The air in the Salvaged Peaks was thin, clear, and carried a permanent, fresh chill. Gen stood on a wooden walkway that curved alongside a sheer cliff face, looking not at a grand palace, but at a complex of serene, interconnected pavilions. They were built of dark, aged wood and pale stone, with sweeping roofs of grey tile, nestled among the jagged peaks as if they had grown there. Mist, white and lazy as smoke, drifted through the walkways and hung over the deep, placid lake that filled the canyon below, softening the world and muffling sound. It was a place of ancient, quiet discipline, utterly unlike Heaven's Gate's glittering, rigid order.
Leaning on the wooden railing, Gen looked down at the dark water far below, where a single boat moved in silence. "This place is strange," he murmured to himself. "Nothing like Heaven's Gate and all its modern extravagance."
A young maid in simple grey robes, carrying two buckets of water suspended from a pole across her shoulders, paused beside him. She offered a small, polite smile. "It is normal. The Salvaged Peaks are just that—salvaged. A place reclaimed by persistence, not built by decree. The Li Family emphasizes family and foundation above all. That is why it has grown so powerful over the years, quietly."
Gen nodded, appreciating the simple wisdom. "It's cool," he said, then his voice softened with concern. "How is my friend? The one who was brought in injured."
The maid's smile grew a touch warmer. "He is fine. Miss Lia has been taking very good care of him. Staying up late, personally overseeing the healers… Youthful devotion is certainly a beautiful thing to see." She gave a slight, wistful sigh.
Relief, sharp and sweet, washed through Gen. "Can I enter?"
"Of course." The maid bowed her head slightly and continued on her way.
Gen slid the wooden door aside. The room within was spartan and peaceful. A single low bed stood against one wall, and beside it, on a woven mat placed directly on the polished floor, lay Liang. Lia Kai was there, bent over him. Her long, dark hair had fallen forward in a curtain, obscuring both their faces from the doorway. All Gen could see was the close proximity, the intimacy of the scene.
A grin spread across Gen's face, cutting through his residual worry. He leaned against the doorframe. "Liang. Are you okay in there? She's not poisoning you, is she?"
The effect was instant. Liang's legs jerked upward under the blanket in a startled spasm. His head and Lia's collided with a soft but solid *bonk*.
"Ouch!" Lia yelped, scrambling back, her face flushing a brilliant, flustered red. She clutched her forehead. "What the hell are you doing? You scared me to death!"
Gen's smirk widened. "If I'm disturbing, I can still go…" He made an exaggerated show of turning to leave.
"Gen, you bastard, why do you like to torture me like this?!" Liang's voice was a mixture of genuine pain and exasperation.
Gen's false departure vanished. He bounded into the room, the serene atmosphere evaporating with his energy, and hopped onto the foot of the bed, making the frame creak. "Because you're my best friend! Gotta keep you on your toes. Or in this case, your head."
Liang jerked himself into a proper sitting position, wincing slightly. "I'm *fine*. See?"
Lia stood up, smoothing her robes, the blush still high on her cheeks. She couldn't quite meet Gen's amused eyes. "I… I will leave you two to talk." She practically fled, sliding the door shut behind her with more force than necessary.
Once the door closed, the playful energy in the room settled. Gen leaned back, propping himself on his hands, his grin softening into a more genuine, relieved expression. "Liang, you're really… hardworking in all aspects, huh?"
He expected a laugh, a sheepish grin, a retort.
Instead, Liang grew quiet. He looked down at his hands, clenched on the blanket. His shoulders, which had seemed relaxed a moment before, grew tense.
"Gen," he said, his voice low and serious, cutting through the last of Gen's teasing mood. "I'm sorry."
Gen blinked, his relief shifting to confusion. "Sorry? Why are you sorry? You haven't done anything wrong. You got your butt kicked saving Madame Su, that's a hero thing, not a sorry thing."
Before he could say more, the door slid open again. Madame Su entered, her movements slower, more careful than usual. Her left arm was in a clean, tight sling, and her face still held traces of pallor, but her gaze was clear. She came to stand beside the bed, looking between them. "How are you both feeling?"
Liang looked up, forcing his expression into something neutral. "I am fine. I should be able to walk soon. It is all thanks to the Li Family's healers. I am very grateful."
Madame Su nodded. "They have been very kind to us. Largely due to Lia's influence, and her father Varja's presence. Without that, I doubt our reception would have been so… accommodating."
Gen's smile returned, touched with awe. "Then I need to go thank Varja himself, if I get the chance."
"That," Madame Su said, a hint of her old sternness returning, "is the exact reason I am here. Varja does, indeed, wish to meet with you."
Gen's eyes widened. All teasing vanished, replaced by pure, stunned surprise. "He wants to meet… me?" A slow, excited grin spread across his face. "I'd be meeting a Pillar. How interesting."
"Good," Madame Su said. Then, in a flash of movement that belied her injuries, her good hand shot out and seized Gen by the collar of his white robe. "But *before* that, do not think you can run away from your own healing. Do you honestly believe I cannot tell you are running your Qi raw to mask three cracked ribs and a dozen torn ligaments? You are coming with me. Now."
Gen's face fell into a comical pout. He flailed his legs weakly. "Liang! Help! She's kidnapping the future Pillar-meeter!"
From the bed, Liang managed a weak but genuine laugh. "Well deserved! Serves you right for scaring Lia like that!"
"Traitor!" Gen cried out as Madame Su, with a strength that spoke of immense willpower, began dragging him unceremoniously toward the door. His protests faded down the hallway.
The door slid shut.
The laughter on Liang's face melted away. It didn't fade; it vanished, as if it had never been there, leaving behind a hollow, empty stillness.
He pushed the blankets aside and slowly, carefully, swung his legs over the side of the bed. His hands were trembling. He tried to stand, and his legs buckled instantly. He caught himself against the wall, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. He leaned his forehead against the cool, polished wood, eyes squeezed shut.
*I am weak.*
The thought was a cleaver in his mind, severing the pretense.
*I have worked so hard. All this time. With Black-Green Wood. I gave everything in the Tower of Wonder. I fought. I learned. I pushed.*
He balled his hands into fists, the tremor running up his arms.
*And it is still not enough. Gen did it again. He broke through in the middle of a battle. He's moving further away. Faster.*
A hot, shameful pressure built behind his eyes. He slid down the wall, his body betraying him, until he was kneeling on the floor. The quiet of the room was suddenly suffocating. A single, traitorous tear escaped, tracing a hot path down his cheek, followed by another. He didn't sob; he shook in silent, crushing despair.
*I don't want to be the Immortal's weakest disciple anymore.* The title was a cage. *I want to be strong. I want… I want to be the person Gen sees when he looks at me, not the burden he has to carry.*
That's when it came. Not a memory, but a presence. A voice, smooth as polished obsidian and gentle as a poisoned lullaby, whispering from a corner of his soul that had been waiting in the dark.
***A different room, lit by a different sun.***
The words Xian had spoken in that dusty alley a lifetime ago. They echoed now, not as a temptation, but as a simple, terrifying statement of fact. *There is another way.*
Liang bit his lower lip hard enough to taste blood, trying to use the pain to ground himself. He roughly wiped the tears from his face with the back of his sleeve, leaving red streaks on his skin.
Outside, he heard the light, quick steps of Lia Kai approaching down the wooden walkway, accompanied by her cheerful hum.
*No. Not now.*
With a monumental effort that drained the last of his physical strength, he pushed himself up from the floor. He forced his trembling legs to steady. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and by the time the door began to slide open, he had plastered a small, fragile smile onto his face.
"Liang? Are you feeling bad anywhere?" Lia asked, stepping in, her eyes instantly searching his face with concern.
Liang scratched the back of his head, the picture of slight embarrassment. "No, it's nothing. Just… the light was in my eyes."
She stepped closer, peering at him. Her expression shifted to a knowing, playful smirk. "You weren't… crying, were you?"
The directness almost broke his act. He managed a shaky laugh. "What? Me? Maybe you're thinking of abandoning me too early and feeling guilty."
Lia's face flushed that delightful shade of red again, and she glanced over his shoulder, flustered. "You… you have become so brazen now!"
They both laughed then, a brief, bright sound that felt both real and desperately fragile in the quiet room. As they walked out together onto the misty walkway, Liang let the conversation flow around him, responding where he needed to.
But inside, beneath the smile and the banter, a vow solidified in his heart, cold and hard as the stone of the peaks around them.
*I need to become stronger. Not to surpass Gen. To simply keep up. To not be left behind by him, by Lia, by anyone I care about. No matter what I have to do. No matter the price.*
The echo of the different sun lingered in the silence of his mind, a door now cracked open, waiting.