As Haoran moved through the crowds like a fluid, golden shadow, the trail of the grey-hooded woman led him further away from the vibrant, noisy central avenues.
He bypassed the guard perimeters and the shifting spiritual arrays effortlessly, his movement technique rendering him entirely invisible to the celebrating populace.
It didn't take long for him to arrive at the rooftop of an exceptionally tall, monolithic building located at the northern edge of the inner ring, a vantage point that overlooked the entire illuminated city.
There, he saw the woman standing silently on the very edge of the stone parapet, her posture relaxed as she watched everything below—the exploding fireworks, the laughing commoners, and the shifting tides of mortal life.
"Who are you?" Asked Haoran, his voice low, flat, and filled with a dangerous, icy clarity that resonated across the empty rooftop.
The woman turned around slowly and smiled, a gesture that held an ancient, maddening weight.
