Chapter Five: The Pavilion of Silent Mirrors
The Silent Mirror Pavilion sat halfway up Azure Wind Mountain, built where sound itself seemed to fade.
No birds sang there. No bells echoed.
Even the wind, when it brushed against the bamboo eaves, moved as if afraid to be heard.
Inside, Jiang Yunxian sprawled across the polished floor, staring at his reflection on the mirror-smooth tiles.
He waved a hand; the image waved back, looking only slightly more responsible than he felt.
"Confinement," he muttered. "They make it sound like a punishment, but honestly it's just quiet napping with better flooring."
Rong Qi, still faintly singed from divine lightning, hovered above him.
"You're supposed to meditate, not nap."
"I'm meditating on my life choices."
"You don't have any."
"Exactly. Efficient, isn't it?"
Before the feather could retort, the pavilion doors creaked open.
Two disciples entered carrying trays—tea, spirit herbs, and a small crystal sphere glowing with suppression runes. Between them walked Xing Yue, her wrists bound loosely by threads of light.
She looked around once, then at him. "So this is where your sect hides its mistakes."
"Welcome to my vacation home," Yunxian said, sitting up. "Try not to admire the silence too loudly."
The disciples set down the trays and fled as if the air were cursed.
When the door closed, the hush returned—thick enough to taste.
Xing Yue studied the crystal sphere on the low table. "A mirror of discipline," she murmured. "It seals spirit energy and reflects one's inner heart. Cruel, but clever."
"You've seen it before?"
"In another age," she said softly. "It was used to contain divine temper."
Yunxian poured her tea, ignoring the faint tremor in his own hands. "Then it suits us perfectly."
She accepted the cup but didn't drink. Instead, she watched him with eyes that seemed to peel back layers of time. "You defied Heaven once before. I saw it—before the war consumed the constellations. You stood beneath the same sky, laughing while the gods wept."
Yunxian blinked. "That doesn't sound like me."
"It sounds exactly like you."
Rong Qi glowed nervously. "Don't encourage him!"
Xing Yue ignored the feather. "Do you remember none of it? The Palace of Falling Light? The vow you made?"
He frowned, tapping his pendant. "Sometimes I dream of a tower burning in silver fire… a woman standing at its peak, singing to the stars. But dreams aren't memories."
"They were," she said. "Until Heaven erased them."
Silence settled again—different this time. Not heavy, but aching.
Yunxian looked up at the ceiling, where faint cracks of starlight crawled like veins through the stone. "Maybe forgetting was my way of surviving."
"Or Heaven's way of chaining you."
He laughed softly. "Chains never last long on me."
A sudden tremor rippled through the mirror floor; both turned toward the sealed doorway. The runes along the threshold flickered.
Rong Qi's voice tightened. "Someone's forcing the barrier!"
A moment later, the air shimmered—and a girl in outer-sect robes slipped through the half-broken seal, panting.
"Senior Jiang! The Sect Master—he's been summoned by Heaven's decree! They say the sky itself sent a messenger!"
Yunxian sighed, setting down his cup. "See? I can't even serve a sentence properly before Heaven demands a sequel."
Xing Yue rose, her aura dimming to mortal softness. "It begins again."
He looked at her, then at the trembling disciple. "Tell them I'll be right there."
"But, Senior—"
He smiled lazily. "Heaven's waiting. We shouldn't keep it bored."
The girl fled, the seal flickering closed behind her.
For a long moment, only the mirror's faint glow lit the room.
Xing Yue turned toward him. "If you go, the gods will try to bind you again."
"Then they'll have to remember how," he said, rising. "Come on, Star Lady. Let's see what old Heaven looks like after a hangover."
Rong Qi groaned. "And thus ends our peaceful imprisonment."
Yunxian pushed open the doors, letting light spill into the silence.
Outside, the clouds were already twisting into a golden spiral—an omen, or perhaps a summons.
The Careless Immortal smiled at the sky.
"Round two."