[The Midnight Intruder]
The night breeze was cool. Gu Xingyu sat at her desk, about to blow out the lamp, when a soft rustle came from the window. "Another window-climbing visit? Can't you use the door, Cang Yuan—"
The words died in her throat. The figure stepping into the room was draped in black, his aura cold as the moon. It wasn't Cang Yuan. It was Si Moheng.
He stood there, his eyes burning with an emotion he could no longer suppress—a mixture of ice and fire, scorched with resentment. "So," he said, his voice dangerously low, "he comes to see you like this every night?"
"What are you talking about?" Xingyu stammered.
"That man, Cang Yuan. Does he make a habit of climbing into your room at midnight?" Moheng stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. "What does he come for? Do you let just any man crawl through your window? Do you have any idea—" He stopped, his gaze searing hers. "—that I have to hide in the shadows just to be near you?"
Before she could speak, he pulled her into a sudden, rough embrace. His kiss was a storm of anger and punishment, but in the next heartbeat, it turned fragile. His hands trembled, as if terrified she would push him away. The desperate, almost pathetic plea for warmth in his touch stunned her.
Finally, she pushed him back. "If you came here to interrogate me, you can leave."
Moheng froze, his chest heaving. A look of profound regret and sorrow washed over him. "I... I'm sorry," he rasped. "I shouldn't have forced you. I just... I never thought I would love someone to the point where I'd lose my sanity."
He looked down, his voice barely audible. "The thought of you laughing with someone else, or leaning into another man's arms... it feels like my heart is being carved out. I can't breathe for wanting you, yet I have to hear about you from others. And when those rumors spread, I was terrified—terrified you'd be hurt, and even more terrified... that I'd lose you."
[The Impossible Balance]
Xingyu's heart felt like it had been struck by a heavy weight. She had never seen this side of him—the cold, calculating prince stripped of all defenses, offering a raw, self-destructive confession.
"If it's love," she whispered, her eyes downcast, "how can it be shared?"
Moheng flinched. Xingyu looked up at him, her voice trembling. "I thought I could balance all these feelings... but if love can only belong to one person, then I..."
He pulled her back into his arms, silencing her before she could say goodbye. "You don't have to answer me now," he whispered against her hair. "I don't demand a choice. I just need you to know—I'm not here for power. I'm just... I missed you until I couldn't stand it anymore."
[The Solitary Reflection]
After he left, Xingyu sat alone on her bed, the moonlight pale on the floorboards. She touched her lips, the memory of his kiss still burning.
"I've never even been in a relationship..." she murmured to the empty room.
In her world, love was exclusive. The hero and heroine always chose each other, a world of two. Anything else was a betrayal. But here, her life was entwined with five—now six—souls.
Luo Ye's fire, Cang Yuan's water, Lin Lie's steadiness, Sang Qi's care, Li Yan's silent mountain... and now Si Moheng's desperate, lonely obsession.
"If I touch one, am I hurting the others?" she wondered, a bitter smile on her lips. "Am I... just a terrible person?"
Having grown up alone, she had never leaned on anyone. Now, she was surrounded by a warmth so intense it was starting to sting. She wanted to cherish them all, but was that even possible without causing a massacre of hearts?
The moonlight fell across her face, catching the confusion in her eyes. Perhaps love in the Yao-world wasn't about possessing or being possessed. Perhaps this was her most difficult cultivation yet—to find a truth that lived beyond the rules of two.