"That's the spirit!"
Hu Qi and Xiang ChangSong pointed at their junior brother at the same time and burst into unrestrained laughter.
The night wind whistled. Banners on the walls billowed, orange lanterns swayed beneath the buildings, their light flickering.
Liang Qu laughed along with them.
The apprentices beyond the three had no idea what was going on. Yet seeing Senior Brother Hu and Senior Brother Xiang, usually so stern, laughing so freely made everything feel a little unreal. Infected by their mood, they too broke into grins.
Moonlight and lamplight intertwined.
Shadows of people stirred.
And amid those stirring shadows, there was yearning.
Xiang ChangSong clamped an arm tightly around Liang Qu's neck. "Only when something like Sudden Enlightenment comes from your mouth, Junior Brother, does it sound as ordinary as eating a home-cooked meal!"
"Wait another six years—no, five," Hu Qi seriously suggested. "Let's have Master move the Martial Academy back again, spend a little silver, and let Junior Brother Liang have another Sudden Enlightenment. I'd say that deal is worthwhile."
"Makes sense!" Xiang ChangSong raised both hands in support.
"Even another ten years would be useless." Liang Qu stopped smiling and looked up at the moon. "Flowers may bloom again, but people never regain their youth. I never practiced stance work at Huaiyin Martial Academy or learned martial arts alongside my senior brothers there. What use would moving it back again be?"
"That's true."
Xiang ChangSong released Liang Qu.
The three of them suddenly felt a touch of melancholy.
Sadness?
Not sadness.
Perhaps it was nostalgia. Year after year, the flowers looked alike; year after year, the people changed.
"Come on! Since it's your first time here, this senior brother will make time to show you around our new Martial Academy! Thinking back, I was the one