The day was coming to an end. Jinghua and Bingwen were still down in the cave. Yuming had decided to stay at the Mei Palace as well as lady Hung Meifeng. The two were given a room with separate beds. Yuming was up, worrying about her brother and Jinghua. Hung Meifeng was studying. "You should be asleep, Lady Yusheng." Hung Meifeng said, Yuming got off of her bed and went to light a lantern. "I will. I just need some fresh air. I'll.. be out." She opened the door quietly and stepped over the high threshold. She walked into the night with the lantern by her side, watching her steps down the stairs of the outer palace.
Yuming took a seat on the steps of the palace and sobbed. She hoped her brother was alive. She hoped that Ning Cheng was alive. All she wanted to know is if her brother was okay.
She jumped and stood up when Hung Meifeng's hand touched her shoulder. "Lady Hung-"
"They're going to be alright. I know for a fact that the two are alive and they'll be okay." Hung Meifeng said, her hands on Yuming's shoulders. Yuming fell into Hung Meifeng's arms and sobbed. Hung Meifeng held her, hugging her back.
It was finally nightfall. The only light was the moon shining through the hole in the cave, reflecting off of the water. Jinghua had awoken by a flickering light from the shrine, as if a fire was being started. Jinghua got up and went inside the shrine. Bingwen sat on the floor of the shrine in front of a rusty pot full of lotus and boiling water. He looked cold to Jinghua. Bingwen turned around quickly as he walked in. Jinghua leaned against the doorway, one foot on the threshold. "You're awake."
"Why didn't you wake me up? It's already night." Jinghua asked, crossing his arms.
"It would've been rude to bother you. So I left you. I made lotus root soup. I would've added ribs but there's no animals down here. It's almost done but the fire won't start back up." Bingwen said in a disappointed tone. Jinghua activated his Chi and a flame surrounded his hand. Bingwen smiled. Jinghua went to light the fire. Bingwen warmed his hands by the fire. Clearly he was cold. His build was a lot skinnier and smaller than Jinghua so of course he was cold. Once the soup was hot enough, Jinghua started eating his. Bingwen didn't though. "You're not going to eat?" Jinghua asked. Bingwen shook his head. He moved away from the fire. "I'm not that hungry." He said. Jinghua knew that he was lying though. There was a straw bed in the corner of the shrine where Bingwen went to sit. "Stop lying."
"I'm not." Bingwen turned his face to the darkness of the room. "You need to eat, Yusheng Jin." Jinghua said. "Like I said, I'm not hungry. I'm fine. Just…worry about yourself."
Jinghua was pissed now. He threw the soup to the floor. "I just cleaned in here!" Bingwen said, staring at the mess of soup on the floor. "You made enough for the both of us! You need to eat. If we're stuck down here that's all you're going to get!" Jinghua argued, walking towards Bingwen. "S-Stop it, Ning Cheng you're scaring me!"
"And What if I don't, huh? What are you going to do, starve?" Jinghua yelled. Bingwen tried to back away farther into the corner but Jinghua gripped the collar of his robes. "P-Please! Let me go, Ning Cheng!"
"Enough with 'Ning Cheng'! Why can't you remember? Why don't you call me what you used to?" Jinghua complained, "If you don't eat, you'll die! Do you want that again? Do you want to die again? I could just kill you myself!" Tears formed in Bingwen's eyes. He quickly wiped them away and grabbed Jinghua's hand. "I demand you let me go. Ning Cheng." Bingwen said. Jinghua let go and sighed as Bingwen coughed. "I'm..sorry, Bing-Yusheng Jin. I don't know what came over me. Maybe I was just con- no..nevermind." Jinghua said. Bingwen turned away and layed down on the straw mattress, facing the wall. Jinghua could tell he made Bingwen upset. Bingwen was quittley crying. Neither of them wanted to be in the situation they were in.
After a while, Bingwen finally said something. "There's room on the mattress for two. It's much more comfortable here than the plain floor. I…don't mind sharing until we get out of here."