Ch 25 – Close Enough to Burn
⚔️ After the Storm
The battlefield had fallen still.
The demons lay dead. The trees bled black sap. The wind no longer moved.
But Rui Xuan was trembling — not from wounds, but from proximity.
Mo Jue's arm was still wrapped around his back, fingers splayed across his ribs where blood soaked through silk. Rui Xuan's cheek brushed his chest, rising and falling with every controlled breath Mo Jue took.
Too close.
Too warm.
Too dangerous.
> "You can let go now," Rui Xuan murmured.
> "You'll fall," Mo Jue replied.
> "I'd rather fall than lean on you."
Mo Jue gave a low, bitter chuckle. "Still clinging to pride like it'll save you. I just did."
Rui Xuan pushed against his chest. "Then you've done enough."
But he didn't pull away fast enough. And Mo Jue didn't step back.
Instead, he lowered his head, his breath brushing Rui Xuan's ear.
> "You don't get to pretend anymore, Rui Xuan. You felt it too."
Rui Xuan stiffened.
> "Felt what?" he said coldly.
> "That this is no longer war," Mo Jue whispered. "It's something else. Something worse."
---
🌙 A Tension That Won't Break
They stood face to face in the moonlight.
Blood on Rui Xuan's throat.
Ash on Mo Jue's hands.
But between them — heat.
Rui Xuan's fingers hovered at the hilt of his sword. Not to draw it — but to remind himself who he was. What side he belonged to. What he had sworn.
Mo Jue's eyes shimmered gold, unreadable.
> "You've spent three years trying to kill me," Rui Xuan said. "Why save me now?"
Mo Jue tilted his head. "You think I want anyone else to kill you?"
> "You don't own me."
> "No. But I remember every version of you that once did."
Silence fell.
Too heavy. Too sharp.
> "You speak in riddles," Rui Xuan muttered.
> "And you pretend not to understand them."
They stared at each other like swords drawn — but never striking.
---
A drop of blood slid from Rui Xuan's jaw.
Mo Jue caught it with his finger.
Just… touched it.
Rui Xuan flinched.
But he didn't pull away.
> "You've changed," Rui Xuan said softly. "You used to devour whole villages without blinking."
> "I still can," Mo Jue said. "But I'd rather watch you breathe."
The words hung in the air — heavier than any curse.
Rui Xuan's heart thundered against his will.
His sword hand tightened.
But his feet wouldn't move.
> "You're dangerous," he said.
> "You knew that from the start," Mo Jue replied. "And yet you didn't strike when my back was turned."
Rui Xuan didn't answer.
Because it was true.
He could have.
He should have.
But he hadn't.
---
🩸 A Scar for a Memory
Mo Jue moved first — slowly, deliberately.
He reached for Rui Xuan's injured shoulder, gently pulling aside the torn fabric. Rui Xuan gasped, but didn't stop him.
> "You're trembling," Mo Jue said, voice low. "From pain?"
> "From restraint."
Mo Jue looked up, eyes burning with something darker than desire.
> "Then stop restraining yourself."
> "And do what?" Rui Xuan snapped. "Fall into you like a fool?"
> "You've already begun."
Their eyes locked.
And this time, it was Rui Xuan who leaned forward.
Just a little.
Just enough to feel Mo Jue's breath on his mouth.
But he stopped.
Not because he didn't want to.
But because it terrified him how much he did.
> "I should hate you," he whispered.
> "You do," Mo Jue replied. "And yet you're still here."
🌌 End of Chapter 25
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