Lin Du stared at the moon outside the window for a very long time.
Even after clouds covered the moon, even after the room fell into complete darkness, his eyes remained open.
"Host." The trash can's voice came from his robe, groggy. "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
"Can't sleep."
"Thinking about that heart again?"
"Yeah."
The trash can sighed.
"You're going to work yourself to death at this rate."
Lin Du laughed.
"Already died once. Not scared."
The trash can was silent.
After a long moment, it finally spoke, its voice muffled:
"I'm scared."
Lin Du blinked.
"What are you scared of?"
"Scared that if you die, I'll have to wait another three thousand years." The trash can's voice was very small. "Waited too long already. Don't want to wait again."
Lin Du was silent for two seconds.
Then he reached into his robe and gently patted the trash can's lid.
"Don't worry." He said. "I won't make you wait this time."
The trash can didn't answer.
But Lin Du felt it burrow closer into his chest.
The next morning, Lin Du got up early.
He washed his face, pushed open the door, and took a deep breath of the morning air.
Then he froze.
Someone stood at his door.
A person in black robes.
Wrapped from head to toe, face hidden, only a pair of eyes visible.
Those eyes were staring at him.
Lin Du's pupils contracted slightly.
He instinctively stepped back, his right hand pressing against his chest—where the stone lay, and Bro Bin.
"Don't be nervous." The black-robed figure spoke, voice raspy, gender unclear. "I'm not here to kill you."
"Then what are you here for?"
The black-robed figure paused for two seconds.
"To deliver a message."
He pulled something from his sleeve and held it out.
Lin Du looked down. It was a jade slip.
He took it, but instead of examining it immediately, he stared at the black-robed figure.
"Who are you?"
The black-robed figure didn't answer.
"Are you a Corpse Collector?" Lin Du asked again.
The figure's eyes moved slightly.
Barely noticeable, but Lin Du caught it.
"You know about us?" The figure asked.
"Heard of you." Lin Du said. "Legend says you're the ones who collect bodies for heart seed hosts."
The black-robed figure was silent for a moment.
Then she—this time Lin Du could tell, it was a woman's voice—laughed.
A soft laugh, a little raspy, impossible to tell if it was amusement or a sigh.
"Collect bodies?" She said. "What we wait for isn't corpses. It's the living."
Lin Du's heart stirred.
"What do you mean?"
The black-robed woman didn't answer.
She turned and walked away.
"Wait!" Lin Du chased after her. "Explain yourself!"
The woman's steps didn't stop.
"Tonight, midnight, Reflection Cliff." Her voice drifted back. "If you want answers, come yourself."
Then her figure vanished into the morning mist.
Lin Du stood there, staring at that mist, not moving for a long time.
"Host." The trash can's voice came from his robe. "When she said 'we'—she meant—"
"The Corpse Collectors." Lin Du said.
"Are you going?"
Lin Du thought about it.
"Yes."
"What if it's a trap?"
Lin Du looked down at the jade slip in his hand.
The jade slip was cold, but faintly, he could feel a trace of warmth.
A little like the feeling the stone gave him.
"If she wanted to kill me, she could have done it just now." Lin Du said. "No need to arrange a meeting at Reflection Cliff."
The trash can was silent for two seconds.
"Fine." It said. "I'll go with you."
Lin Du returned to his room, placed the jade slip on the table, and stared at it.
The jade slip wasn't large—about the length of a palm, pale green all over, its surface smooth.
He tried infusing a thread of spiritual energy into it.
The jade slip lit up.
Lines of characters emerged, floating above its surface.
Lin Du read for a moment, and his expression changed.
"Bro Bin." He called out.
The trash can poked its head out, looked at those characters, and fell silent too.
It was a map of the nine heart seeds' locations.
The first, Resentment, marked at Tianxuan Sect's outer sect—that was Zhou Yuan's heart, now inside him.
The second, Hatred, marked at Tianxuan Sect's inner sect—right beside them.
The third, Sorrow, marked at Qingyun City.
The fourth, Fear, marked at Ten Thousand Demons Cave.
The fifth, Regret, marked at the River of Forgetfulness.
The sixth, Obsession, marked at Wuxiang Temple.
The seventh, Delusion, marked at the Heaven-Reaching Tower.
The eighth, Clinging, marked at the Abyss of Reincarnation.
The ninth, Love—
No marking.
Only a question mark.
"Host." The trash can's voice was a little tight. "This thing..."
"It's real." Lin Du said. "At least the second heart's location matches."
He thought of Zhang Gui's death, of that heart with the character "Hatred."
Right there in Tianxuan Sect's inner sect.
So close to him.
That entire day, Lin Du didn't go anywhere.
He shut himself in his room, studying that jade slip over and over.
He could almost recite the characters by heart, but he kept reading.
With each reading, more questions piled up.
Why did the Corpse Collectors give him this?
How much did they know?
Who was that black-robed woman?
What did she want by meeting him at Reflection Cliff?
And that heart of Love—why was it unmarked?
Couldn't they find it? Or did it—not exist at all?
"Host." The trash can's voice interrupted his thoughts. "It's getting dark."
Lin Du looked up.
Outside the window, the sun had already set. The sky was gradually dimming.
He stood up, tucked the stone and the jade slip into his robe, and pushed open the door.
Midnight was still early, but he wanted to get there ahead of time.
Some questions, he couldn't wait to ask.
At Reflection Cliff, moonlight flowed like water.
Lin Du walked to the cliff's edge and found the black-robed woman already there.
She stood with her back to him at the cliff's edge, the wind whipping her black robes noisily.
Lin Du stopped three paces behind her.
"I'm here."
The black-robed woman turned around.
Moonlight fell on her face, and Lin Du finally saw her clearly.
Very young, looked barely twenty, features cold and elegant, skin pale almost to the point of translucence.
But her eyes—
Those eyes held an indescribable world-weariness.
Like someone who had lived for a very, very long time.
"Sit." She gestured to a nearby rock.
Lin Du sat down and looked at her.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Names don't matter." She said. "You can call me 'Seven.'"
"Seven?"
"Yes." She said. "I'm the seventh in our organization."
Lin Du was silent for two seconds.
"How many are in your organization?"
"Nine." She said. "Corresponding to the nine hearts."
Lin Du's heart stirred.
"Which heart do you correspond to?"
The woman didn't answer.
She just looked at him, her gaze calm.
"What did you come here to ask today?"
Lin Du thought for a moment, then asked a question:
"What do you people actually want?"
The woman was silent for a while.
Then she spoke.
"Do you know the origin of the nine heart seeds?"
Lin Du nodded. "A little. My past life created them."
"Do you know why he created them?"
Lin Du froze.
He remembered that face at the bottom of the cliff, those words: "condensed from the resentment accumulated through countless killings."
But was that really the reason?
"Because of loneliness." The woman said.
Lin Du looked at her.
"Your past life, the Reincarnation Sovereign, lived for a hundred thousand years." She said. "In those hundred thousand years, he witnessed too much life and death, experienced too many partings. Family, friends, lovers—they left him one by one. In the end, there was no one by his side."
She paused.
"So he created nine hearts. Each one represented an emotion he had once possessed, and then lost."
Lin Du was silent.
"He wanted to use these nine hearts to resurrect those who had left him." The woman continued. "But he failed. On the day the nine hearts gathered, they could indeed reverse reincarnation, but the price—"
"Was his own disappearance." Lin Du finished the sentence.
The woman nodded.
"He didn't want to disappear." She said. "So he sealed the nine hearts and reincarnated. He wanted to wait for a way that would have it all."
Lin Du looked down at his right hand.
On his ring finger, that character "Unlock" was still there.
"Now, the seal is loosening." The woman said. "The nine hearts are beginning to appear. They will seek hosts, grow, and eventually gather together."
She looked at Lin Du.
"And you are the only one who can stop all of this."
Lin Du's heart tightened.
"Stop it? Why should I stop it?"
The woman was silent for a long time.
Then she said something that left Lin Du completely stunned.
"Because on the day the nine hearts gather, your mother will completely disappear."
Lin Du's pupils contracted sharply.
"What did you say?"
"Your mother is now just a trace of consciousness, residing in that golden heart." The woman said. "That trace of consciousness is sustained by the heart's power. If the nine hearts gather, that heart will be reclaimed, and your mother—"
She didn't finish.
But Lin Du understood.
She would disappear.
Completely.
"Then what should I do?" He asked.
The woman looked at him.
"Find the nine hearts." She said. "Find them before they gather."
"And then?"
"Then—" The woman stood up. "You'll know."
She turned and walked toward the cliff's edge.
"Wait!" Lin Du chased after her. "You haven't told me—"
The woman's steps didn't stop.
"Your brother's golden heart can last another two years." Her voice drifted back. "If the nine hearts gather within two years, he'll be fine. If they don't—"
She didn't finish.
But her figure had already vanished into the night.
Lin Du stood there, frozen for a long time.
The wind blew past, chilling him.
He looked down at his right hand.
That character "Unlock" gleamed faintly in the moonlight.
By the time Lin Du returned to his quarters, it was well past midnight.
He pushed open the door, lit the lamp, and sat on the edge of his bed.
His mind was chaos.
The origin of the nine hearts, his mother's crisis, his brother's two-year deadline, and that mysterious woman—
Everything was a tangled mess.
"Host." The trash can's voice came from his robe. "Are you okay?"
Lin Du didn't answer.
He just pulled out that stone and looked at the character "Mother" inside.
"Mom." He called softly.
The stone brightened.
Very faint, very warm.
Lin Du's eyes stung a little.
"Don't worry." He said. "I won't let you disappear."
The stone brightened again.
This time, it stayed bright a little longer.
Lin Du pressed the stone against his chest, feeling that small warmth.
Outside the window, the moon had emerged again.
In the distance, something flickered in the darkness.
Like an eye.
Or like—another heart.
But this time, Lin Du wasn't afraid.
Because he knew, from now on, he would never be alone again.
He had a brother. He had a mother. He had Bro Bin.
And he had a heart that wanted to protect them all.
That was enough.