The message came through a junior disciple three days later, folded twice and sealed with wax that bore no official mark — an invitation from Wei Dong, asking to meet at the old training yard behind the outer wall, alone, no witnesses, to talk things through.
Xu's suspicion was immediate. "That's not reconciliation. Nobody arranges reconciliation with secrecy and an unmarked seal."
"I know."
"Then why are you considering going."
Wei Liang turned the folded paper over in his hands. "Because if I don't go, I never know for certain what he intended. And because some part of me still wants to be wrong about him."
"That part of you is going to get you killed one day if you're not careful," Xu said, though not unkindly. "But I understand it. Just don't walk in there believing it. Walk in th
