At the sight of Xiao Yan walking side by side with Xun'er, not one of the youths in the grounds could keep the envy from his face. In all of the Xiao Clan, the only person who could keep such close company with Xun'er was, it seemed, none other than this renowned waste...
At the edge of the grounds, Xiao Ning, surrounded by a throng of peers his own age, stared at Xiao Yan with eyes burning with wounded pride.
"You little fool — let's see whether you still have any face left to stand beside Xun'er after today." Muttering insults low beneath his breath, Xiao Ning curled his lip in a cold, vindictive smile.
Paying no heed to the stares shot at him, piercing with envy and fury alike, Xiao Yan led Xun'er straight to the rearmost of the ranks, where the two fell to chatting in low, cheerful voices.
The clan's high-ranking elders on the platform could not help a flicker of surprise at the easy, carefree way about him. Had the boy no idea that today's test would remake the entire course of his days ahead?
"Heh, I expect he means to give up all pretense and just break the pot to pieces." The Second Elder sneered low in cold derision.
He expected that at these words the Xiao Zhan beside him would again erupt in fury. Yet the Second Elder waited half a while and sensed not the slightest stir, and could not help turning to look at the man in some bewilderment.
"Second Elder, let us reserve all judgments until the very end — for otherwise, we will only end up slapping our own faces..." Xiao Zhan cast a long, deep glance at the youth in the field who sat with head bowed and eyes shut, and said in an even, mild voice.
The corner of his mouth twitching, the Second Elder gave a cold snort. "Let us hope so. I do long to see him surprise us after all."
"Very well, the time is come. No more dawdling." The Grand Elder cut short the clash of the two in his deep, heavy voice.
Xiao Zhan gave a small nod and rose. Casting his gaze once around the quiet training grounds, he spoke with a firm, stern tone: "You are all the fresh blood of our clan, and you should well know how important today's test is to each of you. The rules are thus: any of you with a Dou Qi of the seventh rank or above shall pass, and any below it shall fail. Yet, as has stood in years past, once the test is finished, those below the seventh rank hold the right to issue a single challenge against a companion ranked above; if won, such a one may also enter the region of those who have passed!"
"Since all of you are clear on this, then — let the test begin!"
At the fall of Xiao Zhan's heavy command, every youth and maiden upon the training grounds promptly tensed.
Beside the black stone tablet, the cold-faced tester stepped forward and drew a name list from within his robes. His ice-cold voice sent a shiver through every body it named.
Seated cross-legged upon the clean blue stone floor, Xiao Yan watched with a placid eye as these peers of his, downcast and weeping because their Dou Qi had failed the mark. He curled his lip in faint contempt, yet felt no shred of pity in his heart. Those who had taken delight in mocking those they deemed lesser were not worthy of a whit of sympathy.
When they practiced on the joy they drew from those clansmen beneath them, it had perhaps never crossed their minds that their own day would come soon enough.
Those who humiliate others will themselves be humiliated.
Seated at Xiao Yan's side, Xun'er's small face bore a pure and elegant poise, as serene and untroubled as the clouds drifting idly over the sky — like a single leaf of green lotus, untainted by the faintest fleck of dust. Her delicate fingers played with a strand of her hair, and only now and then did her gaze drift across to the youth beside her who sat with his eyes lowered. Like Xiao Yan, she spared no more than a passing heed for those somber young men and maidens.
"Xiao Mei!"
The tester's cold voice made the corner of Xiao Yan's brow lift lightly, and his slumbering eyelids lazily rose as well.
Xun'er, who had been watching Xiao Yan all this while, could not help wrinkling her pretty little nose at his manner.
"Heh — in the old days she used to cling to this Xiao Yan-gege of hers something fierce..." Narrowing his eyes at the crimson-robed girl who stepped forward with such ease and composure, Xiao Yan chuckled softly and mirthlessly.
Blinking her large, liquid-bright eyes, Xun'er tilted her head to study the faint trace of mockery at the corner of Xiao Yan's mouth, and smiled: "I'm curious to know what manner of attitude she will take toward Xiao Yan-gege once today is over?"
Xiao Yan gave a slight shrug of his shoulders and said in a soft voice: "Some things, once ruined, are ruined for good. No matter what mending is attempted, the glaring crack will still be there. The people in this family whom I am willing to take to heart are not many — only a handful, at most..."
"Is Xun'er among them?" She curved her rosy little mouth into a coy, playful smile, and asked in a teasing voice.
A genial warmth spread through Xiao Yan's smile. He reached out a hand, and pinching a strand of Xun'er's dark hair between two fingers, slowly drew it down, saying with a smile: "Of course!"
Her large, liquid-bright eyes curved into lovely crescent moons, and a faint haze of longing drifted over Xun'er's gaze, as that image nearly etched into her very soul rose once more before her, tinged with warm tenderness...
There was the small boy who had crept into her room in the dead of night when they were children, warming and tending her seemingly fragile little body with a touch so clumsily earnest it made one want to laugh despite oneself. Though he had known all along that it would avail little, the little boy had kept it up — steadfastly, patiently — for fully two years...
On her delicate countenance bloomed a pair of charming dimples, and Xun'er tipped her head a little to one side, laughing gently within her heart: "In this clan, the people Xun'er is willing to take to heart in all sincerity are also not many — you alone, and no other..."
In the distance, watching the intimate gesture between Xiao Yan and Xun'er, Xiao Ning's face twitched, the flame of envy within him such that he wished he could charge over and grind his heel into that detestable face.
"Dou Power: rank eight!"
Upon the black stone tablet, light burst forth, and a great body of large, dignified characters floated suspended across the face of the stone.
"Xiao Mei: Dou Power, rank eight — high grade!" The cold-faced tester glanced at the black stone tablet, gave a small nod, and declared the result in his heavy voice.
At the sound of the tester's words, Xiao Mei let out a breath of relief, and almost at once her small face was tilted up in pride. In but a single year she had risen from the seventh rank to the eighth — a rate of progress more than enough to rank her among the top five of the entire clan. No wonder the girl felt thoroughly well-pleased with herself.
No sooner had the tester's voice fallen than a stir ran through the training grounds, and a host of envious gazes flew straight toward Xiao Mei.
"A single rank of Dou Qi in a year — barely adequate, I suppose..." Rubbing his nose, Xiao Yan offered his mildly dismissive appraisal.
"Mm." Xun'er played with her strand of hair, her gaze sweeping only casually over Xiao Mei, now surrounded by a throng like a princess holding court.
After Xiao Mei came the dozen or so who followed her, and of all of them, only one managed to reach the seventh rank of Dou Qi. The rest were all cast out, eliminated.
"Xiao Xun'er!"
At this name, even the tester's cold, indifferent voice seemed to soften with the faintest hint of feeling.
Every gaze in the field moved with the sound, turning all at once to the pure and lovely maiden, untainted by the faintest fleck of dust.
"Xiao Yan-gege, don't be too astonished in a moment, now..." Xun'er straightened up and, leaning over toward him, smiled her playful teasing smile.
His brow rising in a quirk, Xiao Yan watched the girl's beautiful, alluring figure recede and murmured under his breath: "Could it be she's already broken through to Dou Warrior?"