Heaven Dou City's night was deeper than ever before.
Heavy clouds covered the starlight, like a vast black curtain shrouding the imperial palace, pressing down until it was hard to breathe.
And yet inside the palace, lanterns blazed bright. The glazed tiles refracted extravagant warm light, illuminating this corner of the world as if it were day.
A carriage, entirely pitch-black and bearing no family crest, rolled slowly along the imperial road toward the palace's main gate.
Its wheels crushed over the bluestone paving, giving off a dull, rhythmic sound, like the pendulum of some countdown.
Inside the carriage.
Han Yuchen was straightening the cufflink at his sleeve. It was a deep-blue gemstone, as if a miniature nebula had been sealed within it, its dim light flowing with his movements.
Tonight, he wore an exquisitely tailored black formal suit. Intricate star maps were embroidered into the fabric with silver thread, flickering in and out of sight in the dim carriage, both mysterious and noble.
Leng Yuebai, seated across from him, had changed out of her usual plain white dress and into a silver-gray backless evening gown.
The gown hugged her perfect curves, setting off her cold, deity-like aura to the fullest. Only, around her wrist there was still that seemingly ordinary silver ribbon—it was her Martial Soul, and also the sharp blade that would drink blood tonight.
"Nervous?" Han Yuchen asked casually, his gaze slipping through the crack in the carriage window toward the towering palace.
Leng Yuebai shook her head. Her glass-like pupils reflected no emotion, only a dead, silent starry sky. "No killing intent. Only... the smell of rot."
"Rot is right." The corner of Han Yuchen's mouth curved in mockery. "A stolen nation, an emperor wearing a false mask, and a pack of rats breeding in the