Four days later, the walls of Baojing rose from the mist like an ancient dragon sleeping beneath the clouds.
Where Jinquan was refined and quiet, Baojing was overwhelming—loud, sprawling, teeming with life. Spice merchants shouted above the clamor of beggars. Sects clad in embroidered robes passed barefoot pilgrims in hemp. And from every corner of the city, eyes watched with the hunger of wolves.
Lin Wuyin followed Bai Yujin's caravan through the south gates, hood drawn low. She blended in with the crowd like a smudge of shadow.
Even here, she could feel the tension beneath the stone.
Too many factions. Too many ambitions.
Too much blood under the stone.
---
The caravan made its way through the twisting roads of Baojing's merchant district, stopping before an expansive estate walled in red brick and green-tiled eaves. This was one of Bai Yujin's trading houses, a jewel among a dozen across the region.
The gates opened smoothly.
Yujin stepped down from her palanquin, already issuing orders.
"Double the guards on the western wing. I want no one near the ledger hall without my mark."
"Yes, Young Mistress."
"Have the Ghost Letter delivered to Pavilion Six. Make sure the ink is red."
"Yes, Young Mistress."
And finally, to Wuyin: "Come. We need to talk."
Wuyin raised an eyebrow, but followed.
---
The interior was decorated with elegant restraint: hanging silks, carved screens, a courtyard pond with silent koi.
Yujin led Wuyin to a private study behind a hidden panel.
There, she spread a map of Baojing across the low table.
"A Flame Serpent informant was sighted here," Yujin said, tapping a spot near the Golden Lantern District. "They've been watching for someone."
Wuyin's eyes narrowed.
"Me."
"I think so," Yujin said. "But they're careful. Subtle. They've bought silence in at least three brothels and two temples."
Wuyin traced a finger across the map.
"And you want me to silence them back."
"I want to know why they're still here after the forest ambush," Yujin replied, her voice smooth but edged with steel. "And what they're waiting for."
A beat passed.
Then Wuyin said simply, "I'll go tonight."
Yujin hesitated. "You just got here."
"I don't rest when someone's drawing lines around my throat."
"…Fair."
---
That evening, Baojing took on another face entirely.
Beneath the golden lanterns and perfume-slicked streets, the Night Market stirred—where poison and secrets changed hands as easily as coin.
Wuyin moved like smoke.
She passed the gamblers' tents. The slave rings. The masked dancers of the Red Bell Sect. Her footsteps made no sound, her body a ripple of silk and steel.
She made her way toward the brothel called Whisper's Garden.
Inside, the music was soft. The courtesans were masked. Every word was traded, not given.
Wuyin slipped past them all.
She found the informant in a corner room, pretending to flirt with a painted girl.
A single flick of her blade severed the man's drink before it reached his lips.
He froze.
Wuyin stepped from the shadow.
"I'll ask once," she said. "Who gave the order to track me?"
The girl bolted.
The man reached for his dagger.
Too slow.
Wuyin had him pinned in seconds.
His breath hitched.
"…Y-you're her. The ghost of Green Thorns—"
"Answer."
"She's coming! The Crimson Vow is coming back for her daughter!"
Wuyin's expression didn't change.
But inside, something stilled.
"…Daughter?"
"Bai Yujin," the man choked. "He—he wants her alive. To finish what was started. Said she would bring him back to power."
He bit something in his mouth.
Foam spilled from his lips.
Too late to stop it.
Wuyin cursed under her breath.
He killed himself. Not for himself—but for the man he feared more.
---
She returned to the estate long past midnight.
Yujin was awake, dressed in a thin night robe, sitting alone in her study with incense burning.
She looked up as Wuyin entered.
"Well?"
"He's dead," Wuyin said. "But he said something strange."
Yujin frowned. "What?"
"That the Crimson Vow wants you. That you're the key to bringing someone back."
Yujin's fan twitched in her hand.
She closed it slowly.
"…So it's starting again," she murmured.
Wuyin stepped closer. "You know what this means?"
"Yes," Yujin said. Her voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
"He's coming."
"Who?"
Yujin looked up.
And for the first time, Wuyin saw real fear in her eyes.
"My father."