"Did you just suggest that a student who placed first in the regional examination, broke the Dragon God Tower record, and cleared a Grade 6 plateau alone, was cheating?"
The member recalibrated visibly. "I'm saying the numbers don't add up."
"The numbers add up exactly," she said. "You just don't like what they add up to." She held his gaze for a moment. "Don't say anything else."
He didn't.
She turned back to Lin Yi and continued walking as if the interruption had not happened. Lin Yi walked beside her.
"They get defensive about the sect," she said. "Crimson Vanguard has been first-ranked for two consecutive sessions. Someone turning down an invitation registers as an insult to them. It isn't one. But that distinction requires a level of perspective that not everyone in any group manages consistently."
"I know," Lin Yi said.
"Does it bother you?"
"No."
She smiled.
"No," she repeated. "Of course not."
