Beneath the moonlight, Han Li sat beside the lotus pond, watching koi swim lazy circles as if unaware the sect trembled around them. The breeze was cool. The silence—thick.
Footsteps approached.
From the shadows emerged a woman in white armor, face hidden behind a silver mask.
Han Li didn't turn. "It's been a long time, Yue."
She stopped beside him. "Ten years. I didn't expect to find you... sweeping."
"I find peace in dust. Unlike war."
She removed her mask. Her eyes shimmered—not with tears, but memories. "You once saved me in the Blood Sea Abyss."
Han Li smiled faintly. "You saved me first. I owed you."
"And now?"
Han Li dropped a pebble into the pond. "Now we're even."
She sat beside him. "You're going to draw attention."
"I already have."
"Xuan Yuan knows."
"I'm counting on it."
Yue reached into her sleeve and placed a jade token on the stone beside them. It glowed faintly—marked with the symbol of the Hidden Blade Pavilion.
"They'll come for you," she warned.
Han Li nodded. "Let them."
"Are you really ready to start again?"
He looked at the moon. "I never stopped."
A soft rustle echoed as a shadow dashed across the rooftops nearby—watchers sent by the inner sect.
Yue stood. "I'll delay them for a while. But not forever."
Han Li picked up the jade token. "That's all I'll need."
She vanished into the night like a forgotten dream.
Han Li leaned back, eyes on the stars.
Old debts were settling.
Old blades were waking.
And the world was beginning to remember the janitor they had all forgotten.