The Same Snow

"Hey, seriously," Yu Tianheng said, his cheeks flushed from drinking. "Registration for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament is about to begin."

The clamor around the table fell quiet for a moment.

"Our Imperial Fighting Team," Yu Tianheng said, pointing to each of them in turn, "Dugu Yan, Shi Mo and Shi Mo, Lingling, and Little Yin-we're going to bring that championship trophy home together."

Shi Mo and Shi Mo let out a howl. "Bring it home!"

Dugu Yan put down her shrimp, a glimmer appearing in her eyes. Ye Lingling nodded gently and placed her hand on the table, resting it quietly half a foot from Tang Yin's.

Tang Yin looked up and glanced around the table at them-the captain who ruffled his hair, the poison girl peeling shrimp, the healer who put lamb chops on his plate, and the howling twins. Outside the window, snow fell silently; inside, the stove burned merrily.

He picked up his cup of osmanthus wine and finished it in small sips.

"Okay," he said.

It was just one word, spoken softly, but it made Yu Tianheng pause. Then he grinned so broadly his eyes disappeared and threw an arm around Tang Yin's shoulders. "That's more like it!"

Their full cups clinked together once more, mingling with the sound of snow falling outside into one warm, cozy night.

When Tang Yin returned to the dormitory, the snow was still falling.

He lit the lamp and took the cloth bundle from inside his robes-the medicine for injuries that Xiao Wu had pressed on him at Nuoding's gates. Three months had passed, and he hadn't used it all. The bottle was warm from his body heat. He poured out one pill, examined it under the lamp, then put it back.

He had always remembered what Tang San said that day as he patted his shoulder. "Don't let anyone take advantage of you."

That was the kind of person his brother was. He spoke little, had steady hands, and whatever he said sounded like something he had thought through long ago. Tang Yin tucked the cloth bundle back inside his robes and walked to the window. Snow fell silently over Heaven Dou City, and in the distance, the academy's lights went out one by one.

He knew what Tang San was doing right now. At this hour, his brother would certainly still be in the training room, swinging that rather small hammer over and over.

At that same moment, hundreds of li away, at Nuoding Academy.

Tang San was indeed in the training room.

The wooden hammer struck the wooden post again and again, its blows blending with the sound of snow outside. He had been at it for two hours, and new calluses had formed on his palms. Yu Xiaogang watched from the side, then suddenly spoke. "Has your younger brother written?"

Tang San's hand paused.

"No," he said. "Heaven Dou Royal Academy doesn't allow students to correspond freely."

"Oh," Yu Xiaogang said, and said no more.

Tang San put down the hammer and walked to the window. The snow in Nuoding was lighter than in Heaven Dou, drifting down sparsely. He thought of his younger brother standing at the academy gates three months ago, half an inch shorter than him, yet with a face that looked as though it had been carved from the same mold.

He had meant to say "Stay safe," but what came out was "Don't let anyone take advantage of you."

Tang San gazed out the window, silent for a long time. He didn't know whether his younger brother was doing well in Heaven Dou, or whether that brother, who was half a month younger than him and alone in such a vast place, had been bullied. All he knew was that the path his younger brother had taken was different from his own-but he couldn't tell whether it was merely different, or harder.

He gripped the wooden hammer again and brought it down.

Once, then again.

He had to get stronger faster. Strong enough that one day, no matter where his younger brother was, he, as his older brother, could stand in front of him.

In the dormitory in Heaven Dou, Tang Yin blew out the lamp.

In the darkness, he lay on his bed, listening to the sound of snow outside the window. More than anyone else in the world, he knew what kind of path his brother would walk in the future-Sea God Island, Spirit Hall, those fates he had read about countless times in the book.

He knew those dangers, knew those partings, knew how much blood his brother would shed in the future.

But he couldn't say a thing.

Tang Yin lay with his eyes open in the darkness and gently clenched his fist.