Crow Facing the Sun, Blood-Colored Great Sun

Without any words of greeting, the five of them laughed as if they were back in the old days.

Wang Dongchen's smile was restrained, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, yet a trace of moisture glimmered at the corners of his eyes. Lily's smile was cool and elegant, its curve not large, but the light in her eyes was like thawing ice and snow.

Jiang Xiujie's smile was wild and unrestrained, his mouth open wide to reveal two neat rows of teeth, his laughter rough and loud.

Qi Jiayou's smile was simple and honest. He squinted, scratching his head like a child who had done something wrong.

Tao Huanli's smile was gentle, the curve of her lips just right, the light in her eyes like the warm sun of spring.

The five of them stood together—five different people, five different smiles—yet reflected in their eyes was the same person.

A Jie, Li Hu, Li Dong, and those students who had once been in the same year and class as Situ Xuan, who had followed Situ Xuan through Shrek Academy and battled and killed on Sunset Plain, had all come here without a single one missing.

They came from Mingdu, from the East Sea, from the western border, from the northern plains, from the southern coast. They put down the work in their hands, canceled every social engagement, refused their families' attempts to dissuade them, and rushed from their respective cities to Sun Moon Academy.

They came to the place where they had broken the traditions their families had upheld unchanged for thousands of years.

This place was where their destinies had begun to change.

Who said second sons were supposed to be abandoned?

Who said unbreakable rules had to be obeyed from birth?

That man, the man carved deep