"You." Qian Jing's eyes swept over Zhu Lisí, "Go wash your face off and come back here kneeling."

Zhu Lisí's teeth chattered as her gaze flickered toward the door where Kaisas had been taken away. Her eyes lingered on the infant in her arms before a spark of courage flared within her.

"If you don't follow my orders, I'll toss you into that well to scrub." Qian Jing didn't even glance at Zhu Lisí as he turned his gaze back to Luolin's body. "Even if that fatass wakes up, there's no way he'll stop me. You can try it though."

Zhu Lisí glanced between the baby in her arms and Luolin's corpse. One final look at Qian Jing sent her sprinting toward the backyard with a sudden burst of energy.

The mourning hall fell silent once more. Luo Qingqing cradled the child while steadying herself against the floor. Her tear-streaked eyes brimmed with unspoken anguish as she took slow, deliberate steps - step by step by step -

Luo Qingqing reached Qian Jing. Lifting her face to look at this man who had grown so much in two years—the one her brother always wanted her to marry—her composure finally shattered. Collapsing into his arms, she whispered through tears, "He's been holding everything up alone these past days. Father's hired guardians vanished without a word..."

Drifting into unconsciousness against Qian Jing's chest, Luo Qingqing closed eyes that had remained cold and distant for too long. At last—his strength could shoulder the burden now.

Qian Jing held her delicate frame close, his bloodstained hands hesitating before deciding not to touch her hair in comfort. "Such a strong girl." His gaze drifted toward the infant in her arms where Luolin's features were unmistakable. "Fatass' kid?"

Luo Qingqing nodded against him, eyes still wet with tears. "Yes, my brother had it checked by a magician."

"What about what just happened?" Qian Jing asked.

"The truth..." Luo Qingqing exhaled shakily. "I didn't witness it myself. But before Brother returned to the stars, he told me to wait for you..."

A letter. Luo Qingqing slowly detangled herself from his embrace and walked toward the backyard. "There's one more thing my brother left for you. I must deliver it personally."

Qian Jing watched her disappear into the distance. Sitting alone in the mourning hall with Luolin, he leaned back against the coffin, forehead pressed to its lid as memories surfaced—Luolin drunk on moonlit streets, promising solemnly to marry Zhu Lisí...

"You swear?!"

"Copying homework is manhood's sacred bond! I'm a principled man!"

"Fate marks you as my brother-in-law... Better surrender now."

"I promised we'd be brothers-in-arms someday..."

The echoes faded into silence.

Qian Jing accepted the offered cigarette from Zhu Lisí, who had stripped of her painted face. As he coughed through his first drag, he thumped the coffin in mock reproach. "Your taste always was bizarre."

Zhu Lisí's knees trembled as she watched Qian Jing trace patterns on the floor with his fingers. The sound of approaching footsteps sent her heart racing.

"Did you kill him?" Qian Jing asked suddenly, his voice cutting through the still air.

Denial flickered in her eyes but he saw right through it. "Your pulse quickened by fifty percent when answering—exactly as described in Master Wujue's interrogation manual."

"I didn't..." she stammered.

"If you're lying about being Luolin's child's mother, I'll make your fate worse than Kaisas." Qian Jing leaned back against the coffin. "There are two kinds of people in this world—those who wait for proof like Master Wujue, and those who become Blood Thousand Miles..."

Zhu Lisí paled at the name. In the annals of history, no official would take responsibility for atrocities attributed to him.

"Law is law," Qian Jing murmured. "Murderers pay with their lives in every realm."

He stared up at the clouds as Zhu Lisí's breathing grew labored. The air suddenly felt heavy with unseen eyes watching her...