The road back to the capital was silent.
Shen rode alone, the scroll hidden in the inner lining of his robe, its weight heavier than any sword he had ever carried.
The girl — the northern assassin — was gone.Vanished after waking, her wound packed with medicine Shen had left behind.
He didn't need to follow.
She would return to her masters.And they would know the seal had been broken.
Which meant time… was running out.
When Shen entered the outer palace, everything felt different.
The guards stood straighter.
The servants bowed lower.
But not out of respect.
Out of fear.
Word of his duel beneath the Whispering Lantern Temple had spread — though no one knew the full story.
Only that he had entered a cursed tomb… and come back stronger.
Later that evening, he was summoned to the Jade Mirror Hall — not by the Emperor.
By the Empress.
Her note was delicate.
"A small matter. I trust the Emperor's Shadow Fang will indulge a minor request."
Shen read between the lines.
"She suspects."
He arrived as requested. Alone. Unarmed.
The Empress stood near a pool of still water, dressed in mourning white — though no one had died.
Yet.
"You've grown," she said without turning. "Since the first time I saw you."
Shen remained silent.
"I had a son once," she continued. "Before the Crown Prince. Before even the wars."
A lie.
Or perhaps… only half a truth.
"He vanished in the night. Some said wolves. Others said fate."
She finally turned to face him.
"But I never found a body. Just a broken cloth… with dragons on it."
Shen stared back.
His heartbeat slow.
Unmoving.
"You're trying to provoke me," he said calmly.
"No. I'm trying to remember."
She stepped closer.
Too close.
She touched his jaw — gently, like a mother would a child.
"You have his eyes."
He didn't move.
But deep in his chest, something stirred.Anger?Grief?Recognition?
She whispered:
"If you are who I think you are… leave this place. Now. Before he finds out."
"Before who finds out?"
She looked toward the ceiling — the golden dragon banners swaying in silence.
"The one who made the choice. The one who chose one twin… and buried the other."
Outside, thunder rumbled.
But there were no clouds.
Only storm… inside the palace.
That night, Shen sat alone in his chamber.
He unrolled the scroll from the tomb — the First Seal.
Seven names.
He traced the first:
"Lei Cheng — Guardian of the Silent Wind."
A legend. Dead, or hiding.
Below it — a direction.
Northwest. Near the border.
The beginning of the next piece.
But before he could rise, a shadow appeared at his door.
It was General Li.
He entered without a word and placed a ring on the table.
Black iron. Worn. Etched with twin dragons.
"My brother wore this," he said.
Shen looked up.
"Before he disappeared… twenty years ago."