Upon seeing the fireworks in the sky, the academy officials sprang into immediate action.
Accompanied by elite instructors and armed soldiers, they dispatched empty horses in haste.
Upon reaching the scene, they quickly took control of the critical situation.
The search for the attackers began all around the Butterfly Mountain.
Yu Sui and Mo Yan were barely standing, being supported by Duie and Su Nian.
Tension was thick in the air.
Swords were already drawn, gleaming in the moonlight....ready to eliminate any remaining threat.
Mo Yan's intoxication was worsening, and Yu Sui was writhing in pain.
He had no spiritual power left to heal himself.
All he had left was his demonic power
and Mo Yan's love.
Within moments, officers and soldiers arrived on horseback.
Everyone was swiftly mounted onto the horses.
Yu Sui gently helped Mo Yan onto one, and got on behind him, holding him securely.
Seeing the two like this, Su Nian was now certain
All the rumors he had heard about them were true.
Something was definitely going on between them.
Something deeper than anyone could understand.
The horses galloped through clouds of dust, rushing back toward the academy.
As soon as they arrived, both Yu Sui and Mo Yan were taken for treatment.
The special instructors were slightly ashamed
They had sent the group out without proper protection.
---
The next day...
The search for the attackers continued, and several people from the academy were reported missing.
Suspicion immediately fell on Lao Duan and his group.
At the site of the incident, soldiers found Lao Duan's sword
a key piece of evidence.
They were immediately expelled from the academy.
Meanwhile, Yu Sui and Mo Yan were both still unconscious in their respective rooms, under the effect of heavy medication.
Duie was taking care of Yu Sui.
Bao Fang and Su Nian were with Mo Yan.
When Yu Sui finally regained consciousness,
the first name he whispered was
"Mo Yan…"
Duie froze.
Why was he calling him?
Duie flicked him lightly on the forehead and said,
"What, did you see Mo Yan's ghost or something....why are you yelling his name?"
Yu Sui had no idea Duie was there.
Trying to dodge the question, he replied,
"Yeah, well... he is kind of like a ghost!"
Then timidly, he asked,
"Is... is Mo Yan okay?"
Duie was surprised.
They were always bickering...why the sudden concern?
Yu Sui smirked and changed the topic in his usual mischievous way:
"Well... if he dies, he'll definitely come haunt me. Like a clingy ghost."
---
On the other side, Mo Yan also began to wake up.
A similar scene played out in his room.
Su Nian's suspicion turned into confirmation.
But he stayed silent.
---
A week passed.
Yu Sui and Mo Yan were now often seen sitting together
sometimes alone, sometimes in class.
Su Nian was in complete shock.
And Duie? He was pulling his hair out.
Because Yu Sui had stopped hanging around him
now he was always trailing behind Mo Yan.
Whispers were spreading through the academy like wildfire.
---
Three days later...
The academy announced that parents, siblings, and guardians of all students were being invited the next day for a formal visit.
After that day, students would be completely cut off from the outside world for three years.
Some were excited. Some were nervous.
But one face had lost all its glow
Su Nian.
he had two stepbrothers, sons of her stepmother.
Her father was a drunk who spent his days in a haze.
Her mother had cunningly transferred all the family's property to her stepbrothers' names...
and now wanted Su Nian to become their servant.
---
The next day...
Families arrived at the academy.
People were hugging, crying, laughing.
Duie's elder sister had come.
They were both orphans and had always been each other's only family.
That evening, everyone was in their rooms with their families.
Master Kin Lishuan and Lady Shiyan Lee were with Yu Sui.
Master Chui Yong and Lady Wang Ayi were with Mo Yan.
Duie was with his sister.
He wanted to make lotus tea for her and left to fetch the lotus petals.
On the way, he passed by Su Nian's room, whose door was slightly open.
As he walked by, he heard a loud slap.
Su Nian's stepmother had hit him, and Su Nian had collapsed on the floor.
The woman sneered arrogantly:
"How dare you submit a petition? Do you feel no shame?!"
She raised her hand to strike again.
Su Nian clenched his eyes shut, bracing for the blow
but it never landed.
When he opened his eyes…
Duie was standing there, holding his mother's wrist,
his face red with fury.