Rain fell the next day, thin and cold.
Yun'er tossed a half-melted scroll onto the garden table. "Our whisper rats didn't scatter. They regrouped. Two more killings near North Wharf. Same signs."
"They're accelerating," Wuyin said. "Trying to finish something before they're caught."
Yujin joined them in the pavilion, carrying a tray with tea. "The merchants are restless. I've received three anonymous threats and an offer to buy my silence."
"Buy you?" Yun'er scoffed. "Idiots."
Yujin sipped calmly. "They don't know me. But they will."
---
That night, Wuyin moved alone through Baojing's upper district. She scaled the walls of the Goldleaf Guild, a private auction house known for laundering cursed relics.
Inside, she found a familiar relic—a jade mirror once used by a minor cult to trap qi souls.
She left a message in blood across the floor: The eyes of the Silent Monarch do not blink.
By dawn, the guild was in lockdown.
---
Yun'er kicked a stone off the training ground floor. "They'll retaliate."
"Let them," Wuyin said.
Yujin stepped between them, placing a hand on Wuyin's chest. "No more lone missions. We face them together."
Wuyin looked down at the touch. Her hand slowly covered Yujin's.
"Fine. But only if you stop bringing tea into sword briefings."
Yujin smiled. "Then I'll bring wine."
Yun'er groaned. "Please. Just kiss already or spar. I can't take this tension."
Wuyin and Yujin both looked at her.
"What?" Yun'er said. "I'm just saying what we're all thinking."
Wuyin muttered, "You're lucky I like you."
Yujin grinned. "She's lucky we both do."
---
By the end of the day, they had their next target:
A cult broker named Hei Feng, who operated from the back of a medicinal apothecary.
Wuyin sharpened her blade.
This time, she wasn't leaving survivors.