CHAPTER 57 — "THE DAY THE WELL BROKE"
Murong Yuer did not speak immediately.
The balcony was quiet, overlooking the vast inner plaza of Dragon Turtle Academy. Spirit lanterns floated lazily in the air, their reflections trembling on polished stone. Below, laughter and music still drifted upward from the banquet hall, but here—there was space to breathe.
Long Hao leaned against the railing, posture relaxed but attentive.
Murong stood beside him, hands folded neatly in front of her.
"I realized how wrong I was"
"…I wasn't always like this," she said at last.
Long Hao did not interrupt.
"When I left my family," Murong continued, voice steady but low, "I joined a frontier battle camp. Not an academy. Not a Big Guild."
She smiled faintly, without humor.
"A real one."
She turned her gaze outward, toward the distant mountains.
"There were no instructors who cared about bloodlines. No elders praising talent. Only results."
She paused.
