After a brief exchange of lighthearted remarks about the quality of the tea and the rare moment of peace, Jing Yuan draped his arms around Dan Feng and Yingxing's shoulders and steered them toward the hot spring baths with his usual easy grin. Bai Heng waved cheerfully and hurried off to her own quarters, her starskiff already humming in the distance.
Jingliu remained in the tea room, a thousand unspoken words pressing against her chest. She suppressed the rising tide of thoughts, turned, and prepared to leave.
"Wait a moment."
She paused, her expression calm as she looked back. "Is there something else, Master?"
"Eat this."
Kanzaki tossed a small object toward her without ceremony. Jingliu caught it and recognized the familiar white jade bottle at once. Inside rested a single golden pill, smooth and still faintly warm to the touch.
Fresh from the furnace.
She asked nothing. She simply placed it on her tongue and swallowed.
"Anything else?"
"No."
Kanzaki watched his disciple depart without another word. He exhaled quietly, the sound barely audible in the empty room. In the days ahead, the war would not relent.
Jingliu had once stood shoulder to shoulder with her comrades and her master, ascending the soaring nests of the sky-cities to shear the flight feathers from the Wing-Makers' guards. She had met the iron hooves of the Houyhnhnms head-on, casting every bridle-holder of those six-legged steeds into the depths of the Shackling Prison. Wherever her blade fell, the Abominations of Abundance either perished or were driven back in ruin. None were spared.
The battles the Luofu now faced carried the same ferocity as the old Hunt expeditions across the Xianzhou, though the intervals between them had grown slightly longer.
In the blink of an eye, the star calendar reached the year 7377.
Decades of grueling warfare had forged five names into legend. Their deeds spread among the common folk until creators wove them into an illusion play titled High-Cloud Quintet. Cloud Knight Sword Master Jingliu, her swordsmanship unmatched, struck fear into the hearts of countless Abominations. Lord of the Vidyadhara Dan Feng wielded Cloud Hymn sorcery that could both shield and strike, calling down thunder and rain with a single gesture. Foxian pilot Bai Heng guided her starskiff through enemy formations with such skill that the Abominations could never pin her down. Her efforts were supported by the divine armaments forged by the Zhuming craftsman Yingxing and the meticulous strategies of Cloud Knight tactician Jing Yuan.
Once released, the play became a sensation across the entire Luofu. New works inspired by it appeared in an endless stream, breathing life back into an entertainment scene that had lain dormant for years.
None of the five heroes themselves paid the slightest attention to any of it.
It was only when Hanya, browsing novels online in search of material and inspiration as she often did, happened upon the flood of derivative stories centered on Jingliu and the others that the matter reached Kanzaki's ears. He merely offered a faint smile and said nothing.
"Lord Kanzaki!"
Xueyi knocked once on the study door and pushed it open before any reply could come, her face grave. Hanya, already seated nearby, looked up at once. The two sisters had worked with Kanzaki long enough to recognize the signs of urgent news.
"The Yueque Divination Commission has sent an emergency report on enemy movements."
Although all three had stepped back from active duty, they still kept close watch on major movements of the Abominations of Abundance. The Divination Commission's reports were not normally shared with them, yet Kanzaki maintained his own channels, even when those channels bent the rules.
Xueyi wasted no time. She projected the report onto the light screen.
"It is Hoolay," Kanzaki murmured. "This one has remained hidden for centuries. How did the cloud-gazing mirror locate him now?"
The cloud-gazing mirror served as the Divination Commission's most vital instrument. It could scan real-time conditions across the sea of stars, guarding against black holes and other celestial hazards that might threaten navigation routes. At the same time, its macro-scale formations allowed it to track the broad movements of the Abominations of Abundance.
This time the mirror had not only fixed Hoolay's precise coordinates but had also used its divinatory arrays to forecast every subsequent move he would make.
"What is Teng Xiao's response?" Kanzaki asked.
"He has ordered Jingliu, Dan Feng, Jing Yuan, and the others to lead the primary assault. Ten Valiant Guards have been dispatched to the coordinates provided by the Divination Commission to seal off Hoolay's escape routes."
Xueyi's voice remained steady, her report precise and orderly.
"The sole objective of this campaign is Hoolay."
Since Hoolay had risen as Borisin war leader, the Xianzhou alone had endured several thousand battles directly or indirectly tied to him. When one counted the other civilizations poisoned by his influence, the number of lives and star sectors annihilated beneath his claws was beyond reckoning. His crimes far surpassed those of the previous war leader, Ussa.
"Has the number of Cloud Knights mobilized for this battle exceeded seventy million?" Kanzaki asked.
"Not one more or less," Xueyi answered. "Exactly seventy million."
"Heh… As expected. They could no longer hold back."
The two sisters exchanged a startled glance.
Hanya spoke first, her tone uncertain. "Lord Kanzaki… are you saying Hoolay was betrayed by one of his own?"
"Most likely." Kanzaki's eyes narrowed slightly. "It seems that day draws near."
The sisters understood at once what "that day" referred to.
"Should we inform General Teng Xiao…?" Xueyi asked quietly.
"It would be useless," Kanzaki replied, shaking his head. "We have no evidence that would convince the Alliance."
He knew well that a commander's hands were often bound by forces beyond his control.
"Make all the preparations."
"We have long since done so."
Kanzaki fell silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was low.
"…In truth, you still have room to turn back. If you step into the abyss alone, you might yet survive in this world. But if you follow me into it, there will be nothing left. Only death."
"Lord Kanzaki!!"
Both sisters spoke at the same time, cutting him off.
Hanya reached out and took his hand, her fingers trembling faintly against his.
"After hundreds, even thousands of years… has your heart never once felt anything for us?"
Xueyi grasped his other hand.
"We do not dare ask for much," she said, her voice steady despite the emotion beneath it. "We only hope you will listen to what your heart truly feels and give us an answer."
Kanzaki said nothing.
The warmth of their palms against his own pulled him into an unfamiliar stillness. Memories of the long, chaotic past rose unbidden, yet they offered no answer.
Was it because the heart that had once belonged to him had died long ago?
"I don't know."
"Then let your body find the answer through action," Hanya whispered, leaning closer. Her voice was soft, almost pleading. "Lord Kanzaki… let my sister and me truly become one with you."