#Yue Huili

[e-lisard-archive]

Less fun IRL

Original post September 9th, 2022 (x)

Huili is trembling by the time she reaches the gaping hole in the earth, painfully gasping for breath from the way she has been running for so long. The only breaks she had from running were spent fighting, trying to protect other disciples from demons.

Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu are there too, and she stumbles towards them.

Shen Qingqiu looks pained, glancing between Luo Binghe, the Abyss, and a point somewhere to the left of Luo Binghe, probably his system.

“Luo-shidi,” Huili gasps out once she’s close enough, and Luo Binghe startles, although he’s still quick to support her. His demon mark is plainly visible on his forehead, and she winces. That’s not good.

“We’re gonna need to jump,” she says, after catching her breath. “If other cultivators see us- especially you- they’re gonna kill us.”

“What- what do you mean, shijie?” Luo Binghe seems confused, glancing between her and Shen Qingqiu. “Shizun?”

Huili makes eye contact with Shen Qingqiu, who’s… Shaking? Well. That. Makes sense, she supposes. “If they see a half demon, Luo-shidi, right after this attack… They’ll immediately kill you. And me. And Shen-shishu’s reputation, as well as that of Cang Qiong mountain, will be dragged through the mud.”

Luo Binghe helplessly looks at Shen Qingqiu, who slowly nods. “Yue-shizhi is right, Binghe.”

“Obviously. Our best chance now is jumping. The Abyss will probably be… Awful, but we’re both half demon. We’ll be able to survive. Find a way to come back.”

“Jumping is your only chance,” Shen Qingqiu corrects her with a pained look. “I can already sense Liu-shidi coming this way.”

“And as much as I like hanging around Liu-shishu, he definitely won’t tolerate someone who’s obviously half demon.” Huili searches through her sleeves for the letter she had written, handing it to Shen Qingqiu. “It’s for a-die.”

After that she walks to the edge, looking down and immediately regretting it. How did Luo Binghe even survive this fall? It’s way too high.

Behind her Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu exchange some last words, but she doesn’t focus on them. She’s gonna have to jump down there. Be stuck for like 5 years. Maybe die.

When Luo Binghe moves to stand beside her, she reaches out to squeeze his hand, pushing those thoughts away and locking them in a box before sweeping them under a carpet, never to be seen again.

She turns her head to look at Shen Qingqiu again, giving him a wry smile. “Leaps of faith seem much more fun in a game like Assassin’s Creed,” she tells him in English before letting go of Luo Binghe’s hand and jumping.

Wind rushes past her ears and she tightly closes her eyes, praying to Whatever Being is willing to listen that she lands safely.

[e-lisard]

Second hand... Something

Characters: Shen Qingqiu, Yue Huili

Warnings: None

Story: And Then There Were Two

WC: 253

“You know, Yuan-ge, I’m not sure what is funnier: either we got a second hand body, or our bodies got a second hand soul.” Huili doesn’t even look at Shen Qingqiu as she speaks, staying sprawled on the floor and staring at the sky.

“I would think it’s more us getting second hand bodies…” he answers, the sound of his brush moving pausing for maybe half a second.

“But did we really get the bodies, or did the bodies get us? I mean, the original souls left and we just… got yeeted in in their place, right?”

“Why are you even thinking about this?”

“Existential crisis.” Huili sits up, glancing at her shishu and fellow transmigrator. “I thought you’d have them too.”

“An existential crisis, sure, but I have never started wondering whether my body is second hand or my soul is.” He gives her a flat look before turning back to his painting.

“It’s an intriguing question though, isn’t it?” She tilts her head. “I think it's a second hand soul. The body needed a soul to keep living, so it yoinked the nearest available one.”

“I don’t think our bodies had any agency over it. The System was responsible for it.”

“We didn't have any agency over it, either. It's not like we went 'ough, I'm dead, let me just find a new body in Airplane's book'. Wait. I've got it!"

"Do you, now?"

"It's both! Second hand souls and second hand bodies!"

"... I give up. Go bother your baba instead."

----

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[e-lisard-archive]

Second hand... Something

Original post November 26th, 2022 (x)

“You know, Yuan-ge, I’m not sure what is funnier: either we got a second hand body, or our bodies got a second hand soul.” Huili doesn’t even look at Shen Qingqiu as she speaks, staying sprawled on the floor and staring at the sky.

“I would think it’s more us getting second hand bodies…” he answers, the sound of his brush moving pausing for maybe half a second.

“But did we really get the bodies, or did the bodies get us? I mean, the original souls left and we just… got yeeted in in their place, right?”

“Why are you even thinking about this?”

“Existential crisis.” Huili sits up, glancing at her shishu and fellow transmigrator. “I thought you’d have them too.”

“An existential crisis, sure, but I have never started wondering whether my body is second hand or my soul is.” He gives her a flat look before turning back to his painting.

“It’s an intriguing question though, isn’t it?” She tilts her head. “I think it’s a second hand soul. The body needed a soul to keep living, so it yoinked the nearest available one.”

“I don’t think our bodies had any agency over it. The System was responsible for it.”

“We didn’t have any agency over it, either. It’s not like we went ‘ough, I’m dead, let me just find a new body in Airplane’s book’. Wait. I’ve got it!“

"Do you, now?”

“It’s both! Second hand souls and second hand bodies!”

“… I give up. Go bother your baba instead.”

[e-lisard-archive]

Big sister instincts

Original post August 20th, 2022 (x)

Huili fidgets with her sleeves, glancing at her shidi’s and shimei’s. Just a day earlier, she had already overheard why they got called here, and done her own research. And wow, is she glad she did so.

“Before we begin, I want all of you to know that I’m not mad.” Yue Qingyuan speaks up from behind his desk, still seated in front of the documents he’d been looking over when they entered.

It does absolutely nothing to soothe any of the juniors.

“While looking through these documents, I noticed some mistakes that had been made. It’s lucky that I caught these, because that means they can still be fixed. But for that, I need to know who was responsible. Would this person care to step forward?”

The juniors fidget, but one in particular catches Huili’s eyes. It’s who she knows did it. He’s even paler than at the beginning, faintly trembling, tears gathering in his eyes, and his look… Huili feels her heart twist painfully as she looks away.

“No? Then-”

“I did it,” Huili speaks up, stepping forward with a gentle touch to her shidi’s arm. With her step forward, she also moves a bit to the side, to block her shidi from Yue Qingyuan’s view. “I’m sorry, a-die. It just took me a bit to recognise the documents.”

“Hm.” The way Yue Qingyuan studies her makes her want to hide, but she just gives him a nervous smile. “Everyone else, please leave. Huili and I still have some things to talk about.”

The shidi she had shielded tugs on her sleeve and she turns her head to give him a soft smile and a wink, nodding at the door. He hesitates before following the others, and Huili faces Yue Qingyuan again, who has now stood up.

“Li-er…” He shakes his head, sighing. “While I think your instincts to protect your juniors are amazing, you don’t need to protect them here, where they’re safe. They still need to learn that their actions have consequences, and they can’t do that if you take the blame every single time.”

“A-die, did you see him?” Huili sighs, pulling her necklace out of her robes to play with it. She knows that he knows who did it. He was just hoping her shidi would step up and confess to it himself. “He was terrified. Not just the scared of ‘oh no, I messed up’. That was the kind of scared you get when any mistake you make has you beaten up and nearly killed.”

“Which is why I clarified that I wasn’t mad at the beginning.” Yue Qingyuan nods, moving closer to her to brush some hair out of her face. “I don’t want my disciples to think they’ll be punished in an extreme way just because they made a mistake. They’re here to learn, not because they already know how to do everything perfectly.”

“And while I know that, they don’t.” Huili gives him a sad smile. “That is why I take the blame. If he’d stayed here, instead of me, he would’ve been too scared to listen properly to anything you said, would have messed up even more, and would have gotten more scared.”

“And how will he then learn to face the consequences of his actions?” It’s a genuine question, she can see it in his face, hear it in his voice. He wants her to come up with a better solution.

“I’ll talk to him later. He already knows he doesn’t have to be afraid of me, I stood up for him when I didn’t have to. He’ll see I don’t have any bruises, which tells him that you either don’t do corporal punishments, or you love your daughter enough to give her a different type of punishment. Then I’ll talk to him about the mistakes he made, how he can avoid them, and to come to me or one of the teachers if he has questions about how to do something.” Huili easily explains her plan. She’d already wanted to explain it to him, anyway.

“And you think this will work better?” Yue Qingyuan moves back to his desk, picking up the documents.

“Obviously. A-die, you have to remember, you’re not only a Peak Lord, you’re the Sect Leader. That makes you like, ten times as terrifying. Me? Sure, I’m your kid, but I’m just a disciple, I’m his shijie. I’m a lot less scary to any of them. So if I do this, he’s much more likely to actually remember how to avoid or fix mistakes, rather than how terrified he was the entire time.”

Yue Qingyuan sighs, but he’s smiling. “Very well. Come here, I’ll show you the mistakes and give you some tips about how to fix them. Then you can go and talk to your shidi about it.”

[e-lisard-archive]

Perfect Little Princess

Original post May 27th, 2022 (x)

“What do you even know about it?! You’re just some perfect little princess! The Sect Leader’s daughter herself!”

Huili freezes on the spot at those words, one last tear streaming down her face as she slowly turns around.

“What. Do I. Know of growing up on the streets? The Sect’s perfect little princess?” She laughs, wiping the wetness from her cheeks with her hands. “Fuck you, Binghe. You don’t know jackshit about me. I know more than enough about growing up on the streets because I DID!”

Binghe stumbles back a step as she glares at him. “And stop it with that perfect bullshit! Because I’m not! Shit, dude, I’m probably the farthest thing from perfect!” She runs a hand through her hair, probably messing it up even further. “How the fuck could I be perfect when I’m the way I am? Always messing up, and always this fucking close to snapping and just burning it all down?!”

“I know we’re both just like this because we’re tired and that fucking pollen but- shut the fuck up.” She sighs, shaking her head. “All you know about me? It’s nothing but an act. I’m not- I’m not nearly as nice or kind or good as I pretend to be. I’m selfish and a dick-”

She doesn’t get to finish her sentence as Binghe tackles her in a hug, crying and apologizing, the pollen having lost its power over him.

It hasn’t quite lost its power over her yet, but she can stamp down on the anger for Binghe. It’s what she always does, after all.

[e-lisard-archive]

Breaking the news

Original post August 5th, 2022 (x)

Yue Qingyuan stares at the letter Xiao Jiu- no, Shen-shidi, had given him after the dreaded Conference, decorated with the sword tassel he’d given Huili when she first got a sword. 

There’s a little blood on one of the corners, and Huili’s familiar writing swims before his eyes. 

Even before they had set off for the Conference Huili had been… off, going in for more hugs than usual, staring into the distance with a sad look… 

Maybe she’d somehow caught wind of what would happen, but then why wouldn’t she have told him? Or maybe she’d just had a feeling it would go wrong? Reading the letter would probably tell him… no matter how hard it is for him to focus on it. 

“Hi, a-die,”

Yue Qingyuan takes a deep breath, trying to keep his tears at bay. 

“Hi, a-die, 

I’m sorry for everything. Sorry for not telling you they would come, sorry for not telling you about me, sorry for just disappearing. 

I knew that they would come, but the way I come across this information is not something I could explain. 

And I’m sorry for not telling you about me. I don’t know who’s gonna be the one to give you this letter, although I suspect it will be Shen-shishu. I also don’t know if they will have told you, but Luo-shidi and I are both half demon. 

I figured this out a few years ago, but was scared to tell you. I know you love me, but a half demon? As the daughter of a Sect Leader? It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? 

I knew the Abyss would open, and I suspected that it would ‘wake up’ the demon blood in me. I debated about going or not going, but I eventually decided I’d go, to try and protect Luo-shidi when it happened. 

By the time you get this letter, he and I are in the Abyss. If other cultivators would see two demons right after this attack, they would have just killed us. No questions or anything. 

I don’t know how long we’ll be in the Abyss. Maybe it’ll be a year, maybe it’ll be five, I don’t know. 

What I do know, though, is that so long as you’ll have me, I will find a way back home. 

And if you think me a monster now, I’m willing to die by your hands. 

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you anything. I just didn’t know what to say. 

At the very least you now know my fate. I didn’t die during the Conference. I jumped into the Abyss to escape death and protect Luo-shidi. 

Please forgive me, 

Yue Huili.”

Yue Qingyuan puts the letter down, a hand over his mouth to try and muffle his sobs. 

It’s part sadness, part relief. 

Even if she didn’t trust him with this information immediately, even if she kept quiet all this time, at least she’s still alive. And he knows his daughter, if she says she’ll find a way back, she will. 

There’s nothing on this plane of existence that can stop her from achieving her goals.

[e-lisard]

Less fun IRL

Characters: Yue Huili, Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe

Warnings: none

Story: And Then There Were Two

WC: 462

Huili is trembling by the time she reaches the gaping hole in the earth, painfully gasping for breath from the way she has been running for so long. The only breaks she had from running were spent fighting, trying to protect other disciples from demons.

Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu are there too, and she stumbles towards them.

Shen Qingqiu looks pained, glancing between Luo Binghe, the Abyss, and a point somewhere to the left of Luo Binghe, probably his system.

"Luo-shidi," Huili gasps out once she's close enough, and Luo Binghe startles, although he's still quick to support her. His demon mark is plainly visible on his forehead, and she winces. That's not good.

"We're gonna need to jump," she says, after catching her breath. "If other cultivators see us- especially you- they're gonna kill us."

"What- what do you mean, shijie?" Luo Binghe seems confused, glancing between her and Shen Qingqiu. "Shizun?"

Huili makes eye contact with Shen Qingqiu, who's... Shaking? Well. That. Makes sense, she supposes. "If they see a half demon, Luo-shidi, right after this attack... They'll immediately kill you. And me. And Shen-shishu's reputation, as well as that of Cang Qiong mountain, will be dragged through the mud."

Luo Binghe helplessly looks at Shen Qingqiu, who slowly nods. "Yue-shizhi is right, Binghe."

"Obviously. Our best chance now is jumping. The Abyss will probably be... Awful, but we're both half demon. We'll be able to survive. Find a way to come back."

"Jumping is your only chance," Shen Qingqiu corrects her with a pained look. "I can already sense Liu-shidi coming this way."

"And as much as I like hanging around Liu-shishu, he definitely won't tolerate someone who's obviously half demon." Huili searches through her sleeves for the letter she had written, handing it to Shen Qingqiu. "It's for a-die."

After that she walks to the edge, looking down and immediately regretting it. How did Luo Binghe even survive this fall? It's way too high.

Behind her Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu exchange some last words, but she doesn't focus on them. She's gonna have to jump down there. Be stuck for like 5 years. Maybe die.

When Luo Binghe moves to stand beside her, she reaches out to squeeze his hand, pushing those thoughts away and locking them in a box before sweeping them under a carpet, never to be seen again.

She turns her head to look at Shen Qingqiu again, giving him a wry smile. "Leaps of faith seem much more fun in a game like Assassin's Creed," she tells him in English before letting go of Luo Binghe's hand and jumping.

Wind rushes past her ears and she tightly closes her eyes, praying to Whatever Being is willing to listen that she lands safely.

-------

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[e-lisard]

Big sister instincts

Characters: Yue Qingyuan, Yue Huili, some unnamed Qiong Ding peak disciples

Warnings: none

Universe: SVSSS AU (will after this be known as And Then There Were Two)

WC: 805

Huili fidgets with her sleeves, glancing at her shidi's and shimei's. Just a day earlier, she had already overheard why they got called here, and done her own research. And wow, is she glad she did so.

"Before we begin, I want all of you to know that I'm not mad." Yue Qingyuan speaks up from behind his desk, still seated in front of the documents he'd been looking over when they entered.

It does absolutely nothing to soothe any of the juniors.

"While looking through these documents, I noticed some mistakes that had been made. It's lucky that I caught these, because that means they can still be fixed. But for that, I need to know who was responsible. Would this person care to step forward?"

The juniors fidget, but one in particular catches Huili's eyes. It's who she knows did it. He's even paler than at the beginning, faintly trembling, tears gathering in his eyes, and his look… Huili feels her heart twist painfully as she looks away.

"No? Then-"

"I did it," Huili speaks up, stepping forward with a gentle touch to her shidi's arm. With her step forward, she also moves a bit to the side, to block her shidi from Yue Qingyuan's view. "I'm sorry, a-die. It just took me a bit to recognise the documents."

"Hm." The way Yue Qingyuan studies her makes her want to hide, but she just gives him a nervous smile. "Everyone else, please leave. Huili and I still have some things to talk about."

The shidi she had shielded tugs on her sleeve and she turns her head to give him a soft smile and a wink, nodding at the door. He hesitates before following the others, and Huili faces Yue Qingyuan again, who has now stood up.

"Li-er…" He shakes his head, sighing. "While I think your instincts to protect your juniors are amazing, you don't need to protect them here, where they're safe. They still need to learn that their actions have consequences, and they can't do that if you take the blame every single time."

"A-die, did you see him?" Huili sighs, pulling her necklace out of her robes to play with it. She knows that he knows who did it. He was just hoping her shidi would step up and confess to it himself. "He was terrified. Not just the scared of 'oh no, I messed up'. That was the kind of scared you get when any mistake you make has you beaten up and nearly killed."

"Which is why I clarified that I wasn't mad at the beginning." Yue Qingyuan nods, moving closer to her to brush some hair out of her face. "I don't want my disciples to think they'll be punished in an extreme way just because they made a mistake. They're here to learn, not because they already know how to do everything perfectly."

"And while I know that, they don't." Huili gives him a sad smile. "That is why I take the blame. If he'd stayed here, instead of me, he would've been too scared to listen properly to anything you said, would have messed up even more, and would have gotten more scared."

"And how will he then learn to face the consequences of his actions?" It's a genuine question, she can see it in his face, hear it in his voice. He wants her to come up with a better solution.

"I'll talk to him later. He already knows he doesn't have to be afraid of me, I stood up for him when I didn't have to. He'll see I don't have any bruises, which tells him that you either don't do corporal punishments, or you love your daughter enough to give her a different type of punishment. Then I'll talk to him about the mistakes he made, how he can avoid them, and to come to me or one of the teachers if he has questions about how to do something." Huili easily explains her plan. She'd already wanted to explain it to him, anyway.

"And you think this will work better?" Yue Qingyuan moves back to his desk, picking up the documents.

"Obviously. A-die, you have to remember, you're not only a Peak Lord, you're the Sect Leader. That makes you like, ten times as terrifying. Me? Sure, I'm your kid, but I'm just a disciple, I'm his shijie. I'm a lot less scary to any of them. So if I do this, he's much more likely to actually remember how to avoid or fix mistakes, rather than how terrified he was the entire time."

Yue Qingyuan sighs, but he's smiling. "Very well. Come here, I'll show you the mistakes and give you some tips about how to fix them. Then you can go and talk to your shidi about it."

-----

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[e-lisard]

Breaking the news

Characters: Yue Qingyuan, Yue Huili

Warnings: None, although it's kinda sad.

Yue Qingyuan stares at the letter Xiao Jiu- no, Shen-shidi, had given him after the dreaded Conference, decorated with the sword tassel he'd given Huili when she first got a sword. 

There's a little blood on one of the corners, and Huili's familiar writing swims before his eyes. 

Even before they had set off for the Conference Huili had been… off, going in for more hugs than usual, staring into the distance with a sad look… 

Maybe she'd somehow caught wind of what would happen, but then why wouldn't she have told him? Or maybe she'd just had a feeling it would go wrong? Reading the letter would probably tell him… no matter how hard it is for him to focus on it. 

"Hi, a-die,"

Yue Qingyuan takes a deep breath, trying to keep his tears at bay. 

"Hi, a-die, 

I'm sorry for everything. Sorry for not telling you they would come, sorry for not telling you about me, sorry for just disappearing. 

I knew that they would come, but the way I come across this information is not something I could explain. 

And I'm sorry for not telling you about me. I don't know who's gonna be the one to give you this letter, although I suspect it will be Shen-shishu. I also don't know if they will have told you, but Luo-shidi and I are both half demon. 

I figured this out a few years ago, but was scared to tell you. I know you love me, but a half demon? As the daughter of a Sect Leader? It's ridiculous, isn't it? 

I knew the Abyss would open, and I suspected that it would 'wake up' the demon blood in me. I debated about going or not going, but I eventually decided I'd go, to try and protect Luo-shidi when it happened. 

By the time you get this letter, he and I are in the Abyss. If other cultivators would see two demons right after this attack, they would have just killed us. No questions or anything. 

I don't know how long we'll be in the Abyss. Maybe it'll be a year, maybe it'll be five, I don't know. 

What I do know, though, is that so long as you'll have me, I will find a way back home. 

And if you think me a monster now, I'm willing to die by your hands. 

I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything. I just didn't know what to say. 

At the very least you now know my fate. I didn't die during the Conference. I jumped into the Abyss to escape death and protect Luo-shidi. 

Please forgive me, 

Yue Huili."

Yue Qingyuan puts the letter down, a hand over his mouth to try and muffle his sobs. 

It's part sadness, part relief. 

Even if she didn't trust him with this information immediately, even if she kept quiet all this time, at least she's still alive. And he knows his daughter, if she says she'll find a way back, she will. 

There's nothing on this plane of existence that can stop her from achieving her goals.

-----

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[e-lisard]

Perfect Little Princess

Characters: Luo Binghe, Yue Huili

Warnings: None, just pissy people

"What do you even know about it?! You're just some perfect little princess! The Sect Leader's daughter herself!"

Huili freezes on the spot at those words, one last tear streaming down her face as she slowly turns around.

"What. Do I. Know of growing up on the streets? The Sect's perfect little princess?" She laughs, wiping the wetness from her cheeks with her hands. "Fuck you, Binghe. You don't know jackshit about me. I know more than enough about growing up on the streets because I DID!"

Binghe stumbles back a step as she glares at him. "And stop it with that perfect bullshit! Because I'm not! Shit, dude, I'm probably the farthest thing from perfect!" She runs a hand through her hair, probably messing it up even further. "How the fuck could I be perfect when I'm the way I am? Always messing up, and always this fucking close to snapping and just burning it all down?!"

"I know we're both just like this because we're tired and that fucking pollen but- shut the fuck up." She sighs, shaking her head. "All you know about me? It's nothing but an act. I'm not- I'm not nearly as nice or kind or good as I pretend to be. I'm selfish and a dick-"

She doesn't get to finish her sentence as Binghe tackles her in a hug, crying and apologizing, the pollen having lost its power over him.

It hasn't quite lost its power over her yet, but she can stamp down on the anger for Binghe. It's what she always does, after all.

--

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[e-lisard]

Yue Huili: Guess what number I'm thinking off!

Shang Qinghua: 69?

Yue Huili: No! Of course not! I'm not that childish!

Shen Qingqiu, not even putting down his book: It's 420, isn't it?

Yue Huili: ... Yeah.

[kajsa-writes-sometimes]

That requires some serious gut

Less fun IRL

Characters: Yue Huili, Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe

Warnings: none

Story: And Then There Were Two

WC: 462

Huili is trembling by the time she reaches the gaping hole in the earth, painfully gasping for breath from the way she has been running for so long. The only breaks she had from running were spent fighting, trying to protect other disciples from demons.

Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu are there too, and she stumbles towards them.

Shen Qingqiu looks pained, glancing between Luo Binghe, the Abyss, and a point somewhere to the left of Luo Binghe, probably his system.

"Luo-shidi," Huili gasps out once she's close enough, and Luo Binghe startles, although he's still quick to support her. His demon mark is plainly visible on his forehead, and she winces. That's not good.

"We're gonna need to jump," she says, after catching her breath. "If other cultivators see us- especially you- they're gonna kill us."

"What- what do you mean, shijie?" Luo Binghe seems confused, glancing between her and Shen Qingqiu. "Shizun?"

Huili makes eye contact with Shen Qingqiu, who's... Shaking? Well. That. Makes sense, she supposes. "If they see a half demon, Luo-shidi, right after this attack... They'll immediately kill you. And me. And Shen-shishu's reputation, as well as that of Cang Qiong mountain, will be dragged through the mud."

Luo Binghe helplessly looks at Shen Qingqiu, who slowly nods. "Yue-shizhi is right, Binghe."

"Obviously. Our best chance now is jumping. The Abyss will probably be... Awful, but we're both half demon. We'll be able to survive. Find a way to come back."

"Jumping is your only chance," Shen Qingqiu corrects her with a pained look. "I can already sense Liu-shidi coming this way."

"And as much as I like hanging around Liu-shishu, he definitely won't tolerate someone who's obviously half demon." Huili searches through her sleeves for the letter she had written, handing it to Shen Qingqiu. "It's for a-die."

After that she walks to the edge, looking down and immediately regretting it. How did Luo Binghe even survive this fall? It's way too high.

Behind her Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu exchange some last words, but she doesn't focus on them. She's gonna have to jump down there. Be stuck for like 5 years. Maybe die.

When Luo Binghe moves to stand beside her, she reaches out to squeeze his hand, pushing those thoughts away and locking them in a box before sweeping them under a carpet, never to be seen again.

She turns her head to look at Shen Qingqiu again, giving him a wry smile. "Leaps of faith seem much more fun in a game like Assassin's Creed," she tells him in English before letting go of Luo Binghe's hand and jumping.

Wind rushes past her ears and she tightly closes her eyes, praying to Whatever Being is willing to listen that she lands safely.

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