The First Reunions

Xiao Lian stepped through the shattered remnants of the trial gate, her chest heaving with exhaustion. The weight of the Blood Vow still pulsed through her veins, a smoldering ember of ancient power she barely understood. She clutched her side, fingers brushing against torn fabric and bruised skin, but she didn't stop. She couldn't.

"Life sign detected. Ji Ren. Status: Critical," SIS's voice cut through her exhaustion like a blade.

Her heart lurched.

Without thinking, Xiao Lian sprinted across the crumbling stone platform, boots scraping against jagged remnants of forgotten statues. The air smelled of scorched earth, and faint streaks of crimson smeared the ground, blood. She followed the trail, lungs burning, her pulse hammering like a war drum.

The battlefield ended at a collapsed pillar, where Ji Ren lay slumped against the stone, his sword still clutched in his hand. Blood streaked down his arm, pooling beneath him in violent rivulets. His chest barely rose and fell, breath shallow and uneven.

Xiao Lian dropped to her knees beside him. "Idiot," she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ji Ren cracked an eye open, lips twitching into a faint smirk. "Took you long enough."

His voice was like sandpaper, rough and strained. Xiao Lian ignored him, fingers pressing to his throat to check his pulse. It was faint but steady. She ripped a strip of fabric from her sleeve and started wrapping it around his bleeding shoulder, her fingers working with clinical precision.

"Don't move," she ordered, tightening the bandage.

"I wasn't planning to," he rasped, wincing. "Unless you want me to bleed out in your arms. Romantic, isn't it?"

She scowled. "You lost too much blood. Your brain is malfunctioning."

Ji Ren chuckled, though the sound was brittle, almost painful. He watched her through half-lidded eyes as she carefully cleaned the worst of his wounds. Her hands, usually so steady, trembled just slightly.

"You really are terrifying," he murmured, voice softer now. "Not just your mind, your heart, too."

Xiao Lian froze. The words settled between them like an uninvited guest, heavy and inescapable.

"That's nonsense," she said, knotting the last bandage perhaps a little too tightly.

But SIS's voice whispered in her mind:

"Warning: Heart rate elevated. Anomaly detected."

Xiao Lian's pulse thundered in her ears, an unfamiliar rhythm, faster, louder, impossible to ignore. She pressed her hand against her chest, as if she could force her heart to quiet.

Ji Ren tilted his head, watching her with that infuriating, knowing look.

"You can't outthink feelings, you know," he whispered, voice laced with exhaustion. "Believe me. I've tried."

She clenched her jaw, choosing not to answer. Instead, she carefully propped him against the pillar, tearing off more fabric to make a sling for his arm. The silence stretched between them, filled only by the distant hum of the Celestial Pagoda's shifting magic.

"I should have been faster," she muttered, more to herself than him. "If I had reached you sooner—"

"You saved me," Ji Ren interrupted, his voice sharper despite the pain. "That's enough."

Xiao Lian lowered her gaze, fingers tightening around the torn fabric in her hands. She didn't know how to respond to that. Gratitude wasn't something she understood how to receive.

"Why did you push yourself this far?" she asked instead, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ji Ren closed his eyes, his head tilting back against the stone. "Because I had to," he said. "Because if I don't get stronger... I can't protect the people I care about."

Xiao Lian's chest tightened.

He opened his eyes again, turning to look at her. "I can't protect you."

The words hit her like a blow. She tried to brush them off, to toss back a sharp retort, but nothing came. She stared at him, at the raw sincerity in his expression, and her throat closed up.

"I don't need protection," she finally managed. "I'm not weak."

Ji Ren laughed, the sound bitter but soft. "I know. That's what makes it worse."

Xiao Lian dropped her gaze, focusing on tying the last knot on his sling. She should have felt frustrated, maybe even insulted but all she felt was cold confusion.

What was she supposed to do with words like that?

For a long time, they just sat there, side by side against the broken pillar. The stars above the hidden realm swirled like distant embers, casting faint shadows across the ground. The Celestial Pagoda's magic hummed faintly beneath them, alive and waiting.

"I thought about you," Ji Ren muttered, his voice low, almost like a confession.

Xiao Lian glanced at him. "What?"

"During my trial," he said, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. "I kept losing. Kept getting cut down. No matter how fast or strong I was, I couldn't break through. And I kept thinking... if you were there, you would have figured it out."

Her chest tightened again.

Ji Ren's voice softened, almost a whisper. "You make me want to be smarter."

Xiao Lian turned away, her heart pounding painfully against her ribs.

"Warning: Heart rate elevated. Consistent anomaly detected," SIS reported, relentless.

"Sleep," she ordered, her voice sharp. "You're delirious."

Ji Ren just smiled, letting his eyes slip shut. "If you weren't so damn stubborn," he whispered, "I might have fallen for you already."

Xiao Lian froze.

Her breath caught, her pulse roaring like thunder in her ears. She stared at him, words stuck in her throat, mind racing a thousand miles an hour but she had no answers. No logic. No rebuttal.

Just silence.

She sat beside him, her hands clenched in her lap, her heart beating wildly out of control as Ji Ren's breathing finally evened out in sleep.

The stars kept turning above them, uncaring.

And Xiao Lian sat there, quietly unraveling.