Useful Suspicion

As expected, Tang Jiahao defeated opponent after opponent. And when he finally came eye to eye with Tian Guanting, he did Yin Haoyu justice by defeating him in the final duel. The pain had not completely ebbed away yet, his mother's anger was still simmering on, but Yin Haoyu smiled broadly when Tang Jiahao disarmed Tian Guanting.

That evening Tang Jiahao accompanied him outside for a stroll. They walked through the disciple's quarters and the sect main buildings, and only started talking when they arrived at the forest. As they slowly walked through the dense woods, Tang Jiahao tried to liven up his mood.

"Maybe I can invite you there for special occasions," Tang Jiahao said. "I heard they open up the sect's gates to a broader public during the lectures, so it is not entirely impossible that they would allow you to visit!"

Yin Haoyu smiled softly at him. "I appreciate it, shixiong, but it's alright. I was not good enough to get in, and that's not a burden for you to bear."

Next to him, Tang Jiahao stopped walking. Yin Haoyu halted too and looked back at him. Unlike him, a serious expression had settled on Tang Jiahao's features. "A-Yu, you are good enough. It's just your curse! You almost defeated him before that curse stroke down."

"My loss has nothing to do with the curse."

It was not that he did not appreciate Tang Jiahao's intention, but his friend did not know everything. If it had not been for the extra push of his mother, he might not have won. He had been quite confident that he had a chance, but looking back now, how long would it have taken before Tian Guanting got his head together and overpowered him?

The duel had been fair. He had gotten an extra push by the spiritual power of his mother, but then was held back by her punishment. If one counted those two together, it evened out. No, this had been his own shortcoming.

"A-Yu, you must know yourself that this is not true. I've seen you fighting-"

"No," Yin Haoyu interrupted. "We both know that Tian Guanting is one of the best disciples of the Tian sect. I may have stood a chance if I were lucky, but luck was not on my side." Moreover, all the instances that Tang Jiahao had witnessed his supposed skill, had been one of his mother's cheats. No, with his own power he could only rely on luck. And luck was not something he had often encountered.

Tang Jiahao opened his mouth, but then took one look at his face and stilled. His expression was conflicted, but he nodded.

They walked around for another shichen, talking about trivial subjects as if it had the utmost importance. Maybe it had, because in less than two weeks' time Tang Jiahao would leave to study in the Liao sect for two years.

Tang Jiahao was dead tired after dueling six disciples in a row, so he stumbled into his room already half asleep. Yin Haoyu however, who had slept that night more than anyone else because of the care of his shixiong, was not tired at all. So, he laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the three other disciples' rhythmic breathing.

He sighed. It seemed that he would have to come up with another plan. Yin Haoyu was not one to give up after one setback. Well, after a few setbacks, this was not the first time his plans got destroyed. Surely, someday, one of them would work.

-~-

The next morning one of his shidis came running to him as he made his way outside his room. The boy was even flailing with his arms and skidded to a halt just in time before he collided into him.

Yin Haoyu grabbed his shoulder to stabilize him. "What's the hurry? Is something going on?" He did not recognize this shidi of his, but his white with silver tunic showed that he was part of the Tian sect. The boy did not look older than ten, so maybe he just recently entered the sect.

"Shixiong! You have been called to shifu!"

What did the sect leader want with him? Not often did the sect leader call his disciples to his own residence. Yin Haoyu only saw him whenever he was training, when the sect leader came to oversee the progress of his disciples.

Sect leader Tian Xiaowen was Tian Guanting's father, so maybe he had discovered something about the incident of yesterday? Had he discovered the foul play?

"He told me to fetch you as quickly as possible."

Yin Haoyu flicked the boy's nose. "Surely, he did not intend for you to run all the way here?"

A sheepish smile appeared on his shidi's face. "Ah, maybe not."

The bashful answer made him chuckle. "Alright. Lead the way."

The boy nodded and then stepped into a quick pace. Of course, Yin Haoyu knew where his sect leader's quarters were, but it was clear that the boy took his duty of delivering him very seriously. His shidi did not trust that Yin Haoyu would go to the sect leader without getting distracted along the way. What rumors flied around the social circles of the younger disciples? How did a new disciple know this already? In normal circumstances, that might have happened, but now Yin Haoyu was way too curious to make a detour.

They arrived at the main hall of the sect leader's quarters and stood before the double doors. His shidi set his shoulder against one of the doors and laid all his weight against it to push it open. Once he managed the feat, the boy announced inside the hall, "Shifu, shixiong is here, as you requested."

"Thank you, Yu Liu," the sect leader's voice said from inside the hall.

Yu Liu quickly stepped aside, and Yin Haoyu entered the hall. When he saw that Tian Xiaowen was not alone, he was not surprised. The sect leader was often accompanied by one or more of his elders.

However, what did faze him was the stranger sitting at the sect leader's right side. Dressed in black with dark blue underrobes and light accents of a sky blue woven in his tunic, the man could only belong to one sect. The Liao sect.

He put his hands together and bowed down to both his sect leader and the stranger. "Shifu. Liao-gongzi."

"Haoyu," Tian Xiaowen said, after which he dismissed Yu Liu. "I called you here to introduce you to someone."

Introduce him to someone? To the Liao sect member? Why would his sect leader want to introduce him? He held no special place in the Tian sect hierarchy, he was not even one of the selected disciples for the Liao lectures. So, why him?

He shifted his gaze to the stranger and was met with an inquiring look. If he had to guess by mortal standards, the man looked to be in his mid-thirties.

"This is Liao Honghui, the uncle of the emperor, grandmaster of the Liao sect," Tian Xiaowen went on.

This man was so much older than thirty. The emperor himself was a couple hundred years old, his uncle must be far older. Yin Haoyu did not know the exact ages of the royal family, but he knew that they were centuries old and very powerful. They were not to be messed with. Especially not the grandmaster of the Liao sect, one who's wisdom far exceeded others.

Why was he being introduced to such a renowned cultivator?

"Liao-laozu," Tian Xiaowen said to the Liao elder. "Was this the disciple that caught your interest yesterday?"

The searching gaze did not let up as Liao Honghui nodded.

The thoughts in Yin Haoyu's head halted as he processed the words. He must have misheard that, right? How could he catch the interest of the Liao grandmaster?

When he realized what must have happened, it felt as if a cold bucket of water was dropped over his head. The Liao grandmaster somehow knew what had happened during the duel or suspected it at least. It seemed foolish to hope that such an intelligent cultivator did not notice anything wrong, he surely would suspect something more intricate than a well-hidden curse.

"I was witness to your duel with Tian-gongzi," Liao Honghui said. "I was quite impressed with both of your skills. But especially you, Yin Haoyu, you have something no other has."

Yes, indeed. Unlike others, he had voices in his head. Voices who had assigned themselves as his parents. The parents who were now strangely silent. His mother had not spoken to him since the debacle from yesterday, so maybe she was still avoiding him and was not watching him at the moment. His father tended to be more of the quiet type, but even he would speak up in such a situation. However, he could still be busy arguing his case to his mother in the confines of their realm, wherever that was.

"Thank you, Liao-laozu," Yin Haoyu said. "This one is not deserving of such praise." If it were praise at all. It was more probable that it was suspicion that guided his words.

The smallest of smiles appeared on the grandmaster's face, and Yin Haoyu had no way of interpreting that one. "Since I saw something special in you, I want to present you with an opportunity. You did not make it to the list of disciples that would attend the Liao lectures. As I am the teacher of these lectures, I want to extend to you a special invitation. Join the lectures as the eleventh disciple of the Tian sect."

A wave of excitement made him giddy with happiness, but it was soon doused by the realization that this invitation was not due to his own efforts. No, the grandmaster had detected something worrisome inside him and had invited him to keep an eye on him. Even if that were not the reason, then his interest might have come from the cheat his mother had given him. Either way, the invitation was not extended to him because of his own skills.

However, Yin Haoyu had long learned that when an opportunity came, as undeserved as it was, you had to take it. There had been enough unfortunate events throughout his life, by his own doing or fate, that he knew these opportunities were rare.

"Do you accept this invitation?" Liao Honghui asked when he did not react.

"Yes, I accept," Yin Haoyu said quickly, too quickly. He bowed deeply to the grandmaster in order to save face. "Liao-loazu, this lowly one gratefully accepts your invitation."

As he looked back up, he saw something shining in the grandmaster's eyes, but Yin Haoyu was unable to determine if it was danger or satisfaction. Neither seemed that good of an option.

When Yin Haoyu left the sect leader's residence not much later after elaborately showing his gratitude, a weight got lifted from his chest. Being confined with two powerful cultivators was not the most relaxing environment, and his worries about what they knew or didn't know pressed heavily upon him. Now, outside, he could breathe more easily.

[A-Huan? Can you hear me?]

"Yes, fuqin. I can hear you," he said softly as he walked away from the residence.

[Oh, alright. Somehow, I could not reach you just now. Maybe it was an error in the System's configurations. I'll report it.]

"Yes, maybe." But Yin Haoyu was not so sure.