"Xiao Yan-gege."
The girl stood prettily before Xiao Yan, her fair, delicate hands clasped behind her back, her body leaning slightly forward. Her beautiful, limpid eyes curved into a lovely crescent, brimming with smiling light, while a pair of shallow dimples flickered upon her pretty cheeks — utterly adorable.
Drawing his gaze from the scroll, Xiao Yan smiled at the girl before him, then swept his eyes around the hall. Meeting the scores of scorching stares fixed upon them, he said with some helplessness, "Girl, I know your charm is no small thing, but do you have to use me as your shield?"
"Hehe." Pressing her lips together, Xun'er laughed softly and settled down beside Xiao Yan, stretching lazily. Her dainty, rounded figure, hugged tight by her fitted dress, stood out alluringly at once. She reached idly behind her for a scroll and let her gaze rest on Xiao Yan for a while before speaking in a languid smile: "So Xiao Yan-gege has advanced into the fourth stage of Dou Qi?"
At these words, the youth whose head was buried in his scroll arched one brow. All ten stages of Dou Qi lay in their preliminary phase, and the faint, weak fluctuations of that power were extremely hard to detect. Unless one stirred one's Dou Qi, or used a testing stone, telling precisely which stage its master had reached was no easy matter. Yet with just a few idle glances, Xun'er had spoken Xiao Yan's secret outright — and that truly unsettled him.
"What sort of identity does this girl really have? Judging by the technique she used against Xiao Ning earlier, it's plainly a high-grade Dou Technique. That sort of golden light technique is not something the Xiao Clan possesses…" A few thoughts flickered through Xiao Yan's mind, and he turned his head for a long, searching glance at the smiling girl. With a faint shrug, he nodded lightly. "The fourth stage."
Seeing Xiao Yan's nod, the smile upon Xun'er's face deepened as she said lightly, "I imagine it has to do with your hard, closed-door cultivation these past days?"
"Mhm." Xiao Yan nodded faintly without denying it, and shifted his gaze back to the scroll, asking idly, "So why the fancy to spar with them today?"
"I was bored." Mimicking Xiao Yan's shrug with a roll of her shoulders, Xun'er replied with a grin. Turning her gaze to the youth, a hint of subtle reproach crept into it. "Since that last time, Xiao Yan-gege hasn't come to see Xun'er for quite half a month. Surely you're not afraid Xun'er will come demanding her money back?"
Xiao Yan was taken aback, somewhat embarrassed, and smiled wryly. "The coming-of-age ceremony is next year — how could I not throw myself into training?" Looking up at the girl's slightly pinched little nose, he extended a hand and affectionately patted her little head, soothing her softly, "In the days to come, I'll be sure to find time to keep Xun'er company."
Hearing his assurance, Xun'er's face at last relaxed, and she kept chattering and laughing softly in Xiao Yan's ear. The intimate air between them made every youth in the hall burn with green-eyed jealousy.
From afar, Xiao Ning watched the two chatting and laughing beneath the bookshelf. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his face turned rather ugly. His fists clenched, then relaxed, clenched and relaxed once more…
As the grandson of the clan's great elder, Xiao Ning had always nursed a strong sense of superiority. Toward Xun'er — that girl so unlike the rest — he had, deep in his heart, very firmly claimed her as his future wife. That it was nothing more than wishful thinking did nothing to curb the feeling…
And now, to see the wife he had earmarked for himself talking and laughing so intimately with someone else — it was all Xiao Ning could do to keep the flames of jealousy from devouring him. Worse still, the one sharing those tender laughs with Xun'er was none other than the most useless cripple in the whole clan.
Anger ceaselessly surged within his eyes. After a moment, Xiao Ning let out a slow breath, recomposed a genial smile, straightened his rumpled clothes, and, under the eyes of the crowd, strode briskly toward the pair.
Onlookers throughout the hall watched Xiao Ning approach and burst into knowing laughter — plainly, that mirth was aimed not at Xiao Ning, but at Xiao Yan, who seemed as yet blissfully unaware.
His gaze sweeping over the meridians drawn upon the scroll, Xiao Yan quietly committed to memory the acupoints and circulatory paths of the Crushed-Stone Palm. Then he knit his brow — his keen soul-sense told him plainly of every movement in the hall, including the Xiao Ning even then walking over.
"That girl's a born troublemaker." Sighing lowly, Xiao Yan slowly rolled up the scroll in his hands.
"Hehe, Cousin Xiao Yan, come to study techniques, have you? Would you like your cousin to find you a few high-grade ones? After all, some things are simply beyond your reach." Standing before Xiao Yan with a smile all over his face, Xiao Ning spoke in a pleasant, easy tone.
Xiao Yan rolled up the scroll, set it gently upon the bookshelf, and gave a slight shake of the head, saying flatly, "Thanks for the concern, but I don't need it for now."
"Oh? Heh heh, I almost forgot… Cousin Xiao Yan's Dou Qi is still only at the third stage; anything too advanced would indeed prove hard to learn." Rubbing his forehead with a hand, Xiao Ning seemed to smile in sudden understanding — yet the mockery on his face was scarcely well concealed.
Xiao Yan let out a quiet sigh. This was one who had come looking for a tongue-lashing all on his own…
Allowing a sharp, biting curve to climb slowly onto his lips, Xiao Yan said in some exasperation, "I know all this bluster is nothing more than an attempt to catch Xun'er's eye, but I must still say it — you're very immature…"
Stung by that merciless string of veiled jabs, the smile on Xiao Ning's face gradually faded. He had not expected that Xiao Yan, ordinarily so taciturn, should all at once possess the audacity to trade words with him. His face turning grim, he sneered, "So Cousin Xiao Yan holds no small grudge against this cousin of yours, does he? Then perhaps we should cross palms, so I can see how far my cousin has grown over these past years?"
"Do I need to cross palms with you?" Xun'er set down her scroll, raised her face, and her beautiful, limpid eyes brimmed over with a touch of cold.
The corners of Xiao Ning's eyes twitched. Seeing Xun'er step forth to shield Xiao Yan, the jealousy in his heart blazed hotter, and he shot her a vindictive glare before jeering, "So you only know how to hide behind a woman's skirts?"
"Why didn't you dare to speak to me like that three years ago?" Xiao Yan stood on tiptoe to take down yet another bundle of scrolls, blew the dust from them, and said in a flat voice.
It must be said — the way Xiao Yan bore himself, so calm and utterly unflappable, was frankly sickening to anyone who nursed ill will against him.
Xiao Ning ground his teeth together until they made a grating sound. Furious as he was, however, he dared not truly lay a hand upon Xiao Yan. However low Xiao Yan's cultivation talent might be, he remained the son of the clan head.
Drawing a deep breath, Xiao Ning shot Xiao Yan a cold, sinister glance, then leaned in to whisper savagely into his ear, "Xiao Yan, you are no longer the cultivation prodigy of three years ago. The man you are now is nothing but a cripple, and Xun'er is far beyond your match. If you know what's good for you, keep your distance from her. Otherwise, heh heh — though I may not strike at you on ordinary days, at the coming-of-age ceremony a year from now you will be bound to accept the challenge of a clansman. If you have no wish to end up a cripple indeed, I advise you to pack your bags at once, run off to some godforsaken mountain backwater, and live out the rest of your days in peace!"
Hearing that string of threats, a faint smile curved at the corner of Xiao Yan's mouth. He tilted his head slightly, studied Xiao Ning with a thoroughly peculiar gaze, then rolled his eyes, gathered up the scrolls, and turned to leave.
Seeing Xiao Yan's behavior, Xiao Ning thought at first that he was yielding. But before he could savor any satisfaction, the boy's casually spoken words sent his face turning a livid shade of green.
"Mhm, very well then — a year from now… I'll be waiting for you to cripple me."