Suyan and Canghe

Suyan keeps her hand on the hidden bronze knife while the sect’s old bell starts the flood festival. Her body is marked for an immortal spirit, and she knows exactly how badly that plan ends. The first time, she trusted the wrong elders and paid for it with her own future. Now she is back at the start, younger in years but carrying every wound in her memory. She studies pills, steps, and blood marks with a sharp eye, because being right is the only shield she has left. That habit makes her lonely. It also makes her dangerous to anyone who wants her silent. Canghe is the first person who can stand beside her without flinching when she speaks the truth.