“I’m fine. See?” Qingling let go of his shoulder and took a few steps forward.

With just five days having passed since the fight against her father and the subsequent injury, he was deeply surprised at her being able to fulfil her promise.

Then again, even mock combat was on a whole other league compared to walking and he could see her suppress a grimace every time she moved. “Yes, you’re recovering a lot sooner than I thought. But I have yet to find something that can get you back into shape by the time of the tournament.”

“Leave that for me to worry about.” She walked to the end of the room, then leaned her back against the wall. “Don’t you have a lover in even more dire need of a miracle solution? Just why did she have to agree to the selfish blabbering of those rotting parasites?”

“She said they were getting suspicious of her. And even though it’s not enough to keep up the charade, being at the second stage should suffice for holding her own at least, right?”

“Second stage? When?” 

“Three days ago, just before the messenger arrived.”

A myriad different emotions washed over her face and she averted her eyes when she finally answered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“There’s been a lot on my mind lately and I thought she would want to tell you herself. But she seemed busy, too, the last few days.”

“With my work. I’m a failure of a sister, aren’t I?” She tried to reach the door, but flinched halfway and hissed in pain while holding her stomach.

“No, you’re not. She’s proud of her sister more than anyone else. But you don’t have to be strong all the time. Let us help you, too.” Ku Lo tried to move her back into her bed, but with her resisting his grasp, he couldn’t get her there without having to risk hurting her in the process.

“Can you help me recover faster?”

“As I said-”

“Then don’t bother. I’m going.” She pushed his hand away and left the room. 

She hadn’t even made it to the next door when he caught up to her supporting herself with a wall. 

Ku Lo pulled her arm around his shoulder. 

Qingling struggled for a moment, but let him help her when she realized that he didn’t lead her back.

“Where do you want to go?”

“Take a bath, dare to follow me?”

He gripped under her armpit to stabilize her. “I’ll get you there and call Gingge to take care of you.”

“Don’t.” Hair covered her face, so he couldn’t see her expression, but something in her tone told him she meant it.

She had had similar requests often. Telling him to keep her sister out of situations where she needed help.

“Alright. But I’ll stay nearby.”

“Do as you wish.” 

… 

For once, Gingge had been the first to return. She already appeared asleep when he snuck in. 

But upon trying to crawl into bed, she slowly turned around. “Lo’er? Where were you?”

“I just helped your sister move around a bit.”

“Sister again?”

“She doesn’t want to bother you it seems.”

She frowned. “That won’t do. I’ll help her, so you can focus on other things, alright?”

“But I’m not doing much, and you have a lot to do already. She’s even become a lot nicer to me, so I guess she’s warming up to me.” 

“Leave it to me.”

… 

Huling hugged her knees as she stared over the bonfire to Rin Tin Tin. 

Leading them towards a remote village that turned out to be Lo’s place of birth, she had picked up his trail and followed it further south for almost a week. 

“Just why do you know so much about Lo’er?” 

Being talked to snapped her out of whatever she had been thinking, but she still took a moment to come up with an answer. “He told me.”

“No, he wouldn’t. He’s scared of you.”

“Since when is it up to you to decide how he feels?” Apparently getting into the flow of the conversation, Rin Tin Tin’s question became probing.

But she wouldn’t let herself be taunted. “You want to be with him, so you can’t keep things like that secret.”

“Aren’t you pretty full of yourself for someone who’s most likely more hated than me?”

She stood up and glared down at her enigmatic rival. “It’s my duty to guard his back. And if that means facing you, I will! What do you want to do to Lo’er?”

“The same as you. To dual cultivate with him. To watch him grow stronger and see how far we can go.” The target of her anger showed herself unimpressed. 

“If that was all, why would he be scared of you. Tell me everything.”

Rin Tin Tin tilted her head with an amused smirk on her face. “And I’m going to tell you that because you say so?”

“You need something from me. And either both of us get what they want, or neither.”

“You don’t even know what I want yet and you’re already betting your safety on it?”

“I know you need me to tell you, so what exactly you need is irrelevant, is it not?”

“Smartass. Then teach me the Swallowing Snake art of your Feng family.”

“Why would you-?”

“You see, when Ku Lo was about to become my partner, a problem occurred. And your body tempering art is the perfect solution for it.”

“He’s on the bigger side, but not that out of proportion, so even if it needs a little preparation, anyone should be able to fit it. But doesn’t that make you his catastrophic first time?”

“Would I bother with you if that was all it took?”

“Right. Still, turns out even people like you fuck up, heh.”

“Then teach it to me.” She was getting annoyed. 

Perhaps I had a bit too much fun. But this is important. “Not until you tell me a good reason for Lo’er to dislike you if your motives are just the ones you told me.”

“When that little issue appeared, he started to panic. And because he panicked, I panicked. I didn’t know how to calm him down, so I overreacted, nothing more.”

“You expect me to trust you on that?”

“I told you what you wanted, so now it’s time you fulfilled your end of the deal.”

“I will, once Lo’er tells me to. If what you told me is the truth, he would agree, right?”

Rin Tin Tin disappeared from her spot. 

Before she had the time to react, an arm wrapped around her neck. “Look, if you want to play make-believe official wife, then do as you wish. But the only reason you were brought along is your body art. You behave, tell me what I want to know and I might even let you have a turn now and then.”

“w-What are you up to?” It turned out that she had been right about this woman. And Ku Lo, who couldn’t tell her off for some reason, wouldn't be able to escape her.

A cold hand made its way into her robes. Slowly, it approached her crotch.

“Let go of me- uhg” Huling wanted to struggle free, but both hands wrapped around her like vice.

She rammed her heels into Rin Tin Tin’s shins, but just felt a tough surface absorbing the impact and her captor putting more pressure on her neck.

Barely able to get air, she began seeing bright spots in the nightly forest. 

“Just hold still and we can talk about this, alright?” Through the ever thickening fog clouding Huling’s mind, her voice felt like an ominous whisper. 

She felt the grip around her body alleviating and fell onto the floor.

Salvia got sucked in with the first greedy breath and sent her into a coughing fit.

Everything felt painful. Her throat, breathing, even trying to hold her breath hurt.

Only very slowly did she recover and when she looked up, Rin Tin Tin was already sitting across the campfire again, as though nothing had happened. 

Just how could she stop her?