The Return Undeserved

Xue's footfalls echoed through the long passage of the inner dormitory like a needle pricking silence.

It was late—long past the curfew bell—and the hallway shimmered with the cold stillness only the high mountains could conjure. Silver moonlight spilled through paper-screen windows. The torches had long been extinguished. Any disciple still out was either brave, stupid, or powerful enough to be both.

She was the third.

Her hands, hidden in the long sleeves of her robe, were clenched.

Not in rage.

Not in fury.

But something far colder—betrayal.

She had grown up in the Iceheart Sect of the Inner Concord.

Learned that discipline was the only thing worth pride. That bloodlines and lineage mattered more than truth.

She had borne that proudly—until he started asking questions she had no answers to.

Now, everything ached with contradiction.

She reached the room.

It was still slightly open—still quiet.

She stepped through without knocking.

Shen Yan stood with a bundle of papers in hand. He spun with a startled grunt, hand immediately moving to the sword on his waist.

The red-haired girl—a newcomer, still unknown to Xue—was seated on the bed, her eyes wide. Her sleeves were too short for her wrists, and bruises peeked like faded ink beneath pale skin.

Xue's voice was low, cold, but not cruel.

"You two have some explaining to do."

Shen straightened. "Lady Xue…"

"Don't 'Lady Xue' me." She stepped fully into the room, letting the door slide shut behind her. "I heard everything outside. From 'before he was taken' to your little secrecy. Explain."

The red-haired girl stiffened.

Shen hesitated, looking between her and the sealed window.

"I helped him once," Xue said. "I gave him access to the archives. You think I don't deserve the truth now?"

Still, silence.

"Is he even alive?"

"…Yes," Shen replied quietly. "He's alive."

"Then who took him?"

"…The Warden," Shen said. "He—"

"He?"

"I don't know his real name," Shen admitted. "I only know he's the Warden of the Ninth Annex. Handles the lowest-level 'special' prisoners. No one's ever assigned there unless they've… drawn attention."

Xue's expression was unreadable. Her braid shifted over one shoulder like a white whip.

"And Jin Mu drew attention?"

"Yes," Su spoke for the first time. "He was trying to save someone."

Xue turned to her.

"You're the slave girl."

"I'm Su."

A pause.

"He saved you?"

Su nodded.

"…And my brother," she whispered, "he …tried to save him too."

Xue looked away briefly, jaw tightening.

So Jin Mu had vanished not out of pride or arrogance, but to protect.

Of course. It made too much sense.

She hated how much sense it made.

"Then where is this Ninth Annex?"

Shen hesitated again.

"It's beneath the old burial hall at the base of Mount Kuthal."

"That's beyond the sanctioned layers of the sect."

"Exactly."

"That makes no sense. That place is unguarded."

Shen met her eyes.

"Not unguarded. Forbidden. It's their place."

"…The Black Hand?"

Shen nodded.

Xue stepped back.

The Black Hand wasn't officially acknowledged within the Iceheart Sect's upper books. But everyone knew—they were the Concord's trash collectors. Hunters, punishers, silencers. They kept the image of the righteous intact by handling what shouldn't be seen.

But they weren't supposed to exist here. Not in Iceheart.

"This goes against hierarchy."

Shen nodded again.

"Then we've been lied to. Not just about Jin Mu."

She paced once, then halted, cloak fluttering.

"What sect are we truly in, Shen?"

He blinked.

"Iceheart."

"No." She pointed east. "That is the name of the visible sect. But what lies underneath?"

Shen finally understood what she meant.

His jaw tensed.

"We're just one province of the Concord," he said slowly. "But the Concord doesn't run like a single hierarchy. There are Sects—Layers—each answering to a central node. Iceheart answers to Silver Sun Courtyard, which in turn answers to the Concord Tribunal of Jadespire."

She gave him a small nod.

"So, this Warden doesn't report to the Sect Master?"

"…No," Shen said, voice tight. "He reports above. To someone in the Jadespire Bureaucracy. We've never met them, and we're not meant to."

Xue's lips curled slightly.

"Of course not. Those above never want to be seen when their hands are covered in blood."

"And me?" she asked. "What position do I hold?"

"Elder-class prodigy," Shen said instantly. "Second-ranked in your generation. Direct candidate for the Frozen Crown."

Xue closed her eyes.

So why had no one told her?

Why had she only learned of Jin's disappearance through whispers and shadows?

Why was her place in this hierarchy still beneath liars?

Her hands curled.

"Then it's time I stopped being useful decoration."

"Are you suggesting…" Shen began.

"We get him out. Tonight."

Su blinked. "You want to help?"

"Don't misunderstand," Xue replied frostily. "I still don't like him."

She paused.

"But I hate being used even more."

The room fell into silence after Xue's words. It wasn't the cold that made Su shiver.

Shen's fingers toyed with the worn edge of a parchment—one of Jin Mu's old annotations, likely irrelevant now but symbolic, like a severed chain.

Xue turned toward him again.

"Tell me everything you know about the Warden. Every name. Every alias. Every rumor."

Shen nodded slowly.

"I don't have much," he said. "No one does. Most disciples here don't even know we have a Warden. But I've been watching the transportation routes. Late at night, there are carts that pass through the back entrance of the Bloodshade Tower—covered, unmarked. Guarded by the Midnight Division."

"The Midnight Division?" Xue narrowed her eyes. "That's Concord Central. Their agents don't leave the Capital unless ordered directly by the Tribunal."

"Exactly," Shen said. "That's the connection. Whoever this 'Warden' is, he's not just some prison-keeper. He's an extension of Concord control within the sect."

"But what does that mean?" Su asked quietly. "Why Jin Mu?"

"…Because he interfered," Shen replied. "The pig camp was part of a protected trade route. The slave system that Jin cracked wasn't local—it was Concord-sanctioned. Hidden in a sub-layer of our economy."

"Wait—" Xue stiffened. "You're telling me our sect knowingly permits slave camps to funnel humans and talents?"

Shen didn't answer.

But his silence was enough.

Su's voice trembled.

"They wore Iceheart colors sometimes. Or faked them. But some weren't faked."

"How long were you there?" Xue asked gently.

"I don't remember. Weeks? Months? I don't know," Su whispered. "I only know that when he came... it was the first time someone looked at me and didn't see a thing to sell."

Her voice cracked.

"My brother believed him the moment he saw him. Even though he didn't speak much and…didn't ….live to see the next sunrise…. Even though he was scary sometimes. He was the first good thing."

Xue looked down.

Then—surprisingly—knelt and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"You'll have your justice."

Su's tears didn't fall, but they swam behind her lashes.

Shen cleared his throat after a long moment.

"There's more," he said. "This is secondhand—an overheard name in a report at the courier chamber."

"Spit it out," Xue said.

"The name… is Camellya."

Xue blinked. "That doesn't sound like any male warden I've heard of."

"That's the thing," Shen said. "I said 'he' because I assumed. But apparently, some call the Warden Lady Camellya of the Ash Court."

"That's… a noble title," Xue murmured. "Ash Court? That's under the Concord Enforcers' Branch, isn't it?"

Shen nodded. "It is. I checked the crest last night. There was a burn pattern on the lower hem of the guard captain's pauldron—exact match."

Xue sat back, her mind already racing.

"A Concord enforcer, hiding under the guise of a warden. Operating in Iceheart territory. Secretly running a special prison beneath the sect, likely without the Sect Master's knowledge."

She paused.

"What kind of prisoner would warrant that?"

Silence again.

They all knew the answer.

Jin Mu wasn't just a prisoner.

He was a threat.

Not because of brute strength.

Not even because of cultivation.

But because he saw too clearly.

He refused to be blind in a world where ignorance was survival.

"Then we need to move fast," Xue said. "Whatever they've planned… they'll act soon. If they think he knows more, they'll break him. Or worse."

"But how?" Su asked. "We can't just walk into the mountain base."

Xue stood, brushing her robes straight. Her aura shifted—no longer just a bratty heiress, but the second-ranked genius of the Inner Sect.

"We won't walk."

Shen raised an eyebrow. "Then what?"

"We arrive."

She grinned coldly.

"With the backing of my title. And a lie."

Su and Shen both looked up.

"We'll declare a search for a cursed artifact," Xue said. "Something unstable that might be buried in the ruins below Mount Kuthal. I'll request oversight—personal inspection from an Elder Prodigy."

"And they'll let you?" Shen asked.

"They won't have a choice," Xue replied. "I'm still officially a candidate for the Frozen Crown. They won't risk drawing heat from the Tribunal by denying one of their most promising faces."

She turned to Su.

"Can you fight?"

Su nodded, determination flickering in her eyes. "I can."

"Then dress in formal black. You'll be my 'retainer.' Shen—escort."

Shen bowed slightly, grinning. "Wouldn't miss it."

As they moved out into the hallway, Xue felt something else stirring inside her.

This wasn't just about Jin Mu anymore.

This was about truth.

About clawing the filth from beneath the Concord's robes.

About fire beneath snow.

And perhaps… something else.

Just maybe—

She cared more than she should.