[The Eve of the Interrogation]
Moonlight spilled into the room. Gu Xingyu sat alone, the pocket watch in her lap flickering with a faint Yao-seal. Beside it lay the five Yao-keys, the fruits of the risks she and the Five Yao had shared.
"Grandpa Watch, why do I still feel so... uneasy?" she whispered.
"You're still awake? Are you worried about tomorrow?" A voice broke the silence.
Xingyu jumped, nearly dropping the keys. She spun around to find Si Moheng standing by the window, clad in a midnight-dark cloak.
"You again?" she hissed, her voice a mix of surprise and annoyance.
Moheng didn't move. His gaze fell on the keys. "Is this your answer? Even knowing the trial that awaits you, you still choose to believe in them?"
"I don't need your approval," Xingyu said coldly, packing the keys away.
"I didn't come to interfere," Moheng stepped closer, stopping just short of her. "I just... knew you wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. Just like me."
He paused, then began to speak in a voice heavy with the past. "My mother, Consort Zhao... she was a woman of poetry and ideals, sacrificed by her father for political leverage. When I was small, she held me and whispered poems about protecting the people. But her eyes were always full of sorrow—the dreams she could never reach."
"When I was seven, everything changed. Someone framed her for treason. My father... the man I called 'Father' for seven years, believed the lies without question. He stripped her of her title and sent us both to the Death Row Camp."
Xingyu's breath hitched.
"That place was not meant for humans," Moheng said, staring out the window. "She coughed blood, she froze... I had to steal and fight for her. At seven, I bit a guard's arm to keep him from throwing her into a pit of wild dogs. If she hadn't kept telling me, 'You are not a beast,' I would have become one long ago."
"She died when I was ten. She told me before she passed that it was all staged—by him. My father. He didn't want a wife or a son; he wanted a blade that could kill."
He looked at Xingyu, his eyes trembling. "I was a weapon for years. I never lived in the sunlight... until I met you. I'm not asking for pity. I just want you to understand me. Don't push me away so quickly."
[The Listeners in the Shadows]
Outside the door, five figures were crouched behind pillars and walls.
"Are we... technically eavesdropping?" Sang Qi whispered, wiping sweat from his brow.
Cang Yuan held his hand over Luo Ye's mouth while glaring. "Be quiet. If you let go, he's going to charge in there."
Luo Ye was beet-red, muffled grunts of fury escaping him ("Mmph! Mmph!").
Lin Lie gripped a small concealed crossbow, his jaw tight. Li Yan stood motionless, his knuckles white, his Yao-force vibrating with suppressed rage. They stayed because they had to hear her answer.
[The Heart's Response]
Inside, Xingyu walked to the window, standing only inches away from Moheng. "I am hearing this for the first time... your past. Your mother... how did you survive all that?" Her voice held a rare, pure ache of sympathy.
Moheng froze.
But her next words cut through the air like moonlight. "Moheng, I can understand your pain, but I cannot accept you using that pain to hurt others. Everyone around me—Lin Lie, Luo Ye, Cang Yuan, Sang Qi, Li Yan—each of them has suffered loss and betrayal. But they chose to stand in the light."
She looked up at him. "You say you envy them? Have you considered they might envy you?"
"Envy me?"
"Envy that you can be this close to me, that you can be so honest about your vulnerability and your feelings... envy that you once made me waver."
Moheng's throat tightened.
"But I cannot let myself continue to waver," Xingyu stepped back. "I don't just pity you; I know that this world isn't changed by pity. If you truly want to stand by my side, don't just seek proximity. Walk into the light."
"If you can stand before me without shadows, without schemes, and without hate as your shield... I will remember what you said tonight." She looked him in the eye. "Thank you for coming. Now, please leave."
Moheng's voice was low and determined. "I will remember your words... and I will work to see you again, in the light."
"If one day I can leave the shadows," he asked before vanishing out the window, "would you still be willing to look at me?"
Xingyu gave a small, silent nod.
[After the Storm]
Silence reigned outside the door.
"How can she talk to him so calmly?" Luo Ye muttered, his fists still clenched.
"Calm?" Cang Yuan leaned against the railing with a cold smirk. "Every word she said was a battle of logic over her own heart."
"She felt for him, but she didn't let herself sink," Sang Qi whispered. "That's our Xingyu."
Lin Lie looked at his palm, where he had squeezed so hard he'd left red marks. "She chose to face it. All we have to do... is stand behind her."
That night, they heard her doubt, but they also heard her resolve. They watched her confront the darkness, and they saw a man learn that love is not about conquest, but respect.
And the five shadows remained, silently guarding her light.