Seraphina's voice was frigid.
"Gabriel has a frail constitution. That the creature's pelt could keep him warm was its good fortune. If you harbor resentment over this, it only proves your heart is corrupt."
Then came the manic thoughts, bleeding into my ears.
Cry. Go on, cry.
The moment a single tear falls, I can collect it in the Jade Reliquary. A blood-tear from you.
The pelt of your beloved spirit companion is right here. Surely it hurts?
Kneel and beg me. Once you're sobbing so hard you can't breathe, I'll reward you with a few pills and stroke your head.
Her fingers rubbed something hidden inside her sleeve. I knew what it was: a scrap of bloodstained fabric torn from my robe yesterday when it snagged on the doorframe.
Deranged.
Seraphina leaned forward, eyes locked on me.
She was waiting for me to break. Waiting for me to grab her sleeve and weep.
I picked up the broom from the corner, bent down, and swept the medicinal dregs out the door.
"If it pleases my junior disciple, then so be it."
My voice was flat.
"I wouldn't want to offend Master's sight. I'll have this cleaned up right away."
Seraphina's expression froze. Something ignited behind her eyes.
No pleading. No tears.
She flicked her sleeve, and a wave of spiritual energy shattered the broom in my hands.
Wooden splinters drove into my palms. Blood welled up between my fingers.
I didn't flinch.
Seraphina closed the distance.
"Insolent wretch! It seems the Servants' Quarters have made you too comfortable. You haven't shown a shred of remorse!"
I kept my gaze on the tips of my boots.
"This disciple acknowledges his fault."
"Acknowledges his fault?"
Seraphina let out a cold laugh.
"If you truly know your fault, then go kneel beneath Frostfall Cascade in the Hinterlands! You will remain there until you've reflected properly. Only then may you crawl back!"
Frostfall Cascade was where the Verdant Blade Sect punished its gravest offenders.
Before, I could have endured it with spiritual energy alone. But my Soul-Bound Sword was shattered now, my cultivation in ruins. Going there was a death sentence in all but name.
I raised my head and looked at Seraphina the way one looks at a stranger.
"Yes, Master."
I turned and walked away.
Behind me came the ragged sound of her breathing, then the sharp crack of a teacup crushed to powder in her grip.
The wind in the Hinterlands cut like a blade.
The waterfall plunged from the high cliff and hammered into my back.
Cold bored through every crack in my bones. I knelt on the stone at the center of the pool, my knees long since numb.
The pain in my meridians was excruciating.
Three years ago, Seraphina had attempted her Tribulation Crossing. Her artifact shattered, and I threw myself behind her to take the lightning strike.
It had cracked my heart meridian. Cold made it flare, every time.
Now the freezing water hammered the old wound wide open.
My vision blurred white with pain, but I made no sound.
Seraphina was watching through her scrying mirror.
She was waiting for me to cry out, waiting for me to beg her for mercy.
She would be waiting a long time.
Countdown: 5 days.
Gabriel strolled over carrying a white jade bowl, steam curling from its rim.
It was a heart-warming tonic. A single sip would have been enough to ward off the cold.
He stopped at the bank, boots crunching through the snow.
"Senior Brother. How does it feel?"
Gabriel looked me up and down. "Master says all you have to do is bow your head, and this bowl is yours."
I closed my eyes and circulated what little spiritual energy remained inside me. I didn't acknowledge him.
Gabriel turned his wrist. The dark medicinal broth spilled across the snow, seeping into an ugly stain.
"Oops. Butterfingers."
The grin slid off his face, replaced by open satisfaction. "Take a good look at yourself. You're lower than a dog. You used to be the chief disciple. And now?"
I opened my eyes. "You're done pouring. Leave. You're blocking the light."
Gabriel's expression curdled.
A crushing pressure descended from above. Seraphina landed with a grim face and swept Gabriel behind her.
Her gaze fixed on me.
"Incorrigible."
She extended one finger and sealed every meridian point in my body.
Without spiritual energy to resist, the cold tore through my organs in an instant. I coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Since you refuse to learn, you can go to the Serpent Abyss."
It was the sect's Forbidden Grounds. The chasm below was writhing with venomous snakes.
