The words hung in the air, a death sentence delivered in a calm, quiet voice. When I go, you are coming with me.
Hua Qian felt the truth of them in their shared bond, a cold, hard fact that settled in her bones. She looked at the wooden sparrow in her hand, the small, clumsy symbol of her own past loss. It suddenly felt incredibly fragile, like a relic from a life that was no longer hers.
"So the Soul Binding is not a cure," she said, her voice hollow. "It is just a delay."
"It is a lifeline," Di Jun corrected her, his voice regaining some of its accustomed coldness. He was retreating back behind his walls, the moment of vulnerability gone. "And it is running out. The celestial energy is a poison. It adapts. Your Yang energy can soothe it, but it cannot erase it. We need something stronger."
"Stronger? What is stronger than Pure Yang?" she asked, looking up at him, her mind racing, the healer in her already searching for a solution.
"Balance," he said simply. "Not one force, but two. A power that can mirror the celestial energy and cancel it out. We need an object of primordial Yin. An artifact from the beginning of time, before the realms were separated."
Hua Qian's heart sank. "An artifact? Where would we possibly find something like that?"
A flicker of something—annoyance, perhaps even reluctance—crossed his face. "There is one. The Heart of the Void."
He said the name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
"What is it?" she pressed.
"It is a relic. A piece of the primordial chaos that existed before the world was formed. It is the ultimate source of Yin energy. It is… dangerous. Unstable. It is kept in a neutral ground, a place that exists between the realms."
"Then we will go there," she said immediately.
He let out a short, bitter laugh. "It is not that simple. The Heart of the Void is not just lying on a table. It is guarded. And the path to it is a trial. It is a place that tests not your strength, but your spirit. Many have sought it. None have returned."
Before Hua Qian could respond, a sharp knock echoed through the clinic. It was not the gentle knock of a villager, or the firm knock of Xiao Longwei. It was a sharp, authoritative rap.
Di Jun's eyes narrowed. He moved like a shadow, melting back into the darkest corner of the room, becoming nearly invisible.
Hua Qian took a deep breath to steady her nerves and went to the door. She opened it to find two men she did not recognize. They were dressed in the fine robes of officials from a nearby city, but their posture was too rigid, their eyes too sharp. They smelled of incense and cold steel.
"Are you the healer known as Hua Qian?" the older man asked, his voice formal and devoid of warmth.
"I am," she said cautiously. "How can I help you?"
"We have come on behalf of the Magistrate of Linyue City," he said, his eyes scanning the room behind her. "A sickness has taken hold in our city. A plague. It is like nothing our physicians have ever seen. The afflicted are overcome with a deep melancholy, a wasting of the spirit, before their bodies fail. We were told you are the most skilled healer in the region."
Hua Qian's first instinct was to help. A plague was a healer's call. But a cold feeling of dread washed over her. This felt wrong.
"I am sorry to hear of your city's misfortune," she said carefully, "but I cannot leave my patients here at this time."
The man's smile was thin and did not reach his eyes. "We insist. The Magistrate is prepared to pay you a king's ransom. And we are not… asking. We are requesting your assistance in the name of the Emperor's law. To refuse would be most unwise."
It was a threat, thinly veiled in polite language.
From the shadows, Hua Qian felt a wave of cold anger from Di Jun. He knew what this was. It was a trap.
"I cannot go," she said, her voice firmer this time.
The younger official sighed, as if disappointed. "Very well. Then we will have to inform the Magistrate that you have refused to help a city in need. And we will also have to inform him that you are harboring a man of… questionable character. A tall, dark stranger who arrived around the same time the celestial soldiers were seen in these woods."
Hua Qian's blood ran cold. They knew. They didn't know everything, but they knew enough.
"It seems you have a choice, Healer," the older man said, his smile widening. "Come with us to Linyue City and perhaps save thousands of lives. Or stay here, and we will return with a garrison of soldiers to… investigate. I am sure your clinic would not survive the inspection."
It was a perfect trap. If she went, she would be walking right into it. If she stayed, they would bring an army down on the village, and on Di Jun.
She stood there, trapped, her mind racing for a way out.
Then, she felt it. A strange, calm clarity flowing into her from the shadows. It was Di Jun. He was not just angry; he was thinking. He was showing her the path.
She took a slow breath, her expression changing from fear to a quiet resignation.
"You are right," she said, her voice heavy. "It is my duty. I will go to Linyue City."
The officials smiled, triumphant.
"But," she added, her gaze steady. "I will need my assistant. The illness you describe sounds… spiritual in nature. He is an expert in such matters. He will accompany me."
She gestured towards the dark corner of the room. Di Jun stepped out of the shadows, his tall figure looming over the two officials. His silver and gold eyes were like chips of ice, and the air in the room grew cold enough to see their breath.
The officials stared, their faces paling. They had expected a frightened girl, not this. They had not felt his presence before, but now, it was like standing at the edge of an abyss.
"This is your assistant?" the older man stammered.
Di Jun gave a slow, predatory smile. "She goes nowhere without me," he said, his voice a low rumble that promised pain. "Now, lead the way. I am… eager to see this plague."