Yingyue and Yuchen had been gone for quite a while. As soon as the diabolic cultivator teleported them out of the lantern festival, something really sharp whizzed past Yingyue's face, nearly taking her ear with it.
"Ouch!"she shrieked, even though she had not gotten hurt at all.
The heavy clouds of fog shrouding the atmosphere were not only thicker than the ones surrounding Mist Oasis, but blacker than death as well, making it absolutely impossible to see.
"Shixiong?! Are you there?! Shixiong...".
"Be silent".
His voice proved that he was,in fact, right beside her.
"Shixiong,"she turned in relief "what happened?".
"We were teleported".
"Well, I know that...".
She reached out with her hands, but the moment they brushed against his, she felt him withdraw from her reach as though she was poison.
"Seriously, Shixiong? I don't think you should be doing that right now. We have to stick together, alright?".
He did not respond, and Yingyue had just exhaled deeply in preparation for another monologue when she felt something tighten around her wrist.
"Huh?A rope, Shixiong?".
When he offered no reply, she tugged at the rope, confirming that the other end was tied to his wrist.
"Brilliant"was her verdict.
"This fog. It feels... evil".
"You're right,"she replied "it does feel so".
As if in confirmation, the next wave of flying blades came. Yingyue felt a not too gentle yank on the rope as Yuchen pulled her out of harm's way,then she heard the clash of steel against steel, which went on for a short while.
"What are those?"she asked.
"Blades"he replied simply,as though that much was not already obvious.
"Of course they are! I just... geez!".
"You should keep quiet".
Another yank, and Yingyue stumbled sideways, flailing her free arm.
"At least give me some sort of warning, Shixiong!".
"Quiet".
More clashes. Sparks flew in all directions.
"Wait, you can see, Shixiong?".
"I cannot. Stop talking, there are more of them now".
"What does that have to do with...ouch!!!".
The yank was a lot more painful this time,as if someone was trying to separate Yingyue's wrist from the rest of her hand.
"Talking makes it worse".
"Huh?".
That did not make sense to her,at first. Then she caught on.
"The blades increase if I talk?"it sounded ridiculous to her.
Her heartless Shixiong did not bother explaining further.
"Yes".
"How?".
"Lingchi".
"Wha... lingchi?".
Nearly everyone in the cultivation world knew what lingchi was. The slow process, they called it. The lingering death, slow slicing. Death by a thousand cuts.
Yingyue had always found it pretty funny that one execution method was loaded with so many nicknames. Basically, it was a form of murder,a most torturous process of slicing the flesh off a living person,bit by bit, until there was none left.
Horrifying. Just what sort of sicko would do something like that?
But wait, what did that have to do with their current situation?
"But what does...?".
"Silence".
Simultaneously, Yingyue felt him pass some of his spiritual energy into her through the rope. Then she heard his voice in her head.
'Lingchi is designed to snuff out life. This place is sentient. The more you speak, the more you alert it that there is life here...'.
'So it tries to snuff it out. Wait, all these blades... this place is trying to kill us by lingchi?!!'.
'Exactly'.
'Wait, but why?We haven't done anything wrong!'.
'How are you so loud even inside your own head? Keep it down'.
'But...'.
'It will be fine if we are able to decieve it'.
'Decieve it?'.
'Yes'.
'How do we do that?'.
'Don't talk. How long can you hold your breath?'.
'Uh... I think I can manage for up to fifteen minutes'.
'Just fifteen minutes?'.
'What do you mean just?'.
'Never mind. It looks like I have to hurry up,then'.
'With what?'.
'I can get us out of here. But I need time'.
'I promise to be good'.
'Stand perfectly still. Hold your breath. Do not make even the smallest sound. And don't talk to me, even telepathically. I'll begin now'.
It was a very daunting task for Yingyue, following those instructions. But she did it somehow as Yuchen began casting a silent spell.
The onslaught of flying blades had seized, and she absolutely did not want to be the reason why it started again.
But of course she was still Yingyue, because she was already gearing up to speak when Yuchen's voice came to her.
'It is done. Prepare yourself'.
Before she could ask exactly what he meant by "prepare", they vanished... for the second time that day.
She expected that they would appear back at the lantern festival, and so she was exceedingly surprised when her back slammed against a most unfamiliar wall in a most unfamiliar cave.
"Oof".
"Sorry"Yuchen said.
"Shixiong. What happened?Why didn't we return to the festival?".
"Her spell".
"Her? The diabolic cultivator?".
"Yes. Her spell interfered".
"That's possible?".
"Yes, but only because of the way it was casted. She did not construct it to take us to that specific place, only to get us as far away as possible".
"Oh. So she did not actually intend to kill us by lingchi".
"You could say that".
"So... when you tried to teleport us back to the festival, you only ended up getting us as far away as possible from the lingchi place".
"That is correct".
"That certainly sucks".
She looked around the dimly lit interior,noting the vast space and the openings leading further into the glistening rocks.
While she was busy looking around, Yuchen drew his sword and slashed the rope binding them to each other.
"Whew,"Yingyue said, rubbing her wrist"thanks a lot, Shixiong".
"You're welcome"he replied as he joined her in looking around.
Suddenly, he clutched his head with a small groan.
"Shixiong"Yingyue turned to him with concern.
"I'm fine".
"What happened?".
"The backlash from unweaving a demonic spell. I had to do that to get us out of there".
And there was the fact that teleportation spells were known to gulp unnerving amounts of the caster's energy.
"Oh. What do we do,then?".
"I'm fine".
"Like hell you are. You should rest, Shixiong,at least until you regain some of your energy. I don't mind taking a seat somewhere, myself".
She expected him to argue, but Yuchen complied without further resistance.
She did not miss the way he moved, like he had been drained a little. They found a clean corner, and her Shixiong surprised her further by taking a seat, right there on the stone floor.
Speechless, she watched him lean his head backwards on a wall of stone like it was perfectly natural.
Then, silence descended.
Yingyue endured it valiantly for a good many minutes,then the grumbling began.
"Damn, it's so silent in here".
"It feels like a graveyard".
"It's sorta cold here".
"I can't see clearly".
"This place reminds me of a kid's nightmare".
"It's sooo silent".
"Geez, I don't like it here".
"Shixiong, say something".
"Say something, sheesh. Anything".
"Are you asleep, Shixiong?".
"How can you stand this deafening silence?".
Soon, she fell silent as well, but of course it did not last.
"Shixiong?"she spoke meekly.
"Hm?".
"Do you like the dark?".
"Not really".
"Oh. I would like a little light, but I don't know if you would find that alright...".
She was not done speaking when five glowing orbs of light appeared in the air, making the cave extremely bright.
"Thank you, Shixiong".
He did not respond. Yingyue watched him, watched the way his dark eyes fell halfway shut, making his long lashes brush against his cheeks in the most riveting manner.
Yingyue exhaled softly,as if afraid of shattering the moment.
His slight grumpiness aside, she could not deny that her Shixiong was so beautiful she could watch him all day.
"Shixiong".
"Hm?".
"I can't stand the silence. It really is spooky".
Spooky enough to give her goosebumps.
Yuchen kept quiet.
It was not that he did not want to talk, but it really was too much to ask, expecting him to start a conversation.
"Then... you talk"he said finally.
"Huh? Me? But... I can't just start talking, just like that. Ask me something, Shixiong".
"What?".
"Anything at all. Isn't there anything you're curious about?".
Yuchen was going to say there wasn't,then he realized, shockingly, that he would be lying if he did.
"Why are you afraid of the sea?".
That question took Yingyue by surprise.
"Ah? W-well... it is quite complicated. It probably won't make any sense to you".
Yuchen opened his eyes and looked at her, his face still expressionless.
"Don't look at me like that. I never said I wouldn't answer".
Yuchen: "...?"
"You see, I had a dream once, when I was little. Two people died. They drowned...at least I'm sure they did... and I was there, I'm sure, but I sorta feel like I wasn't there at all... and they really did die. In reality, I mean. But they didn't drown... argh! I'm not making any sense, right? It doesn't make any sense to me, either".
Yuchen's eyes were still on her.
"Who were they?"he asked.
"That's gotta be the weirdest part of the whole thing. I have no idea. I know I knew them, and loved them, but that's all I know".
His face did not give away what he was thinking,or if he was even thinking at all.
"It must have been... traumatizing".
"Not really. It does give me the creeps, but then as a memory it is barely there, you know?".
"I see. That is fortunate,then".
The following silence felt extremely awkward for Yingyue, for reasons she did not know.
She looked away for what seemed an appropriate period of time, before she turned back to steal a glance at Yuchen.
His eyes had fallen shut again, completely this time, and...
"Oh no,"she gasped"Shixiong, you're bleeding".
Blood was gushing out of his arm where a blade had cut him, and she had not noticed the whole time.
Yuchen did not bother looking.
"It's nothing".
"No, it's not. We need to get it treated..."she proceeded to rise.
His eyes flew open at that.
"Don't touch me".
Yingyue sat back down, pouting.
"It will get infected if nothing is done. How am I supposed to...".
Suddenly she grinned.
"I know! I can just heal you,then".
"Heal?".
"With music. Don't you remember the Meng clan's specialty? This particular song is close to my heart, so you might as well enjoy the melody".
She took out her harp and began to play the tune Xinyue taught her. As her fingers plucked the strings of the instrument,a feeling of calm came over her,as though she was not just healing Yuchen's injury but her own anxiety as well.
She closed her eyes with a peaceful smile as she leaned back, letting out a sigh of contentment.
And because she was not looking, she did not see that Yuchen did not once take his eyes off her. Neither did she see the way his eyes softened until they were lustrous pools of emotions even he could not name.