From Dawnlight Town to the capital took five days even at a gallop.

Lu Xingchen had no horse—only his own two legs. Still, the road was not lonely. He had walked this official highway with his father as a child. The memories were blurred, but the scenery along the way felt familiar all the same.

On the first evening he stopped at a post station beside the road.

The station was small—a two-story wooden building with a courtyard front and back. The innkeeper was a round-faced middle-aged woman whose eyes narrowed into crescents when she smiled. She greeted guests with one hand and shelled edamame with the other.

"Young man, traveling alone?" She looked Lu Xingchen over, her gaze lingering briefly on the jade pendant at his throat. "A light spirit wielder, are you? Come in, come in—dining or lodging?"

"Lodging." Lu Xingchen set down his pack. "A quiet room, if you have one."

"Certainly!" The innkeeper answered briskly and led him upstairs. "Heading to the capital, I take it? Quite a few light spirit wielders have passed through lately—all dispatched by the Hall on missions. I've lost count of how many."

Lu Xingchen's interest stirred. "All going to the capital? What kind of missions?"

"Couldn't tell you that." The innkeeper shook her head. "But I hear it's something to do with the spirit veins. They've been off lately—even out here in the backcountry you can feel it."

She pushed open a door. The room was clean and neat, the window facing a small grove behind the building with a wide view.

"How's this? Quiet, and the window looks out on the trees."

"Perfect. I'll take it." Lu Xingchen nodded.

He washed up, changed into clean clothes, and went downstairs for dinner.

The dining hall was modest, seven or eight square tables, most already occupied—merchants, escorts, and a few people in fitted clothes whose trade you could not guess.

He found a corner seat and ordered a bowl of noodles and a small side dish.

When the noodles arrived he was bent over his thoughts, and then he heard low conversation at the next table.

"…Did you hear? The shadowfolk council is sending a representative to the capital this time too."

"The shadowfolk council? What does that have to do with investigating spirit veins?"

"Who knows. Those people never do business at a loss. Send a representative now, maybe they're planning to take something for themselves."

"Shh—keep your voice down. You dare say things like that out loud?"

Lu Xingchen pricked up his ears, trying to hear more.

But the men seemed to sense him. Their voices dropped until he could barely catch a word.

Disappointed, he looked away and ate his noodles.

They were good—the broth rich with bone stock, fragrant and full. But they had no taste in his mouth. His mind was full of the last few days. The shadowfolk in the woods. The Shen clansman who had saved him. And what his father had said yesterday.

There is no kindness without reason.

Why had that shadowfolk man saved him?

What did he want?

Just then the dining hall door swung open.

A draft of cool night air poured in, carrying the damp smell peculiar to evening.

Lu Xingchen looked up without thinking—

And froze.

A man stood in the doorway.

Black fitted clothes. A lean build. Ordinary features—the kind that would disappear in any crowd. But those eyes…

Lu Xingchen's hand jerked. His chopsticks nearly fell into the bowl.

Pupils bottomless as ancient wells.

It was him.

The shadowfolk man from that night in the forest.

The man saw him too.

The instant their eyes met, Lu Xingchen caught the faintest crease between the man's brows—as if he had seen something he did not want to see.

Then the man looked away and walked to the counter as if nothing had happened, asking for a room in a very low voice.

From start to finish, he never looked at Lu Xingchen again.

Lu Xingchen stared at his retreating back and could not look away.

He remembered that night. The man had saved his life but refused to give his name. He had chased after him to say thank you, only to be cut off with Next time, don't stick your nose into other people's business.

A lifesaver who acted like a mortal enemy.

It made no sense at all.

He was still brooding when the innkeeper called to him. "Young man, do you know that guest who just came in?"

"Huh?" Lu Xingchen came back to himself. "Not really… Why?"

"He asked me to pass on a message." The innkeeper smiled. "He said, Leave at the hour of mao tomorrow. Don't be late."

Lu Xingchen stared.

Tomorrow at mao? Leave? Don't be late?

What did that mean?

He shot to his feet and rushed to the counter. "Where is he? Where did he go?"

"Upstairs." The innkeeper startled. "What's wrong? You do know each other, don't you?"

Lu Xingchen had no time to explain. He turned and ran upstairs.

He searched room by room until he stopped at the last door on the corridor.

The door was closed.

He drew a breath and knocked.

"Who is it?" A voice came from inside—flat, like well water in deep winter.

"Me." Lu Xingchen said. "Lu Xingchen."

Silence.

Then the door opened.

The man stood in the doorway, backlit by moonlight through the window, his face unreadable.

"What do you want?"

"What do you mean?" Lu Xingchen got straight to the point. "Leave at the hour of mao tomorrow. Don't be late—what's that supposed to mean?"

The man looked at him, gaze cold. "You're the light spirit wielder the Hall sent to the capital to investigate the spirit veins?"

"…Yes."

"So am I." The man said. "Representative of the shadowfolk council."

Lu Xingchen went still.

A shadowfolk council representative?

Wait—the shadowfolk council sending someone to investigate spirit veins? What was this? Light and shadow working together?

"For this mission, the Light Spirit Hall and the shadowfolk council each dispatched one person." The man continued, voice unchanged. "You're from Dawnlight Town. I'm from Shadowvale. From here to the capital, we travel the same road."

Lu Xingchen blinked, then understood. "So you mean… we're going together?"

"Not my idea." The man's tone cooled further. "It's orders from above. You go whether you want to or not."

He started to close the door.

"Wait!" Lu Xingchen blocked it with his hand. "What's your name? Why did you save me that night?"

The man stopped.

He looked down at Lu Xingchen. Something unreadable flickered in his gaze.

"Shen Ye."

"What?"

"My name is Shen Ye." His voice was very quiet. "As for why I saved you—"

He paused and looked away.

"…None of your business."

Then he shut the door hard.

Lu Xingchen stood outside, staring at the closed door, unsure what to say.

Shen Ye.

He repeated the name silently in his mind.

Shen… A man of the Shen family. That night the shadows had called him exactly that. So it was true.

But why?

The Shen clan was one of Shadowvale's great noble houses. Shen Yuan, chairman of the shadowfolk council, was one of theirs. Why would such a man save an ordinary light spirit wielder like him? Why would he be assigned to travel with him on this mission?

He returned to his room with a head full of questions.

That night he slept poorly again. His dreams were nothing but Shen Ye's bottomless eyes and that icy None of your business.

Truly… infuriating.

At the hour of mao the next morning, before dawn had fully broken, Lu Xingchen shouldered his pack and went downstairs.

Shen Ye was already standing at the station entrance, back to him, looking at the pale light spreading along the horizon.

At the sound of footsteps, Shen Ye turned.

The first light of dawn traced the hard lines of his profile. Those bottomless eyes looked even deeper in the morning.

"Let's go," he said, voice flat. "From now until we reach the capital, don't leave my sight."

Lu Xingchen frowned. "What do you mean? You're going to watch me?"

"Mutual surveillance." Shen Ye turned and walked on, voice drifting back. "Light spirit wielder, don't flatter yourself."

Lu Xingchen stared at that cold retreating back, teeth grinding.

He drew a deep breath, swallowed the nameless anger, and hurried after him.

"Hey, wait—why are you walking so fast? What exactly are we investigating? Do you know? And why is the shadowfolk council suddenly willing to cooperate with the Light Spirit Hall? You could at least tell me something."

Shen Ye's steps faltered.

"…Loud."

"What?"

"You're loud." Shen Ye did not look back. "You'll find out in the capital. Shut up for now."

Lu Xingchen: "…"

In all his life he had never met anyone this unpleasant.

A lifesaver with manners worse than an enemy's.

It made no sense!

Fuming, he followed Shen Ye along the official road toward the capital.

The morning light grew brighter, spilling across the road ahead.

Two figures, one ahead and one behind, one cold and one warm—like two extremes of light and shadow.

Neither of them knew that on this road to the capital, their story had only just begun.