Steel rang like a bell struck in anger.
Lan Xiyue's sword work was a wall of silver light, each strike forcing the Scarlet Sun disciples back. The two junior White Jade disciples guarded the elder, moving him toward the safety of a narrow slope.
But in the chaos, Ruo Han felt a shift in the fight — a deliberate opening, too clean to be accidental.
A whisper of wind brushed past his ear.
When he turned, Feng Lian was there.
Not in the open, but in the narrow shadows between two leaning pines, his crimson sash trailing in the breeze. He hadn't drawn his blade, yet the air between them felt sharp enough to cut.
Feng Lian: "You shouldn't be here, Ruo Han."
Ruo Han's fingers twitched near the hilt of his dagger.
Ruo Han: "You know my name?"
The alpha's gaze swept over him, slow, unreadable.
"I know more than your name. I know what you are becoming."
Ruo Han's heartbeat stumbled. "Becoming?"
Feng Lian stepped closer, the scent of sun-warmed metal and cedar curling around them.
"Your bond to Lan Xiyue… it is powerful. But power attracts predators. Do you think the White Jade will let you keep it, when it begins to change you?"
Something in his tone was too calm, too certain, as if he weren't offering a threat, but a truth Ruo Han didn't yet understand.
He leaned in, his voice barely a whisper.
"When the time comes, you'll need someone who sees you — not the bond. Remember that."
Before Ruo Han could respond, the clash of blades surged toward them. Lan Xiyue's presence burst into the space like a storm breaking, his sword a silver arc between them and Feng Lian.
The Scarlet Sun alpha only smiled faintly.
"Until next time."
And then he was gone, melting into the forest shadows like smoke.
But his words lingered, curling in Ruo Han's mind long after the danger had passed.