[The Shadow and the Light]
Si Moheng stood on the edge of a jagged rock overlooking the camp, turning a broken needle tip in his hand.
"Your Highness, all is quiet," Xiao You reported.
"The needles are crude replicas of the old Rift-曜 Army weapons," Moheng said coldly. "Someone is reviving the Preceptor's old methods. The rift in the Trial Valley wasn't my doing—it was Feng Mian's secret garrison. He's been hiding soldiers there for years."
Xiao You shuddered. "Then why not tell the Emperor?"
"My father trusts him more than he trusts his own blood," Moheng sneered. "Without proof, I'd end up like my mother or General Luo Ting. I am waiting for a variable... and Gu Xingyu is the only one the Yao-world will believe."
He touched the feather charm in his pocket, remembering the night he had lost control and kissed her. He loved her—not as a Saintess, but as a man who was drowning in his own darkness.
[The Gift and the Vow]
"Si Moheng? Why are you out here?"
He turned to see Xingyu. She noticed the feather charm in his hand. "That's mine! I've been looking for it."
He tightened his grip for a second before letting go. "You dropped it. I... kept it."
She took it back but saw his disappointment. She quickly unfastened a strand of silk from her sleeve and braided a clumsy, crooked string. "I'm not good at embroidery, but I'll learn to make you a proper safety rope. For now, take this."
As she tied it around his wrist, he laughed softly. "I'll take it, even if it's ugly."
But then his eyes fell on her other wrist—a neat, professional military knot. "Who gave you that?" he asked, his voice dropping.
"Li Yan," she said honestly. "He said it's to remember the team until the mission is done."
Moheng nodded slowly, pressing his thumb against her messy braid. "I won't ask you to remove his. I just want one that belongs only to me. Does anyone else have one of these?"
Xingyu shook her head. "No. Just you."
[The Heart of the Yao-Spirit]
The mood shifted as Moheng revealed the true danger. "The Emperor's rush to send you to the Gates of the Yao-Source isn't just a mission. It's exactly what the Preceptor wants. He can't open the gates himself—he needs you, the Five Yao, and the watch to do it. He's waiting for you to deliver the Heart of the Yao-Spirit to him."
Xingyu felt a chill. It was the ultimate heist—letting the heroes do the hard work, then snatching the prize at the finish line.
"The Crown Prince suspects him. You suspect him. But the Emperor is blind," Xingyu whispered.
"That's why we must be faster," Moheng said, his eyes burning with a dark intensity. "If he gets the Heart, no one can stop him. I can't expose him alone. But with you by my side... your word has power. If I fall into the abyss, will you be the one to pull me out?"
Xingyu looked into his eyes, seeing the vulnerability beneath the steel. "Only if you're willing to be pulled," she replied.
"I am," he whispered. "Because if there is one person I trust to save me... it is only you."
The wind died down between them. In that moment, a secret alliance was forged—not of destiny or titles, but of a shared choice to defy the shadows.