Xiangxiang had quietly returned at some point, standing beneath the tree, silently watching them.

He Yan stared at him blankly, “Is what you said true?”

“I see your swordsmanship has improved quite a bit, yet you’re still the same as before,” he drawled lazily, “both stupid and short.”

These words seemed to pull He Yan back to those years past. Her earlier embarrassment and awkwardness gradually dissipated.

A warm feeling welled up in her heart, and all her unease turned to ashes at this moment. She lifted her head, unable to hide her smile, “But you’re the same as you were back then.”

Xiao Jue let out a light cough and turned his head away. He Yan, now energized, wouldn’t let him off so easily. She gripped his sleeve tightly and asked, tilting her head, “My swordsmanship was personally guided by you. Back then, I was still disguised as a man. Why did you show me such care? Could it be that you already liked me then?”

These words were truly shameless. Xiao Jue snorted, “I’m not attracted to men.”

“But you certainly looked like you were,” He Yan suddenly realized, “No wonder Yan Nanguang always looked at me with displeasure. He probably thought I was some male fox spirit who had corrupted his only worthy rival, a genius.”

Xiao Jue stared at her incredulously, “So you’re not upset anymore, is that it?”

“I wasn’t upset, to begin with,” He Yan stubbornly denied.

“You were about to cry earlier,” he raised his eyebrows, “That attached to me?”

He Yan felt embarrassed and retorted, “How could I possibly cry? You must have seen it wrong. Of course, I’m attached to you – after all, we were classmates.”

“Just classmates?”

He Yan ignored him and leaned in closer, “Don’t change the subject. Tell me, why did you guide my swordsmanship at Xian Chang Academy? You’re not the type to help others out of kindness. You must have been interested in me then. Xiao Huai Jin, are you attracted to men?”

Xiao Jue’s expression darkened slightly as he scolded, “Nonsense.”

“Then tell me why.”

This was something He Yan had wanted to ask him for a long time. Back then, she and Xiao Jue weren’t particularly close, yet he was willing to carefully guide the swordsmanship of someone ranked last at Xian Chang Academy in the middle of the night. No wonder Yan He couldn’t understand – even she didn’t quite understand.

Xiao Jue gave a slight smile, “Do you remember the winter solstice hunting competition at the Eastern Mountain hunting grounds when we first entered Xian Chang Academy?”

He Yan paused, “I remember, what about it?”

She recalled that was when she first saw Shen Muxue in her previous life. The cold and ethereal Young Lady Shen standing together with the graceful Second Young Master Xiao – even from this life’s perspective, they were a match made in heaven.

He Yan grumbled, “At that time, His Majesty personally attended the hunting grounds, and all students from Xian Chang Academy had to participate in the competition. The student who caught the most prey would receive rewards, while those who caught nothing would go without food. Who came up with such an idea? It’s perfectly normal not to catch anything in such cold weather – how could they deny students food and let people go hungry!”

She was still indignant about this matter, for no other reason than that He Yan was the one who hadn’t caught any prey and went hungry at the time.

Xiao Jue chuckled softly, “Wasn’t that your own choice?”

“What?”

“You had already caught a rabbit, yet you set it free,” he turned to look at He Yan, “Wasn’t that your own decision?”

He Yan froze, stammering, “How… how did you know?”

“Because,” Xiao Jue curved his lips, “I was the one who released that rabbit.”

At that time, it was winter in Shuo Jing, and the hunting grounds were completely covered in vast white snow. Back then, the Xiao family hadn’t yet fallen from grace, and Xu Jingfu hadn’t yet become all-powerful. Emperor Wenxuan suddenly decided to visit Eastern Mountain to watch the Xian Chang Academy students’ hunting competition.

What was originally just an academy archery and horsemanship test inevitably had to include more elements due to the emperor’s arrival. To ensure the young men would try harder and not embarrass Xian Chang Academy, some genius teachers at the academy came up with the harsh rule that those who failed to catch any prey would go without food that day.

He Yan cursed the person who came up with this idea to hell and back in her mind.

She was already poor in martial arts, and her horsemanship and archery were terrible. Among these young men, she had no advantages whatsoever. Without question, once she entered the hunting grounds, unlike her classmates who were excited and full of spirit, He Yan felt utterly helpless.

At that time, Xiao Jue was undoubtedly the most eye-catching among all the young men. In his fur coat on horseback, he was strikingly handsome. In no time at all, a long string of prey was tied to his horse.

Lin Shuanghe, being a delicate young master who couldn’t lift a finger, stuck close to Xiao Jue and received many benefits. It didn’t matter whether he caught anything himself – in the end, getting one or two animals from Xiao Jue’s catch would be enough to pass.

As the two walked through the forest on the hunting grounds, they suddenly saw a gray arrow flying from an angle nearby, accurately hitting… a rock.

Both of them paused.

Soon after, a small figure ran out from the forest. She ran to the rock, forcefully pulled out the arrow, looked at it, and simply sat down on the ground, sighing, “Hunting is difficult, more difficult than ascending to heaven!”

Xiao Jue and Lin Shuanghe: “…”

They both recognized that this masked person sighing deeply was Young Master He, who ranked last at Xian Chang Academy.

Lin Shuanghe, having previously “progressed together” with He Yan, had developed some feelings of kinship with her, and seeing this scene, he said, “Our Brother He is truly pitiful.”

Xiao Jue watched coldly, unmoved. In his view, the He family’s eldest young master often seemed mentally unsound.

“Look, he doesn’t have a single prey on his horse. When we return, he’ll have no food to eat and will go hungry. Going hungry in such cold winter weather isn’t pleasant,” Lin Shuanghe, after all, had a physician’s compassionate heart and showed some mercy, “Why don’t we give him a badger, so he won’t return empty-handed? What do you think?”

Xiao Jue sneered, “Go yourself.”

So Lin Shuanghe went to Xiao Jue’s horse and started picking through the prey tied behind it. However, halfway through his selection, he suddenly realized, “No, this won’t work. Although He Rufe is terrible at everything, he’s extremely stubborn. If we just give it to him like this, he probably won’t agree and will righteously refuse.”

Just like when he had suggested letting He Rufe rank last so he could compete for a second-to-last place, this fellow had strong principles that even money couldn’t sway. Lin Shuanghe believed he had a good judgment of character – such direct help would likely not be accepted by He Rufe.

“How about this,” Lin Shuanghe had a bright idea, “Huai Jin, your archery is quite good. Why don’t you wound a rabbit, and let He Rufe pass by? A wounded rabbit won’t run fast – if He Rufe can’t hit it then, he might have mental problems.”

“What’s it to me?” Young Xiao Jue frowned, “I won’t do it.”

“Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Look at this guy, he’s pitiful. We’re all classmates, it’s just a small favor… Huai Jin? Huai Jin?”

Lin Shuanghe was particularly patient when it came to trivial matters, and he knew Xiao Jue was the most impatient person. Sure enough, after his nagging, Xiao Jue became extremely annoyed. He took up the bow and arrow from his horse and shot an arrow in one direction with a “whoosh.”

A gray rabbit immediately jumped out from the low shrubs.

The arrow was shot very cleverly – it didn’t hit the rabbit directly but just grazed one of its legs. Thus, the rabbit’s movements slowed down, and the arrow fell into the bushes, unnoticed by anyone.

He Yan, who had been sighing while leaning against that rock earlier, suddenly saw a wild rabbit dash out from the forest. She was startled at first, then became excited. Without hesitation, she grabbed her bow and arrow and followed it. For some reason, this rabbit moved much slower than the ones she had encountered before. He Yan guessed that perhaps it was due to the cold winter weather making even rabbits less agile, but this was a good thing – fast rabbits couldn’t be caught, but surely a slow rabbit couldn’t fly away?

Lin Shuanghe quietly praised Xiao Jue: “Brilliant, Huai Jin! Your help was seamless and left no trace. This fellow must think he’s stumbled upon great luck. Come on, let’s go watch.” He pulled along the reluctant Xiao Jue and secretly followed behind He Yan.

The rabbit ran for a while, seeming to lose strength and moving increasingly slower. He Yan thought for a moment, then put away her bow and arrow, carrying them on her back. She figured that even without using weapons, the rabbit would soon tire itself out, and she could catch it with her bare hands. As the ancient saying went about waiting by a tree stump for rabbits, today she would wait for the rabbit to faint. He Yan mentally applauded herself, even having time to observe the rabbit.

The rabbit was very thin and probably starved due to the lack of winter food. It looked like it wouldn’t yield even two ounces of meat if fried. She wondered idly whether students were allowed to keep the prey they caught, though this rabbit wouldn’t provide enough meat for everyone in the He family to get even a small piece.

Soon, the rabbit stopped, and dug open some grass, revealing a hole. He Yan was quick, catching the rabbit by its ears before it could enter the hole. She muttered to herself, “They say clever rabbits have three burrows – the ancients didn’t lie.” Just then, she noticed something moving in the hole. While holding the rabbit with one hand, she curiously parted the grass with the other and found three furry little balls huddled together like rice dumplings in the small burrow.

There were three baby rabbits.

He Yan froze, looking at the struggling gray rabbit in her hand, suddenly realizing this was a mother rabbit, and those in the hole were her babies.

He Yan fell silent.

Lin Shuanghe, watching the show with Xiao Jue from afar, exclaimed delightedly, “He Rufe’s luck isn’t bad – he found a rabbit’s nest! If he turns in this whole family of rabbits, he won’t be last this time, at least second-to-last. But… why is he just standing there holding the rabbit?”

The rabbit struggled silently in her hands. He Yan looked at the three tiny dumpling-like babies in the hole, and after a while, she sighed, pulling out a small white bottle from her robes.

“What… what is he doing?” Lin Shuanghe was amazed.

The youth called He Rufe was holding the rabbit’s ears and applying medicine, even tearing a strip from his robe to bandage the rabbit’s leg where the arrow had grazed it. While bandaging, she said, “Fine then, it’s your luck meeting me. I’m a good person – I can’t separate a mother from her children. I’ll let you off this time.”

She muttered complaints, “You rabbits better remember this – because of you, I’ll have to go hungry today.”

He Yan worked quickly, finishing the bandaging in no time. She placed the gray rabbit at the burrow entrance and released it. The rabbit, now free, darted back into the hole.

“Not even a thank you?” He Yan sighed, “How the times have changed.” Despite her words, she still arranged the stones near the burrow entrance to prevent other wild animals from discovering it.

Lin Shuanghe watched in astonishment, “Is there something wrong with He Rufe’s head? Did he come to hunt or to release animals? Showing mercy at a time like this – he’s acting like a girl! Is he sympathizing with this rabbit?” He turned to look at Xiao Jue, “Huai Jin, look…”

Xiao Jue’s gaze fell on the masked youth, and for some reason, he suddenly remembered something from his own childhood.

It was before he left the mountain when he was learning martial arts and classics from a master. The teacher was stricter than at Xian Chang Academy – if tasks weren’t completed or weren’t done well, the punishments were severe and difficult to endure.

On the mountain, there was once a trial of his archery and horsemanship skills. At that time, Xiao Jue had caught a deer.

This deer was very plump and not as agile or swift as other deer when fleeing. He caught it, but when he raised his knife, the deer knelt before him.

It was a pregnant doe.

At twelve or thirteen, he wasn’t yet as cold and unfeeling as he would later become. Seeing this, he couldn’t help but feel compassion.

His master stood by the waterfall, watching him calmly say, “Do not be soft-hearted.”

The young boy stood there, looking at the doe with tears seemingly in his eyes. After thinking, he knelt and, in front of his master, removed the ropes from the doe, watching it escape into the forest.

His master didn’t get angry, just looked at him and said, “Do you know what you’re doing? You shouldn’t be soft-hearted.”

“I just want to protect what I want to protect,” the young boy in white robes answered calmly.

He was punished with three months of breaking formations in the mountains.

Xiao Jue didn’t regret it. As a youth, he simply didn’t want the pregnant doe to die, but now, seeing He Rufe carefully bandaging a wild rabbit’s wound, he realized this wasn’t womanly weakness or hypocrisy. He suddenly understood what he had wanted to protect back then.

A heart that cares for the weak.

One becomes strong to protect those they want to protect. If in pursuing strength one loses their true nature, it’s putting the cart before the horse.

“Huai Jin, I think He Rufe has mental problems. If he weren’t a man, he could be my ‘sister’…” While Lin Shuanghe continued chattering endlessly, the young man in white robes paused momentarily, lowered his head, tugged at the corner of his mouth, and smiled to himself.

That day, He Rufe truly returned empty-handed, the only youth at Xian Chang Academy who hadn’t caught any prey. From the next day onward, Xiao Jue would rise at night and go to the courtyard behind the bamboo grove to watch the clumsy masked youth “practicing diligently,” thus beginning his “inexplicable karma” with the lowest-ranked student.

He Yan listened in a daze, never imagining that she and Xiao Jue had such an unknown history. Xiao Jue had hidden his arrow so well that she hadn’t realized the injured rabbit was his doing. She had simply felt sorry for the rabbit and shown compassion, not knowing this had moved Xiao Jue.

“You were moved by my kindness?” He Yan shuddered – it sounded rather creepy when put that way.

Xiao Jue seemed speechless, “It wasn’t kindness.”

It was just…

It was just that at that time, Xiao Jue saw a reflection of his past self in “He Rufe.”

He Yan brightened up, “So that’s it! So you were already paying attention to me when we were classmates? Then why did you pretend to be indifferent?”

Once this person started being carefree, it was really hard to handle. Xiao Jue changed the subject: “It’s getting late. You haven’t returned home yet – your father and brother must be worried.”

“You’re right.” He Yan came to her senses and saw that night had fallen deeply. She estimated that by this time, He Sui and He Yunsheng would be home, probably searching everywhere for her whereabouts. Worried about their concern, He Yan said, “Shall we head back then?”

Xiao Jue whistled, and Lu’er ran out from the forest, stopping in front of him. He Yan also mounted Xiangxiang’s back, and the two trotted down the mountain together. As He Yan rode, she gradually realized something and said, “So, Xiao Jue, when you had Chi Wu ask me to fetch the sword today, it was to test me? You were following me the whole time, weren’t you?”

Without a trace of guilt on his face, he answered leisurely, “This matter was bizarre – of course, I needed to confirm it.”

“You wanted to force me to reveal my sword, so you went about it in such a roundabout way.” He Yan thought for a moment. “But what about Master Lu Daichuan? When I went to his villa, he seemed to know something, even saying I already had a sword and couldn’t have another. Did you tell him about this?”

“No,” Xiao Jue’s eyes flickered slightly. “Besides you and me, no one else knows about this matter.”

“Then…”

“It’s not strange if he knows something. He’s my master.”

He Yan was surprised: “Master?”

“I have many masters; he’s just one of them. It’s not unusual that he could see your background, but he’s already removed from worldly affairs. Even if he knows, he won’t interfere – you needn’t worry.”

“This isn’t about worrying or not,” He Yan didn’t know what to say for a moment. “This person is your master – you should have at least told me beforehand. Fortunately, I didn’t do anything rash. If I had…”

Xiao Jue glanced at her, seeing her anxious expression, and said amusedly, “What are you afraid of? Even if you had done something, with me here, no one would dare trouble you.”

He Yan clicked her tongue, “Are you saying I can now walk sideways through Shuo Jing City?” [meaning to act arrogantly]

“Do as you please.”