Stormhand

  A gentle pressure on my shoulder rouses me from my slumber, and I blink several times, still feeling the weight of sleep clinging to my eyelids. I slowly open my eyes to find Lianhua's silhouette outlined against the dim light coming through the window.

  "Zhāohuán Wen”, she whispers softly. "I need to talk to you now that there are no prying ears that can hear us."

  Those words are enough to suddenly clear away what remained of my drowsiness, and my still-numb thoughts quickly rearrange themselves. So she's finally going to talk. It's about time she designed to tell me what she's been hiding since yesterday; her silence was already starting to become too annoying.

  "The truth”, I murmur as my voice trails off into the darkness. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to open your mouth about what you were keeping quiet. Take me to a corner, I don't want to wake Xia."

  Lianhua nods and, without a word, picks me up with the skill of someone who has done it many times before, making sure not to make a sound as she lifts me up with the utmost delicacy. I gnce around and confirm that Xia, who has stayed in my room tonight due to the situation in the city, is still asleep, breathing slowly and deeply, completely oblivious to the exchange taking pce a few steps away.

  We move silently to the opposite end of the room, where Lianhua carefully settles me into a low chair, wrapping me in a light bnket before crouching down slightly in front of me, as if to ensure that her words will reach only my ears.

  "You can start now”, I say bluntly. "Everything you kept quiet about yesterday, from the beginning."

  Her eyes watch me with her usual serenity, completely unperturbed. There is no surprise in her gaze, as if she had expected me to know.

  "It all started a few days after I arrived in the river area”, he begins quietly. "While exploring some minor ruins, I came across a small group of six people in luxurious clothes and well-armed."

  His eyes harden slightly before he continues “I recognized them immediately. They were part of the fifteenth prince's entourage."

  "They attacked me as soon as they saw me”, she pauses for a second, then continues calmly. "Luckily, I was in ruins that offered uneven terrain. I pyed cat and mouse with them and separated them, weakening them one by one."

  "Finally, although it took some effort, I managed to defeat them”, Lianhua finishes telling me.

  Hearing her story, I feel a twinge in my chest and ask Lianhua “Did you find out why they attacked you?"

  "Yes”, she replies. "I got one of them to tell me before he died."

  "And?" I ask Lianhua, deciding to ignore the method by which she obtained the information.

  "The prince gave direct orders to his entire group to capture me if they saw me”, Lianhua replies.

  "Did he really stoop so low?" she whispered, almost breathless. "Ordering the capture of one of my maids just because of that little confrontation in the courtyard?"

  Lianhua nodded gravely, but raised her hand before speaking "Not only that. If you'll allow me to continue."

  I take a deep breath, letting the air out slowly.

  "Go ahead”, I say, preparing myself for the worst.

  "After that, I decided not to show myself to anyone else, since at that moment there were only the prince's men, the governor's men, and the men from the families”, Lianhua continues. "And all of them were problematic."

  "That's why I kept a low profile during those days and avoided all contact with other cultivators”, Lianhua continues. "But soon waves of wandering cultivators began to arrive, so it was even easier to go unnoticed by the prince's men."

  "And the rest of the time passed as I told you this afternoon”, Lianhua continues in a low voice.

  I look at Lianhua and continue to think that she is holding back, as I doubt that everything was as peaceful as she wants me to believe beyond the issue of the prince's men, although I understand that she does not want to disturb a nine-year-old girl who she knows does not like violence any more than is strictly necessary, but I let her continue telling the story in her own way.

  "But everything changed when I left the strange building where I found the storage bag and the room with the formation. As I emerged from the tunnel in the sand, I encountered the fifteenth prince and a dozen of his followers”, Lianhua finally tells me, confirming my worst suspicions.

  "I'll spare you the unpleasant nguage he used, Zhāohuán Wen“, Lianhua tells me. "But the prince began to insult me and you. He also talked about how he was going to capture me and how he would take revenge on me for the humiliation you put him through and then tell you about it to humiliate you."

  Hearing this, I can't help but interrupt her in surprise and ask Lianhua “Are you telling me that he actually started giving a monologue when he saw you? And not only that, but he also started telling you his evil pns for you and me? What's more, let me guess, his followers, while he was threatening you and telling you his pns, were surely ughing and waiting behind him for him to finish his speech."

  Lianhua is silent for a moment, surprised by my interruption, but she nods and answers my question “Yes, Zhāohuán Wen."

  I close my eyes for a moment and can almost imagine my half-brother as a third-rate vilin in a B movie, except that this is reality and I really can't imagine how someone could be so twisted as to actually be that way.

  "Just one st question”, I say to Lianhua. "Did you really stay to listen to his whole speech?"

  Lianhua is silent for a moment, as if surprised by the question, but then she answers “Yes, Zhāohuán Wen."

  "I can't believe it”, I reply. "Why didn't you take advantage of his stupid speech to run? Or go back to the tunnel and hide inside the building? You had the advantage there, didn't you? Why did you stay and listen to him?"

  "To find out everything he was so excited to tell me, Zhāohuán Wen”, Lianhua replies in a serious tone. "Since he was telling me about his pns, I had to stay to find out if he had any pns for me once he left the Celestial Fragment."

  I'm a little shocked, as I really hadn't thought that Lianhua had a good reason to stay and listen to him, and I really thought she had done like those protagonists who stay to listen to the vilins' speeches just for the sake of the narrative.

  But in response to her words, I can only sigh and say “I guess you had your reasons, Lianhua, but please, if you ever find yourself in a simir situation in the future, and let's hope it never happens, always prioritize your own safety. Understood?"

  "Yes, Zhāohuán Wen”, Lianhua says with a serious tone and face, but I don't know to what extent she will listen to me.

  "But putting that aside, continue with your story”, I say as I try to adjust the bnket she has pced on me.

  Lianhua nods slightly and resumes her story with the same meticulous serenity as always.

  "After he finished his speech”, she says, without hiding a certain contempt in her tone. "The prince finally gave the order to his followers to capture me, and those closest to me began to advance with that intention."

  I nod slightly, clenching my fingers tightly against the bnket.

  "I prepared to enter the tunnel again”, she continues. "I didn't want to let myself be surrounded. But just as I was backing toward the entrance, someone spoke from behind the prince's group. His voice was clear, mocking, and strangely amused as he said he had never encountered such a brave group of cultivators that they needed to gather a dozen to attack a simple maid."

  I stood still for a second in disbelief, unable to believe that right after I compined about someone delivering a vilinous monologue, someone else would appear and deliver a heroic line.

  "What did my half-brother do?" I ask, although I can already guess if this is going in the direction I think it is.

  "He turned around as if someone had spat in his face, he shouted who dared to insult him'" Lianhua replies, pausing. "And then a figure appeared at the top of a dune, who replied without hesitation that the dead have no need to know names."

  "Lianhua, who was it?" I ask, though I'm already beginning to fear the answer. "Don't tell me it was who I think it was?"

  "If you're thinking of Ling Tian, then yes”, Lianhua says, unperturbed. "It was him. I recognized him right away because he was still wearing the mask and carrying that strange sword he had in the tournament."

  I bring both hands to my face, stifling a groan of frustration and embarrassment over the whole Ling Tian affair.

  Why did I still have the mental image of the teenager I had met in the past, who was reserved, respectful, and almost shy in his manner of expression, who had cried when saying goodbye to his sister because of his inability to defend her and stay with her?

  And now I had Lianhua telling me that he was going around dressed as I had seen him at the tournament, with enough self-confidence to conquer the heavens and spouting chunibyo-style phrases.

  I stifle a bitter ugh and slightly remove my hands from my face to look to the side as I remember someone, Xia.

  My heart races for a moment, but I breathe a sigh of relief when I notice that she is still fast asleep.

  I watch her for a few more seconds to be sure before turning back to Lianhua.

  "Continue”, I say as I exhale a sigh that still carries the weight of my disbelief.

  Lianhua also gnces briefly at Xia and nods solemnly before continuing. "The prince, upon hearing that phrase and seeing that someone dared to stand up to him, almost spat blood in anger, so he roared new orders. Capture me, and eliminate the stranger."

  "And I suppose that's when the fight began”, I murmur, anticipating what's to come.

  "That's right. I retreated to the tunnel to avoid being surrounded and prepared to defend the entrance”, Lianhua tells me. "One of the men tried to fnk me before I could get inside, but then Ling Tian threw himself into the fight against the men who were attacking him."

  She pauses as her voice lowers to almost a whisper.

  "I don't know how to describe it, Zhāohuán Wen”, Lianhua says in a reverent voice I've never heard from her before. "I've seen skilled swordsmen before, but he wielded that sword with a precision I've never seen before. And on top of that, cuts of air emerged from it, as if he were using some kind of elemental combat technique."

  I frown as I listen to her and ask “Cuts of air?"

  Lianhua nods, but says “Yes, but I'm just telling you this. You know I can't say more without permission."

  I sigh, leaving those questions for my mother, and say to Lianhua “Go on."

  "When they saw that, the prince's men began to panic and started shouting that he was an elemental user”, Lianhua replied.

  "And the prince?" I ask.

  "He panicked too”, she replies. "Seeing his men fall without being able to touch him, he shouted for them to leave me alone and focus on killing the intruder, so they left me and tried to surround him, confident that they could defeat him by sheer numbers."

  "And you?" I ask, staring at her. "What did you do at that moment?"

  "What I had to do”, she replies without hesitation. "I took advantage of the confusion and reinforced Ling Tian by attacking from the rear. I couldn't let them escape. If they did, they would chase me through the desert. Or even if I escaped and left the Celestial Fragment, they could accuse me of being allied with him."

  Her tone becomes harsher and cruder "And if that happened, even you, with your Zhāohuán status, couldn't prevent me from being condemned. Or worse, I could drag you down with me, as they could accuse you of being the one behind the whole attack and the one who wanted to assassinate your Imperial Brother."

  I close my eyes regretfully and lean forward slightly as I shake my head.

  "The Pace and its damn intrigues”, I murmur. "Always finding ways to drag innocent people to their deaths. Although in this case, perhaps not so innocent."

  "Perhaps not”, Lianhua says, looking at me with surprise at my words. "But in any case, I couldn't let them get away alive."

  I nod slowly with a look of pity.

  "And how did it end?" I ask, although with Lianhua here, there's not much mystery.

  "The fight was complicated. Very complicated. The prince's men, although panicked, were well-trained cultivators”, Lianhua tells me. "But they were disorganized, terrified by Ling Tian's elemental attacks, and I kept attacking them from behind."

  She pauses, crossing her arms, but finally ends by saying “In the end, the two of us finished them all off."

  I remain silent as I digest her words.

  "All dead?" I ask to confirm.

  "Yes”, she confirms. "Not one escaped."

  Part of me wants to be happy because that means Lianhua is safe, but another part can't help but ment the futility of deaths that served absolutely no purpose and were caused by someone who couldn't handle a simple rebuff.

  But something keeps nagging at me, something that doesn't quite fit.

  "Lianhua”, I murmur, looking up at her. "How do you think Ling Tian was able to increase his cultivation so much in such a short time? It's only been a year and a half since he left."

  Lianhua doesn't answer right away. She narrows her eyes thoughtfully before replying slowly “I don't know, Zhāohuán Wen. I have no way of knowing. But I am sure of one thing."

  "What is that?" I ask her.

  "That it must have cost a fortune”, she says seriously. "I'm not talking about something that any family could put together. I'm talking about a lot of money. A lot of money and used very precisely."

  I ponder her words, feeling an idea take shape in a very schematic way, but as my thoughts take form, I say to her “Lianhua, do you remember what Ling Tian told my mother?"

  "Yes”, she nods without hesitation.

  I nod too, but my thoughts are already falling into pce with what I believe is the right idea.

  "What if that story wasn't complete?" I murmur. "What if the families weren't after him just to end it all, but because they didn't find what they were looking for in the Ling family's house?"

  Lianhua looks at me intently and asks “What do you mean?"

  "Remember that they were about to buy a noble title, and they might not have found the money”, I reply. "Maybe they hid it somewhere else. And now Ling Tian, who knew where the money was, has used it to boost his own cultivation."

  I sit up a little, letting my thoughts flow.

  "And if his family was involved in formations, as you said, he probably knew how to make Qi gathering formations”, I say as my ideas flow. "Maybe he invested everything in that. No luxuries, no distractions. Just cultivating, day after day all this time. Do you think that would be enough?"

  Lianhua is silent for a few seconds. Then, frowning, she murmurs “Maybe if you combine it with something else."

  "Something else?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "What is that something else?"

  "Something he told me after the fight. He said he had a teacher”, she replies.

  "A teacher?" I ask, but I decide not to jump ahead and finally say “Tell me everything that happened after the fight."

  Lianhua nods and her tone returns to that slow and precise rhythm she uses when recounting stories, and she says “When the fight was over, he approached me. He asked me if I was okay. I said yes and thanked him for his help."

  I nod slowly, already anticipating that something else is coming "But when he heard my words, he shook his head and told me to tell you that, with that, he considers the help you gave him in saving him from Shi Tong to be repaid."

  I frown and ask Lianhua “Is that all he said? Nothing else?"

  "That's all”, Lianhua confirms. "And after those words, he turned around and started to leave."

  "He really didn't say anything else?" I interrupt her again, incredulous, repeating the question, unable to believe it.

  Lianhua shakes her head as she says “No, he didn't. So I called him and asked him when he was coming back for his sister, that in a few months we would have to return to court."

  She pauses briefly before continuing “When he heard me, he stopped and, without turning around, told me that he wasn't coming back for her, that he had found a teacher and that the path he was about to embark on with him was not one that a little girl could walk."

  My chest tightens and I clench my fists on the bnket before asking Lianhua “And what did you say to him?"

  "I asked him how he could abandon the only family he had left”, she replies, and I notice a strange fsh of anger in Lianhua's eyes.

  And here, Lianhua's voice lowers slightly, but does not lose its firmness "And he replied that he was doing it because he knew that Zhāohuán was a good person who would not abandon her as he was doing, and that with her she would have a better life than he could ever provide."

  After that, Lianhua narrows her eyes and says to me “After saying that, he ran off, disappeared into the dunes, and I never saw him again."

  After hearing that, I bite my index finger in an automatic act to keep myself from screaming and cursing out loud. Because what I feel right now is a mixture of anger, sadness, and a strange disappointment that I can't put into words.

  Lianhua looks at me with her usual unperturbed expression, and I cling to her to calm myself.

  I take a deep breath as I force myself to let go of my finger before it bleeds.

  "We'll deal with Ling Tian and Xia ter”, I finally say in a restrained voice. "The most urgent matter right now is my half-brother."

  Lianhua nods slightly.

  I nod too and remain thoughtful for a few seconds, fighting the whirlwind of emotions still inside me.

  "I give up”, I whisper at st. "I'd rather sleep on it. Put me to bed but wake me up at dawn. We need to talk to my mother soon because I'm sure someone from the entourage will show up at some point saying that the prince ordered them to go after you."

  "Understood, Zhāohuán Wen”, Lianhua replies seriously.

  She picks me up carefully and carries me back to bed where, with gentle gestures, she tucks me in with the bnket. Then she leaves the room with silent steps, closing the door behind her.

  I stare at the dark ceiling, letting the gloom envelop me. The weight of everything I've heard settles on my chest like a stone as the shadows on the beams seem to move, but suddenly I realize that it's not the shadows that disturb me.

  It's the sound. Xia's breathing isn't that of someone asleep, and before I can react, I feel thin arms clinging tightly to me and a muffled sob bursting against my chest as I hug her as best I can, not knowing what to do. Because what do you say to someone who has just discovered that their only family has abandoned them?

  So I say nothing, I just hold her and let her cry, because that's all I can do.