(( Ten Days Ago ))
Lin did not rush...
He circled Wen Xu's residence like a patient predator, changing vantage points with methodical accuracy. Sometimes he watched from neighboring rooftops, sometimes from suspended bridges far above, sometimes from drifting platforms that carried nobles between tiers. Once, he even hovered directly above the massive compound itself with his robes fluttering gently in the thin mountain air and his body suspended as if he belonged there.
A barrier shimmered invisibly above the uppermost districts, pressing down on flight like a ceiling of glass. Lin could feel it the moment he rose too high... an ancient formation tied to royal authority, designed to prevent exactly what he was attempting.
Going higher would trigger attention.
Going lower was worse.
Below him, the array surrounding Wen Xu's residence rejected intrusion. It was layered, self-correcting, and deeply intelligent.
Lin clicked his tongue.
"So cautious," he muttered.
He adjusted his approach.
Instead of spreading his spiritual sense outward, he sent it out in narrow segments. Thin threads of perception, no thicker than a thought, probing one angle at a time. Each strand retreated before lingering too long, replaced by another from a different direction.
He also suppressed his presence, folding his qi inward until it barely leaked beyond his skin. Even that was not enough. Twice, he felt a ripple from below as experts brushed against the edge of awareness, alert to something almost wrong.
Each time, Lin retrieved his spiritual sense instantaneously.
Day after day, he observed.
And the conclusion became unavoidable.
No one left.
Not once.
Not a servant. Not a guard. Not a courier. Not even a cultivator stepping outside for air or meditation. The residence functioned like a sealed world unto itself. Guard rotations continued, yes—but always from within. Faces changed, shifts rotated, yet every single presence originated from inside the array.
And Wen Xu himself?
Not a glimpse.
Not a shadow.
Not even the faintest fluctuation in qi that could be identified as him.
Lin perched on a stone ledge one evening, watching the sun dip below the clouds far beneath the city.
"One week," he murmured. "And not a single mistake."
That was not normal.
Even monsters slipped eventually.
Which meant Wen Xu wasn't merely hiding.
He was stable.
And stability like that came at a cost.
...
...
(( Present Time ))
'Do you truly wish to leave?'
The voice did not come from behind her.
It did not echo from the walls.
It did not belong to any direction at all.
It bloomed directly inside Mei Ling's mind.
She froze mid-step.
Every muscle in her body locked as a chill ran from the base of her spine to the crown of her head.
'I'm imagining things,' she told herself instantly.
She had scrubbed stone until her hands bled, carried water until her shoulders ached, swallowed resentment until it poisoned her thoughts. Exhaustion did strange things to people. Whispered voices. Half-dreams. Hallucinations.
That's all this is.
'Mei Ling... that is your name isn't it...?'
Her breath got stuck in her throat.
She swallowed hard as her heart hammered in her chest. Don't answer, she thought desperately. If you answer... it becomes real.
'Do you truly wish to leave?'
Her knees trembled.
Very slowly, Mei Ling straightened and looked around the courtyard. Servants moved about their duties with their heads lowered. Cultivators stood watch in the distance, still and impassive. No one was looking at her.
No one had spoken.
"…I must be losing my mind," she whispered.
'If that were true,' the voice replied calmly, 'you would not feel this afraid.'
Her breath shuddered.
"Who… who are you?" she asked silently, terrified someone might overhear her speaking to nothing.
There was a pause and then moments later, there was a response.
'Someone who has been watching you,' the voice responded.
Her fear spiked sharply. "Watching me?"
She spun around, scanning the rooftops, the balconies and the high stone walls enclosing the courtyard. Nothing moved. No shadow shifted. The sky above was clear, washed in pale blue.
'Don't bother,' the voice added. 'You won't see me like that.'
Mei Ling hugged herself, digging her fingers into her sleeves. "Then stop," she pleaded inwardly. "Please. I don't want trouble."
Trouble here meant everything.
Punishment.
Isolation.
Reassignment.
Disappearance.
'You already want trouble,' the voice said gently. 'You just call it something else.'
Her lips parted, but no denial came.
She felt exposed in a way she never had before. As if someone had peeled back the layers she had built around her longing and looked straight at the raw center.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.
'Because you keep coming here,' the voice answered.
Memories surfaced unbidden of her standing at the archway...
Lingering too long...
Staring beyond the boundary she was forbidden to cross.
'I've seen you many times,' the voice continued. 'Always close. Never crossing. Curious, but restrained. Afraid, but not obedient enough to forget.'
Her chest tightened.
"You've been… here?" she asked. "Inside the residence?"
'Above it.'
The response sent a strange shiver through her.
Before she could question further, the world… changed.
Something brushed against her perception subtly... and like a veil being lifted from her eyes, she saw him.
Mei Ling's breath hitched violently.
High above the courtyard, beyond the reach of any balcony or walkway, a man floated in the air as if gravity had simply forgotten him. His robes were long and dark, stirring gently despite the absence of wind. A conical hat shadowed his face, but she could faintly see his eyes... and they were impossibly calm.
He hovered there with his arms loosely folded, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
Her legs nearly gave out.
She grabbed onto the stone railing beside her while staring up at the impossible sight.
"No one else can see me," the man voiced with unmoving lips. His voice still continued to echo inside her mind. "Only you."
"Why?" she whispered.
"Because," he replied lightly, "I chose you."
Her heart raced.
Chosen.
The word was dangerous.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"I am..." the man stated. "Lin."
The name meant nothing to her.
So she said the first thing that came to mind.
"…Man in the sky," she muttered.