In the courtyard gateway, Liu Xiujie stood frozen for a moment, then arranged his face into a deeply unconvincing smile. “Commander Fang, this is — we — he—”

He pointed at Shen Yi, words stumbling.

He looked exactly like a child who’d gone to collect a friend from their house and been caught by the parents.

A hand appeared and pulled him back before he could make things worse.

Li Xinhan straightened from where he’d been leaning against the outer wall, stepped to the courtyard entrance, and stood there expressionless.

The two of them held the same three-band rank. Familiarity should have been natural.

Instead, Li Xinhan’s brow was drawn together, and when he finally moved it was with visible reluctance — a formal bow delivered at a slight emotional distance. “I’ve been ordered to investigate a demon situation and am departing immediately. Shen Yi agreed to come with me some time ago. I’d appreciate it if elder brother would allow us through.”

Liu Xiujie stepped back without a word and stood with the other three.

Beside him: the beggar, a slight man who looked barely older than a child, and a full-figured woman with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Five total, including Li Xinhan. The rest of his group was still in Baiyun County and wouldn’t be back anytime soon.

Which was precisely why Li Xinhan had forced himself to come to this door, no matter how little he wanted to.

“…”

Fang Heng didn’t turn. Didn’t look at them.

He said one word.

“Leave.”

Li Xinhan’s hands, which had just dropped to his sides, closed involuntarily. His breathing tightened.

He’d grown up in a martial family. He’d been considered exceptional since childhood. This was not something he had experience receiving.

The qi around him began to stir.

He drew a slow breath and pressed it down. “I’m just here to take someone. I’m not looking for trouble.”

“Not looking my foot.” The ponytail woman yawned and slapped the back of his head with one hand. “If the General has something to say about it, go home and have your father apologize.” She was already moving. “We’re taking him.”

Old Liu had concealed weapons appearing between his fingers. The beggar’s frame went taut. The small man hunched slightly, gaze fixing on Shen Yi.

“Naturally. Anything you need, you can call on the family for it. Like getting a Jade Liquid mid-stage—” Fang Heng let the word land, “—attendant to help you advance to Deputy Commander right after crossing into the Jade Liquid Realm. While I came up through medicine baths like any common practitioner.”

He turned slowly. Something mocking had entered his face.

Then it went cold.

“But you’re welcome to try stepping through that gate. Try your family’s resources against my talent and see how they hold up.”

“Ooh, I’m terrified.” Li Muqing patted her chest languidly, her striking features entirely unbothered. She’d already moved one foot across the threshold, short sword at her hip finding its way to her hand without her appearing to look for it. “Hey — you — come here.”

Her words redirected everyone’s attention.

And everyone realized at the same moment that while they’d been facing down Fang Heng, Shen Yi had quietly walked to his room, gone inside without hurry, and come back out with the saber.

Under Fang Heng’s impassive gaze, he settled the dark scabbard at his hip, stepped around Fang Heng, and joined the group.

“Ready. Let’s go.”

Li Xinhan blinked.

That was it?

Had he been overthinking the whole thing? Shen Yi had just arrived, had no assigned mission, wasn’t bound by any specific duty to anyone — of course he could come and go as he pleased. There hadn’t been anything to clear.

Li Muqing: “…”

Oh no.

A clean exchange of blows and provoking someone into actual fury were two entirely different situations.

She turned her head.

Fang Heng’s face was without expression. His muscles, however, had begun to shift slowly beneath his skin.

His form disappeared.

Even Li Muqing — herself at Jade Liquid mid-stage — registered only a blur.

He reappeared less than a foot in front of the group, hand reaching for the back of Shen Yi’s neck like someone picking up a chicken — no technique, pure overwhelming physical dominance.

Casual. Unanswerable.

Li Xinhan’s pupils contracted. He’d known there was a gap between them. He hadn’t known it was this large.

“I told you. You don’t leave until you’ve learned it.”

“Are you deaf?”

Fang Heng’s palm drove forward.

Shen Yi turned slightly. His right hand — hanging loose at his side a moment before — lifted, and his fingertips traced some inexplicable arc that wove between and past Fang Heng’s palm, touching down lightly on his forearm.

Not forceful. Not even particularly fast.

It barely looked like an exchange at all.

“…”

In the instant Shen Yi raised his hand, something made Fang Heng’s eyes flicker. An inexplicable and unwelcome familiarity. He hadn’t wanted to believe it and had hesitated — but when those fingertips actually made contact, the doubt turned to thunderous, incredulous fury.

He already understood exactly what it was going to cost him for that casual approach.

“Hgh—!“

Fang Heng shouted, wrenched his strength back inward, drove his foot into the ground, and launched himself backward — the full power of that powerful frame moving like a loosed arrow in reverse.

He landed more than ten zhang away, steadied himself, and stood still, breathing through his nose.

The others exchanged glances.

What just happened.

He came charging over, then jumped back to the far end of the courtyard.

“…”

Fang Heng stood with his gaze lowered, motionless, not speaking for a long time.

Only Li Muqing noticed something off.

She looked at him, curious. What is he hiding?

Despite his best efforts, the right arm kept deliberately held behind his back — swaying faintly — had caught her eye.

No wound on it. No visible damage. Just drifting there, as if the bones inside had gone somewhere else.

“Any other questions?”

Shen Yi’s hand rested back on the scabbard. If there was more to address, he was available.

At those words, a flush crept into Fang Heng’s lowered face — not embarrassment exactly, but the physical sign of something fighting to get out and being held back.

He bit down. Hard enough that the lines of his jaw stood out, until the faint taste of copper touched his tongue.

He wasn’t afraid to keep fighting. Even with his entire right arm sealed, he had sixty percent of his full capacity left.

But there was no point.

What he was most proud of — the talent he’d anchored himself on — had just been placed quietly underfoot and ground into the earth.

Seven or eight days. That was all it had taken to reach the point of finding meridians instantaneously. That wasn’t ordinary Novice-level comprehension. If the palm strength had matched the technique, the arm wouldn’t have been temporarily sealed — it would have been dead tissue permanently.

Faced with something this incomprehensible, Fang Heng found that standing very still and pretending not to exist was genuinely the only available option. Even raising his head felt like it would invite shame.

“When are you coming back?”

His voice had gone rough.

“I didn’t say I was coming back.” Shen Yi looked at him, genuinely puzzled.

“You—!” Fang Heng’s head snapped up. Fury, and underneath it, something that was almost alarm.

This courtyard was the most sacred ground in the entire Demon Suppression Division compound. Nobody in their right mind walked away from the chance to live here.

If he actually left — if he genuinely didn’t intend to come back—

How was he supposed to explain that to his martial elder sister?

Someone with this kind of insight couldn’t be allowed to walk out of his hands.

“This is what martial elder sister wanted — don’t push it!”

The group in the gateway stared at him.

This was the same man who’d been radiating contemptuous authority thirty seconds ago. And now he’d dropped it entirely and was arguing with words.

Li Xinhan, for his part, was quietly thinking something through.

He had a faint memory from his own childhood — encountering something he couldn’t handle and defaulting immediately to invoking his sister.

But — what exactly was Fang Heng unable to handle?

Surely not Shen Yi.

He turned to look at the young man beside him.

(End of Chapter)