"Hey, Ren Wei! Good luck with your practice!"
It was Sun Xiao, two days later, in the dining hall. She gave him a friendly wave as she passed
by with her bowl of gruel. Ren Wei, sitting with Li Mei, gave a small, slightly awkward wave
back.
"She seems... very friendly," Li Mei commented, her voice a soft murmur as she meticulously
picked a small pebble out of Ren Wei's gruel.
"She's... just nice, I guess," Ren Wei said, though he already felt a prickle of discomfort.
The "accidents" began the next day.
They were small, mundane, and perfectly, tragically, clumsy.
Sun Xiao had been saving a small bundle of "Green-Whisper" herbs, a mild catalyst for
cultivation. She kept them in the outer-sect's shared drying shed. Ren Wei happened to be
there, sorting firewood, when Li Mei entered, carrying two heavy buckets of water.
She "tripped" over a loose floorboard.
The buckets went flying. Water sloshed everywhere, soaking a dozen disciples' belongings. But
by sheer, unbelievable "bad luck," the entire contents of one bucket doused Sun Xiao's herb
bundle.
"Oh, no!" Li Mei cried, her hands flying to her mouth. Her eyes, wide and horrified, instantly filled
with tears. "Sun-shijie! I... I'm so clumsy! Your... your herbs!"
Sun Xiao, who had run over, looked at her soaked, ruined bundle. Her face was pale with anger.
"This... this was a month's work!"
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Li Mei was bowing, her body trembling. "I'll... I'll pay you back! I...
I'll... I..." She looked so pathetic, so genuinely, utterly distraught, that even Sun Xiao's anger
faltered.
"Just... just get out," Sun Xiao said, her voice tight with suppressed rage. "Just... go."
Li Mei fled, "sobbing." Ren Wei, who had watched the whole thing, felt a sick, cold knot in his
stomach. The floorboard was loose. He'd tripped on it himself. It was an accident.
It had to be.
The second incident was two days later. The Outer Sect Assessment required sparring.
Disciples were randomly paired off to practice. By chance, Ren Wei and Sun Xiao were
assigned to the same practice ring.
Li Mei was there, watching from the sidelines.
"Okay, Ren Wei," Sun Xiao said, her anger from the herb incident mostly faded. "Let's see that
stance. No holding back."
They began. Sun Xiao was better than him—faster, more fluid. But Ren Wei was smart. He
blocked, he parried, he used his mind to anticipate her moves. They were evenly matched.
"Not bad," she panted, grinning. "But try this—"
She lunged. At that exact moment, Li Mei, who was bringing Ren Wei a cloth for sweat,
"stumbled" again.
No one saw the 'Silken Thread' that shot from her finger, as fine and fast as a spider's web. It
didn't hit Sun Xiao. It struck the wooden practice sword in her hand, hitting a small, invisible knot
in the wood.
CRACK.
The sword shattered on Ren Wei's block. A long, sharp, wooden splinter, propelled by the force
of the lunge, flew upward. It sliced a deep, bloody gash across the back of Sun Xiao's hand.
She screamed, dropping the hilt.
"Sun-shijie!" Li Mei shrieked, her face a mask of absolute horror. "Your... your hand! Oh, gods... trembling, her face chalk-white. He stared at the broken sword.
The timing. The impeccable, impossible timing.
Twice.
This was no longer a coincidence. This was a pattern.
"It's... it's fine," Sun Xiao hissed, clutching her hand. It wasn't a crippling injury, but it would
make holding a sword painful for a week. "It... it was a 'flaw' in the wood." She glared at Li Mei
with open suspicion.
That evening, the true weapon was deployed.
"That poor Sun-shijie," Li Mei whispered, as she and Ren Wei sat in their hovel. "She... she has
such bad luck."
"Mei," Ren Wei said, his voice quiet. "You... you've been 'clumsy' around her twice now."
Li Mei's eyes filled with tears, exactly as they had after the Jiao incident. "Ren Wei... you... you
don't blame me, do you? They... they were accidents!"
"I..." I do. "No. No, of course not. It's just... strange."
"Maybe... maybe it's not her luck that's bad," Li Mei said, her eyes dropping to her lap. "I... I
shouldn't say anything."
"What? Say what?"
"It's just... I... I heard from Senior Brother Liu," she whispered, "that... Sun-shijie... she's not as
'nice' as she looks."
Ren Wei went still. "What do you mean?"
"He said... she only talks to disciples she thinks can... help her. She... she was seen, talking to
one of the assessment proctors. In private." Li Mei looked up, her eyes wide and innocent.
"She's... she's a 'user,' Ren Wei. I... I just... I don't want you to be taken advantage of. You're...
you're too kind. You trust people too easily."
Ren Wei's mind reeled. A 'user'? It was... plausible. In this world, it was entirely plausible. Was
Sun Xiao's friendliness just an act? Was she trying to get him to help her?
The seed of doubt was planted. Not against Li Mei, but against Sun Xiao.
The next day, Ren Wei was distant. When Sun Xiao saw him, her hand bandaged, he gave her
a curt nod and walked away. He had to protect his partnership. He couldn't trust an outsider.
Sun Xiao was confused. Then, hurt.
Finally, she was angry. She saw him and Li Mei later, walking back from their grove, Li Mei
holding onto his arm. It looked... intimate. Possessive.
Sun Xiao stormed over to him. "I thought you were different, Ren Wei!" she snapped, making
him and Li Mei jump. "I try to be nice. I try to help you. And you... you just... you're just like the
rest! Holed up with your little... your little mouse."
She glared at Li Mei, who shrank behind Ren Wei, her face pale with "fear."
"Fine!" Sun Xiao spat. "See if I ever help you again! Good luck in the tournament. You'll need it."
She stormed off, leaving a stunned, silent training ground.
Ren Wei was left standing there, feeling... dirty. Ashamed. He hadn't done anything, but he felt
like the villain.
A small, trembling hand slipped into his.
He looked down. Li Mei was looking up at him, her eyes full of "sympathy" and "concern."
"It's okay," she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder. "She... she just showed her true
colors. It's... it's better this way."
She hugged his arm, pressing herself against his side. "You don't need people like that, Ren
Wei. You just need me."
He looked down at her, at this small, gentle, "frightened" girl who had done nothing but support
him. His suspicion, his cold, analytical dread... it was his fault. He was projecting. He was being a bad partner.
He put his arm around her, pulling her close. "You're right," he said, his voice firming. "It's just
us."
He felt her sigh, a sound of perfect, happy contentment. His bubble, which had just felt so large
and full of new possibilities, had shrunk. It was just the two of them again.
It felt, for a moment, suffocating.
Then it felt safe.