The first thought was that the elder must have been joking, right? I mean, I knew the young master was supposed to come tonight, but I thought he would arrive after all the festivities were done.

  "I greet the master of the frost, he who stands sentinel to winter's breath," Elder Chu said as he began to kneel, and everyone followed his example.

  A soft hand was placed on Rin’s shoulder. He strained his neck upward to see, and to his surprise, it was the young master of the Frozen Edge Sect—the one at the pinnacle of this world. Some said he was a demigod, and standing so close to him, Rin could see why. He was perfection incarnate, like the statues seen in the Coliseum of the South.

  "Enough of that. I am here today only as a guest for the festivities, nothing more," the young master said after a moment of tense silence. He sighed, seeing that nobody was willing to move from their kneeling positions.

  "Come now, up you get. Consider it an order." Everyone flinched, knowing full well that the young master was not joking anymore, and so, hesitantly, they all began to rise.

  "Great, now that’s out of the way," the young master said, glancing at Elder Chu, who looked as though he had swallowed something vile.

  "My apologies for interrupting you, Elder Chu. Would you care to continue?" The young master smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

  "I... uh... No, young master," Elder Chu stammered.

  "Are you sure? I don’t wish to impose on your words of wisdom." The young master's voice was jovial, with not a hint of menace.

  An audible gulp came from Elder Chu, and all the older man could do was shake his head.

  "Good. Now that’s settled—" he gestured to those still staring, "This is a celebration, yes? Why don't we get the party started?" He pulled out a huangjiu, a type of spiritual wine, and everyone cheered as he produced twelve more. Spiritual wine was difficult to acquire, as it required precise fermentation and a skilled brewmaster to constantly infuse it with Qi, making it highly valuable for early- and late-stage cultivators alike.

  "Isn’t that a bit excessive, young master?" Rin heard his mother say as she approached.

  "Ah, Lee! Of course not. I would've brought more if my old man wasn’t so stingy with his stash."

  "There’s a reason for that. Didn't you and one of your compatriots finish his thousand-year-old plum wine the other day?" she deadpanned.

  "Eh, well, let’s not mention that," he said as he handed the casks of wine to nearby people. One of them, Rin noticed, was Grandmaster Feng, who seemed much happier with the turn of events.

  Still a bit shell-shocked by the situation—from being embarrassed to having the young master seemingly come to his rescue, or was it just coincidence?—Rin noticed his mother approaching and felt her hug him from behind. "I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I should have known that the snake would try something tonight," she whispered softly into his hair.

  Rin allowed a single tear to escape before quickly wiping it away. "It’s okay. Because all of that is going to change tonight, right?" he asked, though his voice sounded strained and hurt, likely due to the lump in his throat. His mother squeezed him tighter.

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  "With the young master here, I believe so. But we’ll have to wait a while," she said as he looked up to see the young master swamped by people—from mortal nobles to some of the elders—all vying for his attention.

  Yeah, I could wait. After all, I was a big boy now.

  Mom released him as he straightened his shoulders. "It’s okay. I can wait," he said, beaming at her.

  "Good. Now let’s see if I can get some of that wine before they drink it all," she winked at him as she moved into the crowd. The music started up again, and the joviality of the party picked up once more as a thought occurred to him.

  I wonder where Mei Mei is?

  Meanwhile...

  Mei Ling was late. Oh, so very late.

  Why did I let grandfather talk me into wearing this stuffy dress? Why couldn't I have just worn my robes as usual? What did he say? Something about showing off to Rin?

  Why would I care about showing off to him? He’s just a boy. A good boy, and, well... he is starting to become more handsome with his black hair, pearlescent skin, and those dark grey eyes with a hint of blue. His resilience is so inspiring, and he’s stupidly good at fighting.

  Eh, why is my face warm?

  Never mind that. I have to move quickly in this... Yes, okay, it is pretty. The color—sunset pink—grandfather said it pairs excellently with my hair or something. Apparently, this is what mortal ladies wear, and I can see why they would want to, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s very stuffy and I can’t move the way I want to. And those shoes... with the stick at the back? I threw them out as soon as I saw them. How is one supposed to fight in that?

  Anyway, at least she was finally ready for the party. Hopefully, she wasn’t too late. I would love to see the stupid look on Rin’s face.

  Would he think I was pretty?

  She shook her head. Let’s not think about that right now.

  "Grandfather, I’m ready," she said, though she didn’t need to shout. Her grandfather always knew. A moment later, she heard a knock on the door.

  "Come in," she said. The door opened, and there stood her grandfather. To some, he might not look like a typical grandpa—he looked to be in his late thirties, not the old man he truly was.

  "You look fantastic. I knew that merchant was right when she said I should buy that dress for you," he said with a fond smile.

  "I’m only wearing this once," she said defiantly.

  "Of course, who am I to stand between you and Rin?" he teased, raising an eyebrow. But she wasn’t about to rise to such taunts. Seeing this, he sighed.

  "My dear granddaughter is growing up, it seems. So much so that she doesn’t even want to play with her dear old grandpa." She hesitated—he looked genuinely hurt.

  "Oh, grandpa, I didn’t mean it—" she started to say, but then she saw the mischievous glint in his eyes and the slow creep of a smile.

  "Hmph! Fine. Can we please get to the party now?" she said, stomping her feet and turning away from the insufferable old man.

  "Huhu, of course, my dear. Let’s go." He held out his hand, and she took it, still not looking at him, as he executed his technique.

  What made her grandfather so powerful—not just in the Frozen Edge Sect, but in the world—was that he was one of four others to have mastered planar Qi, though he always called it something else. She just kept calling it space Qi.

  "Hold on tight," he said.

  She did, and in one moment, they were in her room, and in the next, they were in front of Rin’s house. She could hear the uproar of celebration from inside; there was music playing, but it wasn’t anything she was used to—it was more upbeat than the standard used in the sect. Now, argh, if it just wasn’t for this dress... It’s fine, so long as I am here now. She smiled broadly, but before she could take a step forward, someone bumped into her with such force that she stumbled back into her grandfather. Angered, she wanted to scold the person, probably a servant, but when she looked, she saw him running down the road.

  "Wasn’t that young master Rin?" her grandfather asked.

  "Was that really Rin?"

  "I believe so," he said, looking at her with concern.

  She looked back at the road where Rin had run, and an unknown dread started crawling up her spine.

  Witness the Path of the Bringer of Demise. !