Chapter 12: Nightblade Gambit

Su Mingli tensed to move, but Xiao Jingxuan's grip clamped her wrist like iron. "Stay."

Before the word faded, he'd vanished from the carriage. Steel hissed as his blade drew a silver arc through moonlight, severing an assassin's black veil.

"Azure Feather Pavilion," a shadow guard growled, kicking the fallen mask.

Her blood chilled. The Pavilion took only imperial contracts or treasonous blood—someone wanted them dead at kingdom-shaking cost.

The carriage lurched violently. Su Mingli braced against the wall, a silver needle slipping between her fingers. With a flick of her wrist, it buried itself in an assassin's neck pressure point. The man crumpled mid-lunge.

Xiao Jingxuan glanced back, his blade dripping crimson. "You're full of surprises."

"Survival necessitates versatility." She plucked another needle from her sleeve.

The skirmish ended as abruptly as it began. Xiao Jingxuan sheathed his sword, moonlight catching the fresh scar across his knuckles. "We're being herded."

"As intended." Her smile held no warmth.

The night swallowed Chang'an once more, but the silence now thrummed with unspoken truths. Their eyes met across bloodstained cobblestones—two predators recognizing the hunt had turned mutual.

Somewhere beyond the veiled rooftops, the storm had truly begun.