Chapter Three: Admission to the Evernight Court

Someone had harvested his identity for a decade, cultivating the perfect scapegoat. A video opened. Wanxing sat unrestrained in the black car. “Shen Yao, if you see this, you entered the Evernight Court. Do not look for me. I was not abducted. I gave away Obsidian's access.” Su held her breath. “Our meeting was not an accident. The ring was not a gift. I'm sorry.” Before the video ended, Wanxing traced four strokes on her knee: short, long, short, short. Their restoration code meant: the surface is false. Publicly she confessed betrayal. Privately she told him not to believe it. “Do you still trust her?” Gu asked. “That is none of your concern.”