xiaolumi lumixiao brainrot

surprise surprise, it's update time

vespera actually updating this within a REASONABLE amount of time?? omg. unheard of. what. this gotta be clickbait right??

nah lol i'm actually competent somehow so hello everyone!! this one's a little shorter obviously, cant write 6578468 paragraphs in what, how long has it been since the last part? like a couple weeks? maybe just 1? idk. a week and a day, i think? yeah. seems accurate enough.

now, i'm not so sure why anyone would have a panic attack due to some words on a screen, but here's your warning for this chapter: there's gonna be a lot of blood. there would've been more, but google likes to hide images of graphic wounds so that i can't have a good reference for what they look like. oh well. congratulations google, for shielding my viewers from the incredibly graphic thing i would've written. i still tried my best.

have fun everyone haha

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Night after night, it was the same routine. Lumine makes some almond tofu, brings it to Wangshu Inn's highest balcony, where her lover, the Vigilant Yaksha, would be waiting. Then he would eat it and they'd talk and then the traveler would go to bed. And she would wake up and have another day of adventuring, until the sun set, and the process repeated. But tonight, it's different.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Lumine watches as drops of liquid spill onto the floor, where the roof recedes, leaving the balcony open to the sky. It falls in a steady flow, drip after drip. Not too slow, more rapid, really. It's too dim outside for her to discern what color it is, but she can clearly discern the dark puddle gathering on the wood.

Odd, The traveler thinks. Maybe it's just rain falling from the gutter? But the weather has been clear recently, and water isn't that dark... Hm, whatever. I don't think Verr Goldet will want this on her floor. Better clean it up.

She sets down the almond tofu to lean forward and experimentally dip her fingers into the puddle. Lumine pulls her hand back, bringing it into the light of the inn's lamps-

And her fingers are stained with red.

This is blood, She realizes with a burst of panic. Oh Archons, please-

She has to check. She has to make sure.

Lumine strides onto the balcony, urgency fueling her steps. "Xiao?" She calls, the sound thin and sharp with worry. Her voice rings out into the night, over the background of crickets chirping and an owl hooting somewhere.

Please let him be okay. Please don't tell me he's hurt.

The hope in her heart shatters as a pained groan answers from behind her, and she turns to see a shape sitting next to the roof's edge, motionless omitting the trail of crimson dripping onto the floor.

Lumine leaps over the railing and scrambles up the roof to his side. "Xiao!" She squints, struggling to assess the wound in the dark. The only thing she can tell is that it's serious, from the strong iron scent invading her nostrils and the discolored splashes trickling across the shingles.

"Lu...mi..." He gasps, coughing and reaching out for her desperately. She grasps his hand in hers and squeezes in an effort to bring reassurance. "Don't worry, it'll be okay," She soothes. "It's pretty bad, but I'm sure I can fix it."

The traveler's arms slip around Xiao's torso, pulling him upwards, onto her back. He hisses with each movement, his hands scrabbling around her until he finds her shoulders and grips tightly. She winces, knowing the strength of his grasp will leave a mark. But she has no interest in concerning herself with a small blemish when Xiao is bleeding everywhere.