Night fell over Sancheng with an unusual heaviness. The first day of the festival had officially ended, but Li Yuan could feel that the tension had not. As he walked back to Harmony Inn with Henrik, Elsa, and the inn's owners, their conversation was hushed and uneasy.
"I've never seen anything like that," Elsa said in an almost whisper. "I mean, I know there's tension, but such explicit hatred..."
Liu Ming clenched his fists. "Kai Mordsen. That Luxen man. I know him. He's a rich merchant with influence in the Luxen community. If he's getting directly involved like that, it means there's something bigger going on."
Kesi walked in silence, but Li Yuan could see a deep worry in her eyes. As a Zuwa woman married to a Kuatri man, the racist comments earlier must have hit a personal nerve.
"What's going to happen tomorrow?" Henrik asked. "I mean, after that scene, will anyone still want to participate in the festival?"
"They will," Liu Ming replied with a firm tone. "In fact, maybe more will. The people who were silent out of fear might now speak up because they saw how ugly that hatred was."
But it could also be the opposite, Li Yuan thought, feeling a cold sensation in his stomach. Those who were silent because they didn't want a confrontation might now be more willing to show their hatred.
When they arrived at the Harmony Inn, Li Yuan saw something that made him stop. In front of the inn's door, three people stood in the shadows—two men and one woman, with tense postures and hostile auras.
Liu Ming also saw them and his pace slowed. "What do you want?" he asked in a wary tone.
One of the men—tall with typical Kuatri features—stepped out of the shadows. Li Yuan recognized him as one of the people who had been whispering during the festival earlier.
"Liu Ming," the man said in a cold tone, "we need to talk."
"About what, Zhao Kang?" Liu Ming asked, but from his tone, it was clear he already knew what the topic would be.
"About this inn becoming a nest for race mixing," Zhao Kang replied without preamble. "About how you and... that wife are setting a bad example for the younger generation."
Kesi instinctively took a step back, seeking protection behind her husband. Through his Wenjing Realm, Li Yuan heard an intention full of hurt and fear from the woman.
They are not just attacking an idea, Li Yuan realized. They are attacking the personal existence of the people they hate.
"Leave," Liu Ming said in a voice that trembled with suppressed anger. "You are not welcome here."
The woman standing with Zhao Kang—of medium build with Luxen features, perhaps his wife or colleague—laughed with a sharp sound.
"Welcome?" she said with sarcasm. "This isn't about being welcome or not. This is about the consequences of bad choices."
Li Yuan felt something very dark in the woman's intention. It wasn't just racial hatred—it was something more personal, more... dangerous.
Henrik stepped forward, his large body blocking access to the inn's door. "You are threatening my friends," he said in a low but menacing tone. "I suggest you leave before the situation becomes... unpleasant."
Zhao Kang looked at Henrik with a contemptuous expression. "Ah, an outsider interfering. Of course. You don't understand the complexities of our culture here."
"I understand bullying," Henrik replied firmly. "And I have no tolerance for it."
Escalation, Li Yuan realized with alarm. This situation is going to turn into physical violence if it isn't stopped.
Li Yuan stepped forward, placing himself between the two groups. "Perhaps this discussion could be held in a more... private place?" he said in a diplomatic but firm tone.
Zhao Kang looked at Li Yuan with narrowed eyes. "You. The musician from earlier. You're the one who humiliated Kai Mordsen in public."
"I didn't humiliate anyone," Li Yuan replied calmly. "I was just playing music."
"Music that destroys tradition," the voice of the third man—who had not spoken yet—was finally heard. He had Zuwa features, which surprised Li Yuan. Even from the Zuwa community, there are those who support supremacy thinking.
"How can music destroy tradition?" Li Yuan asked with genuine curiosity. "Music does not replace old traditions. It adds new possibilities."
The Luxen woman laughed with a harsh sound. "New possibilities? Like mixed marriages that produce confused children who don't know their identity?"
Kesi suddenly came forward, her eyes fiery. "Don't you dare talk about mixed-race children. They are not confused—they are rich. They have more perspectives, more ways of seeing the world."
"They are not fully accepted anywhere," the woman replied cruelly. "Not fully Kuatri, not fully Zuwa, not fully Luxen. They are... anomalies."
Li Yuan felt a rage beginning to simmer in his chest. Not just because of the attack on the mixed family, but because of the way they talked about children—innocent children—like they were objects, not human beings.
Enough, something in Li Yuan shifted again. This time it wasn't just anger, but something colder, more calculated.
"You speak about children as if they are a problem to be solved," Li Yuan said in a calm voice that held a clear warning. "That is a very... dangerous way of thinking."
Zhao Kang looked at Li Yuan with an expression that was becoming hostile. "Dangerous? What's dangerous are people like you who come from outside and influence our local children with liberal ideas."
"What kind of liberal ideas?" Li Yuan asked. "Like the idea that all children deserve to be loved regardless of their parents' origin?"
"Like the idea that there's no difference between races," the Zuwa man replied in an increasingly aggressive tone. "Like the idea that traditions can be changed at will."
Li Yuan was silent for a moment, considering the right response. Through his Wenjing Realm, he could feel the intentions of these three people increasingly moving toward... something terrible. Not just verbal harassment, but planning for a more extreme action.
They are not going to stop here, Li Yuan realized with a sinking feeling. And they are not alone. This is an advance team of something bigger.
"What do you really want?" Li Yuan asked directly. "You didn't come here for a discussion. What did you come for?"
The three people exchanged looks in a way that showed they had planned this moment.
"We came to give a warning," Zhao Kang said. "Tomorrow's festival must be canceled. Or there will be... consequences."
"What kind of consequences?" Liu Ming asked with a clenched jaw.
The Luxen woman smiled in a way that made Li Yuan feel cold. "Consequences that will make you regret contaminating pure cultures with your... experiments."
An explicit threat, Li Yuan realized. They have crossed the line from harassment to intimidation with the threat of violence.
"I think you should leave now," Li Yuan said in a voice that remained calm but contained something that made the three people instinctively take a step back.
Li Yuan's passive effect—which was usually calming—was now colored by his controlled anger and produced an aura that was... intimidating. Not in an obvious supernatural way, but there was something in his presence that made people feel it was unsafe to continue their aggression.
Zhao Kang looked confused by his own body's reaction to back away from Li Yuan. "This isn't over," he said, retreating slowly.
"Oh, it's over," Li Yuan replied. "But if you decide to continue, you will find that actions have consequences that apply to everyone."
After the three people left with a somewhat hurried pace, the group in front of the inn fell silent in a heavy silence.
"They'll be back," Liu Ming said finally. "And they'll bring more people."
"What should we do?" Kesi asked with a trembling voice.
Li Yuan looked toward the dark street where the three intimidators had disappeared. Through his Wenjing Realm, he could still feel the echoes of their intentions—intentions for violence, for destruction, for the elimination of what they saw as "contamination."
This is no longer about the festival, Li Yuan realized with a sinking feeling. This has become about the survival of the basic values of humanity in Sancheng.
"We cannot back down," Li Yuan said finally. "Because backing down would validate every prejudice, every hatred, every justification for treating others as lesser beings."
"But how do we protect the vulnerable people?" Elsa asked. "The mixed families, the children who just want to play music together?"
Li Yuan looked toward his room window on the second floor, where the candlelight was still lit. Then he looked toward the back garden where the old mango tree stood calmly under the moon.
That tree has witnessed decades of change in Sancheng, Li Yuan thought. It has seen conflict and reconciliation, hatred and love. And it still stands, still provides shade for anyone who needs it.
"Tomorrow," Li Yuan said in a calm voice that contained a strong resolve, "we will show Sancheng what they are really choosing. Not between one race and another, but between love and hate, between hope and fear, between the future and the past."
But tonight, Li Yuan thought, sensing the shadows moving in the distance, tonight we must prepare for the possibility that some people will choose hate, fear, and the past. And they will not stop at words.