Chapter 158: Shadow Bound

The room had long fallen into stillness, the quiet deep and undisturbed. It was broken only by the soft rhythm of breaking that filled the space in slow, even intervals.

Ru Yi had fallen asleep on the floor without struggling, the blanket barely gathered beneath her. She looked rather composed which was a contrast to her troubled mind minutes before.

Han Shuying remained awake.

She laid on her side, eyes open, gaze fixed on the dim outline of the ceiling as time stretched on without meaning. Her thoughts refused to settle into anything resembling rest.

For a long moment, she didn’t move. Then her gaze shifted to the floor...to Ru Yi.

She watched her in silence, her expression unreadable. Though something between irritation and curiosity lingered beneath.

A soft exhale left her as she pushed herself upright, the movement slow...like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to leave Ru Yi there out of sheer stubbornness or play the nice woman.

She stepped down from the bed without any sound and walked over to where Ru Yi had spread the blankets on the floor.

Han Shuying paused briefly before crouching beside her.

Ru Yi did not stir, completely oblivious to the creature beside her in sleep. Her breathing remained steady, her features relaxed in a way that felt unfamiliar. It was stripped of the constant awareness and stress she carried when awake.

Han Shuying studied her for a moment longer before slipping one arm beneath her shoulders, the other beneath her knees. She lifted Ru Yi carefully, smoothly, like she had done it a hundred times before.

Ru Yi shifted faintly in her arms but did not wake up.

Han Shuying carried her to the bed, the movement unhurried...before lowering her onto the mattress with equal care. She adjusted the blanket so it rested more securely around her.

She remained there...standing beside the bed...looking down at her.

Then Han Shuying’s gaze flicked to the floor. She should lie down on the blanket, and give Ru Yi the personal space she’d intended to have.

Except— she wasn’t that good of a person.

The decision settled just as easily as the thought itself.

Han Shuying moved to the other side of the bed and laid down beside Ru Yi. But not too close. She left just enough space between them to avoid contact while still sharing the same narrow space.

She turned her head slightly, her eyes resting on Ru Yi’s face. She traced the lines of it slowly, thoughtfully.

There was a stillness to her features in sleep. She looked softer, unguarded, a tad fragile...like something Han Shuying could easily snap with her fingers.

Han Shuying’s eyes drifted lower. To the curve of her jaw, the line of her neck. And without thinking, her fingers lifted, brushing lightly along that curve.

The movement was slow, absentminded, as if guided more by instinct than affection.

She paused–

Her hand lingering for a second longer than necessary.

"When did that happen," she murmured quietly to herself, voice barely more than breath. "I hate to say it, but you’re quite the charm."

She hadn’t noticed before. Not like this. Not the way the dim light softened her features and her expression settled into a peace she didn’t feel.

Han Shuying’s hand went still when a shadow flickered at the edge of her vision. Her gaze snapped downward when the flittering dark slipped between them.

It was thin as smoke, fluid and coiled slowly in the space above the bed.

Her breath caught as the shadow circled once, twice, before lowering and brushing against Ru Yi’s wrist. Then it wrapped tightly around the delicate flesh.

Han Shuying’s eyes narrowed, her body tensing as she instinctively pulled back. But at the moment she did, the shadow shifted again.

Reaching...extending...toward her.

It circled around her wrist just as it had Ru Yi’s, then tightened. Its touch was feather light, like the brush of a kiss.

The room dropped in temperature, suddenly freezing cold. It had Ru Yi moving closer to the only thing that could offer her warmth— Han Shuying’s toned body.

Meanwhile Han Shuying had an image strike her with sharp clarity. The dream she’d had days before...it was the same darkness as now.

The feeling of fate unseen, inevitable, threading itself between them in a way that could not be undone.

Her fingers curled slightly, testing the hold, but there was no resistance to push against. No solid form to break, just presence and certainty.

It took her back to a narrow street tucked away from the main roads, lined with dim lanterns and quiet whispers. She had gone there with the intention of finding a solid explanation for the shadow that had healed Ru Yi back in Tiancheng.

"You’re walking toward something you don’t understand," were the words that had Han Shuying turning to a fortune teller that was seated behind a low table. Her face was half-hidden beneath layered cloth, her voice soft but clear.

Han Shuying had almost turned away. "Say what you want, I don’t have all day."

The woman’s lips curved under the cloth. "A girl," she had said. "She will be both your captor and your savior."

Han Shuying scoffed at her, expression filled with quiet disdain. "You expect me to believe that? At least come up with something that seems possible."

"She will hand you victory," the woman continued softly. "If you choose to take it."

"Victory," Han Shuying had repeated.

The woman nodded. "Everything you want is in the palm of her hand. But you must not fall in love with her."

The warning made Han Shuying uneasy. "The chances of me falling in love is less than zero. It’s impossible."

"That is what the people around you have made you think." The woman’s eyes narrowed. "Her soul does not belong here, it comes from another world and will return when all is done."

Han Shuying snapped back to the present as she looked at the shadow that was still binding her and Ru Yi together.

Captor.

Savior.

Victory.

And the one thing she wasn’t supposed to do. Falling in love.

Her fingers curled into the sheets, her gaze lingering on Ru Yi’s face for a long moment. "Just who are you?"