That person called her name.
Since parting ways with Yun Jiang midway, no one had called her name anymore.
With no one to rely on now, that single call of “A-Pan” inexplicably warmed her heart. Her nose suddenly stung, and she almost wanted to cry.
Her hands still clutched his robe sleeve, unwilling to let go. Though she no longer begged him, she still murmured in a low voice, “Master.”
That person also said, “You have exceptional talent. Do not squander it.”
Exceptional talent was not necessarily a good thing.
If she pretended to be a foolish person, then perhaps he would agree?
That person did not brush away A-Pan’s hand, but he had already stepped toward the main hall.
A-Pan was someone who knew her limits. Since she couldn’t, she did not chase after him.
She could only gaze earnestly as that person entered the main hall without ever looking back. The door closed, leaving only a tall, slender shadow cast long and high against the wooden screen door.
These past two days, she had repeatedly tried to console herself, wanting to become the person who would die for their country, as that person had spoken of.
In the struggle and torment, she had nearly convinced herself—transforming someone naturally inclined toward kindness and averse to killing into someone daring enough to walk through blades and fire.
But the moment he left, her heart suddenly felt hollow and empty.
Fan Cunxiao said, “Come, I’ll take you to see Senior Sister Lu.”
A-Pan held back her tears and responded with a good-natured tone. She knew that person wouldn’t keep her, yet she still cast several longing glances toward the main hall.
Just as she was about to move, suddenly the treetop beside her stirred. A flurry of snow came crashing down, covering her entirely.
She quickly looked up and saw someone leap from the treetop on tiptoe, flipping lightly through the air like a swimming dragon before landing crisply and cleanly.
Dressed in sharp men’s attire, her face was strikingly handsome under the wind lantern light.
But her tone was unfriendly. She crossed her arms over her chest, raised an eyebrow, and sneered, “What are you looking at? The Sect Master’s chambers—don’t tell me you want to go in too?”
Not just unfriendly—she made no effort to hide the danger radiating from her.
The person beside her reminded, “This is Senior Sister Lu.”
So this was Lu Shang.
A-Pan thought, the person the Master assigned would never be wrong.
Thus, trivial details truly weren’t worth fussing over. She quickly bent her knee in a Zhongshan-style salute and obediently called out, “Senior Sister Lu.”
But Lu Shang wasn’t buying it. She didn’t give A-Pan the slightest bit of good grace for her obedience.
Her sharp, piercing eyes swept over A-Pan from head to toe, finally landing on the great cloak. Her already unpleasant expression darkened. “Did the Master give you this?”
The Master had given it to her. To outsiders, it looked like nothing more than a plain, unadorned cloak, but the inside was lined with fine fur.
A-Pan couldn’t identify what kind of fur it was, but because it came from the Master and was very warm, she treasured it. These past few days, she had worn it constantly.
A-Pan secretly clutched the cloak tighter and lowered her gaze. “Yes.”
Lu Shang let out a cold snort, her eyes full of contempt.
Seeing that A-Pan still stood rooted in place, she grew even more impatient. “Why aren’t you moving? What are you waiting for? For the Master to invite you, or are you waiting to climb over my head?”
The person beside her urged, “Hurry and follow Senior Sister Lu.”
A-Pan acknowledged and quickly fell in behind Lu Shang, walking briskly.
Along the way, she saw several women in tattered robes following black-clad attendants with their heads lowered. A-Pan felt uncertain, so she looked around.
Lu Shang laughed scornfully. “Same as you—all newcomers. From all sorts of fringe sects. No need to act so surprised.”
The further they walked, the fewer lanterns there were, and people became sparse until none were seen.
Lu Shang stopped abruptly. Her gaze flickered, and her sharp eyes slanted over. “You two senior brothers can see us off here. What’s there to worry about with me?”
Though Meng Yafu had initially despised her, he had a decent temper in front of Lu Shang. Naturally, of the three, Fan Cunxiao was the kindest.
In just three days, he was now willing to speak up for her. “Senior Sister, you’re being too serious. I just wanted to say—since you’ve entered Qianjimen, you’re one of us now.”
Lu Shang clicked her tongue and teased, “The Master trusts me, so why doesn’t Senior Brother Fan? What, am I some kind of monster who’s going to eat her?”
Fan Cunxiao chuckled, clasped his fists, and turned to leave with Meng Yafu.
A-Pan twisted her hands in her sleeves, looking around. Now there was practically no one left.
With no one around, Lu Shang turned on her heel, rounded a corner, and led her directly toward a deserted area.
This place wasn’t just lacking people—even the wind lanterns had grown scarce.
A-Pan asked, “Senior Sister Lu, where are you taking me?”
Lu Shang snapped in a low voice, “So many questions. No one’s going to mistake you for a mute if you keep quiet.”
A-Pan stopped asking. She didn’t know where they were, nor which door they entered through, but inside was no ordinary chamber—it was dim, as if it were a row of hidden rooms.
They descended stone steps. Some rooms were lit, some dark, and some seemed to hold the faint sound of muffled sobbing.
It wasn’t until they stopped before a dark chamber that A-Pan hesitated, afraid to enter, her heart heavy with dread. She had just begun to entertain the thought of turning tail and running when Lu Shang yanked her inside and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Here, with only the two of them, Lu Shang couldn’t be bothered to keep up pretenses any longer. When she turned around, her face had transformed into that of a grim reaper—eyes blazing with menace, voice harsh and venomous. “The cloak. Take it off!”
A-Pan stood there dumbfounded, which only stoked Lu Shang’s fury further. She charged forward and resorted to force, tearing at the garment while snarling viciously, “Wearing your master’s cloak, holding your master’s hand—have you no shame?”
This was utterly insane.
A-Pan clutched the cloak tightly, refusing to let go. “Senior Sister Lu! The master gave this to me!”
The more A-Pan protected it, the more incensed Lu Shang became.
She shoved A-Pan to the ground, swung a long leg over, and straddled her.
With brows knit in fury and a venomous tongue, she exposed A-Pan’s lowly origins. “Gave it to you? To a whore like you? And you dared to accept it? Something even I, Lu Shang, have never had—what makes you think you deserve it?”
A-Pan screamed and instinctively shoved at Lu Shang. “Let me go! Let me go! I want to see the master!”
Caught off guard, Lu Shang was actually pushed off. She exploded with rage and lunged back with claws bared. “Fine! Here not even a day and already rebelling? I’ll show you right now—in Qianjimen, besides the master, whose word is law!”
From the sound of it, Lu Shang held considerable standing in Qianjimen.
Likely everyone deferred to her, which was why that shove had set her off so badly.
A-Pan dared not provoke her and couldn’t possibly win a fight anyway. She just clung desperately to the cloak and screamed toward the door, “Help! Master, help!”
Lu Shang was exceptionally skilled—not much inferior to Meng Yafu. This time, she intended to use the cloak as an excuse to put A-Pan in her place. She pinned A-Pan to the ground, cracking her knuckles in preparation for a thorough beating.
A-Pan squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, “Help!”
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. “Junior Sister Lu.”
Ah!
It was Fan Cunxiao!
Lu Shang’s fist froze mid-air, the fierce force behind it halving in an instant. Her handsome face turned away as she ground out through clenched teeth, “What business does Senior Brother Fan have now?”
The voice outside cautioned, “This is someone the master wants. Junior Sister Lu, do not harm her.”
Lu Shang slowly lowered her fist, glaring with bitter resentment. “What—has even Senior Brother Fan… spoken up for someone like her?”
Fan Cunxiao offered no further reply. Lu Shang let out a mocking laugh and rose to her feet. “Fine, fine. Rest assured, Senior Brother Fan. No harm, no harm.”
She ripped the cloak off A-Pan, delivered a kick for good measure, and said with chilling menace, “Then kneel until the incense burns out.”
A-Pan knew what that meant.
Kneeling for incense meant kneeling in punishment—you rose only when the incense had burned to ash.
Lu Shang selected the thickest incense stick from the side and lit it slowly on the altar.
“If you’re not satisfied, come and take it back yourself!”
She draped the cloak over her shoulders with a smug look, admiring herself left and right, her words dripping with condescending arrogance. “The master saved you, so your life belongs to the master. But for now, you answer to me.”
A-Pan glared at her through gritted teeth.
What a dog of a person.