Read Chapter 26: — THE BLADE IN THE RACK

For months, Tang kept his father’s sword beside his bed.

He cleaned it too often.

He checked the inscription whenever he returned from a mission.

Peerless in Service.

The words had once meant glory to a child.

Then they meant grief.

Then expectation.

One evening Lin found Tang placing the sword into the communal weapon rack at the training hall.

“You’re not keeping it with you?”

“I have my own blade now.”

Lin looked at the ordinary Jinyiwei sabre hanging at Tang’s side.

No inscription.

No history.

Just steel.

Tang said, “If I carry Father’s sword everywhere, every stupid thing I do becomes something he did too.”

“That is not how inheritance works.”

“I know.”

He ran a thumb over the old scabbard.

“But I think I need to stop asking what he would do every time I make a choice.”

Lin was silent.

That was, perhaps, the most grown thing Tang had ever said.

“Leave it here,” Lin said. “Use it when you need to remember.”

Tang nodded.

“And when I need to impress someone?”

Lin walked away.

“Then use your face. It has survived everything else.”