Chapter 13: Whispers Beneath the Flames
That night, the Murong estate didn't sleep.
Guards patrolled with tightened grips on their swords. Lanterns glowed like watchful eyes across the rooftops. But Mei Xiao... she was restless for a different reason.
She stood in the courtyard where the sigil had been found — now scrubbed clean, but the scorch marks still whispered of secrets. She knelt and brushed her fingers along the faint burn on the stone.
"Phoenix..." she murmured. "Why does that feel familiar?"
A breeze stirred her hair. Suddenly, a voice behind her:
"You shouldn't be here."
She didn't turn. "Neither should flaming sigils. Yet, here we are."
Murong Jing He stepped into view, his robe shifting like smoke in the moonlight. His eyes were unreadable again — that frustrating, beautiful blankness she was starting to hate. And crave.
"I sent men to sweep the grounds. Whoever left it vanished like mist."
"Or maybe," she said, rising slowly, "they never left."
His brow twitched. "You suspect someone inside the clan?"
"I suspect everyone inside the clan. Including you."
That caught him off guard. Just for a second.
"I see." He folded his hands behind his back. "And what would the young madam do if I were the traitor?"
Mei Xiao smirked. "Depends. Would stabbing you void our marriage contract?"
A breath — sharp, amused, maybe dangerous — escaped him. "You speak like someone who's not afraid of death."
"I'm not. Just of being bored."
They stood like that for a beat — the moon between them, silver tension in the air.
Then he said, voice lower, "There's a sealed scroll in the ancestral library. Mei Lin was forbidden to read it. But you... you're not exactly her anymore, are you?"
Her pulse jumped. "What's in it?"
"Answers. Maybe even memories." He paused. "If you truly want to know what the Phoenix means… come with me. But once you open it, there's no going back."
Mei Xiao hesitated only for a heartbeat. Then: "Lead the way, husband."