Wen RuoHan's Heir

6. Year 5: the Unclean Realm

Wen ChaoXing hummed tunelessly, a serene smile on her face, as she flowed through the most basic sword forms with the youngest disciples doing their best to imitate her. These younglings were so new they didn't even have wooden swords to hold during practice. Other disciples would be adjusting posture and correcting mistakes; she just had to perform the moves as an exemplar.

Wang Zheng clapped his hands to interrupt practice. "Juniors under fifteen to the Water Lily Pavilion for music practice," he instructed. "Everyone else, head to Sword Hall."

As the little ones groaned and the older ones looked around curiously to see if anyone knew why practice ended early, Wang Zheng whirled and left the courtyard. Xie An hurried to catch up with him. "WangXiong, what's going on?"

He didn't bother looking at her. "There's to be a disciplinary meeting."

"Who is being disciplined?" Most punishments were handed out as soon as an infraction was discovered. She'd never heard of a punishment where all the disciples were called in to witness it. Something really bad must have happened.

"I don't know what's going on," he hissed. "I just did as I was told." He glanced sideways. "Why are you smiling like that? It's creepy, you know."

"I'm smiling?" Xie An felt her cheeks.

"You've been smiling like a fool since you returned from the Cloud Recesses," he retorted. "Did you fall in love there or something?"

"Fall in love? Don't be ridiculous!" As if she would go and do something so... shameless. "Who would I even fall in love with?"

Wang Zheng grinned evilly. "I hear that many women think Lan ZongZhu is rather pleasing to the eye.... As is HanGuang-Jun...."

"You!" she yelled, and then swallowed the rest of the retort. There were dozens of junior and senior disciples filing into Sword Hall. Smiling? Who says I'm smiling all the time? I'm not smiling. She forced her facial muscles to relax into a serene look only to feel her lips rising ever so slightly.... Why am I smiling? She scowled, but only in her head; her lips refused to point down.

She didn't have anything to smile about! Certainly not Lan XiChen.... Yes, he was handsome, ranked number one in handsomeness for his generation when he was a teenager.... But... her smile grew softer remembering him standing tall in front of the classroom while giving a lecture, or looking so strong as he demonstrated how to repel an attack in the training ring. Or stern when he ordered guest disciples punished for bringing alcohol into (and then drinking it) Cloud Recesses. Or serene the one time she'd seen him standing at one of the ponds with his brother while they played music together. But just because she had good memories of the man didn't mean he was the reason she was smiling! Xie An forced yet another smile off of her face and sat in Sword Hall next to her junior disciples.

There was a man wearing tattered black robes, standing in the center of the Hall, arms and legs bound together by a sparking Zidian. Jiang ZongZhu sat on his throne, overtly fuming, fists clenching over and over. "Are you possessed by Wei WuXian?" the sect leader thundered when the last of the disciples were seated.

"No." the bound man sounded defiant.

"Liar!"

"No. I'm really not him." the man glared. "He was my Master and you murdered him. Murderer!" he spat onto the wooden floor.

There was a murmur as the disciples asked each other if he was telling the truth.

"Silence," Jiang WanYin ordered. "You're really going to insist you're not him?" He stood up, recalling Zidian to his hand. "You think you can fool me?" The demonic cultivator laughed. And then screamed as Zidian struck him. Once, twice. The man was on the floor, in too much pain to do more than twitch and whimper. "Are you possessed by Wei WuXian?"