A Quiet Homecoming

Lin Yu shoved Fu Ming toward the entrance of Ruyue Inn. "Get to the top floor—Lu Yao hid the God-Slaying Spike in the rafters!"

Fu Ming caught the Calming Soul Spike she tossed him and glanced back at her. He knew Lin Yu could handle the revenants, so he didn't linger and turned to leave.

"Qingxuan," Lin Yu called softly as the revenants closed in. The blade quivered slightly in response.

She swung the sword at the foremost revenant. "Back off!"

"Lu Yao deceived you all. Even if she survived, your bodies wouldn't hold up much longer—you'd rot away into a pool of pus." Her voice grew quieter. "I won't hurt you. Go home, and make the most of your remaining days."

The revenants halted, their eyes shifting as they studied their own decaying forms. A heavy silence fell.

The wind howled, whipping sand through the air like a lament for their miserable fates.

Lin Yu caught a faint murmur from the crowd. "I can't die... I can't die."

No one wants to die.

Suddenly, a voice shouted, "Kill her! She killed Miss Lu! We must avenge her!"

The crowd surged again. Lu Yao had twisted their minds before her death, compelling them to avenge her.

Lin Yu's brow twitched. She scanned the crowd—those who had seemed dejected now stared at her with burning hatred.

She frowned slightly, pressed her lips together, and tightened her grip on the sword.

Then someone charged, and the rest followed, shambling at her with rotting arms outstretched and faces twisted in fury, screaming for Lu Yao's blood.

Lin Yu didn't flinch. The first wave died with a single sweep of her sword.

A drop of blood splattered beneath her eye. She wiped it away calmly, then lifted her gaze, her eyes turning cold and fierce as she tried to break their trance. "Come any closer, and you'll share their fate."

It didn't work. Voices still cried, "Kill her!"

"Kill her!" the revenants chorused.

In an instant, a tide of clawing figures rushed at her. Lin Yu stared at them without blinking, her thoughts unreadable.

She stepped back to create distance, then swung Qingxuan. Thanks to the blood pact between them, even with her magic suppressed, she could unleash devastating force through the blade. She put every ounce of strength into a single, massive slash that sent a shockwave rippling through the crowd.

The revenants tumbled like felled trees. Those at the front, already frail, died on the spot, crushed by the force.

Corpses littered the ground.

A few survivors, driven as if possessed, dragged themselves from among the dead and reached out with their rotting hands. Lin Yu's impatience showed in her eyes. She sent Qingxuan flying at them, and in moments, they all collapsed.

All around her lay Soul-Renewing Pills, gleaming and scattered. Her gaze swept past them to the two figures struggling to rise at the back—they clung to each other and staggered toward her.

She recognized them: Nunu's parents. Their eyes met. Nunu's father pulled out a small dagger, his glare fierce as he tramped over the sea of bodies. "You killed Miss Lu—die!"

"Mm—"

Lin Yu thrust her sword into his chest. Blood spilled from his mouth.

Even as death took him, blood flooding his throat, he choked out, "I'm not dead... I'm not dead... I can still live..."

Behind him, Nunu's mother stood paralyzed, still in the purple dress from their first meeting. Lin Yu couldn't tell how much awareness remained in her, so she held her gaze. "Go home."

The woman in purple stood still, as if mulling it over. Just as Lin Yu thought she might leave, she lunged with a shriek.

Lin Yu instinctively raised her sword—and Nunu's mother slammed straight onto the blade!

Lin Yu's pupils shrank as she tried to pull back, but the woman grabbed the edge with both hands and pushed forward, driving it deeper until it nearly pierced through her body.

She looked at Lin Yu and smiled, a look of release in her eyes. "Alive..." she murmured.

Lin Yu couldn't describe what she felt. As the woman crumpled, a boulder came into view behind her. Lin Yu thought she saw its shadow shift. Believing another revenant was there, she advanced with her sword.

Behind the boulder crouched a tiny figure. It was only when she drew close that Lin Yu recognized Nunu.

Nunu looked up at her, fighting back tears. "Don't... don't kill me... I'm alive. I haven't died yet."

"Why did you follow?" Lin Yu asked.

"I snuck out after my parents..."

Lin Yu said nothing.

Nunu's chin trembled. "My parents died a long time ago, didn't they? They weren't sick—they were dead, right?"

Lin Yu didn't know how to answer, so she simply nodded. "Yes."

Nunu crouched in silence, arms wrapped around her knees. She was a bright child—she must have sensed something wrong long ago, guessed the truth, but refused to accept it, convincing herself they were just ill.

Looking at the small girl, Lin Yu suddenly remembered herself at that age—alone, guarding her parents' bodies, not knowing where to go.

What had she been thinking back then? She'd long since forgotten.

Lin Yu's gaze landed on Nunu's braid, neatly done, clearly tied with a mother's care. "Do you want to go to Heaven's Mandate Tower to learn beast taming?"

She and Zhang Yulin had once joked that the kid could outrun a divine beast—perfect for the art.

Nunu's eyes lit up. "Would that make me strong?"

"Yes."

Nunu nodded and rose, teary-eyed, reaching for Lin Yu's sleeve. At that moment, Fu Ming leaped down from the inn—with a dark shadow at his heels!

"Run!" he shouted.

He grabbed Lin Yu and pulled her in a wide arc around the boulder to dodge the shadow.

Nunu was too small to see in the dark, and Fu Ming didn't notice the child on the ground. It all happened too fast for Lin Yu to grab her. The shadow missed its target but lunged at Nunu, who hadn't moved fast enough.

The shadow snatched Nunu and swept into the night. Lin Yu charged after it, sword raised.

She chased it through the gale, watching Nunu thrash in panic. Weakened and away from the inn, the shadow began to falter. Then, as if deciding to cut its losses, it suddenly let go—hurling Nunu toward a sheer cliff!

The shadow reversed course like the wind and struck at Lin Yu.

She failed to catch Nunu, clashed once with the shadow, and in that split second, plunged into the abyss with the girl!

The shadow glanced back once, then was gone with the wind. Fu Ming had no time to pursue it. The night was too dark; the inn's lanterns had gone out, and everything faded into blackness. He scrambled to the cliff's edge, desperately trying to sense Qingxuan.

Fortunately, Lin Yu still held the sword. She managed to plant her foot on a loose rock that jutted from the cliff, using it to slow her fall. Qingxuan embedded itself in the rock face, holding both her and Nunu suspended over the void—one hand gripping the girl, the other braced on the hilt.

Then Nunu spoke. "Sister, let go."

Lin Yu's heart lurched. "I'll get you up."

"...There's a path down there."

Lin Yu: "?"

She glanced down. Sure enough...

Just a bit below and to the side of where she hung, a huge ledge protruded from the cliff. Peering closer, Lin Yu saw what looked like a narrow cave entrance beneath it!

She hurled Nunu toward the ledge. The girl landed neatly on the stone and scrambled around for a moment. Then, just as Lin Yu had guessed, Nunu shouted excitedly, "Sister, it's a cave!"

Lin Yu let go of Qingxuan and jumped down after her. She gauged the distance to the top and called up to Fu Ming, "Fu Ming, jump!"

Fu Ming, who had been kneeling at the edge in despair, unable to sense Qingxuan, heard the shout and jolted: "?"

"Jump!" Lin Yu yelled.

Though baffled, he followed the sound and leapt.

Qingxuan tore free from the cliff wall and flew toward him. He caught it, and the sword carried him down to land safely on the ledge.

By then, Lin Yu and Nunu had cleared the cave mouth—pulling away tangled branches, leaves, and rubble. The opening was about waist-high, but the interior looked spacious.

The three of them stood on the ledge, and with Fu Ming's arrival, it suddenly felt cramped. Lin Yu took Qingxuan from him and swung it at the cave mouth.

Chips of stone flew into the ravine below. She hacked until the opening was tall enough to walk through.

"This is—" Fu Ming started, but Lin Yu pulled him inside.

In the darkness, she held out her hand. "The God-Slaying Spike."

Fu Ming placed it in her palm. She turned it over, studying its golden glow and the fierce killing aura it radiated.

She tucked it away and, by the faint light from Qingxuan's tassel, studied the cave murals.

The light was too weak; she strained to make out the faded colors on the cracked walls. The paintings told an ancient story, but much of the pigment had flaked away and crumbled to dust on the floor.

Then a beam of light blazed from behind her. The cave flooded with illumination, and for the first time, the full glory of the murals was revealed.