As the noise of the victory banquet faded away, Su Jinhuan stood alone beneath the palace wall, gazing abstractedly at the cold moon hanging high in the night sky.
The moonlight was like water, spilling over her battle armor which still bore traces of blood, casting a fractured, chilling light. From afar came the muffled sound of the night watch drum, startling a few cold crows that circled and cawed among the palace towers. She knew that beneath the surface of calm, undercurrents were surging in even deeper places.
Three days later, Su Jinhuan received a secret letter from the Western Regions. The note was written on papyrus unique to the Western Regions; the handwriting was crooked and scribbled, yet at the very bottom it bore the same mysterious symbol found on the Late Emperor's Edict. The letter contained only a few brief sentences: "Beneath the Altar, another world exists. The embers of the blood moon remain, and the Gu poison is uneradicated." The signature was an unfamiliar name—A Jia.
Chapter 134