Heaven Has Loopholes; Impermanence Comes to Collect
The token felt heavy in her hand. It was neither metal nor wood, but cast from a blend of the rare Dark Yin Cold Iron and Yangflame Adamantium. That gave it a distinctive black-and-white appearance, like the Taiji symbol.
Simple cloud-and-thunder patterns were carved around its edges. On the front, two ancient seal-script characters, "Impermanence," had been engraved with bold, silvery strokes that exuded a murderous aura.
On the back were two smaller lines of inscriptions, also cast and chiseled into the token with some kind of secret art: "Heaven has loopholes; Impermanence comes to collect. Cause and effect are never empty; travelers pass through them."
More importantly, these tokens weren't new. They were old, and some spots had even been rubbed smooth and developed a patina. Had they been used for a long time by one person, or by many people over centuries? Who knew how they had come to look this way.
"..."
"..."
Zijuan and Xueyan had never seen anything like them and didn't recognize them, so they curiously turned over the unfamiliar tokens in their hands.
They only felt that the tokens were cold to the touch and had an unusual texture. The writing and patina gave them an indescribably strange air, but they had no idea where the objects came from. They only thought their design was distinctive and that they seemed extraordinary. Beyond that, they knew nothing.
"!!"
"?!"
But when Daiyu and Tanchun saw the two characters "Impermanence" on the front, then read the sixteen characters on the back, they both cried out in surprise. Their expressions changed dramatically in an instant!
"Ah!"
"This is..."
"This!"
"An... Impermanence Token?!"
Daiyu's fingers tightened slightly around the token, her knuckles paling. Tanchun drew in a sharp breath and