The river did not move.
Not even the faintest ripple disturbed its surface. Moonlight lay across the water like a held breath, pale and unbroken.
Ye stood at its edge, pain threading through his body with every step he took forward. The air burned in his lungs now — sharp, rejecting, merciless.
The mortal world had made its decision.
He did not resist it.
Behind him, footsteps sounded.
"Ye."
Her voice.
He closed his eyes for just a moment.
Of course she followed.
When he turned, Ling Yue stood a few paces away, breath uneven, fear written openly across her face. She had not even bothered to tie her hair properly. She looked like someone who had run without stopping.
"You weren't coming back," she said. It wasn't a question.
He didn't deny it.
"You promised," she whispered.
"I promised I wouldn't disappear without telling you."
He stepped toward her.
That was when the pain struck fully — a sharp, tearing force that brought him to one knee. The ground beneath his hand cracked faintly, a spiderweb of fractures spreading outward.
Ling Yue screamed his name.
She ran to him, dropping to her knees beside him, hands trembling as she tried to hold him upright.
"What's happening?" she cried. "What are they doing to you?"
He looked at her — really looked at her — memorizing every line of her face.
"They're not doing anything," he said softly. "This is the world correcting itself."
"No," she said desperately. "No, this isn't fair. You didn't do anything wrong."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"I stayed," he said. "That was enough."
Her tears fell freely now, splashing onto his hands.
"Then leave," she begged. "Please. Go somewhere else. Anywhere."
He lifted his shaking hand and brushed his thumb gently beneath her eye, wiping away a tear.
"If I leave now," he said, "they'll follow. And you won't be safe."
Her breath hitched. "So this is it? You just— you just die and that's supposed to be okay?"
"No," he said quietly. "It's not okay."
The honesty in his voice shattered her.
She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his, clutching him like she could anchor him to the world.
"I don't want to forget you," she sobbed. "I don't want this to be all we get."
"It won't be," he said.
She pulled back just enough to look at him — really look at him — as if trying to carve his face into her memory.
"Then let me remember this," she whispered.
She kissed him.
Not gently.
Not carefully.
Her lips trembled against his, desperate and unsure, like she was afraid the moment would vanish if she hesitated. Her hands slid up, clutching his shoulders as though she could anchor him to her by sheer will.
For a heartbeat, Ye froze.
Then he kissed her back.
Not with urgency — but with surrender.
He leaned into the kiss, forehead brushing hers, breath uneven. One hand came up, cupping her face with aching tenderness, thumb resting just beneath her eye.
The world around them seemed to pull away.
When they parted, their foreheads remained pressed together, breaths mingling.
"Ling Yue," he whispered — her name breaking softly on his tongue.
She felt him fading even before she saw it.
"Stay," she pleaded. "Please… just stay."
His lips curved into the smallest smile.
"I am," he said. "Right here."
He brushed one last kiss against her lips — lighter this time, like an echo — and then rested his forehead against hers.
His body grew light in her arms.
Too light.
"No—" she cried.
The warmth drained from him, not suddenly, but gently — like dusk falling.
As Ye dissolved into moonlight, her hands closed on nothing.
He was gone.
---
The river finally moved.
A single ripple spread outward.
At the place where he had knelt, the water darkened — then stilled once more.
From its center, a closed lotus bud rose slowly to the surface.
White.
Untouched.
Ling Yue stared at it through blurred vision.
She screamed.
The sound tore from her chest, raw and broken, echoing across the water and into the silent sky.
She collapsed forward, clutching the lotus bud to her chest as if it were all that remained of him.
Somewhere far above, unseen threads trembled.
And fate, for the first time, hesitated.