Yin Sect Grand Annual Event

After a few days it was the annual event for the Yin Sect, YuHan spent his time in his room trying to heal himself. He even sent letters to his uncle about what was going on. YuHan woke up the next morning with a headache. He tried his best to dress himself properly, but before he could leave his room, ZiNuo opened the door. ZiNuo walked closer to YuHan and YuHan stood still like a stone. ZiNuo approached YuHan and started to fix YuHan's outwear. He tied a beautiful butterfly bow.

"When did you get so careless?" ZiNuo asked.

"I-" YuHan shuttered and you could see his ears turn red. "Get breakfast with me," he said quickly as he grabbed his sword and walked out the door.

"What's with you today?" ZiNuo shouted as he followed behind.

ZiNuo was eating his noodles as YuHan sipped his tea. ZiNuo would take short glances at YuHan, until he was caught.

"Why are you staring at me?" YuHan asked. ZiNuo choked on his noodles. YuHan quickly poured a cup of tea and handed it to him. ZiNuo quickly drank it.

"I almost choked to death because of you!"

"It's not my fault."

"You said something and it took me off guard. I choked because I didn't know how to respond."

"Finish your noodles and I'll pay."

"A free meal from my friend YuHan!" ZiNuo shouted as he went on to eat his noodles. After ZiNuo finished his noodles, YuHan packed a few steamed buns. They headed off to the main part of the capital. There were Yin Sect members everywhere waiting for people. They were checking bags and people. YuHan and ZiNuo lined up and waited for their turn.

"Your name?" the sect member asked YuHan.

"Mo Chenyue." The sect member used a brush and checked off YuHan's name. Then he checked YuHan's bag and sword.

"You got a nice sword," the sect member said as he handed back YuHan's sword. Yuhan glared at the guy and walked away. ZiNuo went through the same procedure, but you could see the sect member glare at him with distaste.

"You all must enter this portal to enter the Yin Sect's territory," one of the sect members announced. People in line started to enter the portal. When it was YuHan and ZiNuo's turn, YuHan grabbed ZiNuo's hand and walked across the portal. They kept following the sect members that led them deeper into a forest.

"Where are we going?" one of the people from the crowd shouted.

"To your first trial, we'll announce what will happen once we reach our destination," the sect member responded. Each step led them deeper and deeper to the forest, you could barely see daylight. By the time they reached their destination, it was already noon.

"We have arrived," the leader of the sect members said. "I'll begin to explain what will happen here. All of you will stay here for two nights. There may or may not have creatures roaming around here at night. Your goal is to stay alive till the third day's morning. It's up to you who you will team up with and what strategy you will have. The moment you've signed up to become a Yin sect's member you've signed a life and death contract. We're not here to save you when you need help, it's up to you. This is also your last chance to leave. If you decide to leave, follow us out of the forest," he spoke in a serious tone. You could feel the crowd's mood suddenly change after those words were spoken.

Some people started to back out and decided to leave for the sake of their own life on the line. Some decided they were brave enough to take on the challenge. YuHan was laying his back on a tree and ZiNuo looked at YuHan.

"Are you seriously going to stay?" ZiNuo asked. YuHan ignored him and looked up at the sky. "I'll stay since you're going to stay and can you let go of my hand. My hands are going to start sweating because of human warmth." YuHan loosen his grip on ZiNuo's hand. People scatter around getting materials and supplies. While YuHan watched the blue sky turn into an orange color. When he broke his gaze from the sky he felt weight on his legs. He looked down to see ZiNuo sleeping on his leg.

"Wake up," YuHan said as he kneed down to see ZiNuo's face. His eyelashes were long and his hair was a bit messy. YuHan noticed that ZiNuo had a mole near the outer sides of each of his eyes. Did he like crying? He didn't seem like the type to cry a lot. "Wake up, ZiNuo," YuHan said faintly. ZiNuo slowly opened his eyes, his eyes met YuHan's brown orbs.

"Why are you so close!" ZiNuo said in a panic and stood up.

"Your hair."

"I'll fix it myself, you don't have to worry about it. Seems to me it's going to be night time anytime, do you have a plan?" ZiNuo asked. YuHan shook his head. "I thought a genius like you would have a plan by now, but I have an idea though!" YuHan looked at ZiNuo with confusion. "I think we should go look at that mountain over there," he said as he pointed his finger at a huge mountain with a big gaping hole. YuHan walked over to the mountain and ZiNuo followed and by the time they reached there. It has reached night and the weather has become windier. The sound of the bushes and leaves rustled.

When they reached there, there were mini campfires made by others in front of the cave. YuHan was leaning against the stone wall on the mountain side. He scanned the surface and listened for any abnormal sounds around, but all he heard was gossiping. "I heard this first part of the test is a hoax," one of the males near the fire spoke, he was wearing blue clothes that seemed to have been made from cheap fabric.

"What makes you think the Yin Sect would make this part of their test a hoax?" the other male with grey clothes questioned.

"Haven't you heard of what's been going on every time they have one of these tests for their new sect members?" the male with blue clothes asked.

"No," the male with grey clothes said quickly.

"Word goes around that half of the people that applied never came back after the test."

"Isn't that one of the reasons why I saw everyone crying the day after the final test day instead of celebrating that many others have finished the test?"

"I don't know, but I hope we will survive," the male in blue said and you could hear the worries in his voice.

"Yin Gongzi?" YuHan whispered.

"Yes?" ZiNuo said as YuHan turned his head to face him. The moment YuHan turned his face, his and ZiNuo's face was centimeters. He felt his heart skip a beat. "YuHan?" ZiNuo looked at YuHan in the eyes while YuHan was frozen in place. "Your lips are a bit pale," ZiNuo commented. "Are you cold? Do you want me to start a campfire of our own?"

YuHan wanted to talk, but his words weren't coming out. He was asking himself, why did someone who was supposed to be his enemy, cared so much for him. The way ZiNuo cared for him felt like the warmth that his family gave, not like the empathy from his sect members. A sudden urge of wanting to cough interrupted his thoughts. He backed away from ZiNuo, grabbing his cloth from his bag, and using it to cover his mouth. He looked at his cloth and there the red stain tainted it. ZiNuo noticed that YuHan had a bit of red on YuHan's pale lips.

"Are you sure, you are fine?" ZiNuo asked with a concerned face.

"Yes," YuHan said as he hid his cloth in his bag. "Just an after effect of getting sick-" he said before he got cut off by screams coming from the cave.

"Run!" someone shouted.