Chapter 28 - Garden of Strings

She exhaled softly and shook her head.

"No… Core Disciples probably don't exist." Her voice was gentle, but final. "Just fairy tales for bored disciples."

Still, her thoughts remained tangled.

Just as she was about to leave, a quiet realization came to mind.

"…That event…" she murmured. "The Outer Disciple Tournament."

She remembered the announcement Elder Mu had made the day prior. While she hadn't paid it much attention at the time, now it felt oddly… convenient.

If he really was from the inner court, he wouldn't appear there.

But if he wasn't…

A thoughtful silence followed.

"…Maybe I should watch," she said at last. "Just to be sure."

Her fingers gently touched the strings once more.

This time, a quiet note rang out soft, uncertain, but echoing through the twilight like a decision made.

She didn't know who he really was.

But she would find out.

........

The late afternoon sun bathed the Silver Crescent Sect in a golden hue, spilling across tiled roofs and high pavilions. Somewhere deeper within the sect grounds, hidden from the noise of training fields and tournament buzz, a quiet garden rested behind layers of mist and falling water.

This was the Azure Sky Waterfall Garden, a place few dared intrude upon. And within its serene boundary, beneath the shade of a willow tree, Ling Ruxin sat alone.

The guqin across her lap shimmered with soft reflections of light. Her fingers hovered just above the strings, but no music came. The usual grace and fluidity she displayed during performances were absent. Instead, her expression was unreadable, her gaze locked on the rippling pond before her.

The last note she played had long faded.

"Hmph… still distracted."

Her thoughts were once again spiraling toward him.

She had asked around in the inner court. Quietly. Discreetly. But no one matched his appearance or presence.

"Could he really be… an outer disciple?"

She was still thinking when the peace suddenly shattered.

"Senior Sister Ruxin!"

The voice broke through the air like a stone skipping across still water.

She sighed.

Turning slightly, she saw him, Hai Mu. Approaching with confident strides and a grin too polished to be natural.

"I figured you'd be here again," he said cheerfully, raising a hand in greeting.

Ruxin didn't reply. Her fingers simply rested on the guqin strings as her eyes drifted to the rippling water.

Hai Mu stopped a few steps away. "I brought something for you."

He pulled a small lacquered box from within his robes and placed it delicately on a nearby stone. The scent of sweet lotus mooncake drifted from it.

"I made it myself," he added, voice softening.

Ling Ruxin still said nothing.

"You've been practicing so much lately," he continued, "I thought you'd appreciate a break."

"I don't really need it," she said without looking at him.

There was no malice in her tone. No sharpness. Just… distance.

Hai Mu's smile stiffened.

"Just… consider it a kind gesture."

Her hands moved slightly. "You can leave it by the tree."

Her voice was soft, but final.

He hesitated for a moment, as if tempted to push further, then reluctantly placed the box beside the willow's roots.

"You know, Sister Ruxin," he said more carefully now, "I don't do this for just anyone. I admire you."

She lifted her gaze then, her voice unchanging.

"You've said that before."

"And I'll keep saying it," he pressed, stepping forward. "What's wrong with trying to court someone properly? I've never been disrespectful. I've waited, watched from afar. Everyone knows how I feel."

She lifted her gaze then, meeting his eyes for the first time.

"Your feelings are yours," she said calmly. "My answer hasn't changed."

His jaw tensed ever so slightly.

"But why?"

She didn't answer immediately.

The breeze whispered between them, lifting the edges of her sleeve and brushing petals across the pond.

"I'm not just any outer disciple," he said after a moment. "I'm close to the Qi Refinement Realm. My father believes I'm more than qualified to enter the inner court soon. When I do-"

"It's not about that," she cut in, just as softly.

Hai Mu paused.

"Then what is it?" he asked, his voice thinning. "You treat me like I've done something wrong just for liking you."

She turned her head slightly.

"You assume your admiration entitles you to something in return."

His face darkened. Just a shade. His smile faltered.

"That's not what I meant."

"Maybe not with words," she said, plucking a single string, sharp and short.

The note rang through the garden like a quiet judgment.

"But you think being my suitor makes you special. That I should be grateful. I never asked for any of it."

A long silence followed.

Hai Mu's fists slowly tightened at his sides, but he forced a smile back onto his face.

"Doesn't hurt to try, does it?"

She glanced down.

"It hurts when you don't listen."

That landed.

He looked at her for a long while, searching for something in her expression. Maybe softness. Maybe regret.

But there was nothing.

Only stillness. That serene, unreachable composure she always wore.

"I'm not giving up," he said, voice firmer now. "I've seen the way others look at you. But I'm not like them. I've been patient."

"And I've been clear."

Hai Mu took a small step forward, his tone lowering.

"I know what you really need, Ruxin. Someone who can protect you. Support you. Not just admire from afar. We both come from good standing-"

"That's enough."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it cut through him like a blade.

"Please leave."

Hai Mu's lips parted as if to argue, but no words came.

Eventually, he exhaled sharply and gave a shallow nod, "Very well."

He turned and walked away, stiffly, the smile gone from his face.

As his footsteps faded into the distance, Ling Ruxin lowered her gaze to the still pond once more. The reflection of her face stared back at her, calm, poised, veiled in perfection.

And yet, she felt nothing.

"Hai Mu… Young Master Li… all of them…"

Her fingers gently pressed against the guqin strings. "They all say it's admiration… sincerity… but it's always the same."

"Not one of them sees past the surface."

She blinked slowly, the silver veil casting faint shadows over her eyes.

"To them, I'm just a symbol. A prize. A flawless figure to pursue, possess, or parade around as proof of their own worth."

A breeze stirred, lifting a few strands of her hair. Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"Not one… not a single one, ever truly tried to understand who I am beneath the music and the mask."

She shut her eyes, drawing in a breath that caught faintly in her chest… then exhaled, long and quiet.

The pond settled again, the ripples vanishing into stillness.

But beyond the trees, the silence did not hold.

Unseen by her, a figure lingered in the shadows, Hai Mu.

He hadn't left. Not fully.

Hidden just out of sight, he stood motionless, gaze fixed on the girl beneath the willow. The calm smile he had worn before was gone, replaced by something darker. His eyes no longer burned with longing, but with something colder, perhaps resentment.

He turned without a sound and slipped deeper into the forest path.

And elsewhere, far from the garden, in the solitude of his quiet hut, Lao Xie's eyes suddenly opened.