The ruin was colder by morning.
Mist coiled around crumbled pillars, and the fire had long since died to cinders. Wuyin rose first, her blade in hand before her breath had even steadied. Dreams had whispered through her mind again — too fast to catch, too slow to forget.
She hadn't told Yujin everything.
But how could she?
Some parts weren't dreams at all.
Some were her.
She watched Yujin still asleep, curled loosely beneath her cloak, lips parted slightly as she breathed. Her hair spilled like ink across the stone floor.
Wuyin allowed herself a single moment — just one — to touch a stray lock of it, brushing it behind the heiress's ear.
It was dangerous, how easy that felt.
Yujin stirred at the touch. "Morning," she mumbled, half-asleep. "You were watching me again."
Wuyin blinked. "I wasn't—"
"You were," Yujin said with a sleepy smirk. "But I'll allow it."
Wuyin turned away before the corner of her mouth could betray her. "We should move."
Yujin sat up, stretching with a soft groan. "Let me guess. Trail's gone cold?"
"No." Wuyin tilted her head toward the far end of the ruin, where stone paths led into a deeper valley. "Something's burning."
---
The scent reached them before the fire.
Woodsmoke — but not just from trees. Herbal smoke. Ash mixed with copper. A cleansing pyre, not made for warmth.
Then they found the shrine.
It had been built into the mountainside — a weathered alcove with fading reliefs of the Four Heavenly Beasts. But someone had doused it in oil and set it alight recently. The flames had since died, but the blackened bones of incense poles and offerings remained.
Wuyin crouched at the edge, examining the scorched stone. "They burned something here. A scroll. Or…"
Yujin stepped closer. "Look."
Half-buried under the soot, a scorched charm made of red silk lay pinned beneath a stone. Wuyin picked it up. The embroidery was familiar.
A thread symbol used in the southern cults. It meant "silence."
Her jaw tightened.
"They're cleaning their trail."
Yujin folded her arms. "Then they know we're following."
"They knew before we left Lianshui," Wuyin said. "This… this was a message."
She turned the charm over.
On the back, pressed into the silk, was a small inked sigil. Not one Wuyin recognized — but it reminded her of old death tokens.
Yujin saw it too. "That's a warning. Not to us. To whoever tried to help you."
Wuyin's grip tightened.
A shout echoed from the hills.
They both turned. Three figures burst from the ridge — light-footed, blades drawn. Assassins, not bandits. Their qi was tight and restrained. Ghost Needle Sect, maybe — or mercenaries dressed to confuse.
Wuyin didn't wait.
She met them head-on — blade in one hand, a shard of her silent qi burning along the edge like frostlight. One blow disarmed the first. A second dropped the next with a pressure-point strike to the chest.
The third almost reached Yujin — until a pebble flew straight into their eye, followed by Yujin driving a sharp hairpin into the assassin's shoulder.
The woman crumpled.
Wuyin exhaled, staring down at the mercenaries.
All alive. For now.
She knelt beside the one Yujin had disabled. "Who hired you?"
Silence.
Wuyin pressed her fingers to the woman's shoulder — just slightly. A scream followed.
"Who?"
"…we don't say the name."
"Then write it."
The woman spat blood. "They'll burn us anyway."
Wuyin's voice lowered. "I can make it faster."
The assassin's eyes trembled.
Then, she coughed — and a puff of smoke escaped her lips. Her qi flared, and her heart stopped.
Wuyin caught her before she fell completely.
A poison seal — hidden in her tongue.
Yujin touched her arm. "Wuyin."
"They're tightening the noose," Wuyin said coldly. "Whoever we're chasing doesn't want their name spoken."
"Which means we're getting close."
Wuyin looked at the burned shrine again.
The past was no longer just echoing.
It was calling.
She turned to Yujin. "The girl I used to be — the assassin — we were trained for this. Breaking silence. Piercing veils."
Yujin's voice was soft. "Was that before or after they broke you?"
"…both."
Silence. Then Wuyin said quietly, "I used to be good at killing. Not for justice. Not for legacy. Just… because I was told to be. But I think this time, it's different."
Yujin held her gaze. "Why?"
"Because I chose this path. And because I'm not alone anymore."
Yujin stepped closer, eyes shining. "Then let's keep choosing. Together."
Wuyin finally nodded.
And in the shadow of that burned shrine, with nameless ash on their boots and stolen memories whispering in the wind, they took their next step.
Together.