Dusk funeral terrace on Heron-Cliff Peak. White lanterns, jade steps, and a public funeral sign establish the sect ceremony before an empty bier.

The empty bier is revealed as the central horror of the public ritual.

The crowd frames Wanqing as accused and alive while Wanlin endures being addressed by the wrong name.

Sect Master Shen arrives to preside, bringing the public authority of the law and the sealed crime ledger.

Wanlin obeys the summons and learns the public version of the ceremony.

Shen introduces the burial law and its consequence before the sect.

The Heron-Cliff Crime Ledger is opened, showing the accusations that bind Wanqing’s name.

Elder Bai tests Wanlin’s composure with a direct question.

The false funeral offering is prepared, emphasizing the absence of Wanqing’s body.

Wanlin lights the symbolic pyre while the sect watches.

The smoke pulls Wanlin into a memory of Wanqing alive at the cliff.

The cliff memory breaks into incomplete images of Wanqing’s fall, without revealing a cause.

Wanlin returns to the funeral as Qin Mo passes close enough to whisper.

Qin Mo confirms the corpse, the stamp, and the forty-day deadline in plain terms.

Wanlin processes the deadline while the ceremony continues around her.

The public ceremony ends, but the social danger around Wanlin remains.

Qin Mo leads Wanlin to the cold-storage cave and warns her about listening wards.

The cold-storage cave opens, showing rows of ice slabs and the sect’s treatment of accused bodies.

Wanqing’s body is revealed on the ice slab.

The forty-day expiry talisman makes the deadline physical and unavoidable.

Wanlin kneels beside Wanqing and makes a promise without saying the dangerous name aloud.

Qin Mo reminds Wanlin that the ledger, not grief, controls whether the body is released.

The chapter ends by linking the hidden corpse to the glowing crime ledger above.