Inside the stall, the banter continued like a well-rehearsed comedy show, though only one sibling was laughing.
Liana leaned against the wooden counter, arms crossed, watching Aithur with the smug grin of someone who'd caught their little brother crying over a bad haircut.
"So," she said, wiggling her eyebrows, "was it a roar this time? Or more of a high-pitched yelp?"
Aithur slammed a fish basket down with unnecessary force.
"It was dignified panic, thank you."
"Dignified?" she said with a snort. "You mean like when you fell into the river last year and came out with a fish stuck to your nose?"
"That fish assaulted me!"
Liana smirked. "Mhm. Well, I hope you screamed at today's fish too. You know, just to assert dominance."
"Do you wake up daily just to make my life harder?"
"No," she said sweetly, leaning forward. "That's just a delightful bonus."
Aithur groaned and grabbed another basket from the cart, muttering something about siblings being the real curse of the world.
But after a moment, his grumbling died down, and a strange silence hung between them. Liana glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as he began sorting the fish with less sarcasm than usual.
Finally, he asked, quieter than before, "Hey… can I ask you something serious?"
Liana raised an eyebrow. "Wow. What, did the lightning knock some sincerity into you?"
He ignored her jab. "Why don't you hate them?"
"Who?"
"Cultivators." He looked up, eyes narrowed but uncertain. "You know what happened. You know our parents left us because of their cultivation. They threw us away for power. Why… why didn't that make you hate them?"
Liana was quiet for a long moment.
She straightened, her expression slowly softening, and looked directly at him. "You really want to know?"
He nodded once.
"I did," she said at last, voice calm but with a sharp edge beneath it. "I did hate them. For a long time. I hated them for being strong, for having the power to leave us behind and never look back. I hated their robes, their titles, their pride. I hated it all."
Aithur blinked. He hadn't expected that.
"But…" she exhaled slowly, "I realized something. Our parents weren't bad because they were cultivators. They were bad because they were selfish. Because they didn't see us as worth keeping. That wasn't cultivation. That was them."
Aithur's lips tightened. "Still feels like cultivators only care about themselves."
"Some do," Liana admitted. "But not all. Hating every cultivator because two of them broke us? That's not justice. That's bitterness. And bitterness makes you weak."
Her voice held an odd mixture of steel and warmth, like a fire forged in winter.
"We're people, Aithur. And so are they. Some are monsters. Some are heroes. Most are just... trying. Like us."
He looked away, jaw clenched.
"I just thought... you'd understand better if you hated them too."
She stepped closer and flicked his forehead.
"Dummy. I understand because I don't."
He stared at her, rubbing the spot she flicked, expression unreadable.
"Oh," she added suddenly, her cheer returning like a lightning switch. "You take the rest of the fish home."
"What? Why me?!"
"Because," she said, tapping her chin in mock thought, "I'm going to make fish stew tonight."
Aithur's face turned a subtle shade of green.
"I think… I think I just died a little inside."
Liana burst out laughing. "Already tired of fish, o brave hunter of the deep?"
"I reek of fish! I sweat fish! The boat weeps fish!"
"Well, good news." She tossed him a cloth. "You can cry in the stew. Adds flavor."
Far beyond the village, in the towering marble halls of the Azura Sword Sect, three cultivators knelt in reverence as they presented their hard-won prizes.
A glowing lily, its petals pulsing with soft gold, floated in a jade case.
Beside it, a dark crystalline orb—the Tainted Core—vibrated faintly with malicious energy.
Elder Yun, one of the sect's council of thirteen, stepped forward. His silver beard flowed down his chest like a river of snow, and his pale blue robes shimmered with quiet power.
He paused at the sight of the lily, brows raising. "Is that…?"
"The Sunheart Lily, Elder," one of the disciples confirmed, trying and failing to hide the pride in his voice. "We retrieved it after it was stolen in the Shadow Fiend ambush."
Elder Yun's expression shifted—equal parts surprise and respect. "That lily was thought lost. Many died trying to retrieve it from the attack."
"We were lucky," said another disciple. "The fiends were focused on the running away. We took the chance."
Yun's gaze lingered on them. "No. Not luck. Skill… and courage. You have done this sect a great service."
He stepped back and gave a rare nod. "Go. To the Library Pavilion. One token each. Use them well."
The three disciples bowed deeply and hurried away, their hearts lightened by the praise.
As their footsteps faded, another figure appeared beside Elder Yun, silent as shadow.
Elder Ji, his robes darker and face sterner, folded his arms behind his back. "You commend them so easily."
"They accomplished their mission."
"With minimal awareness of what moves in the shadows," Elder Ji muttered. "The Fiend Cultivators are spreading again."
Elder Yun's brows furrowed.
"Reports from the western province confirm it. Villages destroyed. A temple razed. All after the news spread…"
Yun finished for him, "...that the Sect Leader of the Thousand Lotus Sect has passed."
Ji nodded grimly.
"That sect… was the wall. The only thing keeping those hypocrites from moving openly. And now?"
"They fester like rot."
Elder Yun looked to the horizon, where dark clouds had begun to gather.
"It's been five years," he said quietly. "Five years since their leader passed… and not a single person has passed the test she left behind. Not a disciple. Not an elder. Not even from outside."
Ji's lips thinned. "She was mad. Brilliant, but mad."
"A test no one understands. A path no one can walk." Yun chuckled without humor. "She wanted the next sect leader to be unlike any before. Stronger. Wiser. Freer."
"Or crazier."
"Probably." Yun looked up as the wind picked up. "Maybe that's the point. Maybe the only one who can inherit the Thousand Lotus Sect… is a lunatic."
And just as he said it—
ACHOO!
Back in the village, Aithur sneezed hard enough to drop a fish on his foot.
He winced, rubbed his nose, and looked around suspiciously.
"…Why do I feel like someone just insulted me across dimensions?"
From inside the stall, Liana shouted, "Did you drop another fish, you disaster?"
Aithur groaned.