*Lower Realm, Blue Star City*
The sun was barely rising over Blue Star City, spreading orange hues on the dusty tiled roofs and the still calm streets of the merchant quarter. In the narrow room of the Traveler's Rest inn, Xuan BaiShe stood near the window, adjusting his Sage monocle with methodical precision.
His jade face, of perfect paleness, betrayed none of the emotions from the previous night. Beside him, Xuan Ling was still wrapped in the linen sheets, her golden gaze fixed on her brother's back with an intensity where a new dependence and residual mistrust mingled.
BaiShe slowly turned toward her, his hands joined behind his back in his usual posture of a nonchalant young scholar.
" Ling'er... it is time for you to return to the Upper Realms, " he declared in a monotonous voice, whose apparent softness masked absolute authority.
The young woman sat up, clutching the blanket against her chest, her black hair falling in disarray over her bare shoulders.
