Chapter 136: Soul tie?

Qingyue’s eyes followed Ru Yi as she abruptly left the table. She looked at Yexue, as if asking if everything was alright. Yexue shrugged.

But Qingyue had picked on the tension in Ru Yi’s shoulders that hadn’t been there when they got to the inn. What could’ve happened between that time and now?

The others were still talking, cups lifted, laughter weaving easily through the warm air around them.

Yet, Qingyue’s attention was on the empty spot where Ru Yi should’ve been. She set her cup down with deliberate calm and rose from her seat.

Her movement was quiet enough that her sisters didn’t question it. Though she could feel Lieyin’s gaze brush over her briefly as she stepped away.

The hallway beyond the main hall was dim, lit only by a line of low-burning lanterns that cast uneven shadows along the wooden walls.

Qingyue moved without hesitation, guided less by sound and more by instinct. The faint awareness of Ru Yi’s presence drew her forward.

She found her standing just outside a partially opened door. Her posture was rigid, attention fixed on whatever lay within.

Qingyue slowed down as she approached, her steps softening until she came to a stop just behind Ru Yi. She was close enough to feel the tension radiating from her but not yet announcing her presence.

For a moment, she said nothing, simply following Ru Yi’s line of sight through the narrow opening.

The women inside the private room moved in perfect unison, their bodies flowing through each motion with a precision that was too exact to be natural.

Their expressions were blank, eyes empty in a way Qingyue would never forget. Though music drifted faintly from somewhere within the room, none of them made a sound.

"The voiceless women," she finally spoke which startled Ru Yi.

Ru Yi looked at Qingyue with suspicion. Had she followed her?

She turned back to look at the women. "They shouldn’t be here," Ru Yi said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think they’re forced to do this?"

Qingyue did not respond immediately. Her gaze remained on the dancers, her mind already turning, already tracing the implications of what she was seeing.

She’d personally taken the women to a safe house they directed her to. So what were they doing dancing almost naked in a winehouse?

There was something else in the way they moved, as though whatever had been done to them did not end when Qingyue killed Gao Ren who had been their handler.

Qingyue felt a faint chill settle beneath her composure, not fear but recognition of something deeply wrong.

Ru Yi turned to her. "Should we go in?"

Qingyue met her eyes and nodded once. A small, decisive motion that carried all the agreement necessary.

Ru Yi’s hand was already reaching for the door like the decision had been made long before she asked the question.

"I’m sorry, madam."

The voice was smooth and measured, interrupting them just as they were about to enter. Qingyue’s attention shifted immediately, her focus sharpening as she turned towards the speaker.

A young woman stood a few steps away, her posture composed. Her hands were folded neatly within her sleeves, her expression polite but carefully distant.

There was nothing overtly suspicious in her demeanor, yet something about the timing of her appearance felt too precise to be coincidence.

"This is reserved," her tone was gentle but firm. "It’s for married couples only."

Ru Yi paused for only a fraction of a second, the hesitation so brief it might have gone unnoticed by anyone less attentive.

"Of course," she said with an easy smile directed at the woman in front of her.

Qingyue watched as Ru Yi reached into her sleeve and withdrew the rings she had purchased earlier from the old woman who read her fortune.

They were simple in appearance, unremarkable at a glance. Yet, Qingyue knew the purpose they served, knew the intention behind them. They were meant for Ru Yi and Yexue, that was the plan.

Ru Yi pressed one of them into Qingyue’s hand. "Wear it," she said quietly so the other woman wouldn’t hear.

There was no time to question the decision, no time to consider the implications. Qingyue immediately did what was required and did not hesitate. She slipped the ring onto her finger in one smooth motion.

Suddenly—

The world around Qingyue changed when the cold jewelry wrapped itself around her finger. It did not shatter or distort, did not collapse into anything dramatic or violent.

But something within it shifted so completely that for a moment Qingyue felt like she had stepped into a different space entirely.

The air grew still, unnaturally so, as if everything around her had paused in the space between one breath and the next.

The warm glow of the lanterns dimmed at the edges of her vision, their colors draining slowly until the rich golds and reds of the hallway faded into something muted and distant.

Even the sound around her receded, not vanishing entirely but dulling...like it had been pushed far away from her.

And at the center of it all, there was Ru Yi.

Clear. Sharp. Unmistakable.

The world narrowed until she was the only thing that remained in Qingyue’s focus, the only presence that felt real and grounded.

Light seemed to gather around her without source, outlining her form in quiet contrast to everything else that had fallen into shadow.

Qingyue’s gaze was fixed on her. And for a brief, disorienting moment, it felt as though nothing else existed.

The bond settled into place without resistance, without hesitation—a silent certainty that carried no sense of strain or rejection.

Qingyue exhaled slowly, her awareness returning in gradual layers as the world eased back into motion around her.

The lanternlight regained its warmth, the distant sounds of the winehouse crept back into reach. She raised her hands in front of her, like it was a foreign body she wasn’t accustomed to.

What just happened to her?