Chapter 36

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Chapter 36: Title

Incense curled through Scripture Hall as Suiyin sat at the desk flipping through sect rules.

The thick tome contained thousands of articles at first glance.

Copying for month would break her hand.

Better to be punished sword-training for month.

Dipping brush in ink, Suiyin suddenly spread paper and began sketching.

The outline of eyes took shape, staring piercingly from paper as if watching real world.

She stopped drawing, leaving other facial features blank. Propping chin in hand, she stared back at sketched eyes.

These eyes haunted her yet remained elusive.

Xia Shi’s eyes resembled them, but lacked the same intensity – hers were calmer, more restrained.

After long contemplation, Suiyin’s finger brushed eye corner. Wet ink smudged like teardrop.

"Why cry? I’m not dead…"

She murmured unconsciously, unaware of own words.

"Elder Wuwei, proceed."

Suiyin jerked awake, crumpling paper and shoving it under desk.

Rising quickly, she peered at staircase – just as Xia Shi ascended.

"Master!" She rushed forward eagerly.

"Here to see me?"

Xia Shi hesitated, embarrassed to admit being punished. "How’s copying going?"

Suiyin pouted. "I just started!"

Their punishments followed closely.

"Right." Xia Shi coughed.

"Elder Wuwei." A disciple approached with writing materials. "Where to place these?"

Xia Shi gestured casually. The disciple deposited supplies and left.

Suiyin’s eyes lit up instantly. "Master, will you help me copy!?"

This… this was too good to be true!

Xia Shi gave her a look, "… "

The audacity! Thinking I’d help you copy.

"Copy faster. If today’s task isn’t finished, your punishment period gets extended by a day."

Settling her robes, Xia Shi sat and grabbed a brush to start writing from memory.

Suiyin watched in awe, leaning over the desk as Xia Shi flawlessly penned line after line.

"Master, you remember everything?"

"Mhm."

Truthfully, Xia Shi hadn’t remembered – but the moment the brush touched paper, the words flowed out. Those thousand times she’d copied this in her youth suddenly felt fresh again.

Mortifying. First punishment copying with her senior sister, now with her own disciple.

She released a light sigh and pushed aside the completed page.

Her bold-faced disciple immediately snatched it.

"Thank you, Master!" Suiyin beamed at the error-free paper, joy fizzing in her chest.

After Xia Shi’s constant aloofness, this unexpected kindness made her giddy.

The paper vanished from her hands.

Suiyin froze mid-celebration.

Xia Shi smoothed the retrieved paper. "This one’s mine. Write your own."

Suiyin blinked slowly before gasping, "…Master, you’re being punished too?"

Xia Shi: "…"

Must she voice everything?

Noticing her master’s darkened expression, Suiyin retreated to her desk.

The silence thickened until Suiyin hesitantly mumbled, "Maybe… I could help you?"

Her tiny voice barely carried over the hall’s rustling pages.

When no response came, Suiyin assumed she hadn’t been heard – though truthfully, she’d only offered out of obligation between master and disciple.

She dipped her brush resolutely… then froze as shadows engulfed her desk.

Xia Shi stood above her with blank papers, an uncharacteristic smile playing on her lips. "How considerate of you, disciple."

Suiyin: "…"

Should’ve kept quiet!

Relieved of half her workload, Xia Shi happily browsed downstairs storybooks, periodically returning to prod her disciple awake.

Perhaps keeping this apprentice wasn’t so terrible.

"Master."

Xia Shi pinched the corner of the book and turned a page. "Hmm, what’s up?"

When no answer came, she slowly raised her eyelids.

The storybook hit the floor with a clatter.

"Living comfortably, I see?" Ye Xiao sneered, with Shen Huaiwen standing behind him.

Xia Shi toed the book further away as she stood, forcing a smile. "Did my senior sisters come to check on me?"

"Why would we check on you? To get angry?" Ye Xiao glared. "We passed Scripture Hall and found you slacking off – making your disciple do your copying? No shame at all?"

Xia Shi kept her head bowed silently.

"Enough." Shen Huaiwen pulled the stern sect leader back, setting a medicine bowl on the desk. "Even during punishment, you must take your medicine. I’ll make sure it’s delivered warm every day."

"Thanks… senior sister," Xia Shi said through gritted teeth.

Shen Huaiwen smiled. "No need."

"Drink it all," Ye Xiao cut in. "I’ll personally check your copied texts. Don’t think you can fake handwriting I’d recognize anywhere."

"…Yes."

As they turned to leave, Shen Huaiwen told Suiyin: "Make sure your Master drinks every drop."

Suiyin nodded obediently.

After they left, the disciple hesitantly lifted her freshly copied sect rules. "Master… do you still want these?"

Xia Shi’s face twisted from the bitter medicine, though she tried hiding it. "Of course not! Didn’t you hear the sect leader?"

Suiyin ducked her head to hide a smile. "Understood."

With half a day wasted on unusable copies, Xia Shi grabbed her brush. Her characters sprawled wildly across the page.

Suiyin watched from her side of the desk, having finished most work earlier. Her eyes drifted to the woman muttering curses under her breath.

The jade bead on her wrist suddenly burned. Suiyin jolted – it had stopped her consciousness from slipping away again. Rubbing the bead, she thought gratefully of Aunt Yan’s gift.

Resting her chin on the desk, she stared at her Master. Her chest tightened strangely, more intense than ever before. When her gaze fell to the floating characters, something prickled at her memory…

The bead scorched her skin as her consciousness strained to escape. Suiyin hit her own head, whimpering. What was she supposed to remember?

Remember…

A pair of icy hands grabbed her wrist as a whisper came through. "What are you doing hitting yourself?"

Suiyin clung to this cold anchor like a drowning woman, flipping her hand to desperately grip back. She looked up with red-rimmed eyes. "Tell me – what am I supposed to remember?"

Trapped by the iron grip, Xia Shi had to bend awkwardly at the waist. She didn’t have the answers – neither about what needed remembering nor what to say.

The crazed girl suddenly lunged.

They crashed to the floor in a tangle of red and white robes. The impact knocked the breath from Xia Shi. Suiyin’s arms locked around her waist like steel bands. She shoved weakly.

…No effect.

"Get off me!"

Didn’t this brute know her own strength? Xia Shi’s spine felt ready to snap.

Using spiritual power in the Scripture Hall meant punishment, so she lay trapped, staring hopelessly at the ceiling while broken words spilled around her:

"I won’t die… don’t forget…"

"Wait…"

"Wait for me…"

The desperate pleas dissolved into sobbing repetitions of "Wait for me" – the kind lovers whisper at life’s end.

Had some scoundrel truly abandoned her? But how could one so young have weathered such storms? Xia Shi herself had lived peacefully for decades.

When the death-grip finally loosened, Xia Shi heaved the girl aside. Something hard cracked against the floor.

Brushing off her rumpled white attire, Xia Shi nudged the dazed figure with her toe. "What’s wrong with you? Freshly initiated and already rebelling against your master?"

"Hsss-"

She sucked air through her teeth, pain flaring where fingers had dug into her sides. That little demon might’ve done it on purpose.

The girl on the floor kept muttering. Xia Shi cautiously approached again, slapping the pale cheek until red fingerprints bloomed.

"So fragile," she muttered, giving the soft flesh an extra pinch.

After all, she was her own disciple; Xia Shi couldn’t just leave her be.

Xia Shi turned and took a cup of cold tea. Dipping her fingers, she flicked droplets at Suiyin’s face.

She repeated this until playfulness overtook her. Most tea had been flicked away, leaving Suiyin’s face thoroughly wet when the girl finally stirred.

Halting her motions, Xia Shi snorted. "Awake?"

Suiyin blinked, water beads on her lashes causing discomfort.

"Master…"

"Don’t call me Master. I’m not yours." Xia Shi walked back to the desk, hand supporting her waist.

What kind of pathetic Master existed under heaven?

Suiyin rose from the floor, watching her movements. "Master, what’s wrong with your waist?"

"Pinched by a ghost."

"…Oh."

"Then why was I on the floor?"

"A ghost was pressing on you."

"…Oh."

Though unclear why Xia Shi seemed so irritated, Suiyin edged closer to refill the teacup.

Noticing her Master rubbing her waist, she ventured, "Should I… massage it?"

"Scram." Xia Shi couldn’t stand the sight of her.

"I’ve practiced. It won’t hurt." Suiyin reached out.

Xia Shi eyed her. "Done this for past lovers?"

Suiyin: "?"

She forced a laugh. "What’s Master saying?"

When had she ever had lovers?

Xia Shi said nothing more, picking up her brush resolutely. She didn’t want to remain trapped in Scripture Hall forever.

Silence lingered, broken only by brushstrokes on paper. Suiyin observed how rigidly straight her Master sat.

Was the injury truly that severe?

After long hesitation, she murmured, "I… can copy handwriting."

…

An inkdrop fell, blotting the characters below.

Xia Shi glared up. "Should’ve said sooner."

She tossed the brush aside and vacated the seat. "You write."