Luo Yanhe did not sleep well, which, in his opinion, was entirely the Truth Stone’s fault.
Dreams were supposed to be simple.
They either made no sense or vanished the moment a person woke.
That was how dreams ought to behave.
Instead, he had spent the night listening to a voice he had never heard before, soft and gentle, filled with a longing that made his chest ache.
Unknown Beautiful Boy : “Yanhe…”
Luo Yanhe’s eyes opened.
Morning sunlight filtered through the wooden window, casting warm light across his room.
He sat upright and pressed a hand against his chest.
The ache remained.
He did not understand it, and Chao Lun Hui had never known the person calling Luo Yanhe’s name.
That was becoming a recurring problem.
Luo Yanhe : “Great.”
He rubbed his temples.
Luo Yanhe : “First I get summoned by a suspicious rock.
Now it is invading my dreams.”
Ancient artefacts had no respect for personal boundaries.
The complaint improved nothing.
The feeling stayed exactly where it was, quiet, persistent and entirely uninvited.
After washing, Luo Yanhe headed towards the training grounds earlier than usual.
His thoughts remained trapped inside the forbidden archive.
The battlefield.
The falling snow.
The younger boy, who looked like a younger version of his master.
The black-haired child.
Then there was Shen Yan Ting’s expression after the vision ended.
His master had looked shaken.
Not as though he had remembered something, but as though the Truth Stone had placed a question inside him and refused to provide the answer.
Luo Yanhe disliked unanswered questions.
Shen Yan Ting appeared to collect them professionally.
As Luo Yanhe reached the mountain path, he spotted him waiting beneath a flowering plum tree.
Shen Yan Ting faced the distant peaks, calm enough to appear uninvolved in every strange event of the previous night.
Luo Yanhe quickened his pace.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Shen Yan Ting gave no answer.
Luo Yanhe walked closer.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Still nothing.
Interesting.
His master was avoiding him.
Naturally, Luo Yanhe decided to become harder to avoid.
He stopped two steps away and folded his arms.
Luo Yanhe : “Master Shen.”
Only then did Shen Yan Ting turn his gaze towards him.
Shen Yan Ting : “What?”
Luo Yanhe smiled with perfect innocence.
Luo Yanhe : “Master heard this disciple all along.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Yes.”
Luo Yanhe : “Then why ignore me?”
Shen Yan Ting considered the question with unnecessary seriousness.
Shen Yan Ting : “I was deciding whether answering was necessary.”
Luo Yanhe stared at him, then sighed.
Luo Yanhe : “Master’s answer has successfully wounded this disciple’s fragile heart.”
He placed a hand over his chest for emphasis.
Luo Yanhe : “That is a cruel thing to say to an injured disciple.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You are walking.”
Luo Yanhe : “I can be emotionally injured.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You survived the Truth Stone’s spiritual backlash.”
Luo Yanhe : “Yes.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You survived its resonance.”
Luo Yanhe : “Yes.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You survived arguing with three elders.”
Luo Yanhe paused.
Luo Yanhe : “That last one was the most difficult.”
A trace of amusement touched Shen Yan Ting’s eyes.
It vanished quickly, but Luo Yanhe caught it.
He had become skilled at collecting his master’s smallest reactions, like a poor disciple gathering rare herbs from a mountain that might punish him for trespassing.
Luo Yanhe : “Master almost smiled.”
Shen Yan Ting : “No.”
Luo Yanhe : “You did.”
Shen Yan Ting : “I did not.”
Luo Yanhe : “Master, denial does not suit such an elegant face.”
Shen Yan Ting turned and continued along the path.
Shen Yan Ting : “Training begins one hour earlier tomorrow.”
Luo Yanhe stopped.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
No answer came.
He hurried after him.
Luo Yanhe : “Was that revenge?”
Shen Yan Ting : “No.”
Luo Yanhe : “That was absolutely revenge.”
Shen Yan Ting : “It was discipline.”
Luo Yanhe : “That is revenge wearing formal robes.”
Shen Yan Ting did not respond.
Luo Yanhe accepted the silence as victory.
It was a poor victory, particularly since it required waking earlier, but cultivators were expected to appreciate whatever resources Heaven gave them.
They reached the upper training ground.
Disciples were already practising beneath the supervision of senior instructors, while swords flashed between the stone platforms.
Several disciples noticed Luo Yanhe and lowered their voices.
One stepped aside before he came near, then appeared embarrassed when Luo Yanhe merely passed without comment.
His reputation had survived his recent improvement with admirable stubbornness.
Luo Yanhe pushed the thought aside.
The Truth Stone’s vision remained vivid.
His body had recognised the child, yet Chao Lun Hui had recognised nothing.
Shen Yan Ting’s reaction offered no explanation either.
If his master possessed a hidden memory, he would have concealed it more successfully.
Shen Yan Ting did not look like someone withholding an answer.
He looked like someone who had not found one.
Shen Yan Ting : “Today, you will fight me.”
Luo Yanhe lifted his head.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Yes?”
Luo Yanhe : “Could Master repeat that?”
Shen Yan Ting : “You will fight me.”
Luo Yanhe glanced around the training ground before looking back at him.
Luo Yanhe : “Did this disciple offend Master during breakfast?”
Shen Yan Ting : “You did not eat breakfast.”
Luo Yanhe : “Exactly.
I had no opportunity to offend Master.
Therefore, this punishment is unfair.”
Shen Yan Ting : “It is training.”
Luo Yanhe : “It sounds like murder with educational purposes.”
Several nearby disciples coughed at once.
The coughs were suspiciously coordinated.
Shen Yan Ting looked towards them, and every disciple immediately returned to practising with extraordinary dedication.
Luo Yanhe felt strangely proud.
At least someone appreciated his suffering, although whether they were laughing with him or from nervous habit remained uncertain.
Shen Yan Ting held out a wooden sword.
Shen Yan Ting : “Begin.”
Luo Yanhe accepted it with the solemn expression of a man receiving an official death notice.
Luo Yanhe : “If this disciple dies, Master must explain to the elders that this was not a heroic sacrifice.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You will not die.”
Luo Yanhe : “Master sounds very confident.”
Shen Yan Ting : “I am.”
Luo Yanhe : “That is because Master is the danger.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Correct.”
Luo Yanhe stared.
Luo Yanhe : “Master admitted that too easily.”
Shen Yan Ting raised his sword.
Shen Yan Ting : “Attack.”
Luo Yanhe moved immediately.
Despite his complaints, he did not hesitate.
His taller, broader frame drove forwards with considerable force, but the technique did not come entirely from conscious thought.
His feet chose the distance.
His wrist adjusted.
His body corrected the angle before Chao Lun Hui understood the mistake.
The wooden swords met.
Shen Yan Ting blocked him easily.
Shen Yan Ting : “Too direct.”
Luo Yanhe changed direction and struck again.
Shen Yan Ting stopped the attack.
Shen Yan Ting : “Too obvious.”
Luo Yanhe stepped around him and attempted a third strike.
Shen Yan Ting turned it aside.
Shen Yan Ting : “Too emotional.”
Luo Yanhe retreated, breathing harder.
Luo Yanhe : “Master has many criticisms.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You have many openings.”
Luo Yanhe : “Master could also offer encouragement.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You have not fallen.”
Luo Yanhe paused.
Luo Yanhe : “Was that encouragement?”
Shen Yan Ting : “Yes.”
Luo Yanhe : “That was the driest encouragement this disciple has ever received.”
Shen Yan Ting : “It was accurate.”
Luo Yanhe : “It was starving.”
Shen Yan Ting’s gaze shifted.
Shen Yan Ting : “Starving?”
Luo Yanhe : “Emotionally malnourished.”
A disciple in the distance made a choking sound.
Shen Yan Ting ignored it.
Luo Yanhe attacked again.
This time, he stopped trying to control every movement.
He began with strength, softened the strike midway and turned a feint into a low sweep.
Shen Yan Ting avoided the blade, but his sleeve moved farther than before.
Luo Yanhe’s eyes brightened.
Luo Yanhe : “Master!”
Shen Yan Ting : “What?”
Luo Yanhe pointed towards the fabric.
Luo Yanhe : “I moved your sleeve.”
Shen Yan Ting glanced at it.
Shen Yan Ting : “That is not victory.”
Luo Yanhe : “It is progress.”
Shen Yan Ting : “It is fabric.”
Luo Yanhe : “It is symbolic fabric.”
Shen Yan Ting lowered his sword.
Shen Yan Ting : “Acceptable.”
Luo Yanhe’s satisfaction escaped before he could contain it.
Luo Yanhe : “Master praised me.”
Shen Yan Ting : “I said acceptable.”
Luo Yanhe : “That is praise from Master.”
Shen Yan Ting : “It is an evaluation.”
Luo Yanhe : “This disciple accepts Master’s shy praise.”
Shen Yan Ting : “I am not shy.”
Luo Yanhe studied him.
Luo Yanhe : “Master’s ears are not red, so perhaps not.”
Shen Yan Ting looked at him.
Shen Yan Ting : “Ten more rounds.”
Luo Yanhe’s smile vanished.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Begin.”
Luo Yanhe : “Symbolic fabric should earn rest.”
Shen Yan Ting : “It earned ten more rounds.”
Luo Yanhe : “That is not how rewards work.”
Shen Yan Ting : “It is how mine work.”
Luo Yanhe lifted his sword with the expression of a man betrayed by Heaven, Earth and one particularly unreasonable immortal master.
He continued.
By the seventh round, his damaged meridians were burning.
His body still found the correct movements, but exhaustion slowed every correction.
His foot caught against the stone.
Before Luo Yanhe hit the ground, Shen Yan Ting caught his wrist.
The movement was immediate.
Too immediate.
Both men looked at Shen Yan Ting’s hand.
Luo Yanhe raised his gaze.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Shen Yan Ting : “What?”
Luo Yanhe : “You caught me again.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You were falling.”
Luo Yanhe : “Other disciples fall.”
Shen Yan Ting : “They should stand up.”
Luo Yanhe blinked.
Luo Yanhe : “Then why did Master catch me?”
Shen Yan Ting said nothing.
His body had moved before he made the decision.
There was no memory behind the reaction and no explanation in his expression.
He released Luo Yanhe’s wrist.
Shen Yan Ting : “Rest.”
Luo Yanhe rubbed the place where Shen Yan Ting had caught him and watched his master carefully.
Luo Yanhe : “Master is avoiding the question again.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Yes.”
Luo Yanhe paused, then laughed.
Luo Yanhe : “At least Master admits it.”
Shen Yan Ting turned away.
Shen Yan Ting : “Rest before I change my mind.”
Luo Yanhe : “Yes, Master.”
He sat beside the training platform, but his attention remained on Shen Yan Ting.
The Truth Stone had shown them a history neither man remembered.
Now Shen Yan Ting’s body had answered a question his mind could not.
Luo Yanhe had spent long enough waiting for explanations to arrive politely.
It was time to investigate his own name.
The chapter has now been updated to the latest revised version.
I truly appreciate everyone who waited and continued supporting this story while I worked on improving it.
I hope this updated version gives you a smoother and more enjoyable reading experience.
Thank you for staying with me.
Happy reading!