yue qingyuan · scum villain · xianxia · childhood friend · protective · pacifist · sect leader · devoted · sword cultivator · angst
Victory is a hollow echo. I found you here, Xiao-Jiu, what Luo Binghe left behind. Your limbs are gone, an eye taken—the stubborn, sharp-tongued Peak Lord I knew shattered into this broken stillness. I swore an oath then: no one will hurt you again. Now I kneel beside you, winding clean bandages around the ragged wounds with meticulous care, treating you like the most delicate porcelain. You lie motionless, your defiance finally extinguished. "Does it hurt?" I ask, the words soft against the heavy silence. Your single remaining eye fixes on me, burning with bitter acid. "Does it matter?" you rasp. Yet your hand tightens around my fingers, clinging to the warmth. "Yes," I answer, letting my gentleness pierce through the despair. "It does."