"Who did it?" I demanded, stepping forward. "The Verdant River Palace? An external invasion?"
"No one knows," Lan cried. "People went up the mountain this morning and found a graveyard. And..." She swallowed hard. "Everything was stripped bare."
I walked to the window, looking out toward the distant peaks.
This was a deviation. A massive deviation. First Chen Wei dying early. Now an entire Great Sect annihilated?
"What is happening?" I whispered. "This isn't the world I remember."
Fear pierced through the triumph of my breakthrough. If the Spirit Cauldron Sect could be wiped out overnight, who was safe? Was there a new power in the domain? A hidden demon sect? A wandering expert?
And my thoughts, inevitably, snapped to one person.
Arya.
If there was an unknown threat capable of killing Nascent Soul ancestors, the Chen Family (the strongest family in the city) would be the next logical target.
"Is he safe?" I asked, whirling back to Lan. "The Chen Family. Have you heard anything?"
"The Patriarch went there," Lan said. "He left hours ago with the other leaders to investigate the mountain. They returned to the city recently. I heard... I heard he went straight to the Chen Estate."
"Prepare the carriage," I ordered.
"Young Miss, it is late," Lan began, but she saw the look in my eyes. The look of a Golden Core expert who would tear down the walls if she had to.
"Now, Lan."
The carriage ride to the Chen Estate was a blur of anxiety. I sat rigid on the cushioned seat, my hand resting on the hilt of my sword.
The world was spinning out of control. My knowledge of the future, my greatest weapon, was becoming less reliable by the day.
"Who killed them?" I murmured, watching the city lights flash by. "Jin Hao? No. He is strong now, but he isn't strong enough to wipe out a sect."
The unknown terrified me.
The carriage jerked to a halt at the gates of the Chen Estate. I threw the door open and stepped out.
The guards at the gate recognized me instantly. They saw the Azure Luan embroidery on my robe, the symbol of my status as the future mistress of this house. They bowed low, not daring to ask for a token.
"Young Miss Su," the captain said. "The Patriarchs are in the main study."
I nodded and swept past them. I navigated the familiar corridors, my heart pounding in my throat.
I reached the heavy ironwood doors of the Patriarch's study. I took a breath to steady myself.
I knocked.
"Enter," Chen Tianyuan's deep voice called out.
I pushed the doors open and stepped inside.
The study was lit by the soft glow of spirit lamps. Three men were inside.
My father, Su Mingyan, sat in a chair, a cup of tea in his hand. He looked grave, but uninjured.
Chen Tianyuan sat behind his desk, his expression serious but calm.
And standing by the window, looking out at the night... was Arya.
He turned as I entered.
He was wearing simple white robes, his hair loose around his shoulders. He looked... peaceful. Unharmed. And whole.
The knot of tension in my chest uncoiled so suddenly I almost swayed.
"Meira," he said.
A smile broke across his face… that warm smile that was reserved only for me.
He walked across the room, ignoring the presence of our fathers. He extended his hand.
I looked at it. Then I looked at my father.
Patriarch Su looked at me, then at Arya. A knowing smile touched his lips. He didn't chide us for impropriety. He just took a sip of his tea, looking content.
I turned back to Arya. I reached out and took his hand.
His fingers closed around mine. He pulled me gently toward him, not into an embrace, but close enough that our arms brushed. He guided me to the empty chair beside him.
"Sit," he said softly. "You look like you ran here."
"I took a carriage," I corrected, my voice quiet. I didn't let go of his hand.
I sat down and he sat on the arm of my chair, a breach of protocol so casual it was almost regal. He kept my hand in his, resting it on his knee.
"Father," I said, looking at Su Mingyan. "Lan told me. The Spirit Cauldron Sect..."
"Destroyed," my father confirmed, his voice somber. "It is a tragedy. But... it is also a justice."
"Justice?" I asked, confused.
"We went to the mountain," my father explained. "And we found the cause."
He leaned forward. "The sect was destroyed by one of its own."
I blinked. "One of its own?"
"A disciple named Shi Ran," Chen Tianyuan spoke up from behind the desk. "The personal disciple of Yao Guang."
"Shi Ran?" I searched my memories. The name was faint. A silent shadow who followed Yao Guang. I remembered him as a submissive boy who died in the crossfire of the war in my past life.
"He was hiding his cultivation," Chen Tianyuan continued. "He was a Peak Nascent Soul expert."
My grip on Arya's hand tightened involuntarily. "Peak... Nascent Soul?"
"Yao Guang murdered the boy's parents seventeen years ago to steal him," my father said. "He enslaved him. And he forced him to refine pills. The boy... he waited. He grew strong in the dark. And today, he took his revenge."
I sat there, stunned.
Shi Ran. He had done this? He had hidden a power that rivaled the ancestor, right under everyone's nose?
It didn't make sense. In my past life, he died screaming. How could he have changed so much? Where did he get the power?
"He died in the end," Chen Tianyuan said quietly. "A soul attack from one of the ancestors. Mutual destruction."
"So," I breathed, trying to process the shift in reality. "It's over?"
"Yes," my father said. "The Spirit Cauldron Sect is destroyed."
I looked at Arya. He was listening calmly, his thumb idly stroking the back of my hand.
"A tragedy," Arya said, his voice smooth. "But also a lesson. The sins of the past always bear fruit."
He looked down at me and for a second, I saw a strange glint in his eyes. A depth I couldn't read.
"You don't have to worry, Meira," he whispered. "We are safe."
I looked at our joined hands. The warmth of his skin against mine.
"I was afraid," I admitted softly, ignoring our fathers. "I thought..."
"I know," he said, squeezing my hand. "But the storm passed us by."
I leaned my head against his arm, exhaustion washing over me. The breakthrough, the panic, the ride… it all caught up to me.
"Yes," I murmured. "It passed us by."