Chapter Three: Light Sent Seven Years Ago

The event was gone, leaving only grief. “What did the ability take?” Li Wu asked. He ignored the question. “I came to Qiyao when I was eight?” She fell silent. “You knew.” “I know this isn’t your first payment. Star Memory does not create truth. It only reveals what light once saw. But memories can be staged, and light can be directed. Your sister was the finest architect of memory.” Gears turned beneath the lobby. The sundial cast seven shadows toward seven doors that had not existed a moment before. Shen Yan’s name was carved on the middle one. The white masks had reached the platform. Their footsteps approached in perfect rhythm.