The garden of Azure Sky Sect was quiet. Flowers floated gently on the water. Lin Ruyan stood by the pond, staring at her reflection.
But she wasn't calm.She couldn't be—not after what she had heard.
"Someone awakened a trial deep inside the Abyss.""A man and a woman survived together.""He's alive. He's back."
Her hands tightened around her sleeve.
"No… it can't be him," she whispered.
But the name she didn't want to say echoed in her heart.
Ye Tian.
**
It was before the trial.Zhao Feng had spoken to her in private.
"Ye Tian will fail," he said. "Stand with me. I'll protect you."
"But…" she tried to argue.
"Choose love and fall… or choose me and rise."
She had looked away. And that night… Ye Tian was thrown into the Abyss.
Now –
She had tried to forget.
"He was weak.""He had no future.""It wasn't betrayal. It was survival."
But at night, her dreams told a different story.She saw his eyes. Sad, broken… and full of quiet rage.
I'll come back, they said.
In the Meeting Room
She walked into the Elder's Pavilion, where Zhao Feng was waiting.
He slid a scroll toward her.
"He survived," he said.
Ruyan's eyes widened. "You're sure it's him?"
"Only Ye Tian would dare wake up that ancient ruin," Zhao Feng said coldly."And he's not alone. The girl with him is powerful—maybe cursed blood."
"We can't wait. If he returns, he'll destroy everything."
Ruyan turned away.She didn't want Zhao Feng to see her face.
Her heart was racing.
Ye Tian… you're alive…?
That Night
She returned to the pond.
Moonlight shimmered on the water.
"You should have died," she whispered. Her voice shook.
"Why didn't you…?"
A single tear slid down her cheek.
She didn't know if it was fear, regret, or something deeper.
Maybe… it was love. But maybe it was too late for that.