The footsteps were getting closer.
Li Xuan heard them first.
Shen Lian saw the change in his expression.
"How many?"
"Too many."
Shen Lian almost smiled.
"That sounds familiar."
Li Xuan looked at him.
"You're not allowed to joke right now."
"I wasn't joking."
Another sound came from the corridor.
A blade scraping against stone.
They both turned.
Then the Master appeared.
Alone.
He walked slowly through the darkness, his robes untouched by the battle.
Behind him, the Crown Prince was being dragged forward by two guards.
Advisor Chen followed.
His sword was stained with blood.
The Crown Prince looked furious.
"You said you'd give me the throne."
The Master didn't even look at him.
"I said you would sit upon it."
"And you would control me."
"Yes."
The Crown Prince laughed bitterly.
"At least you're honest now."
Li Xuan stepped forward.
"You're finished."
The Master looked at him.
"Am I?"
His gaze moved to Shen Lian.
"You've made him weak."
Li Xuan's expression hardened.
"No."
Shen Lian spoke first.
"He made me human."
The Master's eyes narrowed.
For the first time—
he looked genuinely angry.
"You were never meant to be human."
The Master attacked.
Li Xuan barely blocked the first strike.
The force drove him backward.
Shen Lian joined immediately.
Their movements were almost perfectly synchronized.
Left.
Right.
Strike.
Deflect.
Turn.
For years, Shen Lian had fought alone.
Now he understood something he had never been taught.
Trust didn't make a fighter slower.
Sometimes—
it made him impossible to defeat.
The Master changed tactics.
A hidden blade flashed toward Li Xuan's chest.
Shen Lian saw it.
He moved without thinking.
The blade cut across his side.
"Shen Lian!"
He stumbled.
Li Xuan caught him.
Blood spread across the white fabric.
The Master smiled.
"There."
His voice was almost satisfied.
"That hesitation."
Shen Lian looked at Li Xuan.
Then at the blood on his own hand.
For one terrifying moment—
he was thirteen again.
Rain.
Stone.
His mentor kneeling.
The Master's voice.
Attachment is hesitation.
But this time, another voice replaced it.
Li Xuan.
"Stay with me."
Shen Lian looked up.
"I am."
Advisor Chen suddenly shouted.
"Li Xuan!"
Li Xuan turned.
"Behind you!"
The Master was already moving.
Li Xuan raised his sword.
Their blades collided.
The impact sent a shock through the hall.
The Crown Prince watched from the floor.
Then his eyes moved toward the Master.
Toward the man who had manipulated him.
Toward the soldiers who had died because of him.
Something inside him finally broke.
He grabbed a fallen sword.
And drove it into the Master's shoulder.
The Master staggered.
Everyone froze.
The Crown Prince was breathing heavily.
"I was your pawn."
The Master looked at the sword.
Then at him.
"You still are."
"No."
The Crown Prince pushed the blade deeper.
"Not anymore."
The Master struck him aside.
The Crown Prince crashed into the stone wall.
But the distraction was enough.
Li Xuan moved.
One strike.
The Master blocked.
Another.
The blade broke through.
The Master fell.
Silence.
For several seconds—
nobody moved.
Then the Crown Prince coughed.
Advisor Chen rushed toward him.
Li Xuan didn't look at them.
He was looking at Shen Lian.
Shen Lian was still standing.
Barely.
Li Xuan crossed the room.
"You're hurt."
"I've had worse."
"Stop saying that."
Shen Lian smiled weakly.
"You always hate that answer."
"Because you always use it."
Li Xuan caught him before his knees gave way.
Shen Lian rested against him.
The battle was over.
But something felt wrong.
Li Xuan noticed it immediately.
"Shen Lian?"
No answer.
"Look at me."
Shen Lian slowly lifted his eyes.
His breathing had become shallow.
Too shallow.
Li Xuan looked toward the wound.
The blood wasn't the problem.
A faint dark line had begun spreading beneath Shen Lian's skin.
Poison.
The Master had coated the blade.
"No."
Li Xuan's voice dropped.
Shen Lian understood immediately.
He looked almost peaceful.
"It's fine."
"Don't."
"Li Xuan—"
"Don't say it's fine."
His voice cracked.
The first time Shen Lian had ever heard it.
"You're not dying."
Shen Lian touched his face.
"I don't want to."
Li Xuan froze.
Shen Lian's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't want to leave you."
The words were barely audible.
"But I'm scared."
Li Xuan closed his eyes.
He pressed his forehead against Shen Lian's.
"Then stay."
"I'll try."
"Try harder."
A faint laugh escaped Shen Lian.
"I am."
Outside the ruined temple—
the first light of dawn appeared.
The rain had stopped.
The sky was beginning to change.
Shen Lian looked toward it.
"It's almost morning."
Li Xuan held him tighter.
"Good."
"Why?"
"Because you promised me."
Shen Lian frowned.
"What did I promise?"
"When we survived…"
Li Xuan swallowed.
"You said you wouldn't disappear."
Shen Lian looked at him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Shen Lian whispered,
"I won't."
His eyes slowly closed.
Li Xuan's expression changed.
"Shen Lian?"
Nothing.
"Shen Lian."
Still nothing.
Li Xuan pulled him closer.
"No."
The word disappeared into the quiet temple.
Then—
a faint sound.
Jing.
One silver bell moved against Shen Lian's robes.
Li Xuan looked down.
His hand tightened around Shen Lian's.
"Stay."
The sun rose.
And for the first time—
Li Xuan was terrified of what morning would bring.