Su Jiu had promised Lin Yue that she would carry certain secrets to the grave, and she had kept that promise.
But her silence did not mean others would never learn the truth.
Sect Leader Xu, for instance. Or Feng Piaoxu.
The main hall at the entrance to the Heavenly Music Pavilion stood empty and utterly silent. Neatly arranged on Sect Leader Xu's desk were the Message Talismans Lin Yue had sent during those days.
The one on top was also the last one Lin Yue had sent.
"Thank you. I'm sorry."
Dried water marks stained the Message Talisman.
Sect Leader Xu lightly rubbed his forehead, seemingly lost in thought, seemingly lost in memory. Now and then, a sigh escaped him.
Almost everyone in the Heavenly Music Pavilion knew how fond the sect leader had been of Lin Yue.
But Lin Yue truly was easy to like. She was gentle and patient with the younger disciples, and when it mattered, she could shoulder the burden alone, standing before all her fellow sisters to face the enemy.
Many disciples who had received Lin Yue's kindness were grieving deeply as well. None of it felt real, as though the senior sister who had smiled at them only yesterday had vanished in the blink of an eye.
Feng Piaoxu had not left her room for seven days.
On the day she returned, she had held an ancient zither tightly in her arms. It was Lin Yue's.
Su Jiu had set a pearl into the ancient zither. She told Feng Piaoxu that it was a Soul-Gathering Pearl, and that as long as she lived long enough, she would see her senior sister come back to life.
It was a lie, but she believed it.
Feng Piaoxu looked at the gleaming pearl on the ancient