Chapter 67 - Chapter 67: The Witness in the Shadows (暗影中的见证者)

The night air in the rafters of the Orchid Pavilion was cold and thin, carrying the scent of night-blooming jasmine and damp timber. It was a world of shadows and dust motes, a place forgotten by the warmth and light of the court below. For Li Xun, it was a familiar sanctuary. He sat, merged with the darkness, a gargoyle perched on the beams of his own gilded cage. His body was perfectly still, his breathing so shallow it was nearly non-existent. He had suppressed his heartbeat to a slow, deep thrum, a technique of profound Qi control that rendered him less a man and more a feature of the architecture. He was a shadow, watching the shadows.