Garrow's blade came up instantly at Su Wan's declaration, and half the camp tensed with him, weapons raised despite her escort's disciplined stillness.
"Stand down," Su Wan said calmly, not flinching. "If we intended violence, you'd already be fighting my entire force, not exchanging words with me alone."
"Explain yourself," Liu Che said, refusing to lower his own blade. "An organization that's supposedly existed since my ancestor's time, and nobody's ever heard of you."
"By design," Su Wan said. "Yin's network spent three centuries hunting anyone connected to your bloodline. Staying hidden wasn't caution. It was survival."
Xu's fragmented voice stirred weakly through the pendant, still recovering but alert enough to respond. "Wei Liang. Ask her about the original resistance's structur
