[North Wing · Water Yao]
The candles in the North Wing burned with a soft, steady glow. Wind slipped through the window seams, carrying the coolness of rain-washed air.
Cang Yuan lay half-reclined against the headboard, his complexion still pale, his breathing uneven where his chest rose and fell.
Xie Wenyun sat at the bedside, holding a bowl of medicine with great care, feeding him one spoonful at a time.
Her eyes were rimmed red, her voice so light it felt as if it might shatter.
"I never knew… I never knew you all were protecting the people of the Yao Realm with your lives."
She swallowed, trying to steady herself. "A-Yuan… can you promise me that no matter what happens, you'll live? Please."
Slowly, Cang Yuan lifted his hand and covered the hand that was feeding him. He smiled, weariness in it, yet gentleness still intact.
"It's fine. I still haven't taken you to wander the four seas."
His thumb brushed her fingers. "How could I bear to die?"
At the word die, Xie Wenyun's heart trembled.
"Don't say that word…" she whispered. "It makes me panic."
Cang Yuan watched her expression, then took the bowl from her hands and tipped it back, drinking the medicine in one go.
"Alright," he said, setting the empty bowl on the side table. "I won't say it."
Then he shifted closer and reached a hand toward her, patting the space beside him.
"Then… lie down with me?"
Xie Wenyun blinked, caught off guard, watching him make room and tap the bedding like an invitation.
"With you like this… can you really lie down?"
"Of course." He lifted a brow, smiling. "Why not? You should know that best."
"Don't talk nonsense." She glared, flustered. "Your internal injuries are serious. What are you trying to do?"
Cang Yuan's smile turned lazy, almost innocent.
"Sleep while holding you. What did you think I meant, Wenyun?"
Her cheeks flushed. She shot him a sharp look. "Stop being shameless."
But she still slipped off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, easing herself carefully against his side, terrified of pressing on his injuries.
The moment she moved close, Cang Yuan's arm slid around her waist. He tucked his head against her chest, closing his eyes with a satisfied sigh.
"Mmm… this is the most comfortable."
Xie Wenyun was both mortified and furious. "You're injured. Don't move around."
"I'm not moving." His voice came muffled, amused. "I'm just breathing… right here, against your heart."
She was about to push him away when she heard his low chuckle.
"My wife smells so good."
"Stop talking!" She pressed a hand against his head, scolding him, though her ears were already burning red. "Sleep. Right now."
Cang Yuan laughed softly in her arms, his voice sinking lower and lower as sleep pulled at him.
"Alright… I'll sleep."
A pause, then a quiet, stubborn plea: "Don't go."
Xie Wenyun lowered her gaze to the man in her arms, and something in her softened until it nearly hurt.
Outside, the wind remained cool. Inside, the room was warm as spring.
[South Wing · Fire Yao]
Charcoal crackled in a low, steady hush.
Gauze and medicine lay spread across the desk. Luo Ye sat alone before it, his wounds still exposed and untreated. In his palm, he gripped a hairpin with dangling ornaments, a buyao.
It belonged to Ling Dang.
The tiny silver bells trembled, their sound so faint it was almost imaginary.
"Dang'er…" he murmured, voice hoarse to the edge of breaking. "Where are you?"
A suffocating ache surged in his chest, wave after wave, as if something were tearing at his sanity. He felt himself hovering at the brink of collapse.
Footsteps sounded outside.
Sang Qi pushed the door open. The moment he saw Luo Ye like this, his brows knit tightly.
"I knew you wouldn't treat your own wounds," he said, helplessness in his tone as he strode forward.
His gaze fell on the buyao in Luo Ye's hand. His expression stalled, then he released a quiet sigh.
"I know you're anxious about Ling Dang. But you have to keep yourself alive first." His voice lowered. "If she saw you like this, she'd only hurt more."
He paused, then softened. "Enough. I'll bandage you."
Luo Ye said nothing. He simply let Sang Qi work.
Blood was cleaned away. Ointment was applied. Bandages wrapped tight.
And still, Luo Ye never looked away from the hairpin, as if it were the only thing left that allowed him to breathe.
"We'll find her," Sang Qi said as he dressed the wound, his voice steady and gentle.
Luo Ye's fingers clenched around the buyao until his knuckles whitened.
"Sang Qi…" he whispered, and for the first time his voice shook. "I'm afraid."
A ragged breath. "I'm afraid that when I finally find her… she'll already be…"
He couldn't say the rest.
But the word dead hung between them anyway, silent and heavy.
Sang Qi's hands stopped for a heartbeat. He looked up at Luo Ye.
He understood that fear too well.
Ling Shuo could drive the citizens of Yao City mad with illusions. Someone like that didn't value human life.
"It won't happen," Sang Qi said, each word firm, as if he were nailing it into the night itself.
"Didn't you say Ling Dang is his sister? No matter how ruthless he's become, that bloodline… he shouldn't cross it."
Luo Ye stayed silent for a long time, the red in his eyes refusing to fade.
Finally, he answered in a low voice, "I hope so."
Firelight wavered between them, illuminating the buyao in his hand.
The bell's faint tremor sounded like a sob and a sigh at once, turning, in the stillness of the night, into the deepest thread of pain.
[Yao Tower · Beneath the Earth Veins]
Youqing, wrapped in white, walked alone into the Soul-Locking Cavern beneath the Yao Tower.
This place had once been an extended layer of the tower's arteries, deep and lightless, its walls carved with ancient Yao script. The pocket watch in her palm trembled softly; the Yao seal upon it brightened and dimmed in uneven pulses.
"Rift-Yao… are you still here?"
Her voice echoed through the hollow dark, as though calling out to a dream that refused to wake.
The air around her suddenly turned cold.
A strand of black mist seeped from a crack in the stone. The presence was faint, yet it carried a familiar malice.
"Saintess…" the voice rasped low, a laugh leaking up from the earth. "You think you've won?"
Youqing raised her hand. The seal flared bright at once, and its light outlined a blurred shadow.
A remnant soul of the Rift-Yao.
Her eyes cooled. "You aren't Ye Yi. You're one of his soul imprints."
The shadow twisted slightly, its tone laced with mockery. "Ye Yi is me, and I am him. Your light won't burn forever."
Youqing lifted the seal higher, her voice clear as a blade. "Then I'll make it shine again."
Light and shadow braided together. In the depths, black Yao patterns flickered back to life.
She knew it then.
This war was not truly over.
[Yao Tower · Earth-Vein Exit]
When Youqing emerged from the Soul-Locking Cavern, warmth still lingered in her chest. Her steps were faintly unsteady, yet sure.
She had barely reached the final stair when a familiar presence swept toward her.
She turned.
Si Mo Heng.
"Qing'er, are you hurt?" He didn't wait for her answer. He pulled her close at once, scanning her face, her palm, the lingering light-marks that refused to fade.
His fingers covered the back of her cool hand, his expression tight with urgency.
Youqing smiled faintly and shook her head, her voice calm yet resolute.
"I'm fine. But…" Her gaze sharpened. "We need to find Ye Yi quickly and drive him out of Ling Shuo's body. I'll send his soul straight to hell. After everything he's done, he doesn't deserve peace."
Si Mo Heng's brows drew together. Something complicated flickered in his eyes.
"And Ling Shuo's own soul," he said quietly, "must return to his body as soon as possible. Otherwise even Wan Luo will be in danger. If that body is fully corroded, Wan Luo will suffer a far worse backlash."
Youqing nodded, her gaze fixed on the tower's shadowed core.
"Once we return, we'll send people to bring Wan Luo here. I won't force an lure without safeguards."
She spoke with the precision of someone stepping across blades.
"First, we place her somewhere truly secure. Then we use the Black-Yao bracelet as the soul-drawing medium."
Her fingertips brushed the silver-black ring around her wrist. In the candlelight, the black stone flashed with a faint, dim sheen.
"I had craftsmen at Yao Nan Hidden Manor make it specially. It can stabilize the soul and guide the veins. If Ye Yi's soul hasn't fully dispersed, it will sense the fluctuations."
Her voice sharpened into certainty. "Only when we find him can everything return to its rightful order."
Si Mo Heng pressed his lips together, his jaw set with unshakable resolve.
"I'll return to the palace at once and request a guard detail for Wan Luo. I'll personally lead troops to protect her."
His gaze locked onto hers. "If you need anything, send word immediately. I won't let you walk into danger alone."
Youqing tightened her grip on the pocket watch. The seal within the dark gave a faint, steady pulse.
"I know," she said softly. "With you here, I won't be a lone traveler."
Si Mo Heng looked at her once more, his voice low and cold.
"This soul art is no small matter. He's cunning and vicious. To lure him out is to make him reveal his true form, not to let him get what he wants."
Youqing smiled slightly, calm and glacial.
"Hasn't he always wanted the Heart of the Yao Spirit? Then we'll use it to set the trap. We'll let him believe he's succeeded."
Her eyes narrowed. "But what he'll truly steal… is only the phantom spirit I create."
They met each other's gaze. In just a few breaths, understanding settled between them like a sealed pact.
Si Mo Heng turned, his stride steady. "I'll handle palace matters first and send people for Wan Luo. Be careful."
He paused without looking back. "Don't let Ye Yi see through the seams."
Youqing nodded.
Autumn wind swept past, lifting the ashen hues clinging to the tower's stone. She watched Si Mo Heng's figure recede, and in her chest, a cold clarity hardened into resolve.
She tucked the pocket watch inside her robes and stepped onto the stone path leading back to the Yao Residence.
Each step felt like pressing fate into a line that could no longer be erased.