"Lord Luan, your face is pale. Were you unable to sleep last night?"
Dawn broke, and the quiet camp stirred back to life.
Luan Xin had an unexpected visitor, too. "Lin Anzhi?"
He and Lin Su had crossed paths before. The last time Lin Su appeared on the southwestern battlefield, his lord had urgently summoned him back to copy that man's Way of the Scholar. But Lin Su had been quick to flee, and they had missed each other. Luan Xin had only heard reports about him from others.
After all that circling around, the Way of the Scholar had still ended up in his hands.
Heh. What was meant to be his would always be his.
Lin Su hadn't expected him to recognize him at a glance and felt rather honored. He clasped his hands in greeting. "This junior, Lin Su, pays his respects to Lord Luan."
Whether by age or seniority, Lin Su was younger than Luan Xin, so calling himself a junior was perfectly reasonable. But such familiarity, coming when the two had clashed and fought before, made it sound rather sarcastic. Luan Xin stepped aside to avoid his bow.
"We have no ties of friendship."
"Are you still angry about last night, Lord Luan?"
Luan Xin looked at him with dark eyes and said slowly, "So what if I am? And what if I'm not? You must have studied the words of the sages. You know the saying, 'When friends come from afar, is it not a joy?' If a friend comes, of course I'm delighted. But what if the one who comes is an 'enemy'?"
It was only because he had a good temper. If his lord had been here, the fact that Lin Su hadn't gotten a slap across the face would have been