Clouds churned violently above the Yao Court, dusk settling like a heavy veil across the sky.
An escort convoy departed from Fengyan City, passing through the southern artery of the Yao Realm toward the capital. Behind the iron-barred carriage window, Gu Ying sat shackled in Yao restraints, her meridians sealed. No longer arrogant, she simply watched the receding forests and mountains beyond the window, that faint, ambiguous smile still lingering at the corner of her lips.
Five days later, the convoy arrived at the Yao Court.
Within the grand hall, ministers sat in solemn rows. The High Adjudicator presided from above. Tie Ye personally escorted the prisoner to the center of the chamber.
Gu Ying lifted her gaze toward the ancient hall—symbol of authority over the Yao Realm since time immemorial. A flicker passed through her eyes, but she said nothing.
Lin Yaochen and Ge Zhiyao stood beyond the observation railing. Luo Yan and Mozi remained nearby.
The trial began.
Gu Ying had once been a registered operative of the Court's Shadow Division, serving as an internal intelligence agent. Over the years, she had executed countless missions with ruthless precision. Now, evidence stood irrefutable: collusion with the Third Continent, incitement of military aggression, and the framing of the Ge weaponsmith clan.
Each charge constituted treason.
The Adjudicator spoke.
"Do you acknowledge that framing the Ge clan and attempting to seize their weapon designs and schematics is a grave crime?"
Gu Ying raised her head. Though shackled, her pride remained intact.
She smiled.
"Of course I know," she replied calmly. "But if one cannot even risk this much for the future of the Third Continent—how can one dare speak of a 'great cause'?"
Her voice sharpened like steel and flame.
"We were born of humble origins. That does not mean our talent is inferior. You see pedigree. You see surnames. But you never see—people."
Years of suppressed fury trembled beneath her words as she looked directly at the high dais.
"You look only at bloodlines and noble houses! I have seen countless gifted individuals lose their futures simply because their birth was 'wrong.' And I have seen nobles unworthy of their rank abuse power without consequence. Tell me—how does such a Court inspire loyalty?"
Her voice rose in challenge.
"If there were a world that judged only merit and strength—would that world not be worth fighting for?"
A brief silence filled the hall.
Ge Zhiyao answered coldly,
"The 'talented' you speak of—do you mean yourself? You think that drawing a few schematics and crafting a few mechanisms entitles you to seize the life's work of my parents? You invoke 'ideals' to conceal your crimes."
Luo Yan stood abruptly, his voice like hammer striking iron.
"You wrapped your greed and ambition in the skin of 'fairness.' You aren't seeking justice for the world—you're making excuses for yourself."
Gu Ying's voice lowered, teeth clenched.
"You may call me traitor. Criminal. But in the Third Continent—among the Yao Reformation Army—I am allowed to live like a human being."
Lin Yaochen stepped forward with a cold smile.
"Then perhaps you should ask how many people you denied even the chance to live."
Mozi spoke softly, his tone heavy as frost.
"You believe yourself a reformer. But to the children sacrificed for your cause—you are more terrifying than any Yao bandit."
At that moment, Tie Ye spoke.
"I investigated her background."
All eyes turned toward him.
"She claims loyalty to the Imperial Court, a Shadow Division operative. Yet she never held formal appointment papers. Nor was she ever officially dispatched by the inner court."
He tossed an unopened bamboo scroll sealed in wax onto the floor.
"This is one of many mission directives she never reported. She came and went like the wind, moved front-line sentries and mechanized battalions without authorization. Does that not strike you as suspicious?"
Lin Yaochen widened his eyes.
"She… was impersonating?"
"Not impersonating," Tie Ye replied coldly. "She was once genuine. Later, she borrowed the Court's name to serve the Third Continent's cause."
He continued.
"She entered the Shadow Division through talent, despite humble birth. Distinguished record. Until eight years ago—she was gravely injured during a western border mission and saved by one man."
He turned slowly toward Gu Ying.
"That man was Lin Zhaochi."
Gu Ying lowered her eyes. She neither defended nor denied.
"She was meant to report the rescue," Tie Ye continued, voice heavy. "Instead, she concealed it. From that point onward, she maintained secret contact with him."
He laid a stack of encrypted documents upon the evidence table.
"Later, assigned to monitor Third Continent movements, she reversed the flow of intelligence—shielding him as he built his army. She privately established an organization called the Shadow Pavilion. Outwardly an intelligence relay network. In truth, the core apparatus for recruiting agents, infiltrating major Yao clans, and consolidating Lin Zhaochi's influence."
His voice rang like iron.
"From the Mystic Seal Chambers of the First Province to the Formation Forges of the Second Continent—even the Military Talisman Bureau of the Yao Court had her people embedded."
Shock rippled across the hall.
Tie Ye's gaze hardened.
"You speak of reform. Yet you use the oldest methods—control, surveillance, manipulation. You claim to dismantle hierarchy, but merely redefine it into 'useful' and 'useless.'"
Gu Ying finally lifted her head.
A tired, resolute smile touched her lips.
"If we do not use extraordinary methods, do you think noble heirs will voluntarily relinquish privilege? Without breaking the old bones of this Court, this realm will never rise again."
Her voice was ice and mockery intertwined.
"I built the Shadow Pavilion because Lin Zhaochi dared to use people regardless of birth. He cared only for loyalty to his ideals. A man like that is cleaner than all of you seated upon your high platforms."
Tie Ye's eyes flashed, though his voice remained calm.
"Are you loyal to an ideal… or to the man who saved you?"
Gu Ying froze.
For a fleeting moment, she seemed struck at a place within she had never dared confront.
Silence lingered.
"…He made me believe this world could still be saved," she whispered at last.
Her gaze grew distant—like someone staring through ten thousand miles of frozen wind toward a solitary figure upon a cold city's summit.
"He never mocked my ordinariness. Never scorned my birth. He said—if this world has no place for us, then we will build a new one."
"So I believed him."
"Even if it meant walking to the end. Even if it meant betraying the entire Yao Realm."
Silence fell again.
Lin Yaochen felt something stir painfully within him.
He had intended to condemn her—but in that moment, he understood.
The warped loyalty. The obsession born when the world crushes you, and one person extends a hand—so you stake your entire fate upon them.
Mozi murmured softly,
"When one walks a wrong path long enough… it begins to feel like faith."
The Adjudicator's voice cut through the hall.
"Gu Ying. For framing loyal subjects, colluding with foreign powers, and conspiring to subvert governance—you shall be spared execution. However, your Shadow Division rank is hereby revoked. You are expelled from the intelligence registry. You shall be imprisoned in Yao Prison for life, forever barred from political, military, or intelligence affairs."
He paused, then declared:
"The Shadow Pavilion is designated a forbidden organization. Remaining operatives will be hunted down. Any who conceal them shall be tried for treason. Ge Ruifeng, upon investigation, is cleared of all accusations and shall be reinstated immediately."
The pronouncement struck like thunder.
Gu Ying lowered her head and closed her eyes, accepting judgment without regret.
As she was escorted away, she turned once more toward the fading dusk beyond the hall doors.
Lin Zhaochi was not there.
Yet her gaze seemed to cross mountains and rivers, still fixed upon that distant figure standing at the summit of a frozen city.
—the man who made her believe in ideals,
and led her into the abyss.