2026-08-04 15:04:31For a time, the teahouse continued as usual. Cups touched saucers, chairs scraped the floor, servants moved between tables, and two cloth merchants still argued over prices.
Yet the rhythm of the room had already shifted.
Rong Tian sat several tables behind the gray-robed cultivators. His back remained straight, one hand resting around his cup, while his eyes appeared calm.
Inside, his thoughts had begun moving the moment the thin
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The Road of Mourning
The carriage slowed, and the white horses snorted as the rhythm of the mourning drums faltered before stopping altogether. Every eye along the main road turned toward the old man kneeling there with a small bundle of flowers in his hands.The procession halted with such suddenness that it felt as though something had been pulled taut across the middle of the road. The white horses raised their heads, the city guards moved at once, and the voices of the crowd broke apart into unfinished breaths.Rong Ma remained on his knees. He held the flowers at chest height before raising them slightly when the funeral carriage finally came to a complete stop in front of him.From this distance, he could see the edge of Zhao Lin’s black coffin, the white cloth hanging from its corners, and the thin incense smoke drifting in the breeze above the main road. His face was not wet with tears, but the grief in his eyes was so unmistak
Before the Carriage Passed
For the townspeople, the sight already said enough. The Zhao household was not standing alone.A cloth merchant at the roadside rubbed his nose and whispered, “Look at that. The Radiant Sword Sect came in full force.”His companion swallowed. “Then this really is a serious matter.”An old woman standing behind them shook her head. “Serious or not, the Vice Minister was cut down on the road. Bai Feng is becoming less safe by the day.”A man on the right joined in. “If the Black Bat King truly did it, that demon should be hunted all the way into whatever hole in the sand he crawled into.”“Someone like that should never be allowed to roam free,” a shoemaker agreed. “Look at Miss Zhao. Her father has not even been buried yet, and she still has to stand before everyone like this.”A thin old man near the bamboo fence clicked his tongue softly. “The girl is pitiful, that much is true, but look at who is walking behind her. With the Radiant Sword Sect standing beside the Zhao family, this i
The Mourning Road
“Then why did you come?”“To see the coffin of a man who once helped me.”The answer silenced two nearby listeners. Cities were full of many kinds of relationships, and simple bonds like that were often the hardest to defend before the gates of great households.Not long afterward, the servant who had gone inside returned. His face was tenser than before.“Miss Zhao has heard,” he said. “But the mourning residence is full. People like you do not need to enter the inner hall.”Uncle Wu narrowed his eyes slightly. “If we cannot enter the hall, then let us leave the flowers in the courtyard.”The servant held his breath. “I am only delivering the words of the household.”A collective breath moved through the crowd around the gate, not loud enough to be called protest but
Voices at the Door
The second guard clicked his tongue. “People like you do not need to make an effort to embarrass anyone. Just standing here is enough to ruin the view.”Several nearby townspeople frowned at that. Not everyone enjoyed watching an old man treated like refuse, even if few of them were brave enough to intervene.Uncle Wu looked at the guard without smiling. “Watch your mouth. Words like that spoken at a mourning house can stain your master as well.”The guard was about to answer when a household servant hurried out from the courtyard. His face was tense, as though he had just received an unpleasant order.“What is happening here?” he asked.The first guard gave a brief salute. “These lowborn men are trying to force their way inside.”Rong Ma lowered his head slightly, but his voice remained steady. “I am Rong
The Waiting Gate
Zhao Hua lowered her head toward the servant as though grief were weighing on her, while beneath her mourning clothes her thoughts were already moving quickly. Those people from her father’s old connections could become a source of sympathy, but they could just as easily become mud dragged into the house.She knew that some of them had once been close to the Rong family. Even before that name was spoken aloud, the thought alone was enough to chill her chest.“Let them wait outside for now,” she said quietly.The servant hesitated. “If they ask why…”“Tell them the residence is full of guests,” Zhao Hua cut in. “People of their station will not die simply because they stand at the gate a little longer.”The words were spoken softly. The servant bowed and withdrew at once.Guang Jiang had heard everyt
Under Watchful Eyes
Zhao Hua lowered her head further. To those watching, she looked like a grieving daughter holding herself together only because the words of a great sect had given her something to lean on.Inside, however, she understood perfectly well that she was being examined like a piece of raw iron. As long as Guang Jiang had not turned his face away, she still had a chance to turn her grief into position.Chang Zhong finally spoke. His voice was not loud, yet because he used it so rarely, everyone near him fell silent almost at once.“Vengeance is easy to speak of before a coffin,” he said. “What is difficult is enduring when a great household begins losing its people one by one.”His words offered neither comfort nor approval. Their coldness only made Zhao Hua feel as though she were being forced to prove herself.Guang Jiang glanced at Chang Zhong before looking
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