Xin Hulei's words chill Yao Shen to the marrow.
His arms are still loosely wrapped around Xin Hulei's neck and shoulders, but Yao Shen extricates them gingerly.
The cry of the cicadas has grown so loud that Yao Shen wonders if his distress is amplifying it.
"You don't know for sure if you've killed him?" He puts some space between himself and Xin Hulei. "What do you remember?"
Xin Hulei doesn't comment on Yao Shen's physical distancing. "Flashes. I remember reaching the brothel. We agreed on a date and time to meet. He was already waiting for me." Xin Hulei points to his eye, the one that's blind and milky when he is in his demon form. "He seemed surprised by this."
Yao Shen bets he was. He swallows dryly. "Then what?"
"Nothing, I remember him trying to deny everything, and then some others barging in. Ghost kings from the look of it. I think he was one too, but I can't be sure."
