The week passed in a blur, yet every moment felt stretched, drawn out by the weight of newfound power. Bailun Xiang spent his days testing the limits of his abilities—watching how water responded to his will, how it bent and flowed with his thoughts. It wasn't just control; it was transformation. By the third day, he realized he could alter its state, solidifying liquid into ice or turning it into mist with just a shift of intent.
But beneath the fascination lurked something deeper. A question that gnawed at him.
What now?
For years, his path had been set: revenge. The faces of those responsible for his family's deaths haunted him, their laughter seared into his memory like a wound that never healed. And now, power lay at his fingertips. The kind of power that could reshape destinies. Yet, Noctis's summoning had unsettled him. The god's words—his amusement, his knowledge of everything Xiang had endured—felt like chains wrapping around his future.
He was being drawn into something far greater than revenge. And he didn't like that.
It was on the fourth day that he found himself at the graveyard again. Not just for his family.
For her.
He had noticed her days ago, kneeling before a gravestone, her shoulders trembling as silent tears ran down her cheeks. He hadn't approached then. It wasn't his place. But now, as he stood near his parents' graves, his gaze instinctively searched for her. And there she was—Liu Xiarou.
She wasn't crying this time, but a sorrow lingered in her eyes, carved into the way she sat in front of the stone, fingers gently brushing against the name engraved there.
Xiang hesitated. He wasn't good at comforting others. His own grief had taught him that words often meant nothing. And yet, before he knew it, his feet carried him closer.
"You visit often," he said, his voice quiet.
She looked up, startled. Her brown eyes studied him—calculating, cautious, yet curious.
"So do you," she replied.
A silence stretched between them. He didn't expect her to say more, but after a moment, she did.
"My brother." Her gaze flickered back to the grave. "It's been two years."
Xiang didn't know what to say to that. He had no comforting words, no promises that things got better. So he simply nodded, looking at the stone.
"I lost my family too," he admitted. It wasn't something he often said aloud.
She looked at him again, this time with a deeper understanding.
They sat in silence for a while. It was strange—how easily grief could bridge the distance between two strangers.
From that day on, their interactions became more frequent. Whenever Xiang returned to the graveyard, she was there. And each time, they spoke a little more. About loss. About life.
He learned that she lived alone now, much like him. That she was studying to become a doctor, though some part of her still struggled with the weight of it.
She learned that he worked multiple part-time jobs, though he never explained why. That his silence wasn't disinterest, but the quiet calculation of someone always watching, always thinking.
And though they never spoke of it directly, Xiang could feel it—the way their conversations edged closer to something unspoken. A connection neither of them fully understood.
Yet through it all, something else lingered in his mind.
The summoning.
It happened again, exactly one week after the first.
Just like before, he felt it—a pull, an unraveling of reality itself. He barely had time to take a breath before the world around him twisted, and he was standing in the void once more.
Noctis was waiting, a knowing smirk playing at his lips.
"You're adjusting well, I see." The god's voice was smooth, almost amused. "Water bends easily to your will. A good choice."
Xiang clenched his fists. "Why am I here again?"
Noctis's grin widened. "Impatient. I like that."
Then, without preamble, the god revealed his plan.
A challenge against the heavens. A rebellion against those who sat upon the thrones of creation.
Xiang listened, but with each word, his unease grew. This wasn't just about power. This wasn't just about the gifts Noctis had granted them.
This was war.
And he wanted no part of it.
"You're insane," he said, voice barely above a whisper.
Noctis chuckled. "Perhaps. But I am not wrong." He leaned forward. "You hesitate because you don't understand yet. But you will. And when that time comes…"
He tilted his head, watching Xiang's expression shift.
"I will grant you a single wish."
Xiang froze.
A wish.
The faces of his enemies flashed before him. The ones who had stolen everything from him.
A wish could end them.
A wish could give him justice.
His fingers twitched. His breath came slow, measured.
Noctis had seen it the moment the offer left his lips. That flicker of darkness in Xiang's gaze.
And then, slowly, Bailun Xiang exhaled.
"…Fine."
Noctis grinned.
When Xiang opened his eyes again, he was back in the graveyard.
For a moment, he stood there, breathing heavily, the weight of his decision settling over him. His heart still pounded from the encounter, his hands slightly unsteady.
Then, a voice.
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
He turned.
Liu Xiarou stood a few feet away, watching him with quiet concern.
He didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell her the truth.
"I'm fine," he said, too quickly.
She didn't believe him. He could see it in her expression.
"You're always here," she mused. "Always quiet. Always lost in thought." She studied him for a moment, then smiled slightly. "You're mysterious."
Xiang didn't respond.
But as she turned away, her words lingered.
She was curious about him.
And for the first time in a long while, he realized—he didn't mind.
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End of Chapter 6