Chapter 0
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Prologue
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The training grounds echoed with the sound of flogging.
- Thwack! Thwack!
Each time the switch struck flesh, the air trembled.
The belated groans slithered along the backs of the junior disciples, who lay prostrate on the ground.
"Yi Yi may be younger than you all, but she is still your senior disciple."
The senior disciple's voice was sharp.
I hadn't known she could sound like that.
It was even frightening to me.
"You've barely been initiated for three years, and you're already insulting your senior disciple? Give it a little more time, and you'll be badmouthing me too? Especially you, White Stone."
The switch didn't stop.
The senior disciple tilted her head slightly, gazing down at the prone figure.
"You, who should have been the eldest senior brother holding them back—instead, you led the charge?"
White Stone scraped at the ground as he bowed his head even deeper.
"I'm sorry..."
"Sorry doesn't cut it."
Thwack.
"Sorry isn't said with words. It's shown with your body."
Thwack.
I watched the scene from the edge of the training grounds.
Layer upon layer of red welts rose over the juniors' trousers, plain to see.
[The orphans think they're so special.]
It wasn't the first time I'd overheard the juniors talking behind my back.
They were older than me, so I'd always let it slide without a word.
But today, the senior disciple was right there beside me.
...That was the problem.
"For the crime of insulting your senior disciple. For the crime of disrupting the training grounds. For the crime of tarnishing the sect's reputation."
The senior disciple piled on the charges, one by one.
The switch fell at the end of each sentence.
They deserve it.
That was when the senior disciple's gaze shifted toward me.
She shook the switch once.
Tak—a dry snap pierced the training grounds briefly.
Then she slowly walked my way.
The junior disciples lay there, barely daring to breathe.
"Yi Yi."
Her voice had softened again.
I bit my lip for no reason, trying to act like it was nothing.
"I'm really fine... You didn't have to do this."
The senior disciple's eyes trembled ever so slightly.
she glanced around.
The edges of the training grounds, the doorway, any lingering presences.
Only after checking did she step one careful pace closer.
"I'm not fine."
Her voice dropped low.
She whispered so no one else could hear.
"Badmouthing my junior brothers... especially when it's our little youngest? Even if the culprit were the Lord of the Martial Alliance himself, I'd still lose my temper."
The senior disciple tidied my bangs with her fingertips.
She gently swept back the sweat-dampened strands clinging to my forehead.
I swallowed hard.
Afraid that if I lifted my head even a little, I'd meet her eyes directly.
The senior disciple glanced around once more.
Then, very briefly—like a slip-up—he dipped his head.
- Chu.
Just a little, really just a little.
A warm touch settled on my forehead.
It tickled. Short as it was, it stole my breath away.