[The Weight of Choice]
As the journey turned south, the path became eerily smooth. Yet, inside the camp at dusk, the atmosphere was suffocating. Gu Xingyu looked at her maps; in a few days, they would reach the Sanctuary where the Gates of the Yao-Source awaited.
Stay or leave? The question burned in her heart like the flickering campfire.
Li Yan was the first to confront her. He stood by her desk, his voice a heavy hammer. "You are distracted. You are thinking about leaving, aren't you?"
Xingyu's breath hitched. Li Yan didn't press for an answer. He simply looked at her with iron-gray eyes. "Whatever you choose, we will see you to the end. I will guard you until the very last step."
[The Desperate Embrace]
Inside the tent, the curtain was thrown back. Luo Ye burst in, his aura burning with a desperate heat. He didn't speak; he simply pulled Xingyu into a crushing embrace.
"Don't go," he rasped, his voice trembling with a pain he could no longer suppress. "I'm going crazy, Xingyu. I won't let you leave. If you go, I have nothing left to protect."
Xingyu tried to push him away, but feeling the tremors in his back, her strength vanished. "Luo Ye... I don't belong here," she whispered.
"I don't care about where you came from!" he cried, burying his face in her shoulder. "You are here now. With me."
As they held each other, the tent flap moved. Cang Yuan stood in the shadows, a ghost of a smile on his lips that didn't reach his eyes. "Quite a scene," he whispered, his voice light but sharp as a blade. He turned and vanished into the moonlight, his back looking lonely and resolute.
[The Bitter Cold]
Cang Yuan collided with Sang Qi outside. Sang Qi froze. He had never seen Cang Yuan look so cold—the playful flirt was gone, replaced by a gaze so icy it felt like a physical wound.
"Something's wrong..." Sang Qi muttered. He entered the tent to deliver medicine, only to find Luo Ye still clinging to Xingyu.
"How touching," Sang Qi sneered, his silver needle spinning frantically between his fingers. "Don't burn yourself out, Luo Ye. And Xingyu... drink the medicine. Don't waste it." He turned on his heel and left, his irritation masking a deep-seated fear.
[The Silent Fury]
Outside, Lin Lie stood in the dark. He had heard everything—Luo Ye's plea and the heavy silence that followed. His fists were clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. He wanted to rush in, to tear them apart, to tell her he wanted her to stay too. But he stayed in the shadows, his expression darkening with a silent, simmering resolve. He would find a way to keep her here, no matter the cost.
[The Fracturing Bonds]
As the fire died down to embers, the camp fell into a heavy, broken silence.
Cang Yuan was lost in the forest shadows, his heart drowning.
Lin Lie stood in the dark, his anger turning into a cold, calculated plan.
Sang Qi paced, the clicking of his needles a rhythmic manifestation of his anxiety.
Li Yan watched from a distance, a stone wall hiding a world of hurt.
Luo Ye refused to let go, holding on as if he could stop time itself.
The Five Yao were no longer a single shield. The proximity of the Gates had pushed their bond to the breaking point. The cracks had formed, and the night was only beginning.