Li Yuan couldn't sleep. He lay on the simple straw bed, staring at the wooden ceiling while listening to the night sounds of Sancheng. What was usually tranquil—the trickle of water from the garden, the rustle of the mango tree leaves, the distant sounds of nocturnal activity—tonight felt... filled with an unseen threat.
Through the small radius of his Wenjing Realm, Li Yuan caught fragments of intentions from the people who were still awake around the inn. There was an unease flowing like an underground current, unspoken fear, and most disturbingly—there was dark planning in the distance.
They aren't sleeping either, Li Yuan thought. They are organizing something.
Li Yuan got up from bed and walked to the window. The garden view, which was usually calming, looked different tonight. The shadows seemed darker, every movement of the leaves felt as if it were hiding something.
Then he saw it—a small flash of light moving between the houses in the distance. Not the light of a regular lamp, but the light of a torch or lantern moving in an organized pattern.
They are gathering, Li Yuan realized with a cold feeling. And there are many of them.
Li Yuan quickly put on his gray hanfu and went downstairs. He found Liu Ming already sitting in the living room, staring at the door with a tense expression.
"You can't sleep either?" Liu Ming asked without turning his head.
"Something is moving out there," Li Yuan replied, sitting in a chair next to Liu Ming. "A lot of people. With torches."
Liu Ming nodded grimly. "Kesi saw them too. They've been gathering since eleven. In three different locations—near the port, near the square, and..." he paused for a moment, "near the area where the mixed-race families live."
Li Yuan felt something cold seep into his bones. "They aren't just targeting the festival. They are targeting people."
"Zhang Wei already sent messages to all the coordinators," Liu Ming continued in a low voice. "But we don't have the authority to call for outside help. This is an internal affair of Sancheng."
An internal affair that could end in bloodshed, Li Yuan thought.
The sound of footsteps on the stairs made both of them turn. Kesi came down with a pale face, followed by Henrik and Elsa who looked newly awakened but instantly alert.
"The situation is getting worse," Kesi said without preamble. "I just got a message from a neighbor to the east. The Chen family's house—a Luxen father, a Kuatri mother—has been visited by a group with torches. They haven't done anything yet, but they're... surrounding the house."
Elsa sat down with a shocked face. "This is becoming... a pogrom," she said in a trembling voice. "Systematic harassment against a minority group."
"Not a minority group," Henrik corrected with a bitter tone. "Anyone who is considered 'contaminated' by mixing. Which could be anyone who has ever interacted positively with another race."
Li Yuan felt an anger beginning to build in his chest, but this time the anger was mixed with something darker—a heavy sense of responsibility. He had pushed to continue the festival with the collaborative concept. He was the one who didn't back down when the first threat came.
Is this my fault? The question hit Li Yuan like a physical blow. By trying to uphold an ideal, have I just endangered innocent people?
As if reading his mind, Liu Ming looked at Li Yuan with an expression that was firm but not blaming.
"Don't," he said. "Don't start blaming yourself. They are the ones who chose violence. We only chose not to submit to intimidation."
"But the consequences..." Li Yuan started.
"The consequences are the responsibility of those who chose hate, not of us who chose love," Kesi interrupted in a voice that was trembling but firm.
From outside, they heard a sound that made Li Yuan's blood run cold—shouting from a distance, the sound of breaking glass, and most terrifyingly, the sound of an angry crowd.
"They've started," Elsa whispered.
Li Yuan stood up quickly. "Where?"
Liu Ming was already moving toward the window. "It looks like from the direction of... oh no. The mixed-race family area."
Enough, something in Li Yuan shifted definitively. No more hesitation, no more diplomatic considerations. There were innocent people—including children—who were in danger for no fault of their own other than being born from a love that crossed artificial boundaries.
"I have to go there," Li Yuan said, moving toward the door.
"Li Yuan, wait," Henrik got up and blocked his way. "You can't go alone. If they're in the mood for violence..."
"They won't hurt me," Li Yuan replied with a certainty that made everyone in the room look at him with a strange expression.
There was something in the way Li Yuan said that—not arrogance or false confidence, but a calm and absolute statement of fact—that made them realize there was an aspect of Li Yuan they didn't know yet.
"How can you be sure?" Kesi asked.
Li Yuan was silent for a moment, considering how much truth he should reveal.
"Because I have lived long enough to know that violence born from hatred always collapses when it faces a strength that comes from love," he finally answered. "And I will not let children suffer because of adult hatred."
Before anyone could respond, a hard knock on the door made everyone freeze.
They've come here too, Li Yuan thought.
Liu Ming moved toward the door cautiously. "Who is it?"
"Zhang Wei," a familiar voice was heard from outside, but with an urgent and panicked tone. "Open the door, quickly!"
Liu Ming opened the door and Zhang Wei came in in a rush, his face sweaty and his breath ragged.
"The situation is out of control," he said without a greeting. "They've already burned two shops owned by mixed families. The Li family—a Zuwa father, a Luxen mother—have evacuated to a relative's house because their house is surrounded."
"How many people are involved?" Henrik asked.
"About two hundred people," Zhang Wei answered. "But the ones actively committing violence are probably only fifty. The others are just caught up in... mob mentality."
Li Yuan felt something cold settle in his stomach. Two hundred people. In a city as small as Sancheng, that was a significant portion of the population.
"What is the plan of the authorities?" Elsa asked.
Zhang Wei laughed with a bitter sound. "Authorities? Li Yuan, this is Sancheng. We don't have real authorities. All we have is a council of the three communities, and right now that council is paralyzed because each community is blaming the other."
Breakdown of social order, Li Yuan realized. This is no longer a riot, it has become a collapse of the existing system.
"Zhang Wei," Li Yuan said in a calm but authoritative voice, "what is needed now? Concretely."
Zhang Wei looked at Li Yuan with an expression that was desperate but hopeful. "We need someone who can talk to the crowd, who can de-escalate the situation. Someone who is respected but not seen as a partisan of any side."
"And you think I can do that?"
"You managed to defuse the situation at the festival yesterday. You have a way of speaking that is... different. That makes people listen."
Li Yuan looked at the faces of the people in the room—Liu Ming and Kesi who were full of hope, Henrik and Elsa who were worried but supportive, Zhang Wei who was desperate.
They all hope I can be a savior, Li Yuan thought. But I'm not sure I can save a situation that has gone this far without... revealing who I really am.
From outside, the sound of shouting and destruction was getting closer. Li Yuan could feel through his Wenjing Realm that a group was moving toward the inn—not hostile yet, but curious and potentially dangerous.
Time to decide, Li Yuan realized. I can continue to hide my true identity and abilities, and hope that regular human diplomacy can work. Or...
Li Yuan looked toward the window where the light of torches was beginning to move toward the inn.
Or I can show Sancheng what it means when someone who truly understands the meaning of unity decides not to tolerate hatred.
"Zhang Wei," Li Yuan said in a voice that already contained a decision, "gather everyone who can still be reasoned with. All the coordinators, all the moderate voices from the three communities. We are going to end this tonight."
"How?" Zhang Wei asked.
Li Yuan smiled, and for the first time since arriving in Sancheng, there was a glimpse of something ancient and powerful in his gray eyes.
"By showing them the difference between a strength that destroys and a strength that heals," he answered.