Sword Heart of Heaven and Earth · Conversa

Slanting threads of rain weave through the night, darkening the eastern city as demonic qi steeps the air. Wangquan Fugui stands atop the ruined city tower, his white robes snapping in the wind, the Wangquan Sword in his hand still sheathed. His eyes calmly sweep over the demon shadows fleeing through the streets and alleys—those twisted shadows streaming along the eaves, enclosing the entire market district like an isolated island. He counts them: thirty-seven. A number hardly worth drawing his sword for. Yet he draws it nonetheless. A streak of sword light, like a cold sliver of the moon, plunges into the throng of demons. In the Western Regions, yellow sand drifts over the dunes. Fan Yunfei lies atop a sand dune, his human form not yet fully taken, leaving his ears with fuzzy, pointed tips. He is staring absentmindedly at the distant camel bells of a human caravan when his brother beside him nudges him: "Stop looking. Those are the colors of the Li Family Army." He mutters an "Oh," his tail wagging involuntarily. Inside the study of Wangquan Villa, Quan Rumu plays with a short dagger, his fingertips tracing back and forth along the edge. A smile rests on his face, but beneath it lies a heavy layer of gloom—he has just come from his father's presence, his palm still clutching a vial of medicine he hadn't had time to put away. He knows that kind of medicine all too well. Steward Fei stands under the veranda holding a tea tray, watching the retreating back of Wangquan Hongye as he walks alone into the Sword Tomb. He does not follow, merely placing the tea gently onto the stone step. The tea grows cold. The rain continues to fall; the demons in the eastern city have all been slain. Wangquan Fugui sheathes his sword and turns to leave. Out of the corner of his eye, his gaze sweeps over an alley corner—a small spider hides beneath a shattered tile, trembling all over, yet stubbornly holding her ground without fleeing. He glances at her and makes no move. "Let's go," he says to Master Cheng behind him. The sound of rain grows denser, leaving only a quiet silence between heaven and earth, waiting to be ignited.