The guards were still combing through the trees when Bai Yujin stepped off the wagon, fanning herself lazily. Her hair shimmered in the twilight, and not a speck of blood stained her. She walked as if the attack were a mild inconvenience rather than a life-threatening ambush.
The caravan leader bowed. "L-Lady Bai, we've driven them off. A few dead, but most escaped into the woods. We're—"
> "You're incompetent," Yujin replied smoothly. "But I'll consider it an acceptable loss. Send word to my uncle in Yunzhou. Triple payment to whoever killed the most of them."
She tapped her fan against her chin. "And find me the girl."
The leader blinked. "Girl…?"
Yujin's smile sharpened. "The one who fought in silence. The one who saved us."
The guards exchanged glances. They had seen a blur, a shadow—nothing more.
But Yujin had seen her.
Even just a glimpse through the trees.
The way she moved… it wasn't martial. It wasn't elegant.
It was lethal.
---
Lin Wuyin did not leave the forest.
Not immediately.
She perched in the canopy high above, watching the caravan struggle to recover.
She should have gone.
She had no stake in this. No reason to intervene.
Yet…
That girl with the fan—Bai Yujin—was unlike anyone she'd encountered.
Too calm. Too clever.
Too beautiful.
Wuyin clicked her tongue and turned away.
She didn't have time for softness.
---
It was nearly midnight when the girl came to find her.
Alone.
No guards. No fan. Just a pale robe under a travel cloak and a single lantern in her hand, casting gold over green shadows.
Wuyin tensed.
She'd deliberately left no trail. No sound. No scent.
So how…?
The girl stopped beneath the tree where Wuyin stood.
"Are you going to kill me?"
The question was soft. Almost teasing.
Wuyin said nothing.
Bai Yujin looked up, her lips curving.
"You've been following us for three days. I thought I'd make things easier."
Still silence.
Yujin's lantern swayed in the wind. "You aren't one of the assassins. You fought too efficiently. You didn't take anything either. So, who are you? A sword ghost? A forgotten heir?"
Her gaze sharpened.
"A vagrant cultivator, maybe?"
Wuyin's fingers twitched.
The name echoed through her.
She dropped down behind Yujin in a blur of black shadow. The heiress didn't startle.
"I should kill you," Wuyin said at last, voice low and cold. "You talk too much."
"And you're terrible at leaving," Yujin replied.
The corner of Wuyin's mouth twitched.
She hated it.
This girl was playing a game.
A dangerous one.
She circled slowly around her. "Why aren't you afraid?"
"Because you haven't killed me yet."
Yujin's eyes gleamed with something more dangerous than courage.
Curiosity.
"And because," she added, "you've been watching me since morning. If you wanted me dead, you would've done it long ago."
Wuyin stopped walking.
Yujin stepped closer, now only a few feet apart.
"You don't belong here, do you?"
Wuyin said nothing.
"I can tell," Yujin continued, softer now. "The way you move. You're not Jianghu. Not sect-trained. You walk like you've killed people before they ever saw you. Like you were taught to erase yourself."
She tilted her head.
"You're not one of us."
That struck a chord.
Wuyin's eyes darkened.
"You talk like a scholar," she said coldly. "But you walk into a killer's den alone."
Yujin laughed lightly. "That's because I knew you wouldn't hurt me."
"Arrogant."
"Perhaps. But I also know talent when I see it." She stepped closer, until their breaths nearly touched. "You saved me. That makes you mine."
Wuyin blinked.
"…What?"
Yujin smiled like a cat. "I'm hiring you. As my personal escort."
Wuyin's voice went flat. "I'm not for hire."
"Oh? That's a shame. I pay well. I don't ask questions. And I don't scream when someone gets stabbed."
Wuyin stared.
Yujin stared back.
A moment passed.
Then Wuyin turned, cloak rustling faintly. "Keep your coin."
Yujin didn't move.
"But," Wuyin added, voice trailing behind her as she walked into the darkness, "your enemies will try again."
Yujin's fan snapped open. She didn't flinch at the sudden cold breeze.
"I'll leave a seat for you in the next wagon."
She stood alone under the moonlight.
Lantern swaying. Smile lingering.
---
Later, that night, Wuyin stood by the forest's edge, watching the flickering fires of the merchant camp.
She should keep moving. She didn't need entanglements.
And yet…
Her feet didn't move.