— Shuqing… I was going to tell—
— You should have told me sooner! — Her voice cracked, frantic, her hands trembling.
Without hesitation, Shuqing rushed to her daughter's side, kneeling down and taking Yuanling's hand into her own. Unlike her wife, Shuqing wore her emotions openly — every tear, every tremor exposed. Tears poured down her cheeks like a waterfall. She pressed Yuanling's small hand to her face with desperate tenderness.
— My dearest child… what have they done to you, my precious one… — The words were broken, half-choked between sobs.
Xuanyi, in contrast, stood apart — silent. Too silent. Her posture was rigid, her face unreadable, yet the weight of her silence carried guilt, like a penitent awaiting judgment.
A sound reached Shizuma then — faint at first, but unmistakable. Rain. Heavy drops pattered against the roof of the pagoda, a rhythm that shouldn't exist. "Strange," he thought, narrowing his eyes. It wasn't the rainy season, and this place — this space — felt like an extension of Xuanyi herself. Nothing here should happen without her will.
And then it struck him. He turned his gaze to the weeping woman, and the truth settled in his mind. A dragon. Of course. Dragons of this land were said to carry storms within their very hearts — their sorrow could call down rain, their fury could summon tempests. Just her tears alone had been enough to stain the realm with rain.
Long ago, dragons had been revered and feared alike, their power tied to the very fate of Shen Zhou. But when Shen Zhou fell, so too did its dragons. A single man — cloaked in mystery and terror — had swept through the empire, slaughtering the imperial family, some of them dragons themselves. Nobles, merchants, entire lineages were burned out of existence, guilty of nothing but proximity.
For Shizuma, history painted that event as nothing but a madman's rampage.
Closer now, the shikigami stirred, drifting softly through the air. They circled nearer to Shuqing, their faint glow quivering like candlelight in a storm. It was as if they, too, sought to comfort her, to share in her grief.
— She is going to be fine, Shuqing… her seal was broken, and now her body is adapting to it — Xuanyi finally spoke, her tone steady, as if the storm around them had no hold on her. — We should continue this in the morning.
— About that. — Shizuma cut in, his voice heavier than before.
— I know your weakness is sunlight. Don't worry, sunlight doesn't usually enter here—
— It's not going to be in the morning. Or anytime the sun is up. — His eyes lingered on her, sharp. — You can come after me only after dark.
Xuanyi tilted her head slightly, cold curiosity flashing in her gaze. Shizuma hesitated, then explained:
— Since I woke up a few days ago, I discovered I was sharing my body with one of the people who tried to kill me. He… takes the morning shifts.
— Hm. That explains why your qi feels fractured, twisted. — For her, it was a simple observation, nothing more. — Do you have his name?
Shizuma nodded, his gaze annoyed as he answered:
— Ling Hao.
The name dropped into the room like a blade. Xuanyi froze, her body stiffening before her mask of composure threatening to crack. Her eyes darted to Shuqing. The dragon woman was already pale, trembling, as though the ground beneath her had vanished.
Then Xuanyi turned back to Shizuma, her voice almost colder than usual.
— He was with you this whole time.
— Not because I wanted to. — Shizuma frowned. — Is he a friend of yours?
— I don't have friends. — Xuanyi's words cut like ice. — But he was… someone special to Shuqing.
The silence that followed was unbearable, filled with the sound of rain and Shuqing's quiet sobs as she held Yuanling tighter. Finally, her voice broke through, fragile but resolute:
— I can't handle so much at once… I will stay here with Yuanling. Please… put him in one of the guest rooms.
Her eyes never left her daughter's face. It wasn't a dismissal of Shizuma, nor even of Xuanyi — it was the desperation of a mother clinging to what little certainty she had left.
— As you wish. — Xuanyi's voice had returned to its controlled chill. She turned sharply, opening the door. — Come, Shizuma.
He followed her in silence. His mind burned with questions — about Ling Hao, about Yuanling, about the past that bound these women together. But looking at Xuanyi's unyielding back, he knew no question would yield him an answer… not yet.
After Xuanyi presented him with his room, she left him there. Shizuma remained still, surrounded by silence, letting his thoughts wander while enjoying the few hours he still had left to be 'in charge'.
—
Meanwhile, in the depths of Yuanling's mind, something stirred. Something buried in her soul began to rise, pulling her into an inner space she had never touched before.
The first thing she saw was a figure — a woman who looked strikingly similar to her. Same hair, same delicate features… not identical, but close enough to feel unsettling, as if she were staring at a distant reflection. The difference lay in the details: Yuanling was a Húli jīng, yet this woman clearly belonged to another, unknown race.
— Hi. — The woman's voice rang with a melodious softness, almost like a lullaby.
— Where am I? — Yuanling asked sharply, wasting no words.
— We're in our mind. Your mind. My mind. Maybe something in between. — She tilted her head gently. — I don't know for sure. I'm just… an echo of someone you once were.
— Someone I was before? What do you mean?
The woman's lips curved into a knowing smile.
— Soon, you'll understand. Better than talking… I'll show you. Your true identity. Your beginning. — She reached forward and brushed Yuanling's wrist with her hand.
At her touch, the world dissolved.
In the blink of an eye, Yuanling found herself elsewhere — and before her stood Shizuma. Or at least, she thought it was him. But no, this wasn't her perspective. The one in front of Shizuma wasn't Yuanling at all, but the woman who looked so much like her.
The scene unfolded like a memory long forgotten. The woman leaned in, kissing Shizuma with tenderness, with the warmth of someone who had done so countless times before.
— I will love you for eternity, Shizuma. — Her words were gentle, but unwavering.
He chuckled softly.
— Oh really? How so?
— I will love you beyond time itself. — She spoke with absolute conviction, as though the words were a vow written in the stars.
They lingered in each other's arms, lost in an intimacy. If anyone of their time had witnessed it, the shock alone would have killed them. Because of Shizuma's reputation — being written in stone how cruel he was. In that light, with her, he seemed like a normal being almost human.
The memories kept flowing, the scenery shifting with sudden swiftness — now they stood in a place Yuanling recognized. The capital of Bai Long. She had walked its streets not long ago, but here… here it seemed untouched by time itself. Perhaps it truly was, perhaps these visions belonged to a realm outside of it.
The woman — the one who resembled her so closely — was no longer with Shizuma. This time, another figure stood at her side. Someone Yuanling had met before. Ling Hao. The man with the handsome face and those amber eyes.
It wasn't the same as with Shizuma. There was no fire, no passion that burned openly. It was different. Softer, restrained — yet still alive. Yuanling could feel it, the quiet love hidden between their glances, the kind that lingered even when distance was kept.
— I really like you… — Yuanling was certain he spoke the woman's name, but the sound was muffled.
— You shouldn't. — Her tone had changed; it was no longer melodious, but heavy, tinged with sorrow. — I'm not someone you should be involved with. I am your patron.
— And I love you. — Hao pressed, refusing to step back.
The woman turned her gaze away, unable to bear the weight of his words.
— I'm going to be married to Shizuma. And if he finds out… — She faltered. Her lips trembled, yet she did not say the words that might have freed him: "I love Shizuma, not you."
— Is he forcing you? Threatening you? If that's it, I'll fix it. I'll make him disappear! — Hao's voice grew desperate, almost frantic.
But she still couldn't look at him. She simply shook her head, her figure dissolving into thin air, leaving only silence behind. Not knowing… not knowing that the last time she would see them both, she would be holding their lifeless bodies in her arms.
Her voice lingered like an echo, overlapping memory and eternity.
— I told him… I would love him beyond time itself… And that is what I wished for… a wish beyond time.