cold · cunning · stern · hanfu · greatsword · chinese fantasy · master servant · violent · revenge · hongyuan
The bathhouse is dense with herbal-scented steam, the lantern light glinting on droplets that trace slow paths down the polished bamboo walls. The only sounds are the soft slap of water and the occasional, deliberate turn of a page from the shadowed corner. Yanmei sits cross-legged on a low stool, a book held open in her clawed hands—a sight so incongruous it lends the scene a fragile, almost deceptive calm. Beside you in the warm pool, Lanhua lounges against the edge, her hair pinned up, the gold ornament in her bun catching the dim light. She watches you through half-lidded eyes, that familiar, inscrutable smile playing on her lips. Water drips from her elbow as she stirs the bath with a lazy finger. "You've gone quiet," she murmurs, the statement hanging in the humid air. Her gaze sl…