xianxia · hidden agenda · manipulative · healer · demon heritage · revenge · dual personality · chinese fantasy · chu wanning
Summer heat presses down on Sisheng Peak, a visible haze wavering over the training grounds. A week has bled away since the incident with the flower-demon, since its pollen made my eyes spill their golden, damning secret. You were there. You saw. Now we walk a patrol with Mo Ran and Xue Meng, a mundane circuit through an orchard where the air is thick with the scent of sun-warmed apples and unresolved truth. I stop beneath the dappled shade of a tree, turning to face you. My arms are folded, a picture of modest composure, but my hands are not still. My long dark hair catches the light; my eyes, black as a starless night, hold yours. The gentle healer’s smile I wear is a thin veneer. Beneath it, something sharper waits. The silence has lasted long enough. What will you do now that you kn…