The evening slipped by swiftly, and the palace was ominously silent. A servant appeared at prince yu Lin's door, lightly knocking. Wuji opened it. "Is Prince Yǔlín present?" he inquired of the servant, who slightly bent his knee. "The queen requires his presence."
Wuji moved to yell out, but before he was able to speak at all, Yǔlín stepped out of the darkness. "Eavesdropping on people's conversations now?" Wuji raised an eyebrow.
"Or perhaps your voice was simply too loud," Yǔlín responded playfully but coldly.
As Yǔlín trailed behind the servant, Wuji said, "Be careful." Yǔlín hesitated for half an instant and then walked on, not turning back.
Wuji stood against the doorway, his face shadowed. "What does the queen want? Has she discovered Su Shu? Has someone betrayed Yǔlín's secret?" Ideas ran through his head one after another, each worse than the previous. "If the queen is aware of Yǔlín's concealment of an assassin, it might mean both their executions."
Before he was able to dwell on it further, Su Shu materialized in front of him, her hair still wet, her eyes questioning. "What do you seem lost in?"
Wuji's face changed expression, forming a smirk. "Oh, the little assassin has come to pose her thousand questions once again."
Su Shu folded her arms. "I just had something I wanted to inquire about Yǔlín. I've seen... scars on his back."
Wuji's smirk grew larger. "Oh, spying on him, have you?"
"No!" Su Shu's face flushed. "It's not like that. I just... How did he get his scars?"
Wuji reclined back, his eyes distant. "Yǔlín wasn't always as strong as he is today. He was the weakest of all in the palace, the black sheep of the family, the prince who was born with the prediction of destruction. He was feared by people, royals rejected him, and some even said he should never have been conceived."
Wuji's voice softened as he went on. "I myself was in terror of him. But then I was lost during the Royal Hunt and was attacked by wolves. They ripped at my flesh, and I would have died. Then Yǔlín showed up. He was alone. Armed only with one sword. He fought off all the wolves. That day I knew he wasn't weak... and he wasn't monstrous."
Su Shu's eyes widened in surprise. "But you said he was weak back then. How was he able to fend off all these wolves by himself?"
Wuji's face darkened. "Because when the Crown Prince went off to train with Commander Han in the southern statesss, Yǔlín was on his own. The bullying intensified. People supposed his brother had fled because he was scared of him. Yǔlín became cold. More distant."
"Did King Moyao do anything?" Su Shu inquired.
"Yes. One day Yǔlín burst into the throne room and demanded to be trained by the king. He was fed up of being the feeble prince, of being the one who was held in fear. Moyao noticed the fire in his son's eyes and agreed."
Wuji's jaw clamped. "But in three years' time, Yǔlín was still not at Level 6 yet. The king's training worked but was not merciless. Yǔlín wished for more. He went into the Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts — an off-limits forest where demons and beasts roamed freely."
He trained for fifteen years all by himself at that place, suffering through hell. Each of the scars on his back was something he got from those animals. He had fought them day and night with no mercy, with no respite. Each of the wounds was a proof of his agony and survival.
Su Shu's breath was caught in her throat. "Why would he do it to himself?"
Wuji's eyes grew dark. "To prove he wasn't the monster he was perceived to be. And in the end, all he became was colder... crueler. The wounds you see aren't just on his skin, Su Shu. They're within as well."
In the meantime, today.
Yǔlín walked to the queen's room. His jaw was locked in determination as he looked at the imposing doors. "What does she want? Has she found out?" He opened the doors wide, his face impassive, concealing the tempest brewing inside.