That first day, no one had noticed. Everyone had gotten up early for training, and Li Chenyuan had come out of the dorms a little late, so no one saw him leaving Qiu Yunru's room.
The second time it happened, the disciple who slept in the room across from Qiu Yunru's caught sight of Li Chenyuan stumbling out of the room to go to the bathroom early in the morning. This disciple quickly went and told his friends about it.
"I swear I saw Li Chenyuan coming out of Qiu-shixiong's room! He was definitely sleeping there!"
"Isn't that not allowed?" Another disciple muttered.
"Well, does it matter if it's two men? It's not as if they're going to have a baby!"
"You really think they...?" Another disciple gaped in shock.
Then it happened a third time, and a fourth time, and so on.
Seeing as everyone deeply respected Qiu Yunru as one of the kindest and highest-ranking disciples in the sect in terms of cultivation level, no one dared to speak of it in front of him. However, Qiu Yunru began to notice people staring at him from time to time and whispering behind their hands when they thought he wasn't looking.
"What's going on with everyone?" He asked Fang Hai one day as they went down early to set up some training obstacle courses.
Fang Hai's face paled, then turned red, and his expression grew sour. "...You really don't know?"
"Did something big happen? Are they talking about me?" Qiu Yunru was beginning to worry. What could it be that would make the Head Disciple of the Jade Cloud Sect look so uncomfortable and disgusted?
Fang Hai looked at him for a long moment, then sighed. "Go and get some logs. No one's talking about you."
For some reason, Li Chenyuan had a very different reaction to this rumors. Unlike Qiu Yunru, he had a good ear for people's whispers, and quickly caught on to what was going around.
However, upon hearing someone whisper about this for the first time in the dining hall, his only reaction was to pause for a moment. He picked up his spoon then and continued to sip his soup as though he hadn't heard anything.
"Li-shidi, why are you smiling...?" Pan Fa wondered aloud.
Indeed, Li Chenyuan's lips were curved into a smug smile, and his cheeks were slightly flushed.
Li Chenyuan merely shrugged, continuing to eat. "I'm happy. It's a good day to be alive."
"What's wrong with you...?" Pan Fa was aghast. "Why are you talking like a stranger?"
______
Qiu Yunru's tent at the edge of Heixi Gorge was small, so there wasn't nearly as much room as in the disciples' dorms, but Qiu Yunru wasn't too bothered. What was the difference between sleeping on a bed and the floor, and sleeping next to each other on separate bed rolls? It was a normal and innocuous thing. If it was one bed roll, that would be another matter. But siblings slept in separate beds in the same room all the time! Yes, yes, just like this. They were good friends, like brothers!
Soon enough, Qiu Yunru heard Li Chenyuan's breaths slow next to him, until he was asleep.
Qiu Yunru, meanwhile, lay awake for a while on his bedroll, staring up at the ceiling. He clasped his hands over his stomach.
For some reason, his body and mind felt unsettled. He couldn't help but think back to that thing Li Chenyuan had said earlier. Indeed, he also had the strange feeling that something bad was going to happen.
However, feelings aren't necessarily fact. When anxious about a competition, it was natural to have a sense of dread, no? Qiu Yunru tossed and turned for a while, considering his plans over and over, until he at last fell asleep.
____
An hour before dawn, runners scurried around to each disciples' tent to wake everyone. Slowly, the formation of sects and disciples surrounding the black shadow of Heixi Gorge began to stir and rise, gathering their supplies.
The disciples were ushered to the edges of the Gorge. There was a barrier that had been raised overnight to prevent anyone from entering. As soon as dawn broke, the barrier would be lowered, and disciples would be allowed to enter the gorge however they wished. Then, the barrier would be raised again to prevent those Shadow Demon Puppets from escaping and to protect the viewers and younger disciples who had come to watch.
Qiu Yunru paced around the edge of the barrier as disciples of the Jade Clouds Sect hurried this way and that around him. He clutched his leather alchemical bag to his chest, feeling again and again to make sure that his sword was at his side.
Li Chenyuan soon came out, looking exhausted. His robes were unkempt, and he rubbed his eyes, tightening his sword on his waste and stumbeling over to his shige.
"Qiu-ge..." He yawned widely. "Good morning..."
Qiu Yunru sighed upon seeing him. He was incredibly anxious, and this only made him more intent on making sure everything around him was in good shape. With shaky hands, he tightened Li Chenyuan's sash and fixed his collar, then went around to go and fix his hair pin.
"Look at that!" A disciple nearby whispered, pointing. "Like a married couple!"
"Do you suppose Qiu-shixiong is the woman...?"
A sudden, piercing glare was shot their way from Li Chenyuan's eyes, and those two disciples ran off in terror.
"You woke up late," Qiu Yunru scolded, gathering Li Chenyuan's hair back to tie it. "This is an important competition."
Li Chenyuan blinked. "I don't really care much about it. I just..."
"Just what?" Qiu Yunru sighed, tightening his hair and stepping away to crouch down and rummage through his alchemy bag to check it once more. Suddenly realizing the sharpness in his tone of voice, he sighed once more, shoulders sagging. "I'm sorry. I'm nervous."
A warm hand suddenly landed on Qiu Yunru's shoulder. It was Li Chenyuan's.
Li Chenyuan looked down at Qiu Yunru with a serious expression, rubbing Qiu Yunru's shoulder with his thumb. The hairs on the back of Qiu Yunru's neck stood up one more time. Was this a little too affectionate?
"Gege, I'm sure you'll do very well," Li Chenyuan said seriously. "You don't have to worry. What's more, even if you don't win, you're still extremely talented in cultivation. I'm sure you won't be set back either way."
Qiu Yunru felt an unfamiliar warmth in his chest. It was like a knot slowly melting away. His face felt hot, so he looked away, closing his bag and standing up abruptly.
"...Thank you."