Ocean City dical Pavilion – Recovery Chambers
The room was quiet, save for the rhythmic drip... drip... drip of spiritual healing liquid from a jade IV bottle.
Lan Yinyin lay peacefully on the jade bed, her face serene, glowing in the soft light of recovery talismans.
Then her eyes fluttered open.
"Ugh... what happened...?" she muttered groggily.
A nurse leaned over, smiling kindly.
"Welco back, Miss Lan. You’ve been out for a day and a half."
Lan Yinyin blinked.
"Did we... win the match?"
The nurse blinked back.
"You... don’t rember?"
"I rember challenging Hei Long... and then... nothing."
The nurse slowly, gently backed away... like soone trying not to step on a landmine made of pride and embarrassnt.
anwhile, elsewhere in the pavilion...
"We can’t show her the recording," Hei Long said, pacing.
"We MUST show her the recording," Lin Fan said, filming Hei Long pacing.
"Why would you—HEY DELETE THAT!"
"Too late, I already sent it to myself. And the prince. And four gossipy aunties in Sector 3."
Prince Wuheng sat by the window, sipping tea.
"We do this carefully. We can’t just dump the mory on her all at once. That would be cruel..."
"So you’re not going to show her?"
"Oh, I’m absolutely going to show her. I’m just going to gather an audience first."
Later, in the Recovery Hall
Lan Yinyin was now sitting up, sipping warm peach blossom tea, when the doors opened dramatically.
"Good evening!" Prince Wuheng announced, flanked by sect elders, several inner disciples, Lin Fan, and a very reluctant Hei Long being pushed forward in a wheelchair.
Lan Yinyin blinked at them all.
"Why do you look like a theater troupe?"
Prince Wuheng bowed deeply.
"We are here to assist you in your recovery... through clarity."
"...You’re going to do sothing weird, aren’t you."
He pulled out a crystal orb.
"Behold! A mory-recording stone, crafted from the eyes of a thousand truth-seeking spirit owls!"
"That sounds fake."
"...It is. But it records in 4k."
With a flourish, the orb lit up, and the scene began to replay—
[Magical Recording Projection]
"Hei Long! I love you!"
"WHY DOES IT SLL LIKE PERFU AND DEATH?!"
"Marry !"
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT RING?!"
Jump noise
Disqualification announcent
Silence.
Everyone turned to Lan Yinyin.
She stared at the floating projection, expression frozen.
Then slowly turned to Hei Long.
"I proposed to you?"
"I an—technically, yes. But it was aggressive, and—"
"With a ring?"
"Flaming... yes."
"While dueling?"
"You called it ’Burning Bridal Blitz.’"
"Did you... accept?"
"I jumped off the stage."
Silence.
Lan Yinyin reached into her robe, pulled out the sa jade ring box... opened it.
It was empty.
She calmly, slowly closed it again.
Then got out of bed, walked over to the orb... and punched it into powder.
Minutes later...
"SHE’S CHASING !" Hei Long scread, sprinting down the hallway.
"I JUST WANT TO TALK!" Lan Yinyin yelled, sword drawn. "TALK WITH MY BLADE!"
"This is why I don’t date!"
"YOU NEVER DATED !"
"AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?!"
Prince Wuheng watched them vanish down the corridor, sipping his tea with pride.
"Ah, young love."
Lin Fan sighed, lying in a pile of torn spirit paper.
"At this point, even I feel secondhand heartbreak."
"You an thirdhand."
"I an fourth. I think her sword is traumatized too."
Ocean City Arena – Outer Courtyard
Lan Yinyin sat cross-legged atop a ceremonial tea table that was absolutely not ant to be stood on.
Her hair was tied in an aggressively high bun—so aggressive it looked like it could pierce armor. Her eyes were cold, her aura colder.
A group of inner disciples, sect elders, and passing rchants were gathered below her like peasants awaiting an imperial decree.
"I would like to address the... recent rumors," she declared.
Behind her, Prince Wuheng leaned over to Lin Fan and whispered:
"This is either going to fix everything or end in civil war."
"Good," Lin Fan said. "Let them fight. The more they hit each other, the less they hit ."
Lan Yinyin raised her voice.
"Yes. I proposed to Hei Long during a match."
The crowd gasped dramatically, even though literally everyone had already seen the recording.
"I did it to assert dominance."
More gasps. One man fainted.
"I wanted to shake his will. Crack his concentration. Shatter his composure. It was a tactical play."
"You tried to kiss him mid-sword swing," soone whispered.
"TACTICS."
She raised a single finger.
"If proposing marriage mid-duel is unconventional, perhaps you’re just not ready for the battlefield of love."
A nearby sect elder dropped his pipe.
"...What does that an?"
"It ans," Lan Yinyin said, her voice rising with pride and hubris, "that love itself is a weapon. And I wield it better than you."
Ocean City Gossip Network Headquarters (a.k.a. tea shop)
By the ti she stepped down from the table, the rumors had already multiplied like demonic rabbits.
"Did you hear? Proposing mid-battle is a secret Lan Sect technique."
"It lowers the opponent’s defense by 60% if they’re male."
"Apparently, Hei Long fainted from emotional overload!"
"Our sect must learn this technique imdiately!"
Ocean City Registration Hall – Duel Board
Three entire sects had sent in official duel applications with a note:
"Our elite disciples will now be proposing in combat to test the strength of this ’Dominance Affection Style.’ We request combatants of high ntal fortitude."
The duel board lit up like a fireworks show.
"Heaven Sword Sect vs. Rising Petal Sect: Battle Confession: Level 3"
"Iron Root Sect vs. Petal Wind Pavilion: Heart-Splitting Saber Duel"
"Falling Leaf Sect’s Entire Female Division vs. Hei Long: Proposal Gauntlet (Pending consent)"
Hei Long, reading the board, aged five years on the spot.
"WHY AM I INVOLVED?!"
"Because you dodged the first proposal," Lin Fan explained helpfully. "Now they see it as a challenge."
"THEY THINK I’M A RAID BOSS!"
"To be fair," Prince Wuheng muttered, "you are tanky. Emotionally."
Hei Long sank to his knees.
"All I wanted was to win a few matches and eat skewers. I didn’t sign up to be emotionally assassinated."
anwhile...
Lan Yinyin was polishing her sword when a courier ran up to her, shaking.
"M-miss Lan! You’ve been challenged to twelve duels!"
"For disrespect?"
"For proposing improperly."
She blinked.
"Improperly?"
"You didn’t include flowers, spiritual tokens, a singing phoenix, or at least a cloud chariot."
Lan Yinyin’s eye twitched.
"They think I need to be more romantic?"
"Yes, ma’am! They even included diagrams."
She looked down at the scroll handed to her. It was an artist’s rendition of Hei Long on one knee, surrounded by petals and fireworks.
Lan Yinyin scread into the void.
"THEY THINK HE PROPOSED?!"
Hei Long’s Temporary Sect Tent
Hei Long had barricaded himself inside with five talismans, three bamboo spears, and a "NO LOVE" sign.
"This is my life now," he said, eating a cold rice bun. "I will never know peace again."
Lin Fan poked his head in.
"Guess what? Lan Yinyin has a new plan to reclaim the narrative."
"Does it involve apologizing?"
"It involves proposing again. Bigger."
"I’m moving to the Spirit Realm."
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