Ch 11: Etiquette, Elimination, and the Devil Squirrel Incident

Year of the Sapphire Ox – Time to Shine

Three Hooves, Friday the 15th – Flying Sword Sect, Plum Blossom Pavilion Exit

The tea ceremony had concluded with the grace and lethal serenity of a political treaty signed with silk fans and spiritual pastry.

There had been no fights.

No scandals.

Not a single tea cup shattered.

In the Jade Throne Realm, this was what passed for a miracle.

The girls, each one lingering slightly because how often did you get a tea that massaged your meridians and insulted your insecurities simultaneously were bidding their farewells.

Xu Meilin nodded her farewell with composed detachment.

Xu Lihua offered a polite yet unbothered wave, eyes still scanning their auras like a war general politely thanking guests before evaluating their threat levels.

Lin Meiyu tilted her head.

"Strange…" she murmured, lifting her hand.

Without another word, she plucked her hairpin a seemingly plain obsidian stick with no ornament and casually flicked it outward.

The pin disappeared.

No spiritual trace. No audible sound.

Just gone.

Everyone blinked.

Huo Lanxia: "...Did she just throw a hairpin into the."

Mingzhu: stares ominously

Wei Feiyan: tightens fan

Zhao Ruqing: "Okay but why did that feel like a death sentence?"

Then it happened.

A sound barely audible.like silk tearing.

Then… skreee urk.

And silence again.

Until a body hit the path.

It was a squirrel.

But not just any squirrel.

No, this one had blackened veins, red glowing eyes, and the faint scent of wrongness, like a child's drawing that shouldn't move on its own.

The hairpin protruded from its neck like a polite execution.

Meiyu didn't even turn. "It was staring at Lihua."

The girls stared.

Then… they noticed.

There was something deeply incorrect about the creature's presence.

It shouldn't be in the Flying Sword Sect.

It shouldn't be in this realm.

Xu Meilin's eyes narrowed.

Xu Lihua's glowed.

Literally.

Her pupils burned red-gold, reflecting the sun.

The petals beneath the squirrel, petals that had already fallen from the 40,000-year-old tree, quivered.

Then…

Descended.

Like a court of executioners who didn't speak, didn't ask questions, didn't care.

They spun in a vortex, delicate and devastating, slicing the corrupted flesh as if it were made of lies and regret.

And then flames.

Subtle at first, curling from the vortex's heart. Then roaring, white-hot and righteous.

Lihua blinked, confused. "...That felt filthy."

"Because it was," Meilin said quietly.

And Meilin?

Meilin raised her teacup.

There was a single drop left.

The ice-blue liquid shimmered.

She tipped it.

The drop spilled, hit the ground, and burrowed.

It flowed beneath the corpse what was left of it.then spiraled out in a silent ring.

The earth froze.

And then ejected.launched outward like a judgment passed.

What remained of the corruption was flung outside the barrier of the sect, like spiritually composted garbage.

The bamboo fence trembled.

The koi in the pond did a synchronized gasp and turned away.

The cherry blossom tree dropped one single petal in applause.

The girls didn't speak.

Wei Feiyan slowly fanned herself, eyes wide. "I… see."

Zhao Ruqing looked up at the sky, contemplating her life choices.

Huo Lanxia whispered, "I want one of those teacups."

Mingzhu looked at the crater where the squirrel once was and just nodded in eerie agreement.

Lin Xiuying smiled, eyes sharp. "And here I thought today would be boring."

Lin Meiyu, pleased, sighed. "It was a devil-possessed animal. I'd have warned you earlier but I was enjoying the tart."

Xu Meilin stood. "We will inform Father. The barrier enchantments must be refined."

"Animal parameters," Lihua added. "Not just humans."

"They made it too species-specific," Meilin said, mildly disappointed. "Typical."

As the spiritual winds cleaned the space, and the hairpin reappeared.teleporting politely into Meiyu's hand the elders, watching from their not-so-hidden location, were having a moment.

Elder Zhou: "Was that… a demonic rodent assassination attempt?"

Elder Bai Hua: "That four-year-old melted it with tea."

Auntie Chen: "...I'm baking them triple mooncakes tonight."

Zhenyan just muttered from the roof beam where he'd been hiding:

"I need stronger wards on my room now."