Sometimes not replying is the reply. Not every message deserves a round two.

Silence is a complete answer and occasionally the accurate one. Some messages are sent to get a reaction, and the reaction is the payment, so withholding it ends the exchange in a way no clever reply can. This only works when it is a decision rather than avoidance, and those two are easy to confuse from inside.

Before leaving something unanswered, check which one you are doing. If the message is bait, let it sit. If it is a real person waiting on a real answer, silence is not a strategy, it is a delay with their feelings inside it.