The night wind poured in from the mouth of the alley, sweeping up a few dead leaves from the ground.
Tingyun stared at the contents, her brows slowly drawing together.
"Burned as such, dead as such, abandoned as such..."
"Though this little lady knows nothing of divination, I can tell this is no auspicious omen."
Yao Guang smiled faintly.
"Regrettably, the foremost diviners of Yuque and Luofu—namely myself and my junior sister Fu Xuan—arrived at a startlingly unanimous conclusion after verifying our calculations together—"
"In this paradise of [Elation], an Emperor Bow Heavenly General will fall."
Dan Heng looked at her, his gaze carrying scrutiny and confusion.
"Knowing that, you still intend to take Jing Yuan's place on this diplomatic mission?"
"Yes." Yao Guang remained composed.
She leaned against the alley wall, folding her arms across her chest.
"I advised the Marshal and accepted this assignment."
"No other reason. I just wanted everyone to pull for my banner."
"What?" Tingyun looked utterly bewildered.
"Oh, what I meant was, I have never encountered such an extraordinary fate before and am quite interested in witnessing it."
Yao Guang tucked the divination back into her sleeve and lifted her chin slightly.
"It is only death."
"But so what?"
"If I can die for a moment of ascension in this Phantom Moon Game, it would not disgrace the Xianzhou's name."
She held out her hand.
"Miss Tingyun, give me the mask."
After hesitating again and again, Tingyun lowered her head to look at the blank mask in her hand.
Its smooth surface reflected her own image.
She slowly raised the mask and took a step forward, her heel striking the ground with a sharp click.
She looked at Yao Guang. The other woman's eyes still held a smile, as calm as a deep pool.