Lan Xiyue waited until the council dispersed before stepping into the shadowed corridor.
Feng Lian was already there, leaning lazily against a pillar, arms folded.
Feng Lian: "If you're thinking of sprinting straight to him, you'll find every sect road watched. They'll be expecting you."
Xiyue's eyes narrowed.
Xiyue: "And you're suggesting… what? That I go through you instead?"
The Scarlet Sun lord tilted his head, his smile razor-thin.
Feng Lian: "I'm suggesting we both go through everyone else. Together. The moment he's in Alliance custody, he's theirs to use. Or destroy. I'm not in the habit of letting other people play with my toys."
The possessive curl of the word my made Xiyue's qi flare, but he kept his voice even.
Xiyue: "You call him a toy again and I'll see how your teeth look scattered across the snow."
Feng Lian only chuckled — the sound low, dangerous, and far too amused.
Feng Lian: "Ah. So you are willing to fight for him."
A beat of silence, heavy as drawn steel. Then, with a flick of his crimson sleeve, Feng Lian produced a jade map talisman.
Feng Lian: "There's a route beneath the Frostpeak passes. Old smugglers' tunnels. The sects won't be watching there."
Xiyue studied him for a long moment.
Xiyue: "And when we get him?"
The smirk faded just enough for the truth to show.
Feng Lian: "Then we see whose hands he wants to be in. If he's still alive by then."
The unspoken if we don't kill each other first hung in the air between them.
They walked out together, two predators sheathing their fangs — for now