The sun dipped low behind the western peaks, casting long shadows across Azure Moon Sect. The day's political dance had ended, but the game itself was far from over.
In the quiet of his private courtyard, Lin Tian stood beneath the old spirit tree, the breeze stirring gently at his robe sleeves. The faint glow of his cultivation energy wove like threads of light around his fingers as he traced silent patterns in the air.
His mind, however, was far from peaceful.
"Marriage, control, veiled threats... the Crimson Lotus Clan's claws are sharper than I thought," he murmured to himself.
A soft step behind him broke his focus.
"You're thinking too hard again," Su Meiyu said lightly as she approached, her nine fox tails swaying like silk ribbons in the wind. "If you frown any deeper, your face will stay that way forever."
Lin Tian glanced at her, amused.
"Can you blame me? They came offering honey and carried poison behind their backs."
Su Meiyu shrugged, a playful smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"That's how clans like the Crimson Lotus survive. Smiling devils, every one of them. Especially Yun Rou." She leaned closer, lowering her voice. "But I wonder, Tian... are you sure she's not trying to charm you for more personal reasons?"
He gave her a look.
"She doesn't want me. She wants the sect's future tied to her clan."
"Pity," Meiyu sighed. "It would be more fun if she really did want you."
A shadow flickered in the corner of the courtyard.
Jiang Yuyan emerged, her expression serious as always.
"Fun or not, this is no game. They've sent scouts into the outer hills. Our watchers saw them by the spirit springs an hour ago."
Lin Tian's eyes narrowed.
"Spies already? Bold."
Yuyan nodded.
"She's desperate. She knows you refused her offer. Now they'll look for weaknesses—hidden pathways into the sect's defenses. Or its people."
"We should drive them out," Su Meiyu said. "Publicly. Let everyone see Azure Moon isn't so soft anymore."
"No," Lin Tian said, shaking his head. "Not yet. Let them think they're unseen. Let them act."
Yue Qingyan appeared at the far end of the courtyard, her steps quiet, but her presence impossible to ignore. The moonlight touched her silver robes, and her violet gaze held steel.
"They will strike soon," she said softly. "Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the day after. But they cannot leave this mountain without making their move."
Lin Tian turned to her.
"And when they do...?"
"We crush them," Yue Qingyan said simply.
The silence that followed was cold and sharp.
Jiang Yuyan broke it first.
"I've sent trusted disciples to guard the eastern gates. No one enters or leaves without my word. If they try something... we'll know."
Su Meiyu grinned.
"Good. Let them try. I've been dying to stretch my tails in real combat again."
Lin Tian glanced at them all—three of the sect's most dangerous women—standing together behind him. Each strong. Each watching for his command.
He smiled faintly.
"Let them come," he said quietly. "Let Yun Rou play her games. This mountain belongs to us."
Yue Qingyan stepped closer, her voice low.
"Be careful, Lin Tian. She may not care if she starts a war. She might want one."
"She won't get it," Lin Tian replied. "Not on her terms."
The wind shifted.
From the distant guest pavilions, faint laughter drifted—Yun Rou's voice, sweet and soft in the night.
"She's planning something now," Su Meiyu murmured, her smile sharpening. "I can feel it."
Lin Tian's eyes gleamed.
"Let her plan."
---
Later that night, beneath the stone bridges of the inner garden, two shadowed figures crouched near the koi pond. Crimson Lotus disciples. Their spirit senses flickered as they whispered.
"His power... stronger than we thought," one muttered.
"We report tonight. Yun Rou must know."
They turned to slip away.
But found Yue Qingyan standing in their path.
Her violet gaze burned like winter stars.
"Going somewhere?"
A flick of her sleeve sent invisible threads of energy wrapping around them, binding their meridians instantly. They gasped—but could not move.
"I dislike rats in my garden," she said softly.
The garden wind carried their muffled cries away into the dark.