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The others were eager to meet Miss Bai immediately, but he stopped them. He explained how he was hopeful that she'd accept their offer, but they shouldn't put all their hope in her accepting.

'She is hard to read and frankly, she scares me a lot.' He confessed.

On their way to Bai li yue's courtyard, Fang shi grew more and more angry when he saw how intimidated Lu dou was. He just couldn't believe that a member of the chores division was capable of making an outer sect student feel inferior.

'Lu dou, why are you behaving like a scared child? She is just a member of the chores division. What! You're worried that she'll refuse our offer? She should be grateful we are being polite.'

'It's your fault in the first place, Lu dou. Paying so many stones when we don't have enough in the first place. Now we have to give more to get her to cooperate.' 

He continued grumbling as they walked. No one stopped him from showing his frustration. Among all of them, Fang shi was the stingiest. His behaviour had been jarring at first, but he made up for it by being the most loyal friend any of them could ask for.

Bai li yue was looking forward to taking a short nap after spending the morning in the library searching for a basic archery manual. She hadn't been lucky after browsing through multiple shelves filled with sword and sabre manuals. 

'Just because this is a sword sect, does it mean people have to focus on only bladed weapons?' She complained several times under her breath.

The elder in charge of the library frowned when she asked where she might get hold of a basic archery manual. His frown told her all she needed to know. He was one of those purists.

She yawned again and revised her to do list for the future as she neared the courtyard.

'Learning archery is on hold until i can travel to a bigger city and find myself a bow skill. For now-'

The words died in her throat when she spotted a group in front of her courtyard. She squinted and focused her eyes to find out who they were.

Lu dou? She recognised him immediately. He was the tallest of the group.

'What is he doing bringing other people here?'

Her eyes narrowed and grew colder.

She should have been more careful in who she chose to trust.

She stood in front of the group with a raised eyebrow. 

Lu dou saw the cold look and knew she was furious at him. However, the harm was already done. He led his friends to bow to her. 

'Miss Bai, please forgive our intrusion. I hope it is not too much to ask, but my friends also need your help.' 

He implored her and waited for an answer.

'I know we are being presumptuous, but we are all desperate. I made them each bring all the spirit stones they have as payment.' 

He quickly added when her answer was slow in coming.

Bai li yue couldn't believe Lu dou. Did he really think payment was the issue here? Even though she wasn't drowning in wealth she had enough to live on. Did he leave his brain behind while his body matured? First: telling others about something that was supposed to stay between them. Then to make matters worse, he went ahead and brought them to her doorstep. Didn't he know anything about discretion?

Lu dou could feel her eyes, glaring and grilling the top of his bowed head. Despite the situation, they all remained bowing. They were beggars, they couldn't afford to be proud.

Bai li yue finally sighed, her ire lessening. She understood desperation. It was something she was getting used to after entering this sect. Here, everyone was desperate for something: be it a pill, a herb or a martial skill. They all needed something to advance their cultivation: from the lowest ranking member to the highest ranked elders. Grand elder mu was no less desperate than these young men bowing their heads to her. It was a constant struggle- a never ending pursuit of something almost unattainable. Why do they even bother? Why struggle when they know that they won't be among those to reach the end? Why should i also bother cultivating when i am just like them or even worse?

She asked herself a question that countless people had asked before.  

'How much?'

Lu dou would have missed the question if wang do had not nudged him. 

'Twenty stones.'

'Not bad!'

Bai li yue wasn't inclined to make it easier on them. Desperation didn't mean a person had to be stupid too.

'Make it twenty five and we'll have a deal. Now leave before you attract any more attention.'

Lu dou glanced at his friends and got a nod from three of them except Fang shi who gave a reluctant nod when the others gave him pointed looks.

'We'll have it ready as soon as possible. When should we bring it over?'

'Inform me when you have it. I'll let you know when to come. And one more thing. I'll let it slide this time because i didn't explicitly warn you about talking. If another person hears of my business because one of you couldn't guard your tongue…'

She let the silence simmer as she slipped deeper into her elder persona. It came in handy sometimes when she was dealing with other students. She'd had a lot of contact with grand elder mu and knew which tone to use. 

'Then i'll just take all of your tongues as a precaution.'

She left them standing there after dropping the bombshell. 

They quickly returned to their shared compound where they sat in silence.

Fang shi was the first to break the silence.

'Lu dou, i apologise for thinking less of you. We went as a group, but i still felt scared of her. You are very courageous, facing her alone.'

Lu dou nodded a couple of times. At least, his friends could share in his pain now.

' do you now realise how scared i was when you were teasing her? You even called her sister in law!'

'Lu dou, i was blind.'

'Yes, yes, we were truly blind. We couldn't even see that you were afraid.'

They commiserated with Lu dou now that they had tasted Bai li yue's ruthless threat.

'Did you think she meant it? To take our tongues if we talked?' 

Fang shi shuddered at the memory.

'She is just an initiate. she was just threatening us.' Zhengqing was quick to refute the idea. 

Huang rong sipped his wine in silence. Unlike his friends, he didn't believe that they were just words. He wondered if the others had also felt what he felt.

'I also saw what you saw. She's obviously an initiate, but didn't you feel something different when she spoke?'

The others exchanged questioning looks. Huang rong was the smartest of their group. They all agreed that if he couldn't enter the inner sect then none of them could.  

'It's okay if you didn't notice it, but we should never forget how it felt when she spoke. We absolutely can't afford to anger a person like her.' 

'What do you mean, Huang rong? Did you sense something we didn't?'

Huang rong chose his words carefully. There was no need to overly scare his friends, but they still needed to be warned.

'It's nothing. I sensed something for only a brief moment before it vanished. I felt like i was standing in front of a sleeping monster.'  

The atmosphere in the courtyard grew heavy as they digested his words. They felt more scared now than they had been.

Fang shi was trembling in his seat as he asked.

'Maybe we should forget going back there.'

He received a slap on the back for his trouble and stared teary eyed at the weapon in his attacker's hand. Huang rong flicked his fan shut.

'Don't even think of it. Do you want us to make her more angŕy by wasting her time? More importantly, think of the benefits. We'll finally have a leg up on all the other competitors. Five out of the ten spots will be ours if we succeed.'

The others nodded in agreement. This was their chance to leave the outer sect. They'd been stuck here long enough. It's time to enter a new stomping ground and make a name for themselves. Danger was always accompanied by gains. Unless they were willing to brave the danger they had no right calling themselves cultivators. 

Bai li yue woke up with a start. She had dozed off again. She had been feeling sleepy since yesterday, but she fought it. She had just woken up after weeks of sleep and was already feeling sleepy again? It didn't make any sense. She had things to do. Lu dou and his friends who might show up any day now.

She yawned long and hard. She couldn't help it.  The booklet fell out of her lap.

Screw it! I'm too sleepy. I'll just sleep for an hour. But what if Lu dou visits while i'm asleep? 

She gathered her remaining strength and stuck a note addressed to Lu dou onto the door. She activated the array and stumbled into her room, closing the door behind her.

She fell onto the bed like a rock. Not a moment passed before the golden light appeared over her body.

Meanwhile, Huang rong, Wang do, Zhengqing and Fang shi were congratulating Lu dou on his breakthrough.

'This is another breakthrough in two days. This is unprecedented.'

'I was lucky.'

They sat around while Zhengqing produced a jar of fermented wine. 

'Are you ready for tomorrow?'

They all nodded in excitement. If Lu dou's progress was anything to go by, then they would also be progressing before the start of the inner sect tournament.

Lu dou left midway to inform Bai li yue that the payment was ready. He didn't meet her, but found the note stuck to the door.

In the note, she told him of her absence. She gave him guidelines and a daily schedule for the use of the array. They could have free rein of the array for four days between certain hours. He related her instructions to the rest and got them to make a schedule. 

Zhengqing was first in line. He followed Lu dou to the courtyard in the morning. The compound was deserted and the doors to the room were closed. Lu dou left the spirit stones in the bag of rice as instructed and kept an eye on Zhengqing who was sitting inside the array madly cultivating as if his life depended on it.

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