The silence in the room stretched, taut as a bowstring pulled to its breaking point.
The visitor standing in the doorway was a girl of breathtaking, almost ethereal beauty. She wore a simple pale purple dress that seemed to shimmer in the dying sunlight, the fabric moving like liquid around her frame. Her hair fell like a waterfall of dark silk down her back to her waist, and her face was a porcelain mask of perfect, detached nobility.
Xiao Xun Er.
The moment Yoriichi laid eyes on her, a sharp, foreign emotion spiked in his chest. It was a volatile cocktail of desperate longing, bitter resentment, and an obsessive, pathetic need to impress. This was the ghost of the original Xiao Ning—the residual feelings of a boy who had debased himself for years chasing a girl who wouldn't even deign to look at him.
Be silent, Yoriichi commanded his own heart.
He breathed in. It wasn't just air; it was a command to his nervous system. He activated the mental state of the Sun Breathing. The turbulent emotions hissed and evaporated like water droplets on a hot skillet, leaving his mind perfectly clear, placid as a mirror lake.
He looked at her. Really looked at her.
His left eye, still swollen and bruised purple, narrowed slightly. His right eye, the deep red of a setting sun, activated the Transparent World instinctively.
The world stripped away. Skin became transparent. Muscles became translucent.
What he saw made his internal breath hitch.
To the naked eye, Xiao Xun Er was just a talented genius in a small city clan. But to Yoriichi's spiritual sight, she was a terrifying enigma. Her Qi didn't flow like the others he had seen in the infirmary; it roared. It was dense, golden, and ancient, possessing a terrifying heat that rivaled even the strongest flames he had ever seen in his previous life.
Deep within her, dormant but awake, slept a power that felt like a calamitous beast.
She is not from here, Yoriichi deduced instantly, a cold sweat pricking his back. This power... it is too grand for a backwater place like Wu Tan City. The aura surrounding her isn't that of a teenager—it is the aura of an Empress. Cold. Calculating. Imperial.
She was a dragon hiding in a snake's nest.
He met her gaze.
Xun Er paused. She had expected the usual reaction. She expected Xiao Ning to avert his eyes in shame, to stutter, or to look at her with that pathetic, fawning adoration that made her skin crawl. She expected the "trash" to act like trash.
But he didn't.
The boy in the bed looked straight into her eyes. There was no lust. There was no shame. There was only a profound, unsettling calmness. It was the gaze of a man who had walked through hell, lost everything, and came out the other side carrying nothing but a sword. It was the gaze of an equal.
What is this? Xun Er thought, her internal alarms ringing softly. Why does he look... timeless?
She had come here on a whim. Her shadow guard, Ling Ying, had reported a strange atmospheric disturbance around the Xiao compound earlier—a fleeting sense of danger that vanished as quickly as it appeared. Ling Ying had mentioned it centered near the infirmary. Xun Er, bored and mildly curious if Xiao Yan's punch had actually killed the annoyance, decided to investigate.
She didn't expect to find a completely different person staring back at her from Xiao Ning's face.
The silence was becoming suffocating.
Xiao Yu, who was sitting on the floor, looked between the two of them. She saw her brother's stoic expression and felt a surge of confusion. Usually, he'd be stuttering by now. Why is he so... still? Is he in shock?
Deciding to break the tension, Xiao Yu stood up, crossing her arms defensively. Her long legs took a wide stance, blocking part of Yoriichi's view of the girl.
"Well?" Xiao Yu's voice dripped with sarcasm, sharp enough to cut glass. "Did the 'Princess' grace us with her presence out of genuine concern for my brother? Or were you just bored of following Xiao Yan around like a lost puppy and decided to come mock the wounded?"
The air temperature dropped a few degrees.
Xun Er shifted her gaze to Xiao Yu. The warmth she usually reserved for Xiao Yan was completely absent. Her eyes were like frozen lakes, devoid of empathy.
"Cousin Xiao Yu," Xun Er said, her voice melodic but cold. "I have no interest in mocking anyone. That would be a waste of my time."
She took a step into the room, her movements graceful and silent, like a ghost floating over the floorboards. She ignored Xiao Yu and locked eyes with Yoriichi again.
"I came to deliver a warning," Xun Er continued, her voice lowering into a tone that was soft yet carried the weight of a heavy stone. "As a fellow clan member, I advise you: do not harbor thoughts of revenge against Xiao Yan ge-ge. He is not as weak as you think. If you try to harm him again... the consequences will be far more severe than a few broken ribs. It might cost you... everything."
It was a threat. Plain and simple. It wasn't just a threat to Xiao Ning; it was a subtle implication against his entire branch of the family.
Xiao Yu's face turned red. The sheer arrogance! To come into the infirmary of the boy who was beaten half to death and threaten him again?
"You—!" Xiao Yu stepped forward, her beautiful face twisted in fury. Dou Qi flared around her hands, erratic and blue. "You listen here, you arrogant little—!"
She was ready to fight. She didn't care about Xun Er's mysterious background or her status. No one threatened her little brother while he was bleeding in bed.
Suddenly, she felt a weight on her head.
A hand. Warm, gentle, and calloused.
Xiao Yu froze. She looked down. Yoriichi had reached out and was patting her head, smoothing down her hair with a rhythmic, soothing motion. It was the kind of gesture a grandfather would use on a grandchild, or a master on a disciple.
The anger in Xiao Yu's chest hit a wall of confusion. The touch was so... grounding. It disarmed her completely.
She blushed, batting his hand away, but the killing intent had vanished. She looked at him, pouting, her eyes screaming, Let me at her! Why are you stopping me?
Yoriichi gave her a small, barely perceptible signal with his eyes. Let me handle this. Anger is not the weapon we use today.
Xiao Yu huffed, crossed her arms, and threw herself back onto the foot of the bed, deciding to watch the show. Fine. But if she insults you one more time, I'm throwing a chair at her head.
Yoriichi turned his attention back to Xun Er. The girl was watching the interaction with narrowed eyes, analyzing every micro-movement.
"I understand your intention, Xiao Xun Er," Yoriichi said.
His voice was low, raspier than usual due to his injuries, but steady. It lacked the whiny timbre of the old Xiao Ning.
"Thank you for the information," he continued, maintaining eye contact. "And do not worry. I have no intention of provoking clan mate Xiao Yan. I know my place. The fight is over."