Hot and Cold

Currently, many disciples who had been meditating within their caves departed and made their way towards Flowing Yard.

Flowing Yard was the name of the large, grassy perimeter surrounding the sect's central pillar that Kenja and the others were currently seated at.

Shortly after receiving the message in her communication jade and hearing the announcement, Aoi Rin left her cave to meet the unexpected sight of her master's portion of the Flowing Yard…or rather, what was left of it.

The odor of burning greenery assaulted her nose. More than half of the grass had become dirt and mud with several dozen craters and thousands of metal shards strewn about.

A slew of disciples were gathered on the surviving fields of grass while four elders had already arrived in the center of this mess. Aoi Rin guessed that the sect emergency must be related to all this damage.

Because the caves were soundproofed against anything that did not exceed the strength of the fortification arrays and enchantments placed on them, she was completely unaware of the elders' free-for-all and all the destruction it had wrought. Even Vice Elder Bai's announcement of the match could not penetrate into her cave.

Only emergency messages wielding the sect's authority or the sect's Silver Bell could pass through the cave's barrier while communication jades operated by a different set of rules.

After spotting Kenja with the Second Elder, she knocked on the caves belonging to the twins and the princess.

Her master had tasked her to watch over her new sisters while she was gone, so she planned to chaperone them until either the emergency was resolved or her master returned.

Princess Hanabi left her cave and greeted Aoi Rin, but there was no response from the twins as they had gone out shopping. The two girls made their way to where the Second Elder, Kenja and Shimizu Mizutani sat.

Normally, Aoi Rin would have chosen to greet the three elders who were standing closer to the caves, but they seemed to be discussing something important. As juniors, it would be rude to interrupt them for the sake of a greeting.

As they approached, Kenja examined the two girls.

Aoi Rin's short, blue hair appeared frozen in place, and her steadfast gait failed to budge a single strand. Her icy stare did not target anyone or anything specifically, but when she glanced over at Kenja, his body shivered involuntarily. She did not show any reaction before turning her head slightly to resume looking at nothing.

Although they would be disciples to the same master, Kenja had only interacted with Aoi Rin once previously and that was a week ago. While their exchanges were not unpleasant, she was brisk, brief, and a bit blunt.

Kenja's true headache was not the moving ice statue but the one behind her.

Following behind the calm snowfall was a fiery tempest.

The spry second princess of Ryuga had her hair and face covered by the veil Kenja had seen when they first met. Her robes were the official inner sect disciple robes, but she had somehow altered the sleeves and ends into frills, similar to her original outfit. Several strands of crimson hair stretched out of her veil's opening as if demanding to be shown and admired.

She looked around full of excitement and expectation.

When her gaze finally met Kenja's, he shuddered.

Those red eyes glowed brightly upon seeing him, an obvious eagerness washed over them.

When Kenja was first persuaded to enter the sect under a disguise, he assumed he would become an ordinary and unimportant outer sect disciple, and he could cultivate and explore the sect alone, without prying eyes, perhaps shed the disguise if possible.

But things did not go as planned, and Ryu Hanabi was three-quarters to blame.

He had not expected to befriend a royal princess en route to the sect, nor had he planned for her to latch onto him like a puppy dog.

With both the Ryuga royal family and the sect knowing about the princess's new "best friend", his little lie could be elevated to the heavy crime of deceiving the royal family which could lead to the execution of him and his nine relations.

Of course, Kenja was originally a street urchin, so he technically did not have a single blood relation for them to execute, but who knew whether they would target the twins or old lady Baba. Regardless of the technicalities, Kenja would like to keep his head attached to his neck.

That was why Kenja tried to subtly distance himself from her. He hoped interacting with her new elder sister, Aoi Rin, or the two twins would dampen her desire to cling to him.

Nearly four days had gone by since he had spoken with Princess Hanabi, and although it had felt like a long time, her eyes seemed more fervent in their meeting than ever.

"Aoi Rin greets Second Uncle."

"Greetings uncle—er, Ryu Hanabi greets Second Uncle," she corrected herself.

Second Elder Inazuma nodded at them. "Ho ho ho, you look happier after finding new sisters to care for, eh, Little Rin?"

Aoi Rin replied with silence, but the elder could see the sides of her lips tilted upwards by a couple degrees after his claim.

"Ho ho ho ho! And you, Little Hanabi. Already too old to jump on your uncle like last time? Do you still like this candy? I've been saving them for you." The old, one-eyed elder retrieved a carton of sweets from his storage ring and held it out to the princess.

"Uncle…"

Eyes flickering with embarrassment at being treated like a kid in front of everyone, Ryu Hanabi's veil hid her red face.

Second Elder gestured for her to take the box of multi-colored confections.

When she inspected the box, Kenja could see her eyes glow with desire. She definitely liked sweets.

"Thank you, Second Uncle."

"How has Brother Sei fared? I haven't met with him in a while. Have there been any new developments?"

"Father is the same. He wants big brother, big sister or I to hurry up and inherit the throne so he could focus on 'more important matters'."

Ryu Hanabi's eyes were locked onto the treats as she counted them several times in her head like they were precious treasures.

"Ho ho ho, Brother Sei hasn't changed a bit. Your mother and aunties still find trouble with him?"

"Mm," she nodded in affirmation, eyes still glued to the box.

Snail whispered into Kenja's ear, "This Second Brother is good. He's captured the princess's heart from young with delicacies and treats. Disciple, your competitor is fierce, and his age brings him experience that you lack. You need to lock things down between you and the red kitten before she is swept away."

Kenja ignored him.

The sect and its elders had a deep relationship with the Ryu royal family. The Second Elder was obviously an intimate friend of the emperor if they addressed each other as brothers.