The capital appeared on the horizon just before noon.
Even from several miles away, they could see that something was wrong.
Smoke hung above the outer districts.
The roads were crowded with carts, refugees, merchants, soldiers, and cultivators. People moved in both directions through the gates, some carrying bundles, others leading animals, while armed men stood at every major intersection.
The convoy slowed.
Inside the carriage, Tian Tian lifted his wine bottle.
A tiny sip.
He closed his eyes.
Another tiny sip.
He smacked his lips thoughtfully.
"Mm."
The general looked over.
Tian Tian looked back at him.
Another sip.
The general's eyebrow twitched.
"Is it really that good?"
Tian Tian considered the bottle.
"Yes."
He took another sip.
The general looked away.
A moment later, Tian Tian glanced at him again.
Another sip.
The general noticed.
He said nothing.
Tian Tian smiled.
The capital's noise grew louder as they approached.
Then the carriage passed through the gates.
The mood changed immediately.
There was no need for anyone to explain it.
The capital was boiling.
A merchant was arguing with three soldiers over the price of grain.
A group of refugees sat against a wall, exhausted.
Two cultivators hurried past with weapons drawn.
An official's carriage was surrounded by guards.
Everywhere they went, people were talking.
The neighboring kingdom had declared war.
The palace was in turmoil.
The succession struggle had nearly collapsed.
Several nobles had been killed.
The Crown Prince, Zhao Yunfei, had given up his claim to the throne and joined the war effort.
The news had shocked the capital.
Then came the sects.
"The Soaring Crane Sect closed its gates."
"Completely?"
"Not even their own people are allowed out."
"They've cut contact with everyone."
"Why?"
"No one knows."
The general listened carefully.
Tian Tian continued drinking.
Sip.
Sip.
The general finally glanced at him.
Tian Tian pretended not to notice.
Then another rumor reached them.
"The Third Prince has changed."
"That useless prince?"
"Don't call him that now."
"What did he do?"
"Three weeks ago, he began gathering soldiers."
"Then cultivators."
"Then supplies."
"He even opened the palace stores."
"He moved before everyone else."
"He saved entire districts during the riots."
"The common people call him a saint."
"The cultivators respect him too."
The general frowned.
The Third Prince.
The same prince who had never been considered a serious contender.
Now suddenly—
everyone was talking about him.
The carriage moved deeper into the city.
Then a voice from the roadside cut through the noise.
"Did you hear?"
"What?"
"The border has already fallen."
"No, that's nonsense. The army is still holding."
"Then why are refugees coming from the east?"
"The princes are fighting among themselves."
"The Crown Prince has withdrawn."
"Zhao Yunfei?"
"Yes. He gave up the succession struggle."
"He actually joined the war?"
"So they say."
"The Soaring Crane Sect has closed its doors."
"Completely?"
"Completely. No disciples entering. No elders leaving."
"Why?"
Nobody had an answer.
Then another conversation drifted through the carriage window.
It was quieter.
The speaker sounded nervous.
"Did you hear about the prince who was killed?"
"Which one?"
"The illegitimate one."
Tianci stopped tapping.
The merchant continued.
"Wen Yu'an."
The name meant little to the soldiers.
But Tian Tian's wine flask stopped halfway to his mouth.
"Six months ago," the merchant said. "He was killed inside the Soaring Crane Sect."
"By whom?"
The answer came after a pause.
"Li Qiong."
Tianci's eyes sharpened.
Tian Tian slowly lowered the flask.
The general noticed both men.
The merchant continued speaking.
"They say the prince had been hidden there for years."
"Hidden?"
"He was illegitimate. His enemies wanted him dead."
"So the sect protected him?"
"Apparently."
Another man joined the conversation.
"No. That's not the whole story."
"Then tell it."
The man glanced around.
"They say a group arrived at the sect pretending to be his family."
"They claimed they'd found him after years of searching."
"Then?"
"They wanted him recognized as the true heir."
"Before the coronation."
"Exactly."
The general frowned.
Tianci remained silent.
The man lowered his voice.
"But something went wrong."
"What?"
"Li Qiong was there."
The carriage seemed quieter.
"Nobody knows when he arrived."
"But he exposed Wen Yu'an."
"Exposed him for what?"
"Everything."
The man's voice became lower.
"Gambling houses. Brothels. Slave trading. Extortion. Theft. The evidence was apparently enough to turn the entire sect against him."
"Then the fake family revealed themselves."
"They were cultivators under the throne."
"How strong?"
"Don't know."
"They tried their best to protect Wen Yu'an."
The man swallowed.
"And Li Qiong killed him infront of them."
The general glanced toward Tianci.
Tianci's expression had become unreadable.
The merchant shook his head.
"Some say Li Qiong smashed his head with one strike."
Then someone whispered.
"I heard he said something."
"What?"
"Something about a legitimate heir still being alive."
I know it's
Why recognize an illegitimate heir when the legitimate one still lives?
Tianci leaned back.
The carriage continued toward the inner city.
But the mood inside had changed.
Completely.
The laughter was gone.
The gambling pieces had stopped clicking.
Even Tian Tian's wine flask remained untouched.
For once, nobody had anything to say.
The carriage was cold.
Not because of the weather.
No one had opened the windows, yet a chill had settled inside, creeping beneath sleeves and crawling along the skin.
There were six cultivators inside.
None of them were weak.
They had traveled together long enough to understand one another's habits.
They also understood Tianci.
And right now—
nobody wanted to be the first person to speak.
Tianci sat near the carriage wall.
His head was lowered.
In his hand was his spear.
He was sharpening the blade.
Slowly.
Scrape.
The whetstone moved along the edge.
Scrape.
Again.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
His eyes had lost the lazy amusement they usually carried.
There was nothing dramatic about him.
No killing intent spilling from his body.
No murderous shout.
Nothing.
That was precisely why everyone was uncomfortable.
The more silent Tianci became, the worse it usually was.
Across from him, one cultivator quietly inspected his sword.
Another checked the string of his bow.
A third wiped his saber clean even though there wasn't a speck of dirt on it.
No one looked directly at Tianci for long.
They didn't need to.
They could feel the change.
Even the soldiers outside had noticed.
The horses had slowed.
The guards rode more carefully.
Nobody shouted jokes toward the carriage anymore.
The general sat stiffly at the front, occasionally glancing behind him.
The prince was quieter than usual.
He had noticed it too.
The story about Wen Yu'an had changed something.
Not fear.
Something closer to anticipation.
The kind soldiers felt before a battle.
Except there was no battlefield yet.
Only a name.
Li Qiong.
Scrape.
Tianci continued sharpening the spear.
Tian Tian sat beside the opposite wall.
His eyes were closed.
His hands rested on his knees.
His wine flask sat beside him.
His breathing was slow.
Very slow.
Yet his heartbeat—
thump.
Everyone heard it.
Thump.
Like a temple bell buried beneath the earth.
Thump.
The monk's chest rose slightly.
He was holding himself down.
One of the younger cultivators glanced at him.
Then immediately looked away.
Nobody needed to ask why.
They had known Tian Tian for a long time.
When he became quiet like this, it meant something inside him was moving.
His fingers slowly tightened against his knee.
Thump.
The carriage seemed to shrink around that sound.
One of the cultivators looked up.
"Interesting."
"What?"
Tianci didn't answer.
His thoughts were moving too quickly.
The public story was simple.
Li Qiong killed a prince.
But Li Qiong had never been simple.
He wasn't the sort of man who would walk into a sect, expose a hidden heir, slaughter his protectors, and kill the prince merely because he disliked him.
There had been a reason.
A purpose.
And that purpose had probably begun long before anyone realized Li Qiong was involved.
Tianci looked toward the palace.
Then toward the distant direction of the Soaring Crane Sect.
The Crown Prince had withdrawn.
The Third Prince had suddenly risen.
The Soaring Crane Sect had closed its doors.
He ran his thumb lightly along the edge of the spear.
Sharp.
Very sharp.
"So what was Li Qiong doing here?"
Tian Tian looked toward the carriage roof.
"If we knew that, we wouldn't be sitting here."
Silence.
The soldiers outside could hear nothing.
That worried them more than the shouting had.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
The general looked back once.
He immediately regretted it.
Tianci's face was still calm.
But the general had seen men preparing for battle before.
That expression was familiar.
A man who had already decided something.
He turned forward again.
The prince noticed.
"General?"
The general lowered his voice.
"Don't disturb them."
The prince nodded.
For once, he obeyed without asking why.
Tian Tian reached for his wine.
His fingers stopped halfway.
He looked at the bottle.
Then put it back down.
That small movement made two cultivators glance at him.
Tian Tian noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Good."
He leaned back.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The sound continued.
Then Tianci finally finished sharpening his spear.
He lifted it.
The blade caught the light coming through the carriage window.
His eyes followed the edge.
Tianci finally spoke.
Tianci's eyes narrowed.
"Turn the carriage."
The general blinked.
"What?"
"We're going to meet the Third Prince."
Tian Tian leaned against the carriage wall.
The carriage continued toward the palace.
None of them noticed the figure watching from a crowded tea house.
A small piece of paper disappeared into his sleeve.
And somewhere inside the palace—
another message was already on its way.
Tianci rested his hand on the spear.
His eyes lifted toward the palace.
The faintest smile appeared.
"How long?"
The coachman answered an hour at most.