Chapter 24: Steps Taken Side by Side [3]

By the time he reached the side hall, the clan cooks had laid out a simple late breakfast.

Porridge, pickled vegetables, steamed buns.

The hall wasn’t crowded. A few younger disciples ate in quiet clusters, glancing up every now and then as elders passed through. No one sat too close to Lin Tian when he chose a corner table, but they didn’t look past him like he wasn’t there anymore either.

It was a small change, but he noticed it.

He had just broken a bun in half when a servant approached, hands folded, posture tentative.

“Young Master Tian,” the boy said, bowing. “This servant was told to inform you that Elder Mei has requested Miss Xueya for examination.”

Lin Tian’s fingers tightened on the porcelain bowl.

“Is there a problem?” he asked.

The servant shook his head quickly. “Elder Mei did not say, only that Miss Xueya should be examined after last night’s… events. The Bai clan attendants have taken her to the infirmary hall.”

Of course they had.

Bai Xueya disappearing from the guest courtyard all night, returning at dawn with a breakthrough in her realm and no sign of backlash—

Even if no one guessed the truth, Elder Mei would be blind not to probe.

Lin Tian set the bun down.

“Thank you,” he said.

The boy bowed again and retreated.

Lin Tian looked at the porridge, at the steam curling in lazy spirals, then pushed the bowl away slightly. His appetite hadn’t vanished; it had been replaced by something tighter.

The elders hadn’t summoned him.

He had no right to interfere with Bai Xueya’s medical examination. Azure Snow’s disciple or not, she was still technically under the sect’s authority.

But he couldn’t just sit and eat while they poked at her, not after everything that had happened.

He left the hall with measured steps, not hurrying enough to draw attention, but not wasting time either.

The infirmary hall sat deeper within the compound, close to a medicinal garden Elder Mei had cultivated herself. The path passed beneath a row of old trees whose branches intertwined overhead, dappling the stone with shifting light.

Lin Tian slowed as he approached the corner.

He stopped just short of the hall’s entrance.

The door was closed. A faint medicinal scent seeped out—a mix of herbs used to steady meridians and suppress internal injuries.

Voices drifted from inside, muffled by the thick wood. He couldn’t make out the words, only the cadence: Elder Mei’s low, steady tone; lighter responses that could have been Xueya’s or a Bai clan attendant’s.

Lin Tian’s hand curled at his side.

He wanted to walk in.

To stand there, to show with his presence that whatever questions they had for her touched him as well.

He stayed where he was.

Punching an elder’s authority in the face with emotion wasn’t going to help anyone.

Footsteps sounded behind him.

Two Bai clan attendants hurried up the path, carrying a small chest between them. They slowed upon noticing him, eyes flicking to the infirmary door and back.

“Is that for Elder Mei?” Lin Tian asked.

“Yes, Young Master,” one attendant answered immediately. “These are the medical records and notes regarding Miss Xueya’s condition from the last year. Elder Mei requested them.”

Records from Azure Snow’s healers, no doubt. Detailed accounts of every flare of Frost Yin, every treatment tried, every time they’d failed to stop the cold from chewing at her meridians.

“Go ahead,” he said.

They bowed and slipped past him, vanishing into the hall.

The door opened long enough for him to catch a glimpse of figures inside—white robes, Elder Mei’s gray-streaked hair, the flash of Bai Xueya’s profile on a cushion. Her gaze flicked once toward the entrance, but the door closed before he could be sure she’d seen him.

He exhaled slowly and leaned back against the pillar, out of the direct line of sight.

Time crawled.

Other disciples passed by on errands, pretending not to stare at him loitering near the hall. An older Lin elder nodded curtly in his direction, neither inviting conversation nor dismissing him.

After a while, the door opened again.

Elder Mei stepped out.

Her expression was composed, as always, but faint lines of strain pinched the corners of her eyes. A Lin elder trailed behind her, carrying a sheaf of notes.

She almost walked past him.

Then her gaze shifted, sharp as a scalpel, and landed squarely on his face.

“Young Master Tian,” she said.

He straightened. “Elder.”

They regarded each other for a breath.

He didn’t ask. That would have been presumptuous.

Perhaps she saw that restraint.

“Miss Xueya’s condition has improved beyond what I dared to hope,” Elder Mei said. “Her Cultivation has settled at Core Spirit First Level. The pressure on her meridians has… lessened.”

Relief slid through him, so palpable he had to stop himself from sagging with it.

“And the old damage?” he asked quietly.

“Scars don’t vanish overnight,” Elder Mei said. “But the cracks are no longer widening. For now, it won’t cause any harm.”

She looked him over, up and down, as if assessing an unfamiliar patient.

“And you,” she added, something unreadable in her gaze, “are standing under your own power at Elementary Spirit Realm Fifth Level?”

There was no question in it. She’d clearly heard reports already.

“Yes,” Lin Tian said.

“Do not do anything foolish with this gift,” Elder Mei said. “Stability is harder to reclaim than raw progress.”

Gift.

He didn’t know if she meant his newfound cultivation, the system, or the way Bai Xueya’s condition had changed. Perhaps all of it.

“Yes, Elder,” he said.

She held his gaze a moment longer, then nodded once.

Without another word, Elder Mei turned and walked away.

Lin Tian stayed where he was until the sound of her footsteps faded.

The words echoed through him with the same weight as breakthroughs.

He let out a long breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, then pushed himself away from the pillar.

The System hadn’t mentioned anything like that. But knowing that she wasn’t in pain—that was enough for now.

End of Chapter 24

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