Feng Jiao Xue didn’t say anything as she helped Mo Tianze up the stairs of the old inn.
The hallway slled of dust and old wood, and the lights flickered like they hadn’t been fixed in years. She held the key tight in her hand, the weight of it heavier than it should be. Mo Tianze leaned against her a little more than usual. He didn’t say anything either, but his ears were low, and his tail dragged tiredly along the floor.
He was always so careful not to show weakness. But even the strongest have their limits.
The floor creaked under their steps. Each sound echoed in the silence between them. A silence that wasn’t cold but full of unspoken things.
She found the room at the end of the hallway. The door creaked when she opened it, and the hinges groaned like they hadn’t been oiled in a decade. It was small, barely big enough for two people, but it had a bed. That was enough.
She guided him over to it, helping him sit. His eyes were already starting to shut, like he was fighting sleep but losing.
"You should rest," she said quietly.
Mo Tianze gave a small hum in response. He didn’t even argue. That’s how she knew he was really exhausted.
Feng Jiao Xue pulled the blanket over him and tucked it in a little at the sides. She paused for a second, looking at his face. His features were soft now, peaceful. She reached out, brushing a stray strand of silver hair away from his cheek.
He looked younger like this. More boy than beast. A strange ache filled her chest sothing gentle and heavy all at once. Like sorrow disguised as warmth.
She turned away and went to the window. The sill was wide enough to sit on, so she did, one leg bent up, the other dangling slightly off the edge. She opened the window a little. Just enough for the wind to co in. It was cooler here, and the air slled like smoke, damp stone, and fried street food.
Down below, Yin City was still awake.
People wandered between stalls. So were shouting, others whispering. The flickering orange lights from lanterns cast strange shadows across alley walls. Everything felt... off here. But not unfamiliar.
She leaned her head against the window fra, eyes half-lidded as she watched the world below. It was noisy, but in a muted sort of way like the kind of noise that fills your ears but never really reaches your thoughts.
She watched as a couple argued under a half-lit sign, the man gesturing wildly while the woman rolled her eyes. A child ran past them, barefoot and laughing, a stick sword in his hand. Further down, a hunched vendor pulled a tarp over his cart, grumbling to himself as he packed away the day’s unsold goods.
This city didn’t sleep. It simred.
And then she saw soone.
At first, she didn’t think much of it. Just another cloaked figure weaving through the smoke-filled streets. But sothing about the way he moved made her pause. His pace wasn’t hurried, nor slow just steady. Controlled. Familiar in a way she couldn’t na.
The hood obscured most of his face. His long coat caught the breeze for just a second, fluttering behind him like a loose shadow. The city’s glow hit the side of his cheekbone a pale flash, high and defined. His posture. His walk. That air of quiet distance.
Feng Jiao Xue stared, breath caught for a mont.
It wasn’t possible.
And yet, her chest stirred with a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long, long ti. Like the beat of a na she had buried and left behind in another lifeti.
He didn’t stop. Didn’t look up. Didn’t even glance in her direction.
He simply passed.
Gone within seconds, lost behind a row of market stalls and lantern smoke.
She blinked. Her fingers had curled into the window fra without her realizing it.
No one special. Just soone walking through the night.
Probably.
Her gaze lingered on the spot where he disappeared. That small pulse in her chest hadn’t quite gone away. A tugging, faint but persistent.
"Lou Xi..." she murmured under her breath.
The na dissolved before it reached the air fully.
She closed her eyes briefly, exhaling through her nose. Her heart still beat a little faster than before, like it hadn’t decided yet whether it had imagined the whole thing.
Behind her, Mo Tianze stirred slightly in his sleep, tail twitching once before settling again. She turned to glance at him.
He looked so small like that.
She felt a pang of guilt for pushing them through so much so quickly. He wasn’t fragile. no, he was strong, stronger than most but strength didn’t an endless stamina. It didn’t an he didn’t need to rest, to breathe, to feel safe.
She wondered if he ever had.
Feng Jiao Xue turned back to the window.
The city below was starting to quiet. A few stalls began to close. Drunken laughter echoed in the alleys, followed by muffled shouting. Sowhere, a cat yowled into the night. Sowhere else, a lute was playing a mournful tune that didn’t quite reach the upper floors.
She leaned her forehead against the cool fra. The wood slled like rain and dust. She closed her eyes, letting herself breathe slow, even breaths.
Her thoughts wandered.
Lou Xi... it couldn’t have been him. Could it?
The universe was large. Too large for coincidences like that. And yet...
She swallowed and straightened her back. No use chasing shadows.
Not when she had sothing, soone, right behind her who needed her more than any ghost from the past.
But... Feng Jiao Xue bit her lips...
Her heart kicked once against her ribs.
It was stupid. Irrational. But her body was already halfway turned toward the door.
"That couldn’t have been him. Could it?’
She stared out the window again, fingers white-knuckling the sill, breath caught sowhere between her lungs and her throat.
The figure was already almost gone, swallowed by the smog and flickering light.
She turned away from the window sharply, glanced at the bed.
Mo Tianze lay motionless, his chest rising and falling in slow, even breaths. But even asleep, there was sothing fragile about the way he clutched the blanket. His tail had curled near his feet like he was trying to make himself small.
Feng Jiao Xue’s brows furrowed. Her instincts scread to follow. But everything else inside her tugged her back toward him.
She couldn’t leave him alone. Not here. Not in Yin City.
Not while he was vulnerable.
She bit her lip, knuckles pressed against her mouth as she stood in place. Then, slowly, reluctantly. she closed her eyes and reached inward.
"Huang Jin De..."
There was a pulse of warmth in response, like the flicker of fire in a hearth.
"You need ?" Huang Jin De imdiately pulled out of his cultivating state as he heard her soft call.
His voice ca with the usual calm strength it carried, soothing, steady.
Feng Jiao Xue inhaled. "Can you co out of the ring? Just for a little while. Mo Tianze’s unconscious and I... I saw soone."
There was a pause.
"Soone?"
"It might be nothing", she said quickly. "But I want to make sure."
"Say no more. You know I will always be willing to help you however I can. What do they look like for to track them down?"
A soft shimr of warmth lit the air beside her. In a swirl of faint light and phoenix fla, Huang Jin De appeared, tall, dressed in loose red robes that shimred faintly at the edges. His hair, a cascade of deep crimson, glowed dimly in the shadows, and his eyes, those bright phoenix eyes, landed on her with gentle understanding.
"Thank you, but..." Feng Jiao Xue only needed to glance at Mo Tianze for Huang Jin De to understand her concern.
"I’ll stay," he said without her needing to ask again. His voice was low, kind. "You go."
Feng Jiao Xue gave him a tight nod, her voice caught behind her tongue. But sothing in her chest loosened when he turned toward Mo Tianze’s side and knelt, checking his pulse with care.
"I won’t let anything touch him," he said.
"I know." Her voice was a whisper, a thread of air. "Thank you."
Without another word, she slipped out the door.
Down the stairs, through the broken hall light, past the faded wallpaper that curled at the edges. The air outside slapped her face, full of smoke and heat and the noise of people living carelessly through the night.
She pushed into the crowd.
Lanterns bobbed overhead. Perfu, alcohol, and sweat clung to the air. She moved fast, eyes scanning every turn, every alley.
The figure was gone.
She checked each stall, darted past beggars and travelers, brushed off a drunken vendor trying to grab her arm. Her hood fell halfway back as she turned onto a narrow path between two broken buildings, heart hamring.
Empty.
Gone.
Gone like a ghost.
She stood there for a second, breathing hard, the sound of the city pressing in again.
She slipped through the door in dissapointnt again. Maybe it was just her illusion.
She padded back across the creaky floorboards. Her footsteps were light. She knelt beside the bed, brushing her knuckles gently against Mo Tianze’s silver hair.
"You did well today," she whispered, voice almost inaudible.
"Thank you." She told Huang Jin De who smiled at her.
"Sorry you couldn’t find what you where looking for" He told her in sympathy before going back to the space ring. If he wants to protect Feng Jiao Xue. He needs to recover his strength, quickly.
Mo Tianze didn’t wake. But his ears twitched at the sounds around hi.. .
Feng Jiao Xue allowed herself a tired smile. "Sleep. Tomorrow... we figure the rest out."
She pulled her knees to her chest and leaned back against the wooden side of the bed, resting her head there.
The lantern’s light flickered one last ti before going out.
Darkness settled into the corners of the room, soft and still.
And in that quiet, Feng Jiao Xue remained wide awake, keeping watch.
For Mo Tianze.
And for the ghosts that walked the streets below.
Reviews
All reviews (0)