The night wind swept through the corridor, carrying a sharp chill.
Luo Yan and Ge Zhiyao were still reeling, their minds stuck replaying every word they had just overheard, Gu Ying's voice and the mysterious man's calm, icy tone looping like a curse.
Then, suddenly, the voice from the sound-transmitter shifted.
A woman's breath, soft and restrained, spilled through the device, threaded with a barely suppressed moan.
Both of them froze.
Their thoughts were yanked back so violently it felt like their souls stumbled.
Zhiyao snapped out of it first. Flustered, she fumbled for the switch and shut the transmitter off, her face instantly flushing red. She lowered her head, as if she could hide the heat in her cheeks and the frantic beating of her heart behind her hair.
But for a young man with blood running hot, that sound was… a direct assault on self-control.
Luo Yan's throat tightened. His body jerked, and when he spoke, his voice came out rougher than he intended.
"A-Ayao… I…"
Only then did he realize how hoarse he sounded.
Zhiyao looked up and collided with his gaze.
It was scorching. Too bright. Too hungry. As if it could swallow her whole.
She reacted on instinct.
Smack.
Her palm landed squarely on his face.
"What exactly are you thinking?" she snapped, half angry, half mortified.
Luo Yan's head turned with the hit. The indecent images that had flashed through his mind shattered instantly, scattered like broken sparks. All that remained was the burning sting on his cheek.
"I wasn't thinking anything," he protested, covering his face, voice wronged and innocent. "Seriously."
Zhiyao shot him a fierce glare, her ears red as ripe persimmons. Then she forced herself back into focus, tugging his sleeve and lowering her voice.
"This is our chance. They're distracted. I'm going to retrieve the transmitter."
Luo Yan frowned. "Too dangerous. I'll go."
"You? You're big and loud." Her tone turned firm. "I'm lighter, and I'm the one who understands how it's built."
Before he could argue again, she slipped away, gliding along the wall beneath the eaves.
Inside Gu Ying's room, the lamplight was dim. Soft gasps and murmured voices tangled together. Two figures were entwined in shadow, indistinct, restless.
Zhiyao held her breath and moved with careful precision.
At the window lattice, she reached beneath the overhanging roof beam, retrieved the hidden device, tucked it inside her clothing, and withdrew like a ghost into the darkness.
She rejoined Luo Yan at once.
"Move," she whispered.
They didn't dare linger. They cut through a side courtyard, racing along familiar paths toward the rear quarters where Lin Yaochen and Mozi were staying. Wind tore at their sleeves. Their hearts pounded so hard it felt as if their ribs might crack.
In the rear room, the light was dim and warm.
Lin Yaochen had just finished a quiet round of cultivation and was blinking himself awake. Mozi crouched near the window, one eye half-lidded, the posture of a beast that already sensed something in the air.
"Ayao? Luo Yan?" Lin Yaochen stood immediately when he saw their faces. "What happened?"
Zhiyao's breath came fast. She clutched the transmitter tightly and spoke in a low, urgent voice.
"We… used this to overhear Gu Ying meeting someone. She's… she's from the Third Continent. And…"
Her mouth tightened. She glanced at Luo Yan, then handed the device to Mozi.
"She said she wants to wipe us all out. My father. Marquis Tie Ye. And… the Yao Compass."
Lin Yaochen's expression hardened. "What?"
Mozi prodded the device with a claw, brow furrowing. "What is this little thing?"
Luo Yan straightened at once, a proud edge slipping into his tone, impossible to hide.
"It's a sound-transmitter," he said. "Ayao made it."
Zhiyao exhaled, frustration laced into her voice. "The problem is, it doesn't record. If we had proof, we could take it straight to Tie Ye. I'll improve it."
Luo Yan continued, recalling the details. "That man called her 'Gu Ying.' He was addressed as… 'Lord Lin.' Young voice, but cold as ice. He talked about stealing the Compass. Said it was for the Third Continent's future."
Lin Yaochen's breath hitched. "Lord Lin…"
Mozi raised his head slowly. "If I'm not mistaken… that man is Lin Zhaochi."
Lin Yaochen went still. "Lin Zhaochi? Who… my uncle?"
Mozi nodded. "Your father's younger brother. Your father once mentioned that after the Chaos of the Realm's upheaval, a branch of the Lin bloodline vanished in the turmoil. Lin Zhaochi was among them. No word for years."
His voice turned colder.
"Seems he didn't disappear. He climbed into the Third Continent instead. And may now be one of its handlers."
Zhiyao's face turned pale. "If he and Gu Ying are working together… then they control intelligence, authority, and force. We're cornered."
"No," Mozi said sharply. "Not yet."
"Their goal is the Ge family's craft and the Yao Compass. Then we must ensure neither falls into their hands."
Lin Yaochen's voice was steady. "So what do we do?"
Mozi's gaze sharpened with purpose. "First, protect Ge Ruifeng. As long as he lives, the knowledge in his head, the core designs, are our leverage."
Zhiyao clenched her teeth and nodded. "I'll guard Father. I've already redrawn part of the schematics. I'll memorize them. No one will take them from me."
Luo Yan's eyes burned with resolve. "I'll watch Gu Ying. She's wary of me, but I can pretend I know nothing and buy time."
Lin Yaochen looked at them, chest tightening with heat. He knew he couldn't remain the one everyone shielded.
He drew a slow breath. "Then the Compass stays with me. I'll keep training. I won't let it fall into anyone's hands."
Mozi nodded once. "Good. But it won't be enough with only us."
He turned toward the window, voice low.
"We need allies. People we can truly trust."
A calm voice spoke from the doorway.
"Then… do I count as one?"
They all jerked around.
Tie Ye stood at the entrance, expression storm-dark. The corridor lantern behind him threw flickering light across his face, illuminating grief and fury carved into the same hard lines.
"I already uncovered Gu Ying's connection to the Third Continent," Tie Ye said, each word heavy as iron. "Her secret letters, her troop deployments, even her contact with Lin Zhaochi… all of it is here."
He flicked his wrist and several scrolls slapped down onto the table. They unfurled, revealing coded orders, ciphered handwriting, and one painted image tucked among them.
Gu Ying stood beside a stranger, close enough to appear intimate. Their faces were blurred, yet the man's silhouette and clothing were unmistakable.
A standardized long coat.
Third Continent issue.
Mozi stepped forward to scan the documents, eyes narrowing. "This can't be explained as coincidence anymore."
Tie Ye gave a cold laugh. "She thought I was a fool."
"In two days, she planned to use 'escorting Ge Ruifeng for outside treatment' as an excuse to drag him out of the main city and hand him to Third Continent contacts. If I hadn't quietly ordered internal guards to tail her…"
His gaze cut like steel.
"I would still be blind."
Zhiyao's anger surged. "She still wants to take my father."
"She's been waiting to strike," Luo Yan said, fists clenched. "She just needed a clean reason."
Lin Yaochen's face stayed calm, but something new lit behind his eyes.
"Then this is our opening."
Everyone turned to him.
He lifted the Yao Compass. A faint glow pulsed in his palm.
"She wants our people and the Compass. Then we let her think she's winning."
"We set a trap that exposes her true purpose and her alliance with the Third Continent… on the spot."
Tie Ye studied Lin Yaochen for a beat, then nodded once, slow.
"How?"
Lin Yaochen's voice was firm. "Three steps."
"First, we create a false appearance. Make Gu Ying believe she can take Uncle Ge."
"Second, we use the transmitter, upgraded, to monitor and record the most critical evidence during their exchange."
"Third, we make sure you, Uncle Tie, bring that evidence to the Yao Court and expose it publicly."
The moment the words left his mouth, Tie Ye froze.
"…Uncle Tie?"
He repeated it under his breath, as if the title had struck somewhere long dormant.
That "uncle" wasn't a court designation. Not a soldier's salute. It wasn't fear or duty.
It was… trust. A young man's honest closeness. Respect without politics.
For the briefest instant, something softened in Tie Ye's eyes, like a crack of light through heavy cloud.
He glanced at Lin Yaochen and, for once, a smile appeared, faint and almost like a real elder's amusement.
"Mm. Alright, kid," he said. "Got nerve."
Lin Yaochen straightened unconsciously. Somehow, that single word built a bridge.
Tie Ye gathered the scrolls again, his expression sharpening back into steel. He looked at all of them.
"Then we do it your way."
"This trap will make them think we've already stepped into their net…"
"…without realizing they're walking into ours."
His voice deepened, resolute.
"This time, I will not allow anyone to touch what I'm meant to protect."
"Even if she was once someone I trusted."
Zhiyao nodded immediately. "I'll embed a Memory-Yao Pearl. It can store sound within a limited range for a short time, but only once. We have to use it at the perfect moment."
Mozi added, "I'll seek an old friend, once a court transcription officer. He lives in hiding now at the Records Workshop. If anyone can turn an audio record into admissible documentation, it's him."
Tie Ye looked at them, at these young faces that refused to bend, and something fierce reignited in his gaze.
"Good."
"Then let her taste what it feels like…"
"…when a trap bites back."
Outside, the sky was already paling at the edges.
And with that thin hint of dawn, a counterstrike sharpened into shape.