slip was untampered. It truly was a genuine miracle that the other names appeared. There was no trickery in that, only Fate.”

“Senior Brother Sha?” Cai looked at the older boy with trembling hands. Jang-Guo and Meili found themselves even unable to look at the senior brother.

“Senior Sha...he’s...he’s,” Qiu’yue struggled to form words — any coherent thought. She slumped back and glanced at Senior Sha who still would not meet the girl’s looks.

“And Sha, you believe some cheap illusion would get by the master of this sect? You think something as stupid as manufactured illusion can escape the eyes of someone at the Earth cultivation stage — almost the Star cultivation stage? The paper actually reads Han Yu, not Sha.”

Sha finally looked at Sect Master Mo but did not say anything.

“Hereby, as the sect master, I shall crip —”

“No,” Qiu’yue cried and clung her hands around Sect Master Mo’s arm. “Senior Sha just made a mistake. Please, don’t. Please, please, please.”

Sect Master Mo shook the girl from her arm. She poked the girl’s shoulder with her blade, “Why do you care so much about someone who almost caused you to be exiled? Someone who betrayed you.”

“Because Senior Brother Sha cares for all of us; he really does,” Qiu’yue asserted with trembling fists. “He always asks about our days and training and everything!”

“A kind criminal is a criminal, nonetheless,” Yue Leader Dao said with disdain. “And this criminal did not even steal to feed his family — but his selfish stomach.”

“You’re wrong!” Qiu’yue shouted.

“Move,” Sect Master Mo commanded. She directed all her killing intent and all her qi at the girl. Struck by the aura of death, Qiu’yue’s eyes changed for a split second — but Mo Yun saw. It reminded her of that fox, and it only served to enrage her further. Unable to bear the brunt of the force, Qiu’yue coughed up blood and collapsed.

Still Qiu’yue refused to step down, dragging herself to cling to Mo Yun’s ankles, she pleaded, “Don’t, please, Sect Master. I’ll do anything. He’s the older brother I never had.”

The crowd was unable to quite decide how to react. The Yue Division followed the tirade of its division leader and began to act up again. The Yun Division glanced at each other and sighed.

A young man stepped forward from the Yun Division. He bowed with clasped fists. “This junior is Han Yu. This junior greets Sect Master Mo. Please, I am unable to watch this any further. I am moved by the young girl’s compassion. Please, Sect Master Mo, allow me to relinquish my spot — for, even though the boy cheated, that may be Fate.”

That was the final straw. The entire Yue Division exploded.

“What a farce! A joke!” Yue Leader Dao exclaimed. “This is not the first time such blatant favoritism has been tolerated! First the girl, and now this boy!”

“Silence!” Sect Master Mo finally screamed. She threw her sword forward. As it struck the ground, the entire floor froze — and everyone felt the ice sap away their strength. Sinking onto their knees, everyone looked at the sect master. Mo Yun ran her eyes over everyone. “Fine! Since Han Yu himself relinquishes the spot, I will allow the boy the spot. But a crime deserves punishment. Boy, pick up that sword and cut off your own left hand!”

Qiu’yue wanted to say more, but stopped herself. Even though she was young, she knew that she had done all she was able to. The girl turned her attention to the senior brother.

Sha slunk over to the sword and picked it up. Feeling the weight of it in his small hands, he inspected his disheveled reflection. Closing his eyes, he held the sword over his left hand and hacked away at the wrist. With a burning scream, he made a deep trench at the wrist. The pain caused him to faint for a short second as everything went white and he dropped the sword. With heaving chest and shaking hand, he picked the sword again and clenched it tight. With another scream, he hacked at the bone further. Blood spluttered out and painted the floor around him. Qiu’yue looked away from the sight with close eyes.

The others — Cai and the twins — watched Sha as he did it. The senior brother felt their piercing stares — he truly had done them wrong. He knew how important the sect and martial arts were to each of their goals — and he almost costed all of that for them, people he could call family.

Sha hacked at the bone again, but the sword caught when he tried to bring it back up. With a fierce twisting, he wrenched the blade through the flesh. Paled, the boy brought the last strike with all his strength, and he severed his hand from his wrist. The shaking left hand flopped onto the ground.

Sha placed the blade gingerly next to him with trembling motion. He tore off cloth from his collar with his teeth, and he wrapped the strip of fabric around his stub. Then, he bowed to everyone, and left limping sluggishly.

Sect Master Mo swallowed her saliva and picked up her sword. She dispersed the crowd. After witnessing such an act, no one truly desired to contest the results of the lottery anymore. Han Yu nodded at the orphans before he followed his division out the doors.

Qiu’yue went back to Cai and the twins and offered a weak smile. Meili responded with a forced smile of her own — one which obviously tore at her soul. The boys glanced at her and then sighed.

And it was with these difficult emotions that the ten Yue Yun Sect people departed from the Yue Yun Mountains.

Author's Note: Late Upload today. Talking about Wednesday. Probably won't be able to upload today's actual chapter. I never like uploading work that I'm not happy with -- and I was not happy with the first half of this chapter, so I spent time rewriting it plenty. Anyways, finally gonna turn the focus back to Qiu'yue because that's the main character. Falling outs are always fun to write. How will Qiu'yue react with the tension now surrounding the group? Hmm, kukuku.