Dawn broke, and the rain... stopped too.
A gap opened in the gray clouds, spilling the faint light of early morning onto the muddy Barren Mountain.
Su Yueli's rigid body finally stirred.
She laid Han Yu's body flat on the ground, carefully straightened her battered armor, and wiped the blood and muddy water from her face.
Then Su Yueli stood.
She walked over to Shen Qing'an's and Shen Huai'an's graves and stopped beside them.
She plunged both hands into the cold, wet earth and began digging it out, handful by handful.
Sharp fragments of stone lay mixed into the soil.
Their keen edges cut Su Yueli's pale fingers, drawing blood, but the vitality of her longevity physique quickly healed the wounds.
Dig, cut, heal, then dig again.
Su Yueli repeated the motions tirelessly.
She needed no spells. She needed this most primitive, most laborious method to personally bid farewell to her last remaining attachment in this world.
The earth piled up beside her into a small mound.
The pit was finished.
Su Yueli walked over, lifted Han Yu's body, and gently laid her at the bottom.
She took one last look at that peaceful, aged face, then scooped up the yellow earth beside her with both hands and covered Han Yu's body little by little.
Until a mound rose, until every trace of Han Yu was buried.
Su Yueli sat before the graves.
Her white robes were stained with dark brown mud, and her white hair lay loose across her shoulders.
She silently gazed at the gravestones before her.
Her gaze slowly swept across them. All the bonds of cause and effect in her life lay buried here.
Over there were her parents. Over there was Lu Chen, the master who had taught her to hold a saber. Over there