The box of candied hawthornssted us only a few days, and I wasn''t going to tell anyone how we ate them. All I''d say is I wished madly that there was more.


    No more news came from Zhong Yn in the meantime. No challenges, no gossips. The calmness disturbed me at first—with the tournament only half a month away, everything seemed too quiet and peaceful for her style—but as the days went by, I started to wonder if she had simply chosen to wait for me to make the first move.


    It wouldn''t have made the situation much better for me, though the thought of it lessened my worries and allowed me to focus better on my training. At the end of the week, I was feeling confident enough about the challenges that I decided to visit Xie Lun for a trial before the tournament.


    Qi Lian was the first to greet me as always. "Yun Qing-er! You seem to look different today," hemented as he led me inside.


    I attempted the most natural-looking surprise I could manage. "How so?"


    Though I knew the answer. Every morning that I woke up with Bai Ye by my side, he would offer tob my hair for me, and I didn''t want to turn him down. He had gone through a handful of different styles by now, and I had slowly learned how to do some of them myself. They were all simple, but every one of them fit me perfectly and made my dull look a memory of the past.


    "You look like you are glowing from within," Qi Lian said. "Did something good happen to you?"


    A surge of heat threatened to flush my face, and I disguised it with augh. "It must be the candied hawthorns … They are marvelous. Thank you for saving them for me."


    All true words, though I''d never tell the details.


    "I''m d you like them so much. In fact, if you are into sweets—" Qi Lian smiled a bit awkwardly, "—you''re more than wee to the pastries we got yesterday. Zhong Yn gave them to us … So I know maybe you won''t want them … but they do taste really good."


    The mention of Zhong Yn''s name cooled off the flush on my face. "I didn''t know shees to visit so often," I said.


    Qi Lian shrugged. "She usually doesn''t, but she insisted on offering those pastries as thanks for the candied hawthorns, and we thought it''d be too rude not to ept. No one nned on eating it at first, but they smelled too tempting … and turned out to taste quite good as well."


    I chuckled. Looked like Zhong Yn had decided to go for Xie Lun''s heart through his stomach. "Thanks for offering them to me, though I would hate to take what you like so much. I actually came to ask if I could spar with Senior Xie as a trial for the tournament."


    "Oh, Senior Xie is …" Qi Lian sighed. "He''s under the weather today and has been keeping to his room since morning. You came at a bad time, I''m afraid."


    The news surprised me. Advanced disciples like Xie Lun were so close to ascension that their bodies should''ve been much stronger than normal people, and they rarely fell sick. What kind of illness could keep him in his room all day?


    "What happened?" I asked.


    Qi Lian shook his head. "Not sure. He has a headache and a slight fever. We are hoping it''s just amon cold, though he really shouldn''t be the one out of all of us to catch it." He hesitated for a moment. "I know you are good at medicine. Would you mind …"


    "I''d offer to help even if you don''t ask," I said, and a part of me felt proud at their confidence in my skills. "Please, let me take a look."


    Qi Lian thanked me and hastened out the hall. I sighed inwardly as I waited—worrying for Xie Lun''s health aside, I wondered what further changes this would bring to my ns at the tournament.


    When Qi Lian returned with Xie Lun a bare minuteter, I couldn''t help frowning at what I saw.


    Xie Lun was unmistakably sick. His polite smile covered up the tiredness on his face, but his steps were unsteady, and his breathing was uneven. His skin was tinted an unhealthy shade of red. Whatever he had was much worse than amon cold.


    "Sorry to bother you," he apologized as we sat down at the table. "I kept telling them this isn''t a big deal … but they can''t stop worrying and thinking that I''m going to die," he mocked.


    "You should let a doctor decide whether or not it''s a big deal, Senior Xie," I smiled. "They aren''t wrong in that regard. And this is no trouble at all—I''m honored to be able to help."


    Qi Lian darted me an appreciative nce. Xie Lun sighed as if we had just ganged up on him, though he didn''t argue further.


    "In case you aren''t familiar with my master''s style in medicine," I exined as Xie Lun offered me his wrist to check pulses, "the way we examine a person is by moving our spiritual power through their meridians. Simr to how youmand your spiritual power through a sword and resonate with it, this method allows us to feel the workings of the person''s body and ''see'' for ourselves where the issue lies. So please rx and try not to fight me back in the process."


    Bai Ye''s unique style worked wonders, but it required a lot of trust from the patient, and I was relieved when Xie Lun simply nodded his acknowledgment and waited for me to continue. I ced two fingers on his wrist and studied the rhythm of his pulses, then followed its course and pushed my spiritual power forward.


    The flow of his energy was smooth, unlike that of a typical sick person. I focused and willed my power to delve deeper, concentrating on the hidden fluctuations and irregrities. There was none. His power moved steadily, albeit slowly, dragging itself forward in such anguid pace that I thought it might stop at any moment.


    I shuddered at the finding. Xie Lun wasn''t sick.. He was poisoned.