Chapter 166: Family Reunion

"You’re awake—"

Ru Yi’s voice broke before she could stop it. She didn’t realize what she was doing as her hands gripped Qingyue’s shoulders, pulling her upright with a force that bordered on desperation.

For a moment nothing else existed—not the forest around them, not the others or the blood still staining her hands. It was only the undeniable fact that Qingyue was alive in her hands.

"You..." Ru Yi’s breath caught. "You were..." Dying. "I thought we were too late."

The eerie word never made it out, she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Instead, Ru Yi pulled her into an embrace, tight and unguarded. Like Qingyue would disappear again if she let go.

It didn’t matter to Ru Yi that everyone else was watching, she simply let instinct take over. The same one that made her realize Qingyue was in danger despite the two of them being miles apart.

She only pulled back when Qingyue winced from pain.

"Oh—" Ru Yi dropped her hands immediately. "I’m sorry. I forgot about your wound."

"I’m fine," Qingyue said. The words came out softer than usual even though her voice was still rough.

Ru Yi didn’t believe her. Not fully. They’d all seen the blood, watched it spill like there was no stopping it.

Yet, Qingyue was not sitting up and breathing. Even color was slowly returning to her face. It didn’t make sense, none of it did.

Behind them, the silence finally broke.

"That’s not possible..." Kael took only a step forward, having watched the entire scene with round wide eyes. "She couldn’t use her spiritual energy before."

"I’ve never seen you bleed so much." Lieyin’s voice was quieter than usual, stripped of its usual edge. She walked over, her gaze fixed on Qingyue as if expecting her to collapse at any second.

Qingyue exhaled slowly, feeling the pain in her side start to fade out. One hand rested lightly near her side. "I think I was too exhausted to heal myself."

Her brows creased as she said that. "Which in itself is strange, because it has never happened in the past. Not even when I fought during the uprising." A political clash that had gone on at the borders of the capital for many days.

"How are you able to do it now?" Lieyin crouched close to her to inspect the wound. It was already healing, the thorn flesh already back in place.

"I don’t know," Qingyue answered honestly. She looked at Ru Yi, then at the ring that still had her blood on it. She had a feeling her spiritual energy coming back had to do with her.

"It doesn’t matter," Lieyin muttered, closing the little distance between her and Qingyue. "As long as you’re fine now," she said before pulling her into a firm embrace.

Qingyue blinked in clear surprise.

Lieyin wasn’t the type to hug people, she barely tolerated most of them. And yet her arms were wrapped tightly around Qingyue, her grip unyielding like she was anchoring her in place.

"I thought—" Lieyin’s voice faltered, the words catching in a way that felt unfamiliar coming from her. "I thought I’d never see you again."

Qingyue went still.

For once, she didn’t respond immediately. Didn’t deflect or brush it off. Her expression softened as she lifted her hand before resting it against Lieyin’s back.

"I’m here," Qingyue said quietly. "And I’m not going anywhere."

Lieyin didn’t let go right away. But when she did, she stepped back quickly as if the moment had lasted more than she was comfortable with.

Qingyue looked past Lieyin to where Yexue stood. Her head was slightly lowered with her hands clenched at her sides. Her usual easy energy was completely gone, replaced with guilt.

It clung to her so heavily it was almost suffocating.

"Yexue..." Qingyue called after watching her for a moment. "Come here."

Yexue shook her head immediately. "No, I’m not that shameless to look you in the eye."

"Yexue."

"I said no," she snapped, but there was no real anger behind it. "You had to leave alone because of me...you almost died because of me."

"That’s not—"

"It is," Yexue cut in, her voice cracking. "If I hadn’t said all those horrible things...you wouldn’t have left all by yourself. Do you know how scared I was? That I’d never get to apologise for hurting you, that’s I’d never see you again."

"Come here," Qingyue repeated, more firmly this time.

The command settled between them. Still, Yexue hesitated. Was it really okay?

Then slowly, reluctantly, she stepped forward until she was close enough that Qingyue could reach her. Which she did.

Qingyue grabbed her wrist lightly and pulled her in. Yexue didn’t resist.

The moment she was within reach, she folded into the embrace. She closed her eyes tightly, almost painfully as the words spilled out in a rush.

"I’m sorry," Yexue whispered. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry—"

Qingyue exhaled softly, one arm still wrapped around her side while the other remained around Lieyin. "You didn’t do anything wrong, okay?"

"I did," Yexue insisted. "I always do."

"No, you didn’t. You opened up your true feelings to me, and there’s nothing wrong with that." Qingyue spoke softly. "I only wish you’d said it earlier. It really wasn’t my intention for things to turn out this way."

Yexue shook her head against Qingyue’s shoulder, still clinging tightly. Lieyin, who was watching in silence, leaned forward and embraced her sisters.

The three of them stayed like that. Together. It felt like they’d been apart for years instead of a couple days.

Ru Yi watched them through hooded eyes.

From where she stood, just a few steps away, the scene felt strangely distant despite its closeness.

Qingyue in the center. Lieyin and Yexue on either side. There was no hesitation, no doubt, just belonging and the love that only manifested through sharing the same blood.

Ru Yi’s chest tightened. She would never have that.

"Looks like they’re right where they need to be," Han Shuying said quietly beside her.

Ru Yi hadn’t even noticed her approach. Her gaze remained on the three of them. "Of course, they’d never leave each other." Not for her. Not for the throne.

Han Shuying hummed softly. "It’s a good thing you know that." She turned to watch Ru Yi. "Because there’s no place for you with them, and there’ll never be."