The Beginning

Today would have been the first steps towards his freedom, but life was never on his side. Yin Haoyu ran through the thick forest of Tian Mountain, praying to gods he did not believe in, anything to up his chances at getting there in time. He could not miss this. If he wanted to escape the nightmare that was his life, he had to climb higher, he had to become stronger.

Why had no one woken him up? He could understand that some of his shixiongs would not wake him, but even Tang Jiahao had left him there. It was an important day for them both, they had planned to go together. There was no way that Tang Jiahao had left without him, so something must have happened.

Maybe he would not be the only one who would not get there in time. Someone was eager to get all their obstacles out of the way, someone who would do anything to win the competition today.

Every ten years the famous lectures of the Liao sect took place. If you did not belong to one of the big sects, it was impossible to get in. The Liao sect was connected to the Liao empire, its Sect Leader was the Emperor himself. Since the Liao clan had all the power, if you got into their lectures, you were set for life. The connections you would create there were invaluable, the knowledge alone made it worth it. If you were really lucky, you might even be let in on their secrets.

Intense competitions took place among the disciples in big sects since every last one of them wanted to attend. In order to give everyone a fair chance, the Selection Competition was held in every big sect a month before the lectures began. The Tian sect was no different. Today was that all important day that the Selection Competition was held. The ten disciples who came out on top would be allowed to attend the lectures.

And someone was so eager to attend, that they were sabotaging other disciples. Yin Haoyu already had an inkling of who it could be.

[A-Huan, it is not like you to oversleep.] His dad's voice sounded disappointed, but Yin Haoyu could handle his dad.

"I don't think it's my fault," Yin Haoyu said, taking in a few deep breaths between words. He wished he could have taken his sword, but that would have attracted too much attention. He wanted as few people as possible to notice his late arrival. "Someone did not want me to participate."

[You already know who it is.]

"Yes."

He did not dare to drop his name, in case that would wake his mother. He did not want to cause a scene today, that was the last thing that he needed. It was already a blessing that his dad had decided to show himself first today. He desperately hoped it would stay that way.

As the trees got sparser, he ran slower and slower, until he reached the clearing. Since it was a rather big clearing that spanned one of the peaks of Tian Mountain, it seemed rather empty most of the time, even when there were a lot of disciples training. Today however, the space looked crowded. He only had entered the sect when he was eight, so he had missed the last Selection Competition by only a few months. This was thus the first time he had seen the clearing this busy.

In the middle of the clearing a few fight areas had been sectioned off with stones. All the spaces were occupied by fighting disciples. The Selection Competition had already begun.

Hopefully his turn had not come yet. Please let him be on time. He knew no one was listening to his pleads, but he still tried. Like he always did. He should know better by now.

Walking through the crowd observing the competition, he looked around for Tang Jiahao. His kind side hoped that he would be here, that he would not miss this opportunity, but his darker side wished for his friend to be absent. He did not want to even entertain the idea that Tang Jiahao would betray him like this. If he was here, it meant that he had left him.

Then he saw him. Sitting on the ground, head buried in his hands, Tang Jiahao sat at the outskirts of the crowd. Yin Haoyu faltered in his step. No. This could not be.

Something inside of him wanted to run away, did not want to be confronted with this betrayal, but this was his friend, and he deserved a chance to defend himself, to defend his actions. So, instead, he did the mature thing and walked towards him. He sat down beside him.

"Shixiong," Yin Haoyu said when Tang Jiahao did not seem to notice him at all. This did it however, Tang Jiahao's head shot up and he looked at him in shock.

"A-Yu, you're here?"

"Yes, I am. Are you happy about that? Or not?"

Tang Jiahao averted his eyes, but not before Yin Haoyu could detect the guilt in them. "I would never have left you there if I knew there was a chance you could wake up. They threatened me. They said if I did not leave you behind, they would make sure I would have to drop out too."

Yin Haoyu nodded. "So, you decided to leave your shidi behind."

"A-Yu, they used a strong sleep incense on you, there was no way you could wake up from that in time."

He still woke up though. But he did understand, it had been a hard decision for his friend, the circumstances had been far from ideal, and he did not blame him for his choice. If he could not get in, he would be happy if at least Tang Jiahao got in. "I understand. I can already guess, but who did this to me?"

Tang Jiahao sighed. "Tian Guanting and his friends."

Naturally, if there was someone who wanted to see him fail, it was him. Tian Guanting had never liked him, did everything he could to make his life a living hell. He could not hate him for that though, a great part of the fault laid with him. If he had not done that horrible thing back then, when he entered the sect, they might even have become friends. But no, he ruined that too.

But his actions this time did surprise him though. Tian Guanting was the oldest son of the Sect Leader of the Tian sect, and if it was discovered that he had obstructed another disciple from participating in the competition, there would be severe repercussions. That was the only reason why he had still doubted it was him until Tang Jiahao confirmed it, it was too great of a risk, no matter how much Tian Guanting hated him. "Why me though? You're stronger than me, are you not more of a threat?"

Tang Jiahao looked back up again. "He got access to the competition list. You were up first against him."

"He wanted to save his strength by skipping a round. If I forfeit by not showing up, he goes to the next round without even having to unsheathe his sword. It would give him an advantage above others."

"Yes, luck is not on your side."

Yin Haoyu barked a laugh. "When is luck ever on my side?"

"A-Yu, that-"

"Now that this is settled," Yin Haoyu interrupted him, "when is my fight with my lovely shixiong? I already look forward to it."

His eyebrows furrowed in frustration, Tang Jiahao studied him a bit longer, but said in the end, "You're up after them." He gestured towards the field closest to them. "I've already finished my fight."

"I take it you've won that one." Tang Jiahao was one of the strongest disciples the Tian sect had, there was no way he lost this early.

"I did. It was a close fight, but I won."

Yin Haoyu huffed, he doubted that it had been a close fight, but he knew he would not convince Tang Jiahao otherwise, especially not since he missed the whole fight.

Together, they followed the fight, and when it came to end, Yin Haoyu took a deep breath and pushed himself up. Tang Jiahao just watched as he walked off towards the field. There was nothing that could be said. They both knew he would have a hard time controlling his emotions with Tian Guanting, especially after what he did that morning. He tried to calm the anger inside of him, but the flame stirred up when he saw Tian Guanting standing next to the disciple overseeing their field. He clenched his fists and walked towards them.

When Tian Guanting noticed his presence, he narrowed his eyes. "Yin Huan."

Yin Haoyu clenched his teeth at the blatant disrespect Tian Guanting showed him by using his birth name. "Shixiong."

"Ah, you're both here," the disciple said. "Let's start then, shall we?"

With a nod to the disciple, he walked towards the middle of the field. Not long after that, Tian Guanting followed after him and took a defensive position before him.

"I don't know how you negated the effects of the incense, but don't let that go to your head," Tian Guanting said. "You're losing here."

Yin Haoyu unsheathed his sword and settled in a defensive position of his own. "You're awfully sure for someone who did everything he could to not fight me in the first place."

Tian Guanting smirked. "We both know that was not the reason. You've already lost, Yin Huan."

He clenched his sword hilt but did not react. He needed his clarity, and arguing would not bring him that. Even though Tian Guanting was regarded to be stronger than him in all aspect by their sect, it did not mean his victory was guaranteed. Yin Haoyu would not lose. He could not lose. He wanted this opportunity, and he would fight for it with all he had. If he had ever needed any luck, it was now.

Even though his dad was listening and could distract him if wanted, he was usually quiet when he was fighting, when he needed his concentration. He hoped today this would not change. As long as his mother would not intervene, he would be fine. His mother always made the situation worse, so much worse. He prayed to the gods who always turned a deaf ear to him, he prayed to let him have this without the presence of his mother.

The smirk on Tian Guanting's face grew, but Yin Haoyu only positioned himself more firmly, ready for this fight to start.

Then, as the devil she was, she appeared at the worst time.

{Sweetheart, mommy is here. You did not think I would miss this, did you?}

No no no no. Please no.

{Let's have some fun.}