The back door of Yumen Jiao opened slowly. Xing stared at Murong Jin. Her face was a stark, bloodless white, made even paler by the black night gear she wore.
"What are you doing here?" Xing's hand fell from the door. She stepped aside to let her in.
Murong Jin walked into the room and leaned against a table, watching Xing pack a bundle of clothes on the bed. She, too, had changed out of her usual robes and into a set of tight-sleeved black gear, her feet in satin boots.
"You're going out?" Murong Jin asked, her voice flat.
"Yes." Hearing the exhaustion in her voice, Xing paused for a second, then continued packing.
"To get him?" Still flat. Murong Jin didn't know what else to say.
"Yes." Xing tossed the bundle on the bed and grabbed her sword. "If there's nothing else, you should go back. I heard the Fifth Prince called for a physician yesterday. Your body…"
"Xing, I'm sorry." Murong Jin grabbed her arm. Tears welled in her eyes. "I failed Liu. I'm so sorry. I never should have asked him to come to Jindu."
The hand at Xing's side tightened. She stepped forward and pulled Murong Jin's head onto her shoulder. "Jin, this isn't your fault. It was his choice. It's the fate of everyone in the Vermilion Bird Camp."
"If I hadn't insisted, if he had stayed in Wuchuan, none of this would have happened. He wouldn't be dead." Murong Jin clung to her, sobbing.
Xing patted her back. "Jin, he wanted revenge. No one could have stopped him. Do you really think he wasn't planning it, even back in Wuchuan?"
"What?" Murong Jin looked up, her eyes blurred.
"He had me investigating those men for him. I am just as responsible for his death as you are." Xing's own eyes were red, but she refused to let the tears fall. "Go back. I'll handle this."
"I'm coming with you." Murong Jin grabbed her arm. "We'll bring him back to Wuchuan together."
"Jin, no." Xing frowned. "You're a princess consort now. You can't just disappear. And you're unwell. I can't let you take this risk."
"Xing." Murong Jin looked away, forcing the sobs back down. "He was my brother. My family. And I promised him. I promised I would bring him home."
Xing's eyes reddened. She wiped a tear from her own cheek and took a deep breath. "Alright. We'll bring him home together."
Xue Liulan stood before the empty bed, the bowl of medicine still in his hand. She had slept all day, so peacefully, he had thought she was finally listening to reason, that she would be careful for the sake of the child. He hadn't realized she was just lulling him into a false sense of security.
He slammed the medicine down and strode out of the room.
Little Dingzi, who had been guarding the door, saw his master's face and froze.
"Where is she?" Xue Liulan demanded.
"Her Highness? She's... she's in the room." Little Dingzi's knees buckled, and he sank back to the ground, staring up at his master's furious expression.
"Useless." Xue Liulan waved him off. If she wanted to leave, Little Dingzi could never have stopped her. "Tell the kitchens to keep her medicine warm. I'm going out."
"Yes, my lord! Where are you going? Shall I come with you?"
"No." He was already moving. "If she returns, you will keep her here. Understood?"
"Yes, yes!" Little Dingzi knelt, watching him disappear. The master is terrifying when he's angry.
Murong Jin and Xing walked down the main stone road toward the East Gate. They made no effort to hide, unafraid of the guards watching the body. The men here tonight would not live to report what they saw.
"Who goes there?" A guard scrambled to his feet, his eyes wide, staring at the two figures emerging from the darkness.
They were both dressed in black, their faces veiled, their swords gleaming. Two women, radiating a palpable killing intent.
"Halt. By order of the Emperor, no one is to come within ten paces of this scaffold."
Murong Jin and Xing didn't slow down, their hands already on their hilts.
"One more step and we'll cut you down!" the guard yelled, taking a step back. It was just two women, but the aura they projected was terrifying.
"Quick, sound the alarm!"
Murong Jin's brow twitched. A cold light flashed. The guard who had yelled still had his head turned, but a thin red line was welling on his neck, the blood trickling silently into his armor. He collapsed.
The other guards froze, then surrounded them, but none dared to be the first to charge.
"Go. Get Liu," Murong Jin said, her eyes fixed on the men in front of her.
"Be careful," Xing whispered. She launched herself into the air, using the scaffold as a foothold to leap again. Her sword flashed, cutting the ropes. Liu's body fell, and she caught him, cradling him in her arms.
Seeing the body taken, the guards finally charged.
Murong Jin took a half-step back, then kicked the incoming spear shaft, snapping the wood. In the same motion, her blade cut across the throat of the man beside him.
She was a general. They were rabble. It was a massacre.
The wind died. She sheathed her sword and turned. Xing was on her knees, clutching Liu's body, surrounded by a new group of men in black.
To have subdued Xing so quickly… Murong Jin's eyes narrowed, her gaze locking onto the blade at Xing's throat.
"Move, and she dies," the leader hissed.
"What do you want?" Murong Jin's hand tightened on her hilt. She looked at Xing, who was completely still. Her heart stopped.
"Nothing." The man laughed. "Just to ask you to stay, General."
General. So they knew. This was a trap, and Liu was the bait.
"So this was all for me," she said, pulling down her veil with a smile.
"It was," the man sneered.
Xing looked up at Murong Jin, a faint, sad smile on her lips. "He was leaving, and I wanted to follow him. But he forbade it. Today, I did this for you. When I see him in the Yellow Springs, he cannot blame me."
"Xing!" Murong Jin cried, taking a step forward, but she was too late.
Xing's own blade flashed, a clean, sharp line across her own throat. She fell over Liu's body, a peaceful smile on her face.
If we could not be together in life, then let us be together in death.
"No!" Murong Jin screamed.
She looked up, her eyes filled with a murderous rage. The five men who had caused this. They were already dead.
They all felt it, the wave of power that rolled off her, and took a step back.
"You, who hunt my kin," she said, her voice a low, terrifying whisper, "will die."