Night fell like a curtain of velvet over the Jun Clan estate. Lanterns flickered along the stone pathways, their light casting trembling shadows that danced across weathered walls and bloodstained courtyards.
Jun Mo Xie walked alone beneath the great pines of the southern gardens, where whispers of wind curled through the trees like secrets. The council meeting had ended in tense silence, the elders left with more questions than answers. Power had shifted—not fully, not yet—but it was moving, and Jun Mo Xie was now its axis.
He paused near a jade pavilion, its once-immaculate pillars now chipped and scorched. He remembered this place vaguely from the inherited memories—where the previous Mo Xie had come to drink alone. But tonight, he sensed something else. A presence.
"You can come out now," he said aloud.
From behind one of the stone columns stepped a young woman clad in silver-trimmed green. Her movements were graceful, precise, like a trained performer. Her dark hair flowed like ink, and her face—elegant, yet unfamiliar—wore a calm, neutral expression.
"You noticed me," she said, bowing slightly.
"Hard not to. You tread too quietly for a servant, and too confidently for a spy."
She smiled faintly. "Then what am I?"
"That," he replied, "is what I intend to find out."
She walked to the center of the pavilion and sat, motioning for him to join her. He did, cautiously.
"My name is Mei Yun," she said, voice soft as silk. "I was once a disciple at the Cloudfall Sect. But circumstances... changed."
"You were cast out?"
"No. I walked away."
"Dangerous choice."
"The only one that let me survive."
Jun Mo Xie studied her. Beneath her graceful exterior was the unmistakable presence of someone trained in spiritual arts. Her energy was tightly wound, but real.
"You're not here by coincidence," he said. "This clan has few allies. Why approach me now?"
She didn't look at him. Her gaze remained fixed on the koi pond beyond the pavilion.
"Because I saw what you did," she answered. "The way you spoke to the elders. The way you didn't beg or kneel. The way you made them listen."
"I made them fear," he corrected.
"Sometimes fear is the beginning of respect."
A moment passed. Then another.
"You wish to follow me?" he asked.
"No. I wish to walk beside you."
He didn't answer at first. In another life—perhaps his previous one—he would've distrusted such words. But this world ran on alliances and secrets. And this woman, Mei Yun, carried both.
"If you betray me," he warned, "I won't give you a second word, let alone a second chance."
She smiled again, but her eyes remained serious. "Then I won't waste your first."
---
Elsewhere, in the servant quarters buried beneath the eastern walls, Yue Ling leaned over a scroll by candlelight. Maps, names, and sigils were inked with precision. She traced a circle around one name: Jun Wu Jie.
Behind her, an old woman coughed harshly.
"You're wasting time on ghosts," the elder muttered.
"They're not ghosts if they still breathe," Yue Ling replied without looking up.
"You follow that boy too closely."
"That boy will change everything."
The old woman said nothing more.
---
By morning, the news of Jun Mo Xie's survival had spread through the capital like wildfire. Noble families whispered. Mercenary guilds dispatched spies. Even the three outer sects sent emissaries cloaked in scholarly robes.
At the training yard, young disciples were already arguing about him.
"He's just a lucky fool!" one scoffed.
"No, I saw him—he looked... different."
"Doesn't matter. The Jun Clan is finished."
"But what if he brings it back?"
---
Later that day, Jun Mo Xie stood on a balcony overlooking the southern gate. Beside him stood Mei Yun, her expression unreadable.
"What would you do if this clan fell completely?" she asked.
"Rebuild it," he answered. "But not as it was. As it should have been."
"With whose help?"
He turned to her. "With anyone who doesn't ask that question."
She chuckled lightly. "Fair."
Just then, Xiao Ru arrived, breathless. "Master Mo Xie! There's... someone asking to see you. Urgently."
"Who?"
"She claims to be... a healer. From the north. Says you saved her once. That you promised her a favor."
Jun Mo Xie frowned. "I've made no such promise."
"But she knew your name... and your old one, too."
His blood turned cold.
He turned to Mei Yun. "Watch the gate. I'll deal with this personally."
---
At the guest hall, the woman waited. She was clad in travel-stained robes, her hair tied in a simple braid. She looked barely older than Mei Yun, but her eyes held years of pain.
When he entered, she bowed low. "You don't remember me, do you?"
"No."
She smiled sadly. "You saved my village. In another life. Your name was Mo Shen."
That name struck him like a blade.
The life before this world. Before this body.
"How?" he whispered.
"I don't know. But I was drawn here. And when I saw your face... I knew."
Jun Mo Xie stared at her. Destiny, it seemed, was not done with him.
She raised her head. "My name is Lan Xu
e. Let me stay."
The storm in his eyes settled.
"Then stay."
And so, the second thread of fate was tied.
---
*To be continued...*