During the afternoon classes, Yilu endured her physical discomfort and attended anyway.
She sat huddled to the side in the Swordsmanship training hall, her long sword propped up beside her.
At noon, just like in the morning, she still had not eaten anything.
She could not tell if her current exhaustion was truly exhaustion; she felt only a hollow numbness.
Her eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and the things she saw were constantly replaced by phantoms.
One moment, the real world before her eyes would turn into a bloody, mangled landscape, and the sky would turn dark red before quickly shifting back.
This caused her mind to be constantly bombarded by a mysterious force.
Lyr was surrounded by a group of noble students who were chirping away and asking him questions.
Some had already proposed the idea of sparring with him.
In Yilu’s eyes, those faces she considered somewhat familiar were shifting between themselves and mangled, nameless gore, just as they had been that morning.
Strangely, only Lyr’s figure remained unchanged; he stayed exactly the same, without any transformation.
Drenched in cold sweat, Yilu sat there like a drowning person about to sink.
In that eerie, bloody world that kept appearing, Lyr’s sole normal figure became her only piece of driftwood.
She instinctively wanted to reach out and grab this lifeline that might pull her out of the water.
Her hand rose halfway, then quickly dropped.
Nieqi’s words from that morning echoed in her mind.
In the end, she withdrew her hand.
‘That’s right, Lyr is just treating everyone equally.’
‘What am I to him?’
Being cared for once or twice was already his special consideration.
Without her brother, her personality was such that he probably would not even bother with her.
Making a habit of relying on others’ help was a bad habit that only caused trouble for oneself and others.
Yilu gritted her teeth, suppressing the negative emotions in her heart.
‘I’ve always been alone, no matter what I do. I don’t need help from others.’
Just as Yilu was wondering whether to leave—her first time ever wanting to ask for a leave of absence—several figures walked up to her side.
She looked up and saw Beiyao standing before her with her arms crossed.
“Well, if it isn’t Miss Yilu?”
Yilu met their gaze with a haggard face, unknowingly fueling the other girl’s sadistic streak.
Beiyao looked at Yilu mockingly.
“Don’t think that just because you’ve gotten involved with the Geno Clan, you’ve managed to escape anything.”
The fact that Yilu and Tif had come to the Academy together last time had already spread through their circles.
Aside from curiosity about what was happening, Beiyao felt mostly disdain.
“I thought you were someone special? In the end, you’re just someone who can only rely on others.”
In the past, Yilu would have definitely retorted.
Now, in her eyes, Beiyao’s face flickered back and forth between its normal self and a bloody, nameless mass.
Facing this situation, she felt incredibly disgusted.
“Miss Beiyao, don’t take it too far.”
Tif had noticed Yilu’s condition early on.
Seeing Beiyao approach, she felt something was wrong and followed her over.
She had not expected to hear this as soon as she arrived.
Beiyao turned around to see Tif and Teanya standing together.
Tif’s face showed a hint of anger, while Teanya stayed behind her, looking somewhat cautious.
If Tif had not insisted on coming over, Teanya would not have wanted to follow.
“Miss Tif, did I say anything wrong?”
Beiyao faced Tif without fear.
The two stood there, neither backing down.
It would not be surprising if they started a fight the next second.
“What? Is House Geno going to get involved with Treason too?”
“What the Geno family is like is not for an outsider like you to judge.”
Although the two did not have much interaction, Tif had disliked people like Beiyao for a long time.
If Yilu seemed unpleasant to others, she was usually only reacting to the hostility directed at her.
As long as no one went out of their way to target her, Yilu never looked for trouble.
Beiyao was different. This girl seemed constantly obsessed with mocking others.
It was as if she did it just to satisfy her own inexplicable sense of superiority.
“What about her? Is she not an outsider to the Geno Clan?”
“…”
That one sentence made Tif pause.
This was exactly what she had warned Lyr about.
If he really wanted to help the Starting Bud Family and Yilu, he had to consider what value they held for the Geno Clan.
Otherwise, he might not only fail to help but also leave openings for gossip.
“Heh, this works out perfectly then.”
Beiyao snorted and gestured toward Tif.
“If you really want to help her, let me see what you’re made of. If you can beat me, I won’t bother this girl ever again.”
This was Beiyao’s usual method.
Not only did she enjoy verbal sparring, but she also liked defeating her opponents in Swordsmanship, crushing them in every aspect.
“Tif, don’t be impulsive. This girl seems very strong,” Teanya warned.
Beiyao’s family was a lineage of swordsmen that had produced several masters, which was the source of her pride.
Those she mocked had basically all lost to her in that regard, which allowed her to remain so emboldened.
“I don’t need your help.”
Before Tif could answer, Yilu, who had been sitting there, staggered to her feet.
“I’ll be the one to face her.”
Tif frowned, wanting to say something, but Yilu did not give her the chance.
She picked up her sword and walked forward.
Seemingly satisfied with the outcome, Beiyao followed, not forgetting to shoot Tif a glance.
“I advise House Geno to stay out of this. This is a matter between our families.”
Tif sighed. She had known for a long time that the two families had grievances, but this method of revenge was simply too much.
Arriving at a corner of the hall, Beiyao smiled thinly.
“Miss Yilu, I must admit, you have more backbone than I imagined.”
Yilu held her sword in one hand, her eyes squinting as she tried to see Beiyao clearly.
But that bloody, mangled vision continued to flicker.
Negative emotions swept over her once again, and her internal irritation intensified.
She wanted to escape being crushed under Beiyao’s feet, but she wanted to escape these terrifying visions even more.
When all negative emotions converged on a single person, Yilu’s current desire to kill Beiyao was magnified infinitely.
‘If I kill her, maybe I can escape this.’
A strange thought sprouted in her mind, growing out of control.
“Since you were defeated by me last time, I didn’t expect you to actually dare to accept the challenge again.”
“I thought you’d learned to adapt and were ready to become a coward hiding behind others.”
Beiyao casually toyed with the sword in her hand.
“Should I go easy on you this time?”
Throughout it all, Yilu did not respond to her words.
As if she had made a decision, her exhausted eyes suddenly snapped open.
They were filled with a bloody light as she lunged straight toward Beiyao.