Morning light spilled across the Duan estate, pale and clean, as if it could wash away what had been brought inside.
But Su Nian knew better.
Light didn't erase black qi.
It only made it easier to pretend it wasn't there.
She stood by the window of the guest room, her arms folded loosely across her chest, watching the garden below. The gardeners were already moving, trimming hedges, tidying paths, restoring order.
It reminded her of the Su family.
Always restoring order.
Even when there was nothing left worth saving.
A knock came at the door.
This time it wasn't Dr. Fang.
The knock was softer. Careful. Almost hesitant.
Su Nian turned.
"Come in."
The door opened slowly.
A young maid stepped in, head bowed low. She couldn't have been more than twenty. Her hands held a tray with breakfast—congee, warm tea, and a small plate of steamed buns.
But it wasn't the food that caught Su Nian's attention.
It was the way the girl's shoulders trembled.
"Miss Su," the maid said quietly. "Madam asked me to bring this to you."
Su Nian didn't move right away.
Her eyes stayed on the maid's face.
She looked terrified.
Not of Su Nian.
Of the house itself.
Su Nian's voice softened slightly. "What's your name?"
The maid blinked, startled by the question.
"…Xiao Yu," she answered after a pause. "I'm new."
Su Nian nodded once. "How new?"
"Three weeks," Xiao Yu whispered. She glanced toward the door as if someone might be listening. "I was transferred from the Duan family's city residence."
Su Nian understood immediately.
Transfers weren't random.
They moved people like chess pieces in this family.
To protect them.
Or to replace them.
Or to keep the house quiet.
Su Nian's gaze shifted subtly.
Black qi hovered near the corners of the room again, faint and restless.
It didn't touch Xiao Yu.
But it watched her.
Like it was testing whether she could be frightened.
Su Nian spoke calmly. "You can set it down."
Xiao Yu stepped forward and placed the tray on the table, hands shaking slightly.
Then she stood still, as if waiting for permission to breathe.
Su Nian watched her for a moment.
Then asked, "Did something happen downstairs?"
Xiao Yu's lips parted, but no words came out.
Su Nian didn't push.
She only waited.
In silence, people revealed more than they meant to.
Finally, Xiao Yu whispered, "The guards at the gate… they were arguing earlier."
Su Nian's eyes sharpened slightly. "About what?"
Xiao Yu swallowed. "About letting someone in."
Someone.
Su Nian's heartbeat slowed.
"Who?" she asked, voice even.
Xiao Yu shook her head quickly. "I don't know… I didn't see. But Dr. Fang was there too. And… and Young Master Duan."
Su Nian's fingers curled faintly.
Yichen had gotten up and gone to the gate.
With his leg like that.
With the box still inside the estate.
She should have expected it.
He wasn't reckless.
But he also wasn't the type to sit still while trouble approached.
Xiao Yu's eyes lifted carefully, and when she looked at Su Nian, there was something in them that wasn't only fear.
It was curiosity.
Like she had been hearing rumors.
Like she wanted to confirm whether Su Nian really was what people whispered about.
Su Nian gave her nothing.
Only her calm.
"You can go," Su Nian said softly.
Xiao Yu hesitated.
Then she bowed again and left quickly, closing the door behind her.
The moment the door shut, the black qi in the room shifted.
It thickened.
Not a lot.
But enough that Su Nian's fingers unconsciously moved toward her needle case.
Her eyes narrowed.
It was reacting to something outside.
Something closer.
Something present.
A message came ten minutes later.
Not a call.
Not a note.
Just Dr. Fang appearing again like a man being chased by invisible wolves.
"Miss Su," he said urgently, but trying to keep his voice polite, "please come downstairs."
Su Nian grabbed her needle case and followed him without asking more.
Because she already knew.
The door was opening.
In one way or another.
They moved through the corridor, the stairs, the main hall. The house felt too awake now—guards stationed in subtle places, staff moving quietly, heads down, like everyone had agreed to pretend nothing was wrong.
But Su Nian could see it.
Black qi was faintly pooled near the entrance.
Someone had stood there recently.
Someone who carried something with them.
They stopped just short of the doorway to the main sitting room.
Dr. Fang looked at her, face pale.
"I didn't want to tell you this before you saw it yourself," he whispered, "but… someone came asking for you."
"For me?" Su Nian repeated.
Dr. Fang nodded.
His voice dropped further. "He said he was… a friend of your grandmother."
Su Nian froze.
Friend.
Grandmother.
Those two words didn't belong together in her mind.
Her grandmother had been a quiet woman.
Not social.
Not the kind to have "friends" that came knocking at rich households.
Su Nian's voice turned cold. "What's his name?"
Dr. Fang hesitated.
Then said carefully, "Mr. Qin."
Su Nian's pupils tightened.
She didn't know the name.
But her body reacted anyway.
Because the black qi around the doorway shifted again—reacting not to Dr. Fang, but to her.
It twisted like something watching her step into a trap.
Su Nian walked forward.
Inside the sitting room, Duan Yichen sat upright this time, not lounging. His expression was calm, but his attention was sharp.
Madam Duan stood behind him.
And in the seat opposite them sat a man Su Nian had never seen.
He looked ordinary at first glance.
Mid-forties, clean clothes, calm eyes, no excessive jewelry. Even his posture was polite—hands resting on his knees, gaze lowered slightly, as if he understood what respect was.
But Su Nian's eyes immediately went to the thing that made her stop breathing.
Not his face.
Not his clothes.
The black qi around him.
It wasn't thick like Li Sheng's presence.
It wasn't aggressive.
It was… contained.
It wrapped around him like a coat he had worn for years, familiar and controlled, not like a curse—
Like training.
Su Nian stood still.
Every instinct screamed at her to be cautious.
Yichen noticed her pause immediately.
His voice softened just a fraction.
"Su Nian," he said gently, "are you okay?"
Her eyes stayed on the man.
"I'm fine," she answered.
But her voice lacked conviction.
The man lifted his gaze to her slowly.
And when his eyes met hers, Su Nian felt something strange.
Recognition.
Not from her.
From him.
He smiled faintly, and it wasn't kind.
It was relieved.
As if he had finally found something that was missing.
"You can see," he said quietly.
The room went still.
Dr. Fang looked confused. Madam Duan's expression didn't change. Yichen's gaze hardened slightly, a protective edge rising like a wall.
"What are you talking about?" Yichen asked calmly.
The man didn't look at Yichen.
He kept his eyes on Su Nian, like Yichen was irrelevant.
"My name is Qin Zhen," he said. "Your grandmother called me once, years ago."
Su Nian's throat tightened.
"She called you?" she asked.
Qin Zhen nodded.
"She told me," he said, "that if anything happened to her, I should find you before they did."
Su Nian's fingers clenched around her needle case.
"Who are 'they'?" she demanded.
Qin Zhen didn't answer immediately.
Instead, his eyes lowered slightly to her hands.
To the needle case.
He smiled again, faintly.
"You inherited her methods," he said.
Su Nian's voice sharpened. "Answer my question."
The smile disappeared.
Qin Zhen looked up at her fully now.
And for the first time, Su Nian felt the weight of the room shift.
The fire crackled softly.
The sunlight felt too pale.
Even the air seemed to tighten like a rope.
"The people who send black qi as gifts," Qin Zhen said quietly.
Su Nian's heart sank.
Madam Duan's voice cut in, cold and controlled. "What is your purpose here?"
Qin Zhen turned his head toward Madam Duan politely.
"To warn you," he said.
Then he looked back at Su Nian.
"And to teach her," he continued, "before she destroys herself trying to carry what she doesn't understand."
Su Nian's jaw tightened.
"I understand enough," she said.
Qin Zhen's eyes didn't soften.
"No," he said. "You understand survival."
He leaned forward slightly, voice low and calm.
"But you don't understand the rules."
Silence filled the room.
Yichen's hand moved slightly, resting near the arm of the chair, not threatening but ready.
"Rules?" Su Nian asked.
Qin Zhen nodded once.
Then he said, very softly—
"A person like you doesn't get to live quietly for long."
Su Nian held his gaze.
Then she asked the only question that truly mattered now.
"Why are you here today?"
Qin Zhen's eyes lowered for the first time.
Like he didn't want to say it.
Like saying it would make it real.
But he said it anyway.
"Because Li Sheng has already decided," Qin Zhen said.
Su Nian's blood ran cold.
"Decided what?"
Qin Zhen looked up.
"To take you."