Fated | Fangs Of Fortune [ZhuYi]

Chapter 27 : The Moon Looks Beautiful Tonight, Yichen

Wen Xiao pushed open the door to Zhu Yan's quarters. The room was immaculate, every surface wiped clean, yet the faint scent of untouched books and aging props lingered in the air, betraying its abandonment. She paused, letting her gaze wander over the room. It was clear, this space had been preserved for someone who had been absent for far too long.

At the center of the room lay the relic. Its golden glow had dimmed back into an unassuming black stone. Wen Xiao's steps were light as she moved past it, toward the balcony, where the silhouette of a man stood motionless, framed by the snow-glazed mountains beyond.

"Great Demon" she called softly.

"Goddess" came the reply, low and devoid of his usual playfulness. He didn't turn to face her, his gaze fixed on the horizon.

Wen Xiao joined him, the chill of the mountain air biting her skin as she followed his line of sight. Down the snow-covered path, she saw YiChen walking alone, his shoulders hunched and his steps aimless. From the balcony, his small figure seemed lost in the vastness of the storm ahead, his sword conspicuously absent. Even from this distance, Wen Xiao could feel the storm within him—his turmoil bleeding into the frosty air.

"He knows" Wen Xiao said, breaking the silence.

"I know" Zhu Yan replied. His voice was steady, but there was a weight to it, a sadness that Wen Xiao recognized all too well. He didn't blink as he watched YiChen's fading figure, his hands clenched tightly on the balcony rail. "I heard."

"Give him time" Wen Xiao said gently. "My nephew is the kindest person I've ever known. Thoughtful, resilient—he just needs time."

Zhu Yan's lips quirked into a bitter, fleeting smile. "Yi Xuan Gege said the same thing once" His voice cracked on the name and he swallowed hard, as if speaking it had reopened an old wound.

Wen Xiao's heart ached at his words. "Zhuo Yi Xuan raised him to be that way" she said, a small, fond smile gracing her lips.

She looked out at the snow, letting the memories come. "Every time Xiao Zhuo went out to hunt demons, he never returned unscathed. He'd come back bleeding, poisoned or worse. He always acted like the pain didn't bother him but every night, I heard him sobbing in his room. He never once slept peacefully."

Her smile turned wistful. "When I begged him to stop, told him his hunts were useless, that nothing could cure me, he'd just smile and say he was happy to have something he could do for me. That was the kind of person he was. He bore the weight of others' suffering as if it was his own."

Zhu Yan's grip tightened on the railing, his head bowed.

"But after you joined him" Wen Xiao continued, "he started coming home with fewer wounds. And for the first time, I heard him laugh—truly laugh. Not the polite laughter he showed us before but something real, something from the heart."

Her voice softened. "These years haven't been kind to him. They haven't been kind to me. and they certainly haven't been kind to you."

Finally, Zhu Yan turned to face her. His eyes were shadowed, filled with a sorrow so deep it took her breath away. "Goddess" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You've been bearing all this guilt" Wen Xiao said, her own voice thick with emotion. "It must've been so lonely" She placed a hand on the railing. "Why don't you lonely souls try to be honest for once? Rely on each other."

Zhu Yan looked away, shaking his head. "I... I don't deserve it" he stammered.

Wen Xiao sighed, her breath visible in the cold air. "I can't tell you what you deserve. That's not for me to decide. But..." She glanced at YiChen's vanishing figure in the storm. "I think he'll tell you, if you let him."