The smoke of the incense sticks rose into the wintry air like freed souls. Jingrui inhaled and placed the sticks onto a tray of ash in front of two tombstones. The plates were carved with Li Jingyi and Li Yu; her sister and master.

She bowed and stepped back. The wind blew against her skin, whipping her hair against her face as she watched Xiao kowtowed.

"Jingyi, Master, I will surely look after Jingrui well, and we will make sure to seek justice." He closed his eyes, letting the last drop of tears fall. The incense sticks in his hands almost snapped apart as he plunged them into the ashes.

Jingrui wound her arms around her body, her eyes were swollen red, hanging sallow in their sockets. She stared past the tombstones of her loved ones, watching a river behind flow down the endless stream. As she watched the soft ripples of the current, she found herself left just like the river: drifting towards an unknown fate.

"Senior," Jingrui called and kept her gaze lowered. "You have been a disciple at the Red Valley far longer than me, how much do you know of our master?"

Xiao shook his head. "He always put on smiles, but I could tell that he held heavy pain in his heart. There's something about Master that tells me he held regrets, and that he sought to complete something he hadn't. But in the end, I never figured out what it was. Master will always remain mysterious to me. . ."

Jingrui nodded. "Senior, what do you think Master made Sister Jingyi do?"

Xiao turned to her, his brows raised. "What do you mean?"

"Sister Jingyi was the first out of the three of us to renounce from the mortal path and became an Earthly Immortal. She was always favoured by Master, and because of that, Master always confided in Sister Jingyi about everything.

"I remember it clearly, Senior, fifty years ago, the day before Master sent Sister Jingyi to work at the Heavenly Palace. He called her into his library and closed all the doors. They talked for hours and hours, and when Sister Jingyi exited the room, her face was brooding. When she saw me, she smiled at me before telling me that she would leave for the Heavenly Palace. I wondered, and I wondered for a long time what they had talked about during those hours. But neither Sister Jingyi nor Master would tell me."

Xiao fiddled with his thumbs, his nails digging into his palms. "You are right, and with both of them gone like this, we are left with no clues of where we ought to start."

Jingrui suppressed down the lump that formed in her throat. Through her hazy vision, she glanced down at her hand which was wrapped around the blood-stained jade knot. She held the knot up in front of her. "This knot. . ." She began as she glanced up at Xiao. "This knot may be our only lead. I remember, Senior, the day when Sister Jingyi left the Red Valley. She was holding onto this jade knot. And before Master died, he gave this to me."

Xiao tilted his head towards the sky. "But what does it mean?"

"I don't know. Master wanted me to give it to shifu², but he didn't tell me which shifu²." Jingrui bit the seam of her lip. "Senior, I will go to the Heavenly Palace—"

"What?" Xiao exclaimed, cutting her off. "You can't go there. Jingyi came back from that Hell Palace in that state. Even if you do not fear danger, I just can't allow you to go there." He exhaled, tapping his fingers against his crossed arms, thinking of a way to persuade her not to go. "You are aware, right? Except for the knot, you don't have a single clue of whom the culprit is. How do you plan to avenge—"

"Senior," Jingrui said resolutely. "Sister Jingyi and Master's death is definitely related to the Heavenly Palace. Besides, it's not that I have no clue. A man a little shorter than him, and a middle-aged woman." The stranger's words came into her head, and she clenched her clammy fists. "No matter what the risk is, I will take it if it means I can seek justice."

"Then perhaps we should not seek justice. It would be something neither Jingyi nor our master would want us to do . . . Revenge, what calamity could come from it," Xiao muttered as he stared down at his feet. "Besides, I will protect you, and I will not lose you, my only family left."

Jingrui gave a dry and hollow chuckle. "I am not my sister, Senior. I will neither forgive nor forget." She looked up at Xiao. "Besides, I must learn to fend for myself. If you protect me forever, I would always be a bird that cannot spread its wings."

Xiao's eyes wavered with pain, and he clenched his fists. "But Jingrui, the Heavenly Palace is dangerous. The rules are strict. You have been in the Red Valley since you were sixteen. You have never left here for centuries after you've become an Earthly Immortal. You have never known of the perils the outside world offers, Jingrui, how can you protect yourself?"

Her heart jabbed with pain at his words. "But I cannot let Master and Sister die without dignity, without a proper cause, and without a proper burial. I can't bear to stay within the shield of the Red Valley while those who killed them continue to float their faces with pride up in Heaven."

Xiao lowered his gaze. "Must you really do this? I would go in your place, but I'm not a deity. I cannot enter Heaven. You may be able to enter there as a monthly new recruit of maids, but being a maid . . . you are at the bottom of the power chain. One command from the superior, and you won't survive."

Jingrui tilted her head backward and sighed, letting puffs of mist rise into the sky. The land before her was filled with peace, and her heart weighed down, knowing she was soon to leave it behind. "I don't have anything left to lose," Jingrui murmured as she watched the murky clouds roll across the plain overhead. "Senior, do you know of the Phantom Sect?"

Xiao raised his brows at her change of topic and nodded. "Isn't that the sect Master cultivated in during his youth?"

"That's right. If we want to know more about Master, we must start there. Besides, the shifu² Master refers to, may be in the Phantom Sect. While I go to the Heavenly Palace to be recruited as a maid to serve the deities, will you go to the Phantom Sect?"

Xiao nodded. "I shall." Determination ran through his voice, but before long, he furrowed his brows. "But, Jingrui, the Heavenly Palace is like a maze, how are you supposed to find the culprit, or clues leading to them? We do not know where within the Heavenly Palace your sister worked when she was a maid, and even if we did, you may not be put in that palace when you are recruited."

Jingrui gave a solemn smile. "Doesn't matter. Even if I have to flip Heaven and Hell, I will seek out the culprit."

━━━━━━━━━━━━

If you enjoyed, please smash that golden star and make my day. ♡