Their First Encounter

How did he even end up in situations like this? He was quite experienced in getting caught, but not once had he felt so completely disarmed by a mere glare. He scrambled for his thoughts; any excuse was fine as he was pinned into place.

He was completely at a loss for words.

"What are you doing here?" the Liao disciple said. "Who are you?"

As the man's stare dipped down, Yin Haoyu looked at himself too. As he saw what had caught the man's attention, he chided himself. He still wore his own sect's clothes, the white and greys were obvious in the glow. Even though he had already received his guest robes in the Liao colors, he had still opted to not change his clothes in case all the movements would wake Tang Jiahao. He wished he had taken the risk anyway. Now the colors stood as a sore sight.

Years of ending up in a lot of unfortunate situations finally caught up to him, and he called on his most theatrical side. The man had caught him off guard and was sending vibes off that had thrown him off, but force of habit was a powerful thing.

He casted a wide look across the courtyard and frowned in confusion. "Excuse me for the intrusion. I was making a night scroll, but I'm afraid that I have lost my way." Yin Haoyu gestured towards the tree. "The light caught my attention, so I came here in the hope that someone could help me."

The man lifted one perfectly arched eyebrow. "I find it curious that you lost your way across a perfectly fine wall. How does one accidently climb a wall?"

Yin Haoyu laughed as if he had made the funniest remark. Truly, his only hope was that the man had the same strange sense of humor as him and would see the situation in a comical light.

"Oh, that little obstacle?" Yin Haoyu tried. "Is that not how one navigates these grounds? I heard spectacular stories about the Liao sect, so I figured they had multiple obstacles in their daily lives to keep them sharp."

Unfortunately, the man did not seem amused in the slightest. "Thus, you did climb the wall."

Was he now confessing to his sins? How far was this man up in the Liao hierarchy? Hopefully he was not too close to any disciplinary status. Even if he were not, he had to cover all his bases.

"Alright, alright," Yin Haoyu said as he raised his hands in an attempt to look innocent. "You've caught me! I give in, I give in! I just arrived here this evening, but I was too curious about the palace, so I wanted to go outside the walls to take a peek. The forest obstructs the view completely, so I was planning on climbing a tree. I know, I know, it was a bad idea, you don't have to tell me. I'm a bit too curious for my own good."

When the second eyebrow went up too, he knew he had failed. "You're telling me that you accidently climbed the inner wall instead of the outer wall. Am I correct in my assumption?"

"My sense of direction is truly, utterly atrocious." For good measure, he pouted.

The look in the man's eyes only got darker. "It did not occur to you to question the increase in patrols?"

"Oh," he said as if that were the greatest revelation. "I never claimed to be smart."

"Why did you not turn back when you stood at the top of that wall and noticed that this was not the way outside?"

"I did not exaggerate my bad sense of direction, maybe I did cross multiple gates when walking to the guest quarters! It's so easy to miss things like that! Truly, it's a problem."

With this much distance between them, he managed to keep his act up. But then the man moved, started walking towards him, and he panicked as he got a better view of those piercing golden eyes as he got closer.

"In the end I realized I was lost, alright?" Yin Haoyu said quickly as he took a few steps back. "So, I decided to come ask you."

One corner of his mouth twitched slightly, almost imperceptible. "Thus, you somehow missed all the patrol routes. You could have asked them, but you saw none of them."

Yin Haoyu scratched his cheek. "It's a skill."

As the man passed by the tree, his back to the glow, shadows grew on his face. With now his face half eluded, the man seemed even more imposing.

In search of any way out, he cast a quick glance over his shoulder, but only an empty corridor and the dark greeted him. For a few moments, he entertained the idea of just making a run for it, but he did not know who he would prefer more to catch him: the disciples patrolling the grounds or this man.

As the man reached his side of the courtyard, the choice of the patrol disciples seemed more and more appealing.

"I have a question for you," the man said as he stopped in front of him. He was not that much taller than Yin Haoyu, but still he felt looked down upon. "When will you start telling the truth?"

His mouth dried up, but he still grinned. "Where's the fun in that?"

A tick emerged on his cheek. "You clearly have no notion of how severe your situation is."

He reached out and lightly grabbed the robe around the man's arm; it was his last, most desperate attempt at inciting sympathy. "I was just curious and exploring the grounds. I know I should have waited until daytime, but I can get quite impatient. Please forgive this guest disciple this once."

With an abrupt tug the man pulled himself free from his grip. If Yin Haoyu thought before that the cold glare that he received earlier could not get worse, he was sorely proven wrong when his face completely froze over.

Realizing his mistake, Yin Haoyu stumbled back and put on his most pitiful face. "Liao-gongzi, forgive this one again. This disciple does not make the best of decisions."

"You've made that already blatantly clear."

That was fair. "Please deliver this one to the patrolling disciples. This lowly one does not want to impose on Liao-gongzi any longer." He rather wanted to take his chances with the other disciples than with this man.

When he saw the man moving, he cowered, ready for anything, but the man only walked past him. "Follow me."

So, delivering it was. Yin Haoyu sighed softly. Maybe the other disciples would be easier to convince. However, when they encountered a set of disciples, the man walked just straight past them. The disciples in question looked between him and the man with shocked expressions and gaping mouths. They quickly hurried off in a flutter of whispers.

When they arrived at the inner gate, the man walked through it, not minding the sentries at all. Yin Haoyu hurried behind him, his thoughts a mess. Was he throwing him out of the sect just like that? He knew he had caused quite a mess, but would he really get thrown out right this instant? Could he not at least wait until morning?

Then the man exchanged a quick word with one of the other disciples, and although Yin Haoyu could not understand their quiet conversation, he assumed he was finally handed over. So, when the man walked off again, he stayed where he was and looked at the disciple in expectation. The disciple just stared back, an uncertain look on his face.

"What are you stalling for? Follow me," the man reiterated farther down the path.

Dumbfounded, Yin Haoyu hurried after him, sending a last longing look at the disciple, who seemed weirded out by his expression. Well, he could not expect the boy to know that he had been his last hope.

When the man finally stopped in the middle of a courtyard, Yin Haoyu almost collided with his back, but could reign in his speed just in time. He did not want another fiasco as earlier.

"Where is your room?"

Only then did Yin Haoyu recognize the residence as the one he was staying at. Perplexed, he just pointed towards his room. The man moved towards his room and knocked.

Not much later a disgruntled Tang Jiahao opened the door. "A-Yu?"

"Is this one of your sect members?"

In the middle of a wide gape, Tang Jiahao finally took a good look at the man. "Liao-gongzi!" Then his gaze jumped towards Yin Haoyu. "A-Yu! What have you done now?"

"Ah, shixiong, I was just exploring a bit."

"At this time? A-Yu, why are you already causing trouble on our first day? No, worse, we've only been here for a few shichen now! It has not even been half a day." Tang Jiahao scratched his arm as he turned to the man. "Forgive my shidi, Liao-gongzi. He likes to sneak out. He means no harm."

The man nodded. "I see." His face tilted slightly towards Yin Haoyu. "Go inside now. We'll discuss this in the morning." With that, he left them both to stare at his back as he left the courtyard.

Discuss what? Was it the way he would be thrown out of the sect? He had hoped to walk out on his two feet, but he feared the worst now.

But did it matter though? He had failed his task.