The main hall was quiet for a while. The long table was already empty; where the three bodies had once lain, only the natural grain of the stone tabletop remained beneath the even layer of light cast by the illumination formula. The light spread across the tabletop without any distinct boundary, extending evenly along the grain of the stone. Near the edge, it curved slightly, slipping down along the rounded rim to the floor.
Cang stood by the table, his gaze resting on the three vacant places. He remained there for some time, sorting through the details of the sealing formula's reconfiguration. Then he turned to face Zhi Li, who stood by the wall.
"Their Causality Threads still need to be closed," Cang said.
Zhi Li straightened from the wall. Her gaze swept over the empty tabletop before returning to Cang. She paused, running through what she needed to ask. "After they are sent back, how will their memories be handled?"
"The parts involving their capture and the extraction of their origins need to be sealed away. The discussion they had in the valley about whether to seek help from the main family will be retained." Cang spoke evenly, moving point by point along an already organized chain of logic. "This portion will remain in their memories: on this backward planet, mixed-blood descendants of the Otsutsuki have already attained strength comparable to ordinary Otsutsuki—not enough to threaten the main family, but beyond the normal evaluation range. There are still no clear leads on Kaguya Clan and Isshiki, and the search is behind schedule. Then they will experience a brief lapse, about one breath, with all three appearing at once. That lapse will be rationalized as an environmental factor—the Chakra concentration on this planet is too low, and prolonged searching along