"My lady, we can't let you go out. We apologise.'

"Am i a prisoner?"

She turned to ask nobody in particular. The masked guard appeared in front of her. 

"It's a security measure, my lady."

"I intend to visit Meixiu; not escape. Besides, what can i do with watching my every move?"

He nodded for the guards to stand aside. 

"After you, my lady."

She stepped out of the Dawn court for the first time since her arrival. The sect felt unfamiliar to her now after everything that had happened. The worries of student life were no longer a part of her life. The several people she met greeted her with respect befitting her new station. 

None of them is on my side. What did I expect? In their eyes, I'm worth nothing compared to Shen duyi.

She toyed with the idea of revealing that she had inherited the legacy of an immortal. That might be enough to get her on equal footing with Shen duyi. But it would tie her to the sect. She didn't like that. They wouldn't want to lose such a legacy and would push to consolidate the link to her. Instead of cancelling the union, they might even think that marrying her Shen duyi was the best solution. She wasn't willing to take that risk.

The sword tower and the cultivation tower were doing business as usual. Nobody would miss her if she disappeared. They'd still go on like nothing had happened. A sudden desire overtook her. She wanted to see something- the only record of her time spent as a student. 

"Bai li yue?"

"Senior." 

She was glad to see a friendly face calling her by her name. Tan fu strolled to her side.

"I went to find you when i heard the news. How have you been?"

Bai li yue opened her mouth, about to ask for his help, but she stopped herself.

"As you can see. How is Lei huojin? Is his training going well?"

Tan fu's gritted his teeth.

"I don't think it was easy for him to make the decision. Will you stop being my friend too if i end up marrying Shen duyi?"

"Lei huojin is a coward. You, on the other hand, have no choice."

"Is that how you see it?"

She saw things differently because Lei huojin's decision had no direct impact on her life. Tan fu was blinded by resentment because his heart was in the involved

"There are things between us that you aren't aware of. Don't act like you know everything."

Properly chastised, she apologised.

"I spoke out of turn."

"I'm not blaming you. I'm sorry too."

They remained in companionable silence watching the leaderboard that had brought her to the sword tower in the first place. He told her about his plans to go adventuring on the continent. 

'When do you leave?'

"In a week's time. I don't wish to be here for a while."

"If you see Lei huojin before leaving, can you give him a message from me?"

"I don't know if I will see him or if I will give him your message."

He spoke again after some time.

"Bai li yue, you should stay away from Lei huojin. You've brought him enough trouble already. I don't hold you responsible and neither does he, but he's already lost an arm because of you. Don't cause him to lose anything more."

She froze in shock.

"Because of me?"

"They both liked you. What did you expect?"

"I didn't know. Tell- tell him I'm sorry. Please."

Bai li yue cursed herself for being blind. Because of that her friends were suffering along with her. She had to see Meixiu and find out what Shen duyi had threatened her with. Her condition notwithstanding, she found the courtyard from memory. 

Meixiu was practising when Bai li yue arrived. She watched her enter without blinking. Somehow she didn't look like her happy self. 

"Meixiu, do you hate me too? I swear i didn't know anything. You should have told me Shen duyi threatened- no, i can't blame you. I'm sorry. All this happened because of me."

Meixiu pulled her hand out of Bai li yue's hold.

"I don't hate you, Bai li yue."

"Really? Then i'm glad. I met another friend of mine on my way here. He told me something very worrying. What did Shen duyi do to you? Tell me."

"What do you mean?"

"What did he say or do to threaten you? You were supposed to wake me up when the party ended. Why did I wake up elsewhere: as a prisoner?"

Bai li yue needed an answer to her question.

"Nothing. He didn't threaten me. I gave you to him without being forced."

"What?"

"You wouldn't listen when I told you that you couldn't refuse him. You could have had a wonderful life if you had just listened to me."

Meixiu's answer came like a loud bell, breaking all her beliefs into tiny pieces.

"You knew? You knew he was obsessed with me, yet you never said a word. You could have said something: warned me."

"Why would i do that? When i didn't get into the inner sect, I went to him and offered myself to him. It didn't surprise me when he rejected me. You see, I'd noticed him watching you so many times. I knew that he wanted you so i became your friend and used you to my advantage. In the end, Shen duyi and i got what we wanted."

"What about me?"

"You got a good deal. You might not think so now, but you'll thank me one day."

"How did i ever think you were my friend?"

Bai li yue left the courtyard as fast as her weak legs could carry her. She wanted to puke; puke until all the food Meixiu had offered her left her system. She'd been worried about her friend but it turned out that Meixiu was in on it. She had sold her to Shen duyi. 

In her muddled state, she arrived at her old courtyard before she knew where she was. Her bed was just like she'd left it. She couldn't stand being in the room now that she knew that Shen duyi had been a regular visitor. There were library books she had yet to read but she no longer saw the need to. She packed them and returned them to the library. 

Remembering Meixiu's betrayal brought angry tears to her eyes. 

'Meixiu! Shen duyi! You two should wait for me. I will definitely pay you back!' 

The soul sword formula became a crutch during those moments when she burned with rage. She wanted to burn everything down around her. It stabilised her mind when she drowned in misery, but it was only a bandage soothing a festering wound. She longed to show her anger to the world, exult in it and punish those who had put her into such a terrible position.

"What do i do? What do i do when i'm surrounded by enemies on all sides? Teacher! What do i do?"

She couldn't stand being powerless. She couldn't live like that, day in day out, biding her time until the day she got her revenge. She'd never been a patient person. She wanted to make them pay! Make everyone pay! Fury consumed her soul. Hatred burned her mind and the kind and gentle Bai li yue saw nothing but darkness around her. She couldn't escape her fear even in her dreams.

"Why are you crying instead of acting? You're too weak! Too weak! Too good! Too kind! Even if you get your chance, a weak person like you will choose to forgive them."

"Never! I want them dead as sure as i breathe."

"You might be willing but you are still too weak… can't even break a tiny chain! You're better off letting me do it for you."

A part of her reacted to the words . The mad shadow in the darkness rejoiced in the madness that overtook Bai li yue.

In a darkened hall lost in time, the king watched Bai li yue fall to the madness. It had witnessed this scene once upon a time. That promising cultivator had fallen to it just before the finish line. 

"Miserable soul, the heavens hath been unkind to thee. Destroying thy hope before this august hall.'

A raised a hand to end her suffering, but stopped halfway, staring off into the distance through the present and the past and the future at a being older than itself; more ancient than the hallowed halls in which it found itself in. The hall provided him with a peephole into all of time and space. He could see all without discovery. 

"The first court dreams

It dreams of worlds:

Worlds within worlds

It dreams lands and nations

It dreams people

Into existence.

It dreams now.

It dreams of her."

The king looked back at Bai li yue in awe. This was the first time he was witnessing an intervention. 

Who was she? Who had she been? 

The hand lowered slowly waiting to see what was about to ensue.

In the celestial court known to few as the first court, a figure tossed and turned in a bed of clouds. Their features were undefined. They wavered from feminine to masculine with each breath. They had been having a lovely dream about a world in ruins. A reaper patiently stalked its prey from the shadows. Weaker than the other monsters, the reaper struggled to survive until it found an energy stone one day. They were set to become king of the land for years to come. The reaper was lying in a nest of human bones snacking on more energy stones when the plea broke through the dream.

A paradox of a girl, cried, willing someone to hear her pain.

"What a fascinating creature!"

The person spoke. Their voice was sometimes soft and melodious and sometimes deep and gravelly. 

"She has everything at her disposal to become great, but the heavens have closed their eyes to her suffering."

They saw the seals in her body. The first seal was controlling the death energy in her body. The second seal was locked around her dantian. They peered into the past and lived her life in the blink of an eye. They knew the first seal was willingly accepted. The second was the work of a powerful person who wanted her under his control.

"This girl is destined for the hallowed halls if not for the interference of humans. Do we lend a hand now that her plea has reached our ears? Or do we let fate take its course? Is there a reason we heard her cry among the countless cries that we've ignored?"

The figure mulled over their decision.

"Let it be then. Shall we go back to the reaper or dream next of war?"

The figure sent out a heavenly edict and settled in the bed of clouds. Moments later, the creations roaming the celestial realm knelt down in worship and proclaimed their lord's will to the heavens.

"Her plea has reached our ears. 

Woken us up from deep slumber. 

Her plight is fair for one as cursed as she is . 

But her current plight is too cruel. 

We are moved this time to show mercy.

We grant her relief from the shackles that ensnare her. 

May her anger be quenched

Even if it is by the blood of the guilty.

So is our will."

The man/ woman/ girl/ boy/ child erased the girl from memory. They went back to sleep, dreaming into existence seven feuding great families and an approaching army of undead soldiers.