Morning broke over the Valley of Withered Orchids like a sigh.
The blood had dried. The petals had settled. The fire was gone.
What remained was silence.
Lin Xiyan sat beneath a half-collapsed pavilion, the hem of his robes brushing against the soft earth. His sword lay across his knees, unsheathed, but calm—like him.
Shen Liufeng approached, a small cup of tea in hand.
"Still thinking about him?" he asked gently.
Lin didn't look up. "I'm thinking about all of them."
Shen sat beside him. "You always carry more than your share."
Lin turned at that, eyes tired but warm. "You carry me."
Shen chuckled, brushing a fallen petal from Lin's shoulder. "Only because you make it worth it."
They drank in silence.
The valley, once a place of death, now smelled faintly of spring.
"Do you think," Lin said softly, "they'll come after us now? The rest of the Lotus remnants?"
"They might," Shen replied. "But I'm not afraid anymore."
Lin tilted his head. "Because we've grown stronger?"
Shen looked at him, voice low and steady. "Because I have nowhere left to run from."
A breeze passed between them, stirring their robes, soft and slow.
Lin leaned against Shen's shoulder, eyes drifting shut.
"For the first time," he murmured, "I want to stay still."
Later that afternoon, a messenger hawk arrived—feathers black, bearing a red ribbon.
A sealed letter.
Lin opened it carefully.
To Lin Xiyan and Shen Liufeng—
What you've done in the valley has reached the far edges of the Jianghu.
Some call you heroes. Others call you traitors.
But there is one thing they all agree on: you are dangerous.
And danger, as you know, has its uses.
Should you ever wish to rebuild what was lost, the Iron Wind Hall stands open to you.
—Y.M.Q
"Yu Meiqing," Lin said aloud.
Shen raised an eyebrow. "Is she trying to recruit us?"
"Or remind us that the Jianghu doesn't forget so easily."
Lin folded the letter and set it aside.
"I don't want to rebuild anything," he said. "Not yet."
Shen smiled. "Then what do you want?"
Lin reached for his hand.
"Peace. A lake. A cottage. You, barefoot in the mornings and grumbling about tea."
Shen laughed, startled and delighted. "That's what you want?"
Lin nodded. "And maybe… a dog."
Shen squeezed his hand. "I'll find us the lake."
"And I'll make the tea."
As dusk fell again, the valley no longer looked like a place of endings.
It looked like the edge of something new.
Together, they stood, side by side.
Not warriors. Not ghosts.
Just two men, walking forward—beneath the falling blossoms.