The Azure Cloud Sect glittered beneath the morning sun, its jade towers and golden pavilions basking in the light like it had never known blood.
But Lin Ruyan… could not feel the warmth.
She stood in the inner sect courtyard, surrounded by the rustling of blossoms and the gentle murmur of disciples training. But none of it reached her.
Her hands trembled slightly as she held the silk ribbon Ye Tian had once gifted her.
It was torn now. Bloodstained. And despite everything, she had kept it.
"You should let it go, Senior Sister," a voice spoke behind her.It was Zhao Feng.
She turned.
His smile was radiant as always. Empty, practiced, political.
"You're thinking of him again," he said softly, like it was an old joke.
Ruyan didn't respond.
Zhao Feng stepped closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's gone, Ruyan. You saw it yourself. He was nothing but a cripple clinging to his pride."
Her voice was quiet. "He didn't even try to explain. He just… looked at me. Like I had already sentenced him."
Zhao Feng's eyes narrowed briefly before softening again. "That look was guilt. He was caught. You have nothing to regret."
She turned away. "Then why does it feel like I do?"
Later, in her private chamber, Lin Ruyan sat alone.
She opened an old wooden box—one she hadn't dared touch since the day Ye Tian was cast down. Inside were fragments of their past: letters, a jade pendant he'd carved as children, and a half-written poem he'd never finished.
She touched the jade.
And the guilt flared.
He didn't beg. He didn't plead. He just… accepted it. Why?Why didn't he fight back?Unless…
Her thoughts were interrupted by hushed voices outside her window.
Two outer sect disciples passed by, unaware she was listening.
"I swear I saw it! Deep in the forest near the Abyssal Ravine… a monster with human eyes. Burning red. Like fire…""Pfft. You've been hitting the Fireroot again.""No! It was a man. He killed a Bone-Hound like it was nothing. I think… I think Ye Tian's alive."
Her breath caught.
They walked on, laughing nervously.
Lin Ruyan sat frozen.
"No… That's impossible."
But the pendant in her hand suddenly felt heavier.
The silence of the room screamed at her.
What if you were wrong?
That night, she dreamt of him.
Not the old Ye Tian.
But one with crimson eyes and a blood-soaked blade… looking at her with the same expression he had before he was cast down.
He didn't speak.
He just watched.
And then he turned away.
She awoke with a gasp, drenched in sweat.
In the corner of her room, unnoticed by her, a tiny wisp of black smoke curled through the cracks of the floorboards.
Watching.
Waiting.
Something below had begun to stir.