"…Man in the sky," Mei Ling muttered.
A soft chuckle echoed in her thoughts.
"That's unflattering," Lin said. "But I've been called worse."
Her mind reeled as she stared up at him. Cultivators could fly... she knew that. But not like this. Not without using a sword or a weapon or some sort of formation.
"And… you've been watching me?" she asked again, more softly now.
"Yes."
Her cheeks flushed. "That's— that's inappropriate."
Lin raised an eyebrow. "You stand by the exit every few days and stare at the outside like it might answer you back. I think we're past formalities."
Her face burned hotter.
She opened her mouth to argue, then stopped.
Because it was true.
"…What do you want from me?" she asked.
Lin tilted his head, studying her as if she were an interesting puzzle rather than a servant girl bound to a sealed residence.
"I want to know something first," he said. "And you're the only one here who might answer honestly."
Her throat felt dry.
"What?"
"Do you truly wish to leave?"
The question landed heavier this time.
Mei Ling's gaze drifted unconsciously toward the archway, barely visible from this angle. The boundary shimmered faintly, indifferent and absolute.
"I used to," she admitted quietly. "Every day."
"And now?"
She swallowed.
"Now I know it's impossible."
Lin laughed with genuine amusement.
"That's not an answer," he stated.
She clenched her fists. "It is here. No one leaves. Not servants. Not guards. Not even my mother. Master Wen never leaves, so neither can we. That's how it's always been."
"Always," Lin repeated thoughtfully. "Sixteen years feels like forever when that's all you've lived."
Her chest ached.
"You don't understand," frustration crept into her thoughts. "This place provides everything. Food, shelter, work. People don't starve. We're protected. That's what they say."
"And what do you say?" Lin asked.
She hesitated.
Then the words spilled out like a dam breaking.
"I say it feels like being buried alive," she confessed. "Like the world is moving somewhere else and we're frozen here. Like my life was decided before I even understood what life was."
Her vision blurred.
"I want to see mountains without walls around them. Streets that don't loop back into the same courtyards. People who chose where they stand."
She laughed weakly. "Stupid, right?"
Lin watched her in silence for a long moment.
Then he spoke.
"Do you know what the outside world looks like?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"There are cities that stretch across plains instead of climbing mountains," he said. "Markets so large you can get lost for days. Rivers that glow at night. Deserts where the sky feels close enough to touch. Seas so vast you forget the land ever existed."
Her breath slowed.
"There are festivals that last weeks," Lin continued with a smooth and vivid voice. "Music that rattles your bones. Food that makes you cry for reasons you don't understand. People who argue, love, betray, and leave—because they can."
Images bloomed in her mind as he spoke, unbidden but impossibly clear.
Lights.
Crowds.
Open sky.
Her heart ached so fiercely it hurt to breathe.
"Stop," she whispered. "Please."
"Why?" Lin asked gently.
"Because you're making it worse," tears slipped free as she voiced. "Because I want it. And wanting it doesn't change anything."
She wiped her face angrily.
"I can't leave," she said. "I'm bound here. My family serves Master Wen. I was born here. I'll marry here. I'll die here."
Lin smiled.
"That's where you're wrong," he said.
She looked up at him with a mixture of both despair and intrigue.
"…What do you mean?" she asked.
Lin unfolded his arms and drifted slightly lower, still far beyond anyone else's sight, but close enough that she felt the weight of his presence.
"It isn't impossible," he said simply.
The words rang in her mind like a struck bell, lingering in Mei Ling's subconscious long after Lin finished speaking them.
They were simple words. Almost careless.
And yet they hit her harder than any reprimand her mother had ever given.
"…How?" she asked quietly.
As the initial shock faded, something else crept in.
Realization.
For someone to float above the residence like this... above an array that repelled even high-realm cultivators, unseen by over a hundred stationed experts... meant only one thing.
He's terrifyingly strong.
Stronger than the guards.
Stronger than the elders.
Stronger than anyone Mei Ling had ever known.
Her breath quickened as hope lit up within her so suddenly it frightened her.
"…You're powerful," she said, almost reverently. "Stronger than them. Stronger than everyone here."
Lin smiled faintly. "Correct."
Her heart pounded.
"Then—then you can save me," she said quickly. "You can break the array, can't you? You can destroy it and let us out. You could—"
"Yes," Lin interrupted calmly. "I could."
Her words caught in her throat.
"Yes?"
"Yes," he repeated. "I could descend right now, dismantle the array surrounding this place, shatter every formation tied to it, and turn this residence into rubble before anyone could react."
Images flashed through her mind... walls collapsing, the archway breaking, the sky opening.
Freedom.
But Lin's expression did not change.
"But," he continued, "that would be stupid."
Her heart sank.
"W-what?" she asked, confused.
Lin folded his arms again, drifting lazily in the air. "It would trigger alarms across Skyvault City. Imperial observers. Royal bloodline formations. Every power worth mentioning would turn its eyes here at once."
He glanced toward the upper tiers, where nobles and royalty resided behind layers of authority and secrecy.
"And you," he added, "would become collateral."
The word chilled her.
"You would be questioned. Detained. Used. Possibly killed. Or worse—returned here after they 'fix' the problem."
Mei Ling's hands trembled.
"That's… not saving me," she whispered.
"No," Lin agreed. "That's noise."
She swallowed. "Then… how?"
Lin's gaze sharpened.
"The problem with this place," he said, "is not the walls. Not the array. Not the guards."
He paused.
"It's Wen Xu."
The name alone was enough to drain the color from her face.
Fear surged instinctively, deeply ingrained over sixteen years of whispered warnings and quiet obedience.
"M-Master Wen?" Her thoughts scrambled as she spoke. "You—you can't mean—"
"I do," Lin said simply.
Mei Ling shook her head as panic crept into her chest. "No, no—you don't understand. Master Wen is—he's—"
"A ghost," Lin finished. "A legend. A shadow people fear without seeing."
She stared at him, breathing shallowly.
"You can't touch him," she whispered. "No one can. He's the reason we're here. He's the reason no one leaves."
"Exactly," Lin replied.
Her fear deepened. "If anyone even suspected something like this—if he found out I talked to you—"
Lin's voice cut through her panic, calm and unwavering.
"For this to work," he pointed out, "you will need to follow my instructions without fear."
Her heart hammered violently.
"And before that," he continued, "I need everything you know about Wen Xu."