They left the mist-choked valley in silence, the parchment Mei Ruhen had given her folded and tucked against Wuyin's chest like a second heartbeat.
The ruins still clung to Wuyin's senses — the weight of old stone, the whisper of her younger self in blood-soaked trials. Mei Ruhen's words hadn't faded. You were never meant to carry this alone.
But peace didn't last long.
The forest changed — colder, sharper. A familiar kind of hush settled over the undergrowth, the kind that came before bloodshed.
"She warned me," Wuyin murmured.
Yujin looked over. "You feel something?"
"Yes," Wuyin said, slowing her steps. "One of the others."
The clearing came suddenly, like a breath sucked from the earth. And there, standing in the sunlight like a vision from fire and steel, was a woman clad in crimson robes. Her sword was sheathed, but her stance was coiled like a striking hawk.
"You're late," she said.
Wuyin blinked. "You were waiting for me."
"Of course I was," the woman said. "You've got something that doesn't belong to you."
Yujin narrowed her eyes. "Another contender?"
The woman's gaze flicked to her, then back to Wuyin. "Yu Qingxue. Second Blade of the Monarch's Trials. Candidate of the Crimson Ash Path."
Unlike Mei Ruhen's calm, Qingxue burned with indignation.
"I remember you," Wuyin said. "You watched but never spoke."
"And you cried every night," Qingxue replied coolly. "The baby of the trials. Three years old. You followed us around like a duckling."
"I trusted you," Wuyin said quietly.
"You shouldn't have," Qingxue snapped. "You shouldn't have trusted any of us."
The silence that followed was heavy.
"I didn't kill her," Qingxue said. "But I didn't stop it either. And now here you are, wrapped in her bones and calling yourself heir."
"I didn't ask for this," Wuyin replied. "I was reborn into her death."
"You lived," Qingxue hissed. "That makes you responsible."
Yujin stepped between them. "If you're looking for a duel, say it plainly."
Qingxue's eyes narrowed. "Not yet. First, let her see what she inherited. Let her remember. Then I'll see if she deserves it."
She tossed something forward — a shard of black crystal, sharp and humming.
"The next trial's in the Hollow Peak," Qingxue said. "Let's see if you last through that."
And then she vanished, leaving the weight of history and blame in her wake.
Yujin stared at the spot where Qingxue had stood. "That one's fire runs too close to grief," she muttered. Then, more softly, "How many others like her will you face?"
Wuyin didn't answer. She didn't need to.
But beneath her silence, the thought returned —
Are you the one who wears a crown of ashes?
Qingxue wasn't. Mei Ruhen had said she'd seen that woman.
So who was it, then?
And who was stirring the past like embers in a storm?
---
Later, Wuyin sat in the quiet of dusk, the crystal shard beside her, the map from Mei Ruhen still folded in her robes.
Yujin sat nearby, silent, yet close enough to touch.
"She was angry," Wuyin said. "But it wasn't all anger. It was regret."
"She cared about the girl you were," Yujin said. "She just didn't know how to grieve her."
Wuyin closed her eyes. "And now I carry them all."
Yujin didn't speak. She simply remained nearby, not touching, not pressing. A presence steady as breath, constant as the moon.
And Wuyin — who had once been a child so easily betrayed — found comfort in that silence.
She wasn't ready to name it. But she didn't need to.
Not yet.
The Silent Monarch had left no heirs — only survivors.
And maybe that was the point.
---
Hi everyone!
I'm a new writer diving into storytelling as both a passion project and a way to relieve some of life's stress. Writing helps me breathe—and now, I'm hoping it can also help me support the people I care about.
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