Xiao Ran fell into step beside Shu Yue as they left the Sparring Ground. He politely took her bamboo stick and then pulled out a silk handkerchief from his sleeve. Shu Yue smiled behind her mask as Xiao Ran wiped the remains of Dishan's blood from her weapon.

"Congratulations, Young Mistress, you did very well in that match," Xiao Ran said as he handed her the bamboo stick back.

"Thank you, Xiao Ran," Shu Yue said softly.

"He was a skilled fighter, that Dishan," Xiao Ran noted. "But he relies solely on brute force, which is why Young Mistress is a hundred times better warrior than him."

Shu Yue giggled softly. "You flatter me too much, Xiao Ran."

Xiao Ran smiled, his golden slanted eyes gleaming like antique jewelry. Then, as if recalling something unpleasant, his face wrinkled in a scowl.

"That impudent human, he even said you're fragile! Has he no shame? You picked the right part of him to injure; his eyes were clearly in need of repair."

"But it wasn't entirely his fault; he simply fell into my trap, which is a good thing, so you don't have to be upset."

Xiao Ran just shrugged.

Xiao Ran had been Shu Yue's assigned bodyguard since she was six years old. He was five years older than she was. He was a hybrid of a fox spirit and a human.

Shu Yue looked at the bamboo stick. It was long and light, and had been crafted with fine elegance. Though it looked like an ordinary bamboo pole, it was anything but. It wouldn't be easily damaged, broken, or even scratched.

Slowly, she removed the cover and revealed a slightly curved, single-edged sword. Sunlight glinted on the naked blade. She ran her fingers over the smooth surface of the sword. The feeling of the cold metal against her skin ignited her spirit. She sheathed the sword and rested her hand on the upper edge of the bamboo scabbard where Dishan's blood had once been.

She never unsheathed her sword during the match because she promised her father and late mother that she would only draw the sword if her opponent deserved it. Because once she unsheathed her sword, she would ensure that no life was spared.

Those who betrayed them would be the first to feel the sharpness of this blade--the first life she would offer to this sword.

That was why she never killed anyone using this sword.

This sword was their weapon of vengeance. She knew it was made specifically for that because her mother, a genius blacksmith, was the one who crafted it. Shu Liang, her father, said that she gave it to him before she died. However, Shu Liang handed the sword over to Shu Yue on her fourth birthday, the same day he gave up his swordsmanship for an unknown reason. So that responsibility had been passed down to her, which she gladly accepted and turned into her ultimate goal in life.

She would be the Ophiuchus Clan's sharpest blade, the one who would restore honor to their name.

"How much money did we win today?" Shu Yue questioned as they passed through a gate. They walked down the bustling street lined with taverns, shops, and teahouses. Carts squeaked along the road. Vendors and buyers shouted in the markets.

Xiao Ran heaved a sigh, and Shu Yue heard a chink of coins as he pulled out a sack of gold from his chest under his white robe.

"Six hundred gold coins," Xiao Ran answered, looking at the bag of gold in his palm. "Strangely, I wasn't the only one who bet on you."

"What?" Shu Yue blurted out, surprised. Strange, she thought. She never expected anyone else to bet on her besides Xiao Ran.

Since Dishan began participating at the Sparring Ground last week, he always won. He became the public's favorite, and every spectator would always place their bet on him. So since last week, no one left empty-handed. That's why Shu Yue assumed no one would bet on her because her opponent was the undefeated Dishan.

But she was wrong. It seemed like someone saw through her deception. Or maybe he was just one lucky bastard.

"He looks strange. He seemed to be around my age, but what's odd is that he's wearing a white robe with a gold belt, and he doesn't have the Ophiuchus Clan's emblem." Xiao Ran shoved the bag of gold back inside his robe. "And he looked nonchalant even when the sparring ended, as if he had expected it. But what confused me the most was that, despite wearing a gold belt, I couldn't sense his aura at all. I think he's very suspicious."

"Which means he wasn't a resident here, nor a disciple of the Ophiuchus Clan," Shu Yue said, frowning.

A gold belt? So he's an outsider? If he was from another clan, this could be a problem.

For someone who was always present at the sparring ground, Shu Yue had never seen someone wearing a gold belt. If there was a disciple like that, she should have noticed him already. Because there had been no disciples in the Ophiuchus Clan who had earned a gold belt since their fall. The clan leader, her father, never awarded anyone with a gold belt during every Rank Ceremony.

For someone who was always present at the sparring ground, Shu Yue had never seen someone wearing a gold belt. If there was a disciple like that, she should have noticed him already. Because there had been no young disciples in the current generation of the Ophiuchus Clan who had earned a gold belt since their fall. The clan leader, her father, never awarded anyone with a gold belt during every Rank Ceremony.

As far as Shu Yue knew, no member of the Ophiuchus Clan at present possessed a gold belt or had reached the Saint rank, not even in the records.

"Unfortunately, he left immediately after the money was distributed, so I didn't have the opportunity to speak with him."

"Which means he didn't want to be known," Shu Yue said. "I have a feeling we'll run into this guy sooner or later, and by then, I'll decide whether or not he should be eliminated."

If this mysterious man was really an outsider and a gold belt bearer, then he was a threat. But if he was a spy from another clan, that meant he was terrible at his job. He couldn't be that careless, could he? Unless Shu Yue was wrong and she was just being paranoid. But if Xiao Ran thought he was suspicious, it was enough to make her suspicious as well.

Shu Yue's brows tightly knitted as she concentrated on her thoughts.

Lu Baiyu hosting a sparring competition with the soul-binding scroll as a prize and the mysterious man with a gold belt appearing on the sparring ground for the first time and betting on her wasn't a coincidence, was it?