Jun Wan still stood at the main gates of Fukun Xueyuan, though Zhuang Hue was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Prince Mo Shiwang approached from behind, his inherent dignity evident in every measured step. His calm eyes observed the silent, solitary figure of Jun Wan. Stopping beside her, he spoke with a natural, gentle authority.

  "My Lady. You should attend the lectures. Your brother will return soon."

  Jun Wan looked at him. Her face was a mask of composure, but her heart was anything but still. She replied with equal grace:

  "Certainly, Prince. I shall attend the class. But I know Zao, and you know as well as I how stubborn he can be. I know exactly where he has gone, but the way he loses his temper... I fear he might do something beyond repair."

  She turned to walk away but kept glancing back, her eyes stinging with a pain as sharp as a sword's thrust. Forced by circumstance, she finally followed Mo Shiwang inside.

  In another part of the realm, the three men emerged from Han Juan Hao’s private chambers, leading a detail to dispose of the comrade's corpse. These men were none other than Master Hun Zang and Master Ruie Gaojun. Han Juan Hao had already departed for the Han Clan’s High Court of Justice. The two masters spoke as they walked, their words dripping with the venom of serpents.

  "Do you truly believe this will work?" Hun Zang asked.

  Ruie Gaojun let out a laugh that carried the metallic scent of blood.

  "Is there even a doubt? When a snake begins to devour its own young, its end is inevitable. Have faith. One day, the banners will belong to us, and the reign shall be ours."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  They continued their walk, their cruel laughter echoing into the shadows.

  Far from the luxury and the cold laughter, Han Wuang Shi and Gu Zong trudged through the wilderness in a state of mutual ruin. They had lost their way and wandered into a dense, primordial forest where the thick canopy blocked the sun, causing a biting chill to settle over the land.

  Han Wuang Shi seemed unaffected by the cold, moving as if his body no longer belonged to him a vessel of self-inflicted endurance. Gu Zong, however, was exhausted to his very marrow. His legs began to fail him. Finally, he stumbled, catching himself only by leaning heavily on his sword. Wuang Shi moved forward to help, but Gu Zong roared:

  "I don't need anything from you! Not your help, and certainly not your sympathy! Stay away from me!"

  Despite the warning, Wuang Shi reached out to steady him. Gu Zong lost the last shred of his temper; he jerked away with such violence that he sprawled onto the forest floor. Wuang Shi looked down at him, his voice sounding heavy and strained:

  "This is not sympathy. I was merely helping you stand."

  Gu Zong, still pressing his face toward the earth as he struggled to rise, screamed with a gut-wrenching agony that caused his wounds to tear open once more:

  "Help?! Help, huh?! Keep your help to yourself, Wuang Shi! Sympathy is just a sweetest way of telling someone they’ve wasted their chances. You can't win. You’ve already lost. But I... I haven't lost. I’ve won. I am a warrior!"

  In a sudden burst of frantic energy, he lunged to his feet and seized the collar of Wuang Shi’s robes. He shouted with every ounce of his remaining strength:

  "I am a warrior! A warrior fights before the battle, during the battle, and even after the battle is over! I am not defeated! I don't want your sympathy I don't want anyone's sympathy! Do you understand? And forget that we were ever friends, Wuang. Now, you are nothing to me. Nothing!"

  He shoved Wuang Shi back and staggered forward into the gloom, leaving the Prince standing alone. A cold, light breeze drifted through the trees, touching Wuang Shi’s face and stirring the hair that fell over his eyes. Suddenly, a flood of tears broke from his eyes, falling onto the leaf of a tender plant below like the first heavy drops of a monsoon. He did not watch Gu Zong walk away. He simply stood there, his head bowed in a silence that felt like the end of the world.