The journey down Mount Nanzhao was quieter than the climb up.
The wind whispered through the poison-blushed trees, but none of the four spoke. Each of them felt the weight of the sealed scroll resting in Li Fan's satchel, like it radiated unease with every step. It wasn't fear—it was the kind of silence that follows a new truth, one you haven't decided whether to accept or reject.
They made camp near the foot of the mountain, beneath a low overhang where no roots grew. Zhao built a fire. Jiao kept watch. Yue sat sharpening her dagger, though her eyes never left Li Fan.
Finally, when the stars rose like watchful eyes, Li Fan untied the jade seal.
There were ten names, each etched in precise brushwork. Under every name, a short note: crimes, affiliations, and in one case, the name of a child who'd disappeared from a village.
Yue leaned closer. "All of them… monsters."
Jiao nodded. "Scum the sects protect or ignore."
Zhao grunted. "And we're supposed to clean up after the cultivators' filth now?"
But Li Fan didn't speak.
His gaze was fixed on the seventh name.
Yun ShouFormer Magistrate of Autumnvale ProvinceAlleged extortion, torture, bribery, and multiple unprosecuted deathsDisappeared five years ago during investigationConfirmed alive—residing under assumed identity in Heaven's Hollow
Li Fan's hands clenched, knuckles whitening.
The fire crackled, but the world had gone cold.
Yun Shou.
That name hadn't passed his lips in five years.
"I know him," Li Fan finally said. His voice was low—too low. Like he had to force it out of his throat.
Zhao looked up. "Old enemy?"
Li Fan shook his head slowly. "More than that."
He stared at the flames, but his eyes were far away.
"I worked under him."
Jiao's head tilted. "When you were still in the capital?"
Li Fan nodded once. "Back before I left everything behind. He was my direct superior in the Audit Bureau."
Yue's voice was quiet. "And?"
Li Fan inhaled, the breath shaky. "He forged numbers. Hid land thefts behind falsified grain counts. Whole villages disappeared on paper. I tried to bring it up once."
Zhao frowned. "And?"
Li Fan's face didn't change. "Two days later, a mother and her three sons were arrested in my home district. Their names were used to launder a fraud scheme. They were executed as scapegoats."
Jiao's voice sharpened. "You think he did it?"
Li Fan's jaw tightened. "I know he did. Because I recognized the handwriting on the documents."
Silence settled over the camp.
Even the flames felt muted.
Yue reached out, placed a hand lightly on his wrist. "You blamed yourself?"
Li Fan didn't look at her. "I should've stopped it. I should've screamed louder. But I was afraid. I thought… maybe I could survive long enough to gather proof. But by the time I tried again, he'd already vanished."
Jiao sat back, crossing her arms. "And now he's resurfaced. Protected. Hidden."
Zhao's voice was blunt. "We strike?"
Li Fan looked at the name again.
"No," he said slowly. "Not yet."
The others looked at him, surprised.
"I'll kill him," Li Fan said. "But not because a sect tells me to."
He folded the scroll, carefully. "He's not just a name. He's my failure. My stain."
Yue nodded slowly. "Then we make the kill clean. Our way. Not for Elder Su. For you."
Jiao added, "What's the plan?"
Li Fan exhaled. "We go to Heaven's Hollow."
Zhao gave a low whistle. "That's deep inside sect territory. A trade hub between four major powers. We'd have to move like shadows."
Li Fan looked up, his eyes hard again. "Then it's time we act like assassins."
That night, Li Fan didn't sleep.
He sat alone, his fingers tracing the edge of the scroll, eyes locked on a name that had once been carved into the stone of his memory like a wound that wouldn't close.
This wasn't just another job.
This was a reckoning.
And he wouldn't let it slip through his fingers again.