The woman knelt before the Suanni statue, its left paw resting protectively over a small stone cub. Her knees sank into the cold earth, fabric darkening where damp soil pressed through.
She did not flinch.
Moonlight slid over the stone guardian, pale and quiet, catching along the worn curves of its lion body and the ridges of its dragon mane. The light softened its edges, turning the ancient statue into a faint silver silhouette against the darker courtyard beyond. Even so, her shoulders trembled, shaking in small, uneven motions she could no longer control.
The Suanni loomed quietly over her.
Time had not been kind to it...but neither had it been cruel. Wind had worn its surface smooth in places, softened sharp lines into something gentler. Moss clung to its short horns, creeping into cracks like patient fingers. Fallen leaves gathered around its base, layered thick enough that it looked as though the seasons themselves had paused here, forgotten how to move on.
Its half-lidded eyes held a calm, listening expression.
Not judging.Not promising.
Only watching.
A shallow stone dish rested at its feet, carved directly into the pedestal. It was empty and undisturbed, its surface dulled by age, as though every prayer once left there had faded with time and neglect. Dust gathered where offerings should have been.
The woman swallowed.
Her voice cracked when she spoke, raw and uneven, scraped thin by days of screaming and pleading to doors that never opened, to officials who never listened.
"Please…" Her hands clenched in the dirt. "If there is any spirit here… help me. I've lost everything."
The words trembled as they left her mouth, barely louder than the night breeze.
"They killed my husband…" Her breath hitched. "Executed him for a crime he never committed…"
She bowed forward until her forehead pressed against the cold ground. The shock of it did nothing to steady her. Tears spilled freely, soaking into the earth as though even her grief was being swallowed without response.
"…All because of Official Han Duqing," she continued, voice breaking apart piece by piece. "That monster… he took our land… forged the deed… and then accused my husband of theft when we resisted."
The name left her lips like poison.
It tasted bitter even in the air.
Her shoulders shook harder now, breaths coming in sharp, uneven pulls. For a moment, she seemed unable to continue, as though the weight of saying his name aloud had drained the last of her strength.
Slowly...hesitantly...she reached into her sleeve and withdrew a small pouch of coins. The fabric was worn thin, its drawstring frayed. She placed it carefully into the Suanni's shallow stone dish.
It made a soft, hollow sound.
Everything she had left.
Her trembling fingers lingered on the offering, knuckles pale, as if letting go would make the truth final. As if once the coins left her hand, there would be nothing left to hold onto.
"I have no family left," she whispered. "No home left. No one will listen."
Her voice dropped lower still, almost folding into itself.
"If any spirit can hear me…" She bowed deeper, pressing her palms flat to the earth. "Please… please help me…"
The courtyard remained silent.
No wind rose.No omen appeared.The Suanni did not move.
She stayed bowed for a long time.
Long enough for the moon to shift higher overhead. Long enough for the earth beneath her forehead to grow cold. Long enough that even hope seemed to hesitate, unsure whether to remain.
Finally, she straightened.
Her movements were slow, stiff, as though rising itself took effort she barely possessed. She wiped her tears with trembling fingers, smearing dirt across her cheeks without caring. She did not look at the statue again.
She turned and disappeared into the night, footsteps fading until even their echo was gone.
Only then did Jin Yue step out from his hiding place.
He had remained still the entire time, breath quiet, presence folded into shadow. Now he emerged slowly, as though careful not to disturb the silence she had left behind.
His gaze fell first on the coin pouch.
Then on the Suanni.
This one was female...carved with its mouth slightly open, frozen in the shape of a soft exhale. Unlike the other Suanni statues scattered across forgotten shrines, this one was not carved to roar or threaten.
It was carved to release.
A guardian of endings.A symbol of the last breath.Of death itself.
She had chosen this one knowingly.
The air still held the echo of her grief, heavy and unmoving, as though her sorrow had been drawn into the stone and left to linger there. Jin Yue felt it press against his chest...not overwhelming, but present.
Executed…She's completely alone.
And that official… Han Duqing…
Killed an innocent man just to take his land?
Jin Yue stepped closer.
He lifted the pouch gently, almost reverently, as though it carried not just coins, but the final plea of the dead. The fabric was warm from her hands, the weight inside modest, painfully insufficient for what it represented.
"…An offering," he murmured.
Not a job.Not a request.
A plea thrown into the darkness, asking the unseen to do what the living would not.
Jin Yue tied the pouch to his sash, the knot firm and deliberate.
The Flowstone at his fishing rod pulsed faintly, once, steady and calm.
Alright.
He lifted his gaze to the Suanni one last time.
I'll see the truth myself.
The statue did not answer.
But it did not turn away.
By morning light, Jin Yue was already moving through the town, following whispers and rumors until he reached the official's residence...the place where power, greed, and corruption pooled like stagnant water.