GU GUARDS

Monday had pulled them out of school and into the main estate's formal family room—copper-scented wood and clan insignia, nothing like the light guest wing where they usually slept on school nights. Gu Feng stood between them as leader first and father second. Mei held her usual stillness. Xian couldn't shake how the ceiling seemed higher here, or how their classmates were at desks while the twins weren't.

Her father's first move wasn't comfort. "Why did you take no Gu Guards on the clan gate run this past Saturday—the seventh of February?"

He didn't raise his voice. Worry threaded through it instead: E-rank territory wasn't safe, the clan had enemies, one slip could cost everything. The plea was unmistakable—doting fear, not a lecture meant to shrink them. His palm settled on Mei's shoulder while he talked.

Xian pushed back before the silence could swallow her. Every extra guard on every outing dragged their pace and shaved experience off the gates the clan actually sent heirs through to grow. They weren't supposed to tour behind an escort army—they were supposed to level.

Pride crept into her answer anyway. Look what Saturday had bought: she was Level 16 now, up from 13 before the seventh. Skipping guards hadn't been recklessness to her; it was the clan's expected risk paying out.

Feng went quiet long enough to study them both. Real growth showed—Mei's numbers, Mei at Level 14, how far their Aura work had come since the run.

His shoulders eased, but the fear didn't leave his eyes. Stronger heirs, stronger runs—that was the trade he'd accept today, as long as they kept climbing. The full lockdown he'd rehearsed on the walk in stayed in his throat, unsaid.

One line stayed iron. "Next time—at least one Gu Guard." Minimum escort. Not an argument. A beg dressed as a command.

Xian groaned. The concession was already sliding down her spine. Mei side-eyed her or said nothing—there, not driving this. Feng didn't let it go; the same loving stubbornness kept asking until someone answered.

She gave in. One Gu Guard on every future clan gate outing—no name for who yet, only the count locked from today forward. Xian swallowed her annoyance and nodded.