"But you're too cold-blooded," OYue muttered softly.
"When I took this position, I swore to defend my motherland with my life, putting national interests first, and offering my heart for it," Bai Cha's voice was as calm as ever, betraying no emotion: "This is the most basic declaration of the Shadow faction. The World Competition is under my purview, so at least during this period, you must abide by this oath. If you have any objections, withdraw from the competition."
OYue lowered her head, daring not to speak again. Gu Zitan also dared not say a word. The two stood before the homeroom teacher like naughty schoolchildren, meek and submissive.
Bai Cha looked at them for a long time, sighed, waved her hand, and said with a hint of exhaustion, "You two can go back and rest first. I'll give you three days to adjust your mindset."
"The rest of you, continue," Bai Cha looked up, waved at the stunned and silent crowd, her expression serene, as if nothing had happened.
The training continued. Everyone acted as if the incident hadn't occurred. In truth, they were already accustomed to separating training from grief. People in the Shadow faction sacrificed themselves at any time, and they had long since built up sufficient psychological resilience.
Walking down the corridor, OYue and Gu Zitan walked side-by-side, both in low spirits. OYue was down because of Cang Liu, and Gu Zitan was down because of Gu Mingze.
Not long ago, they had been teaching the two of them to swim, one after the other. Although impatient, the atmosphere hadn't been particularly bad. But how much time had passed since then?
A comrade disappeared, the person she liked sacrificed herself, her brother went missing. Suddenly, everything had changed, leaving no time for anyone to react.
"Sometimes, I think you're really not like a man. No matter how much Bai Cha reprimands you, you're always silent." Just as OYue was about to enter her room, she turned to Gu Zitan and said, "Actually, it seems you've always been like this. Whether it's Bai Cha or anyone else in the outside world, no matter who is right or wrong, you always remain silent."
"I'm neutral. How can I take sides so easily?" Gu Zitan said with a wry smile.
"I think you're more like fence-sitters, without any bottom line," OYue snorted coldly. "When the Shadow faction was hit, you remained silent. When the Light faction was suppressed, you were also silent. What's the difference between that and tacit approval?"
"But I can't support either of you," Gu Zitan frowned, expressing his displeasure at OYue diverting her anger to him. "Don't always be so volatile."
"Yes, I'm always hot-tempered, but that's just me. I'll stand by whomever I support without hesitation. Frankly, we're just sticking to our principles and bottom lines, while you have no principles at all." OYue's words seemed to carry a hint of gritted teeth. For some reason, her anger and sadness had reached an extreme, yet the more so, the clearer her mind became, and her speech was more coherent than before.
"You have no bottom line, you're even worse than your brother!"
"What exactly do you want to say?" Gu Zitan was also getting angry. He had been in a very bad mood lately, a large part of which was due to Gu Mingze and Bai Cha's words. Now OYue was bringing it up in front of him, practically dancing on his last nerve.
Perhaps, deep down, Gu Zitan had never felt that Gu Mingze was stronger than him. Even if he had acknowledged Gu Mingze, it didn't mean everyone could say he was inferior to Gu Mingze.
From childhood to adulthood, in social interactions and academic performance, in what aspect was he not a thousand times better than Gu Mingze? Yet now, it seemed everyone around him, except his parents, was blaming him and pointing out his faults.
This had nothing to do with him. Why should everyone point at his nose and say he was inferior to Gu Mingze?
"I don't know if he's stronger than you in terms of ability, but I know he has his own principles and bottom line. He at least won't choose to remain neutral in unfair situations like you all do," OYue snorted coldly.
"Don't think that doing no evil makes you a good person. In my eyes, you are as disgusting as those scheming people in the Light faction. By choosing to remain silent in unfair circumstances, you betray the swords in your hands. You are all allies in sin."
"Just like I am also an ally in killing Cang Liu."
"I..." Gu Zitan wanted to say something, but OYue slammed the door shut. After a moment of silence, Gu Zitan also closed his door with a troubled expression.
He didn't understand why everyone had started saying Gu Mingze was better than him. Previously, Gu Mingze was someone he looked down upon. His parents and teachers had constantly reminded him not to be like Gu Mingze.
Because Gu Mingze was a bad kid, unmotivated, a lost cause, a parasite consuming the family's resources without giving back, only doing low-level things that brought no honor to the family.
But why, why had it suddenly become different?
No, Gu Mingze was his brother. He used to look down on Gu Mingze, which meant he had never truly respected him, had he?
Gu Zitan's hand on the doorknob suddenly went soft, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. He suddenly realized that he had never considered this question.
When he had actively tried to get closer to Gu Mingze and mend their brotherly relationship, what had he been thinking? Perhaps even he himself had considered it a condescending favor to Gu Mingze?
"Seeing as you're doing well now, I don't want our brotherly relationship to be too strained, so I've come to make up. Please accept it."
Suddenly being confronted by OYue, Gu Zitan seemed to finally awaken, as if a heavy stone had jolted him from his sleep. While waking up, he felt dizzy and disoriented.
So, Gu Mingze had seen through it, and had never accepted him from the beginning...
OYue closed the door and sat on the floor, leaning against it.
She didn't want to move. She was suddenly so tired.
She had always been firm in her beliefs, believing in her parents, believing in absolute light and correctness. For this, she had been disciplined by Bai Cha many times, almost developing a phobia. Even though her relationship with Bai Cha later eased, she still held a strong prejudice against the Shadow faction.
But this time, she seemed to have suddenly sensed something, sensed the truth that made her want to escape.
OYue didn't know how to face her future life, or even how to go back. The shaking of her beliefs made her unable to face her own faction and family, but her indirect role in the death of the person she liked made her unable to face the Shadow faction. She felt like she had nowhere to go.
OYue sat there for a long time. The floor was cold, but her heart was even colder. She always felt like this was all a dream.
Perhaps if she just went to bed and slept soundly, she would wake up tomorrow to see the icy-faced person opposite the door open it and go to the training ground, and she could still calculate his usual departure times and have a "chance encounter" with him, even if he was indifferent to her, she could still happily pursue him.
But now, everything seemed different. The door opposite would never open again. The departure times and encounter locations that she had memorized so well had suddenly lost their meaning and purpose. OYue felt a hollowness in her heart, even confusion.
"If you want to cry, it's best to sit on the bed." A clear voice, like moonlight, made OYue shiver and wake up. She looked up, and in her tear-blurred vision, a silhouette appeared dimly.
"If you're tired of crying, you can go to sleep. If you sleep on the floor, even a Dragon Rider can easily get sick."
The voice was familiar and clear, surprisingly gentle. In a daze, OYue seemed to have returned to the day when nothing had changed. The first time she trained with Bai Cha, Bai Cha had also playfully adjusted her gravity rings with such gentleness, calmly and patiently asking her if she wanted the same weight as others.
Even though she had been so impulsive then, like a rebellious rooster.
Tears blurred the silhouette. The shadow on the windowsill was softened by the moonlight, blurred like the distance between heaven and earth, and then it became clear again. An angel descended from heaven, accompanied by the warm feeling of tears sliding down her cheeks. The moonlight was the angel's wings, and the silhouette also became clear.
She's really so beautiful.
OYue curled into a ball, thinking silently, not wanting to look up. She, who had always been as proud as an unruly rooster, suddenly felt a sense of inferiority quietly rising within her.
So beautiful, so good-tempered, and so capable. It was only natural that she couldn't compare to Bai Cha.
OYue roughly wiped her eyes, stubbornly holding back her tears.
A stack of papers was handed to her. OYue stubbornly turned her face away, refusing to accept them.
She felt so embarrassed, crying in front of her perceived love rival. Bai Cha was truly something, why did she suddenly barge into her room? Just like she always liked to barge into others' hearts, it was very sudden, suddenly occupying a place in others' hearts.
It made her so angry. She clearly hated Bai Cha intensely, but why couldn't she hate her at all? And why did she cry in front of Bai Cha?
OYue sobbed, trying hard not to be so embarrassing, but for some reason, she felt very wronged, like an ordinary child seeing their mother.
"I'm sorry."
"No way! I... huh?" OYue thought Bai Cha would try to persuade her to sleep in bed again. Her forceful refusal was cut short as she froze.
The person in the moonlight was very sincere.
Or rather, she had always been like this, direct and without any detours.
Her peach blossom eyes always seemed as clear as if washed by water, with no trace of impurity, just like now. She stared directly at herself, and even when apologizing, she showed no restraint.
"I don't accept your apology..." OYue pursed her lips. Her mouth was still hard and stubborn, but her eyes were filling with tears, overflowing uncontrollably.
OYue finally couldn't help but curl up on the ground, burying her head in her knees, and whimpered softly, "How can you be so cunning?"
She was super angry and super sad. Why did Bai Cha have to come and apologize? It made her unable to even be angry. So angry, she should have gotten up immediately and beaten Bai Cha, or scolded her.
"I'm sorry." Bai Cha walked towards OYue. OYue had always been so proud and arrogant, but this time, even she was so fragile, which filled Bai Cha's heart with deeper guilt. "I'm sorry, I couldn't protect you all."
"Don't think I'll forgive you just because you apologized. I hate you very much," OYue snorted, wiping away her tears. "Besides, I wasn't hurt. You didn't protect him. What does that have to do with me? Don't include me."
"You cried, you're very sad," Bai Cha said faintly after a moment of silence. She wasn't good at comforting people, so she could only rack her brains to phrase the facts more tactfully. "Because I didn't protect him, you're very sad. Therefore, I also didn't protect you, so I must apologize to you too."
The words were a bit awkward and strange, but OYue's mind was surprisingly sharp and she understood Bai Cha's words. As she listened, she couldn't help but laugh through her tears. Crying and laughing, OYue herself didn't know what she was thinking.