2026-08-08 20:00:17When the Xuefeng delegation fully entered the pavilion area, the atmosphere of Qingyun Mountain changed without anyone giving an order. The silence came naturally from the realization that the center of attention had moved.
The men who had been discussing Zhao Hua, Guang Jiang, and the other sect guests lowered their voices. Several straightened their posture without noticing, as though sitting too casually might make them look small before the northern delegation.
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Consort Hanim’s Blood Needles
Rong Tian did not answer immediately. He could see that Hanim was not protecting Lin Zhao out of loyalty, but because the State Preceptor was still useful for moving pieces along the palace route.Hanim continued in the same gentle voice. “The deaths at the Fire God Temple were merely a small price in a greater game. Ordinary people always think their lives weigh more than a nation’s map, when the world does not stop simply because a few poor mouths are closed.”Yan Mo grinned, but An Ying did not smile. Her words reminded both of them that if the situation truly turned bad, Hanim might silence her allies in exactly the same way.“Daring to use a name is not the same as being able to bear its shadow,” Rong Tian finally said.Hanim raised one hand.A blood-red needle shot forward almost without sound, so thin that an ordinary disciple would have seen
The Old Corpses That Knew No Rank
Lin Zhao raised his false seal again. “Return to the earth.”Nothing happened.The slimmer figure stepped forward. His foot struck the stone beside Lin Zhao, cracking its surface and sending fragments against the hem of the State Preceptor’s robe.It was not a killing blow, but it was enough to force Lin Zhao half a step backward in front of everyone.Several Hellfire Sect disciples suppressed their laughter. Lin Zhao looked more humiliated than he would have if he had actually been wounded, because retreating from a corpse had just shattered every claim he had made about rank and control over something he had dismissed as meaningless.“Dead things do not understand rank,” Lin Zhao said as he drew a blue sword from beneath his robe. “I will put it back into the ground.”Rong Tian answered calmly, “Correct. Dead
The Crooked Wings on the State Preceptor’s Back
Rong Tian raised the black flute slightly. The note that emerged was extremely low, not a melody but a brief vibration that caused the smoke from the false seal to move back toward Lin Zhao.The smoke clung behind Lin Zhao’s shoulders and formed a pair of crooked, uneven wings. They resembled a damaged bat clearly enough for everyone to recognize the shape, yet looked defective enough to reveal that the seal had never touched the true core of the name it was using.A Hellfire Sect disciple standing behind Yan Mo failed to suppress his laughter. The small sound was immediately disguised as a cough, but everyone heard it, including Lin Zhao.Lin Zhao tried to keep his expression calm. However, the malformed smoke clinging behind his shoulders made him look like a man wearing wings made from funeral paper, and the harder he suppressed his anger, the more obvious it became that he was losing face.
The False Seal Begins to Cough
The cup in Lin Zhao’s hand did not fall, but his fingertips pressed so hard against the porcelain that his knuckles turned pale. Prince Liu Xuan glanced at the State Preceptor, beginning to realize that the man he had brought as the guarantor of this plan did not control the situation nearly as well as he had assumed.Hanim studied the masked figure without haste. “A sharp tongue does not necessarily mean sharp fangs.”“Fangs do not need to speak once the skin has already begun to tear,” Rong Tian replied.Yan Mo gave a coarse laugh, partly to conceal the unease among his own disciples. “If you truly are that great shadow, then show us your fangs. Don’t just sit there like a guest afraid someone might ask him to leave.”Rong Tian did not move from the low stone. Behind Yan Mo, however, one of the Hellfire Sect lanterns suddenly dimmed for half a breath,
The Masked Guest in the Circle of Mist
The mist around the stone table did not move freely. It revolved according to the four lanterns hanging low from dry branches, while small talismans beneath the chairs restrained every current of breath so that no stranger could enter without causing the shadow bells to ring.The meeting place was more than an empty patch of ground disguised by the forest. Beneath the old roots, thin threads of qi stretched like spider veins, black ash had been scattered into the gaps between stones to detect changes in the air, and the mist lanterns at the four corners had been arranged so that every unfamiliar breath would leave a tremor in their light.Dark Shadow Sect disciples had once boasted that this formation could detect the steps of a mist weasel before the animal reached the first root. Hellfire Sect disciples had also mocked that an ordinary city resident would burn within two breaths if he dared touch the outer boundary without a token of permi
The Black Bat King’s Name Cannot Be Borrowed at Will
Yan Mo arrived from the right-hand path with restrained heat lingering around his shoulders. He heard the mockery and gave the prince’s attendant a coarse smile.“Palace nobles enjoy calling other people dogs,” he said. “Strangely enough, they are always the first to call for dogs when their own doors are too heavy to open.”Prince Liu Xuan’s attendant immediately changed expression. “Watch your mouth in the presence of imperial blood.”Yan Mo laughed quietly. “Imperial blood doesn’t make a neck any harder.”Hanim raised one hand slightly before the prince’s attendant could answer. The movement was small, but it was enough to stop the two guards who had already been on the verge of stepping forward.“We did not come here to decide who is best at trading insults,” Hanim said. “His Highness ca
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