Jing Wen left the Still Garden. By then, darkness had fallen without him noticing.
Everything around him was dim. In this ink-black night, he no longer needed an umbrella to deliberately conceal himself.
Jing Wen strode into the night, his dark robes swaying gently in the evening breeze.
The glow of the lanterns outside the Still Garden receded, and his figure merged into the shadowy streets.
After turning through three bluestone alleys, he came upon an abandoned residence.
Cobwebs covered the courtyard gate, and its plaque hung crookedly, the writing on it already blurred.
"Two years..." Jing Wen stopped before the gate, his fingertips brushing the thick dust on its frame.
Suddenly, he flicked his sleeve. A clear breeze swept past, scattering every cobweb and speck of dust.
He held two fingers together like a sword and lightly traced a line through the air-
A blood-red rose bloomed out of nothing, crystalline dewdrops still clinging to its petals, and settled firmly above the gate.
Beneath the moonlight, that scarlet bloom was dazzlingly, unnaturally beautiful.
"Rose Garden." Jing Wen softly spoke the name, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
His Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation had finally given him the means to secure a foothold in the Black Fiend Cult. This residence would be his home in the Capital.
As he pushed open the courtyard gate, he startled several roosting crows.
Jing Wen swept his gaze over the weed-choked courtyard, then flicked a finger.
Dozens of blood-red threads shot from his fingertip, weaving through the courtyard like living things.
Wherever they passed, crows fell, weeds turned to drifting ash, and the bluestone regained its luster...
The door to the main house opened without a breeze. Jing Wen stepped inside, and twelve bronze lampstands flew from his sleeve to hover around the