Wicked Teachers

This was the first time I heard Wen Shiyin mention her past with Xie Lun. I considered my response carefully. "Senior Xie seems to enjoy teaching others," I said. "Every time I see Qi Lian, he's always excited to show off the new techniques he learned from Senior Xie."

Wen Shiyin chuckled. "Master Teng Yuan has too many disciples and too little time to spare. Xie Lun likes helping others. He says going over a technique with someone else refreshes it for himself as well, so he's always been like a second master to his juniors."

"He has the skills for it," I smiled. "It's a title well deserved."

Wen Shiyin nodded. "It was different for me though … I was only ten when I first came to Mount Hua, too much younger than most other disciples. None of them wanted to practice swords with a child. Xie Lun was the only one around my age, so we naturally spent a lot of time together."