Chapter 15 · The List That Kills Him

Lin Yuan's holding the scroll like it's a dinner menu.

Four guards behind him. All armed. All staring at me like I'm already dead.

"Twelve signatures," Lin Yuan says, unrolling the thing so Gu can see. "Elder Feng. Elder Qiu. Even your precious Master Shen. They all agreed, Sect Leader. Lin Wei's spirit root gets extracted in three days. Official sect business."

I can't breathe.

Twelve. That's the whole council except Gu.

Gu's hand tightens on my wrist. He hasn't let go since Lin Yuan kicked the door in. His fingers are shaking—poison or rage, I don't know.

"You forged those," Gu says. His voice is flat. Dead.

Lin Yuan laughs. Actually laughs.

"Feel free to check. Blood seals and everything." He tosses the scroll at Gu's feet. It lands between us, red wax gleaming in the altar light. "Uncle's gone, by the way. Heart failure. Very sudden. I'm the new council representative for the Lin family line."

Heart failure.

Right.

I stare at the scroll and my brain goes sideways. Twelve names I've seen my whole life. Twelve people who watched me scrub floors and carry water and bleed in the training yards.

They all signed.

Every single one.