Snow Flower, Fire Storm

VI

2000 YEARS AGO, THE SUN VALLEY

Xie Xiao found out the boy's name after half a day of asking around. It was truly astonishing that out of all the students he'd questioned in their class no one knew his name except for Wang Guang. He said the boy once helped him with sword practice—Xie Xiao couldn't believe anyone would be willing to spend extra time with Wang Guang—and he remembered his name because he thought the boy was hiding his true talents.

The boy was called Xun Yuan. Xie Xiao pieced the rest of the story together slowly. As far as anyone knew he had no family, not even one living soul he could call a relative. He was brought up by an old woman who worked in a dye house and had no family of her own. She died when he was eleven. He'd been taking care of himself ever since. And whoever spoke of him had plenty to say about his swordsmanship.

"He can use the two-swords style, you know?" informed one. "I once saw him practicing alone in the woods and I thought he was a force of nature. I wonder why he doesn't reveal his abilities to the others. If I had skill like that I would never be able to stop showing off."

"True. Once I even saw him split a stream with his sword."

"I once asked him for a duel and I thought I was going to die even before our swords met," admitted a senior.

"And there was this one time he uprooted a thousand year old tree with his swords," provided another with a very serious nod of his head.

Xie Xiao stopped his interrogation when he began suspecting he was being fed more fiction than facts. There was no way anyone could uproot a tree with a pair of swords. Did they think they could dupe him that easily?

Nevertheless, the more he found out about Xun Yuan, the more Xie Xiao wanted to befriend him, know him. He spent an entire week dogging the boy, trying to strike up a conversation with him, yet Xun Yuan wouldn't even spare a glance in his direction. So Xie Xiao went and challenged him to a duel, but Xun Yuan turned him down without blinking an eye.

Xie Xiao felt like a lover who had been rejected, and this feeling annoyed him. What was wrong with Xun Yuan? Everyone wanted to be friends with Xie Xiao, yet why didn't Xun Yuan want to be his friend? The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became.

Until one morning he went up the hills to find Xun Yuan alone, collecting firewood for the Academy, the hem of his pure white robes dragging over springy, ankle-deep grass.

Xie Xiao ambled towards him.

"Hey, Xun Yuan, do you want to go out to the town with us this evening? We haven't been able to leave the Academy for so long. It's going to be plenty of fun."

Xun Yuan didn't raise his head. He kept adding to his stack of wood methodically. Xie Xiao couldn't even be certain if the boy heard him.

Xie Xiao scowled. Why was Xun Yuan acting like a pretty mistress being wooed? Why was he playing hard to get? Would it kill him if he spoke with him for a bit? Xie Xiao was willing to admit he'd been downright infuriating around Xun Yuan for the past week, trying to prise at least a word out of him, even if it was a shout of anger or disdain. But in all that time Xun Yuan didn't open his mouth even once, although the look in his eyes kept getting darker and darker until Xie Xiao thought they could chill his bones into ice-sticks.

The grass crushed beneath his boots as Xie Xiao edged closer to Xun Yuan, who was now bent over trying to tie up the sizeable bunch of firewood. He studied the single sword that was hung from Xun Yuan's waist. The scabbard was plain, yet the hilt was one made of silver, artfully designed with a few inlaid gems so small they could be overlooked.

Where would an orphan get a sword like that? Was it a gift? Or did he win it in a duel?

It was because Xun Yuan's arms were occupied with the firewood that he could do nothing when Xie Xiao drew his silver-hilt sword out from its sheath and levelled its sharp edge with his neck. Xun Yuan's eyes widened slightly, but he still didn't utter a word. He didn't look worried, nor did he put the firewood back to the ground. Xie Xiao could see it in his eyes that he fully expected to walk away from this without breaking a sweat.