~~~

Lu Mei and Yi Jiao face off in the third match of the day. Gold and crimson flames war for dominance over the ring while the audience ooohs and ahhhs at all the appropriate times. However, they are not blind to the obvious. In the battle between gold and crimson, gold is the clear victor. Mere minutes have passed, yet Yi Jiao is already panting, battered, and bruised.

Lu Mei barely has a hair out of place.

“I…surrender,” Yi Jiao says through gritted teeth. The way Lu Mei’s smile widens makes Yi Jiao immediately want to take back her words.

“You should have saved yourself the trouble and done that from the start, dear cousin,” Lu Mei says.

Yi Jiao really, really wants to take back her surrender.

“If I had done that, I’d never be able to call myself your cousin-in-law, would I?” Yi Jiao counters.

As far as the Eternal Flame Clan is concerned, Yi Jiao is a girl of no relevant background. Her Scarlet Miraculous Body is the only noteworthy thing about her, and that is not enough to justify her relationship with the son of the future Patriarch. There is no telling when Lord Feng Gui will put a woman or two in Feng Zhi’s path. Not that Feng Zhi would ever abandon her, but that is precisely the problem. Feng Zhi trying to fight against his father’s designs out of loyalty to her will just make things more complicated.

Before anything like that happens, Yi Jiao needs to make merits. Making it to the Top 8 would have been preferable, but the Top 16 isn’t bad at all. That she lost to the Eternal Flame makes her loss far more acceptable than it would otherwise be. No one in the Eternal Flame Clan can find shame in losing to the Eternal Flame…

Is that why the annoying woman in front of her used the Eternal Flame from the start?

Yi Jiao looks askance at her.

Lu Mei smiles and shrugs her shoulders.

“The Winner! Lu Mei of the Eternal Flame Clan!”

~~~

Su Daji of the Endlessly Raging Valley takes the stage after Lu Mei and Yi Jiao have had their match. Though her opponent proves strong, he is simply no match for the personal disciple of the Wandering Wind. There is no doubt that the girl will advance to the Top 8 and face Lu Mei of the Eternal Flame Clan. Their upcoming fight already has a substantial amount of money attached to it.

Ruan Chenshu does not care about that.

Before Su Daji’s fight is over, the man stands up from his seat. He does not bother coming up with a reason to excuse himself because he knows the Wandering Wind does not care whether he is with her or not. He fully believes that the Wandering Wind will not pay him any attention as he leaves the box and calmly exits the arena.

Even so, he does his best not to appear abnormal.

Ruan Chenshu wills his heart to not beat too loudly and his body not to sweat. He controls the movements of his muscles so they do not come across as either hurried or deliberately slow. Even the color of his soul never betrays anything of note. All those things are necessary. All those things are insufficient. If the Wandering Wind stops him for any reason, this will all be over.

He can only believe he is beneath her notice.

He is.

No sigh of relief leaves Ruan Chenshu’s mouth once he is firmly outside the arena. That is a luxury he does not have. Some people would call him paranoid. Those people are probably fated to live very short and unremarkable lives.

Ruan Chenshu takes a step.

The streets of Imperial Cloud City blur before his eyes as multiple miles go by in an instant. For a cultivator such as him, eyesight is no longer necessary. Ruan Chenshu does not make a single misstep on the way to his destination, intercepting his prey with impeccable accuracy. His hand rises and wraps around her neck, lifting her off the ground and dragging her to the nearest alley. All in the blink of an eye.

Before Xiao Yifan’s back hits a wall, multiple talismans have already flown from Ruan Chenshu’s sleeves and attached themselves to the walls, muting their presence.

“What,” he hisses with cold rage, “is the meaning of this?”

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Xiao Yifan is outside the Xiao Sect’s estate. Outside the many barriers that help disguise her presence. Since Ruan Chenshu always keeps some of his attention focused on her, he noticed the instant she left the Xiao Sect’s estate. More importantly, he noticed Xiao Yifan was on her way to the arena.

That can absolutely not be allowed to happen.

“Well?” Ruan Chenshu asks when Xiao Yifan fails to reply. The woman just smiles, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

And why shouldn’t she be? She wanted him to stop her.

Xiao Yifan had been walking towards the arena, but that was the thing. She had been walking. A cultivator like her could have easily gotten there in the blink of an eye. Stopping her would have required Ruan Chenshu to act in a far more overt manner. There’d have been no hiding his actions from the Wandering Wind.

“What is there to say?” Xiao Yifan wonders, still wearing that insufferable smile. “Am I a child that needs your permission to leave the house?”

“Enough foolishness. My instructions were clear,” Ruan Chenshu says.

Xiao Yifan’s smile grows.

“I have lost,” she announces cheerfully. “That insufferable brat defeated your fighter. He might have lost in the next round, but it was to his brother-in-law. The Elders and Branch Masters have already made up their minds.”

Ruan Chenshu frowns. “That has not yet been decided.”

“Oh, it is fairly over,” Xiao Yifan says. “The brat’s talent is impeccable, and the political support he brings with him is far too much to ignore. It is certainly more than what you can give me. It might not happen today or tomorrow. Maybe not in a year or ten, but the Xiao Sect will side with Xiao Fang over me when the time comes. Can you imagine it? Years of careful planning brought to ruin in a single tournament. You have no idea how furious that makes me!”

Despite the content of her words, Xiao Yifan never once loses her smile. Her aura brims with unfailing cheer that is annoying and worrying in equal measure.

“The goal I have dedicated decades of my life to is nothing but ashes in my mouth,” Xiao Yifan says, wrapping her hands around his wrist. “I have nothing left to lose…but that’s not the same for you, is it?”

Ruan Chenshu does not flinch.

He does not tighten his grip around Xiao Yifan’s neck or tell her to stop talking.

He does nothing at all.

“Shocking as this may sound to you, I am not an idiot,” Xiao Yifan tells him. “You don’t want me close to the Wandering Wind due to her unpredictability? No, that’s not it. You don’t want me close to her because you know exactly what will happen when I am. Isn’t that right?”

“And this is how you intend to prove that idle fantasy?” Ruan Chenshu asks her, keeping his voice even. “You wish to go to the arena and expose yourself to her? The threat is an empty one. If you wanted to make yourself known to the Wandering Wind, you’d have already done so. No, you wanted to call my attention like a spoiled child who starts crying the moment her parent’s eyes are elsewhere.”

Every other day, words like those would not fail to make Xiao Yifan angry.

Today, they fail to put a dent in her smile.

“Do not misunderstand,” Xiao Yifan says. “I am giving you the opportunity to stay my hand. Consider it a matter of curiosity. A member of the Four Great Sects one day offered me his aid in realizing my deepest dream. I always knew you were using me. Even when you helped me reach the lofty heights of Emperors, you were using me. I never ignored that. I was just never in a position to demand answers.”

His grip on her neck tightens. His Qi rises by a fraction.

“And you believe you can demand answers now?” Ruan Chenshu asks her. “You truly are a fool.”

“Exposing myself to the Wandering Wind holds no threat to me. Not anymore,” Xiao Yifan points out. “To you…Well, I am sure you have imagined your potential fates often enough.”

“I can kill you,” Ruan Chenshu says with finality. “I will kill you right and here and now if you persist with this foolishness.”

“You can kill me,” Xiao Yifan says in an annoyingly patronizing tone. “Do you think that makes me afraid of you? Whether you kill me or the Wandering Wind destroys my cultivation, it is all the same. Living as a failure is the same as death. Besides, do you think you can kill me quickly enough?”

Her Qi rises to push against his Qi.

His own aura shrinks back immediately. The act is so instinctual he cannot fight it. Even if he could, he’d have never dared.

Xiao Yifan smirks.

“I am weaker than you, but it doesn’t matter,” she says. “Even if I am the least among them, I am still an Emperor. You are not so above me that you can kill me without a fight.”

And that is the problem.

A clash between Emperors in the middle of the city would never go unnoticed. The hastily made barriers he placed over this alley cannot possibly withstand his and Xiao Yifan’s combined power. The instant that happens, the Wandering Wind will take notice. It’d be the end of him.

If he lets Xiao Yifan go, she will expose herself to the Wandering Wind.

If he tries to contain or kill Xiao Yifan, she will fight him and, in doing so, expose herself to the Wandering Wind.

…

He can’t win.

"Does it burn you?" Xiao Yifan asks him. "Knowing that someone you have looked down on all these years now holds the power to end your ambitions? It must. I should know. I have been where you are. Of course, unlike me, you still have hope, don't you? You have a choice to make."

His muscles tense. His hand trembles in rage, wanting but not daring to pulverize the delicate neck between his fingers. His throat constricts to the point his voice comes out as the growl of a wild beast.

"You…You!"

"Oh, there is no need to worry," Xiao Yifan says, patting his arm gently. "I am a patient woman. I can wait until your little episode is done. I am sure you will make the right choice. After all…"

She smirks.

"I believe in you."

~~~