"I am clumsy, so I give this to you as a parting gift. May it keep you safe and worry-free, Elder." Peng remem…
"I am clumsy, so I give this to you as a parting gift. May it keep you safe and worry-free, Elder."
Peng remembered that child about to leave the mountain, bidding her farewell with a pair of handmade bracers, eyes full of longing for worldly knowledge.
She knew that look well.
She was never short of such innocent people around her. Her master, her peers, and now, her disciple.
She knew their endings well, too.
Later, amidst the blurred flesh and blood of Dragonbend Academy, she recognized that familiar broken sword at a glance.
Beside it were more blades, spears, and swords crafted by Mohist disciples...
In their final moments, their owners must have gripped these weapons tightly, just as they gripped their illusory ideals.
With their talent, they should have achieved greatness in a wider world.
Instead, they wasted their gifts on petty squabbles, throwing their lives away for the sake of insignificant people.
This was their tragedy, and their sin.
Returning from Zhongdu Bridge, she sank the bracers into the Lake of Guilt.
Each time, she was the one to mark the final period, whether for those dust-covered objects or... useless innocence.