Jin Yue slipped out of the temple's back path, the night air cool against his skin. The stones beneath his feet still held the memory of the day's warmth, but above him the sky had settled into a deep, quiet dark, the kind that made every sound feel sharper and every thought heavier.
Shen Mu's small coin pouch hung from his sash, its faint weight pressing like a promise.
Not heavy enough to slow him.
Heavy enough to matter.
"I'll find her," he murmured under his breath...not as a vow shouted to the heavens, but as a quiet certainty spoken only for himself.
He moved through the sleeping district with the fluid silence of a shadow, slipping between pools of lantern light and stretches of darkness as naturally as water finding its path downhill. His steps were soft, his breathing slow and measured, his body loose yet ready to tighten in an instant. The rhythm returned to him almost too easily.
It had been years since he last stalked prey, years since he'd trusted his life to instinct rather than routine. But instinct, he discovered, never truly left. It simply waited.
Every corner was measured.
Every sound catalogued.
Every flicker of movement judged...threat or nothing.
A dog barked somewhere far off. Jin Yue adjusted his path without breaking stride.
A shutter creaked open above him. He passed beneath it like a passing breeze.
The city slept, unaware that it was being read like an open book.
Shen Ling had not been taken quietly.
At the alley behind Shen Ling's house, Jin Yue crouched low, the hem of his robe brushing the ground as he leaned forward and let his fingers skim the cool dirt. He closed his eyes briefly, not to block out the world, but to narrow it...sight yielding to touch, smell, memory.
The signs of struggle were everywhere, if one knew how to look.
Drag marks cut through the ground in desperate, uneven lines. Not clean. Not efficient. Whoever had taken her hadn't been gentle, and Shen Ling hadn't gone willingly. The grooves told a story of resistance...heels digging in, knees buckling, weight shifting again and again as someone fought with everything they had.
Nearby, Jin Yue found a torn strip of blue cloth caught on a splinter jutting from the wall. He pinched it gently between his fingers, lifting it into the lantern light. The color was unmistakable. The weave, too...coarse but familiar.
The same shade Shen Ling wore.
His jaw tightened, but his hands remained steady. Anger could come later. Right now, clarity mattered more.
A little farther down the alley, the corner post bore fresh gouges where the wood had splintered inward. Jin Yue crouched again, studying the angle. A wheel. A cart forced through too quickly, scraping hard as it turned. Beneath the post lingered a faint smear of cheap powdered perfume...too sweet, too artificial, clinging stubbornly to the air.
Brothel scent.
Used to mask sweat.
Used to mask fear.
Jin Yue straightened slowly and lifted his gaze, following the trail as it spilled out of the alley and onto the main street. There, carriage tracks cut through the dust, shallow but distinct, pointing unmistakably toward the east.
The trail was clear.
Clear enough to be insulting.
Whoever did this hadn't expected pursuit. Or perhaps they simply hadn't cared.
Jin Yue rose to his feet and followed the marks like a river's current, letting them pull him forward without resistance. His pace never hurried, never slowed...each step placed with intention.
The streets were still warm with leftover noise from the night market. Laughter echoed faintly between buildings. Somewhere, a vendor was still packing away unsold skewers. But the deeper he went, the thinner the crowd became, until only drunks and stray cats wandered the cobblestones, weaving through shadows with uncoordinated purpose.
Near a lantern-lit tavern, two inebriated men staggered past him, arms slung over each other's shoulders, voices too loud for the hour.
"Uncle Zhang struck gold tonight," one slurred, words tumbling over each other. "Another girl shipped off to the Golden Lute Pavilion."
Jin Yue didn't look at them. He didn't need to.
"Careful," the other hiccupped, lowering his voice as if the night itself might overhear. "He's got new Wind Pulse bodyguards now."
Wind Pulse.
Fast.
Erratic.
Unpredictable.
Hard to fight.
Jin Yue's expression didn't change. He simply filed the information away, slotting it neatly into place like a piece of a larger puzzle.
Two guards.
A carriage heading east.
Golden Lute Pavilion.
The men staggered on, laughing at something neither of them would remember in the morning. Jin Yue turned away from the tavern and continued toward the red-light district, his direction now fixed with absolute certainty.
The brothel district pulsed with noise and drunken laughter, a stark contrast to the quiet streets Jin Yue had just left behind. Scarlet lanterns swayed from every beam and balcony, their warm glow painting the night in shades of red and gold. Music spilled into the street...lutes, drums, voices singing half-forgotten songs.
Perfume hung thick in the air.
The Golden Lute Pavilion stood at the heart of it all.
Its doors were thrown wide open, inviting and unapologetic. Men lined up at the entrance, some laughing too loudly, others pretending at restraint while their eyes roamed freely. Girls leaned against doorframes and railings, calling out with painted smiles and practiced laughter. Silk rustled. Bracelets chimed.
Inside, glimpses of movement flashed between screens and curtains.
A chaos of voices, perfume, wine, and deception.
Jin Yue paused in the shadows across the street, becoming just another patch of darkness among many. From here, he could see everything...and remain unseen himself.
Shen Ling could be anywhere inside.
The thought settled heavily in his chest, but he forced it down. Charging in blindly would be foolish. Heroic stupidity saved no one.
He scanned the area again, this time more deliberately.
Too many guards. Stationed at the doors, lingering near the sides, blending in as patrons while their eyes stayed sharp.
Too many eyes. Not just guards, but workers trained to notice anything out of place.
Too many drunk men bumping into anyone who stood still long enough to be noticed.
Even slipping through a window would be risky. The Pavilion was designed to funnel movement inward, not allow it out.
I can't make noise.
I can't draw attention.
Jin Yue tapped a finger lightly against his fishing rod, the familiar texture grounding his thoughts as he considered his options. Every approach he imagined ended the same way...noticed, surrounded, overwhelmed.
Then something caught his eye.
A group of courtesans stepped out onto the front steps to greet incoming guests, their layered dresses shimmering under the lantern light. They moved in a loose cluster, laughing softly, touching arms, drifting naturally into the flow of bodies.
A man disguised as a drunk bumped into one of them. She let out a practiced giggle and hooked her arm through his, steering him inside as though it had been her idea all along.
The guards didn't even glance their way.
Jin Yue lowered his gaze, studying the women more carefully now. The fall of their sleeves. The way they shifted their weight. The tilt of their heads when they laughed, the cadence of their steps.
Not just clothing.
Mannerisms.
And then...
An idea unwound in his mind like fishing line, smooth and inevitable.
If a courtesan walks in, no one questions her.
The realization settled with surprising calm.
But he couldn't stroll in as himself.
His face was too delicate, too striking. Even under lantern light, it would draw attention. And with the faint shadow of a thin moustache and beard, no amount of dimness would hide the fact that he was unmistakably a man. Walking through those doors like this would be suicide.
He needed to blend in.
Disappear among glitter and rouge.
Become one of them.
Jin Yue let out a slow breath, the corner of his mouth twitching with faint, incredulous amusement.
Disguising as a woman…?
After all these years…
Once, it might have embarrassed him. Once, pride might have balked at the idea.
But the memory of Shen Mu's trembling voice rose unbidden in his mind, cutting through any lingering hesitation with brutal clarity.
A disguise was nothing.
Compared to leaving her there, it was less than nothing.
Jin Yue turned away from the brothel, his decision already made, his steps carrying him toward the riverbank without pause. The lantern light faded behind him as he slipped back into the shadows, mind already working through what he would need...and how little time he had to get it.