Are you a new elder? A hidden master?"
"That is of no concern to you," Jian replied, his voice colder, distancing himself. "You are safe. Return to your quarters."
"But I must know who saved me!" Lin Xier insisted, her voice gaining a touch of its usual youthful determination. "How can I repay such a debt? My family, the Lin family, we would be eternally grateful!"
Jian almost scoffed. The Lin family. The same family that allowed me to be discarded. The bitterness was a physical sensation in his throat. "There is no debt to repay. I acted on my own accord. Forget you saw me."
"But your technique..." Lin Xier pressed, a flicker of intelligence in her eyes. "It was... unlike anything I've ever seen. No outward spiritual energy, yet it crushed them. And that speed... your movements felt f
