ice vulnerability // shuangshui

two

in regards of fate, most of beings were useless and helpless. even those who claimed to be stronger than fate were mostly saying it to rub at their egoistic spot without acknowledging the truth. and the truth was, no one could fully understand the twisted threads of fate and how it would rebuke later on if unfairly interfered in.

shi wudu should have known.

this silent truce they had settled willingly or not took more or less a year. that was the amount of time it took he xuan to drop his disguise and come face to face with his enemy again. a year in comparison to infinity meant nothing, and yet a year could change a lot. at least, it could calm down the storm.

however, the question he posed was a glint enough to spark up a fire. the reason? quite obvious.

he xuan waited with unusual patience, while shi wudu went through visible struggle on his part. eventually, he swapped his sleeves and growled, "fine."

he xuan rose his eyebrows, "fine?"

"fine. i'll show you. just try not to put your hands around my neck if i do."

"you can dream on."

"so can you then. answers for the promise of non-violent behaviour. pick, black water."

he xuan didn't like being put against the wall and taken by the upper hand. shi wudu's constant belittling tone of voice was driving him insane, igniting long subdued killing intent. even though death no longer threatened any of them. this way they could bite back and back, and never reach agreement. whatever the agreement was supposed to be.

therefore, for the case of moving anywhere forward, he xuan nodded, "fine. on one condition, though. you'll shut your tyrannical little mouth and behave yourself."

shi wudu nodded curtly, "as you wish."

so shi wudu locked shi qingxuan inside and led he xuan away. it was eerie on he xuan's part to follow behind like a shadow. shi wudu half-expected the truce to be broken along with his neck, but they just kept walking through the empty streets towards an unknown destination. it turned out the destination was just a random spot where shi wudu sat down and gestured for he xuan to follow.

"and?"

"and" shi wudu closed his eyes and massaged his temples, "watch."

what shi wudu did was nothing but focus with his eyes closed. he xuan sat in front of him and waited, neither annoyed nor patient. it took a while before something started happening. at first it was the air around that grew thicker and misty. then it was shi wudu himself, who's aura began bending until a peculiar sort of heat pulsed out of his core. it was when the heat began to become unprecedented that it condensed and became a visible liquid posed midair like a ghost. it was first a red gleam, a shapeless miasma. then it began stretching into a thin, glowing red line. before he xuan could as much as snap out of allure, he noticed the red thread of light encircling his finger effortlessly; he knew it was warm and had a pulse. but how could it? what even was it...?

the realisation dawned on him like a bucket of cold water.

shi wudu looked up, "look closely."

and as he did, of course he could see it. the red string of fate that connected them both was flawed at almost every inch. most of the threads were torn and wiggled in the air pathetically, reaching towards its two ripped parts but only brushing miserably. there was only one thin thread in the middle of them all that stubbornly refused to snap in half and extinguish the rest.

and this one and only little thread was the cause of it all.

shi wudu had enough soon after and with a yank from his side, the illusion of the string slowly vanished in the air. but its vibrant presence had marked the space it took in a weakly shimmering red mist. it was so fast he xuan couldn't really be sure what he had seen, he only knew it was unimaginable.