Four’s smile vanishes. “Yes, Young Master Nikai,” he says with great gravity. “I vow to protect her with my life.”
“Very well, I will hold you to your word,” Nikai says, looking satisfied. “And I will treat you as my family too.” He turns to Lei Ying, nodding emphatically. “You may keep him,Shijie—I think I like him.”
Lei Ying laughs, leaning into Four as she squeezes his hand. He squeezes back, warmth filling his soul.Let this be forever, he thinks, the thought repeatingagain and againlike a prayer.
10
Rui
Kodie drove them to the Quay. It was one of the oldest parts of the city, where early villagers had settled centuries ago. Skyscrapers and modern amenities lined the embankment now, and when the weather permitted, colorful tourist boats glided up and down the river. It wasn’t just trendy bars and clubs that thrived here. The side streets nearby were closed to traffic, retaining their historical flavor and adding a layer of grit that appealed to locals and visitors alike.
Despite the cold, business was brisk tonight among the hawker stalls that popped up in those side streets from sunset until the wee hours of the morning, with the makeshift patio and table heaters providing warmth. Ash had changed into streetwear he kept in his car, pulling his bucket hat down to cover his distinctive hair, and Kodie had removed her lab coat. To the casual eye, they were three friends unwinding after a night out. No one paid them any attention as they settled at an empty table in the corner.
Upon hearing that Rui hadn’t eaten since the afternoon, Kodie plied her with a platter of pan-fried dumplings, a steaming bowl of beef noodle soup, and the promise of dessert. The doctor seemed to have taken a liking to her. Rui wasn’t sure why, but she wasn’t going to say no to free food.
In between bites, she laid everything bare. She even told them about Ten, her deal with him, what had happened in the tunnels that day, and who Zizi supposedly was. There was no justifiable reason to hide the truth anymore, not when so much was at stake.
Kodie drank her milky rice wine and savored her spicy chicken wings, listening intently to Rui’s every word. Ash, on the other hand, refrained from eating, choosing instead to nurse a large mug of ale with a somber expression. Rui could’ve sworn that the wisps of hair peeking out fromthe edges of his hat were turning grayer with each revelation. When she finally finished, dawn was only a few hours away and the hawker stalls behind them were closing.
Ash drained his mug and set it down on the table heavily. “Amazing. Fabulous. The underworld exists, and it’s filled with deranged immortals and a scary phenomenon called the Nothing. Not to mention the general fuckery of a missing god causing problems forourworld. All things I love finding out about on this never-ending night when all I want is to collapse in bed.” He pressed a hand to his temple, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’ve known Zizi since he was a kid. He’s a pain in the ass, but I never would’ve thought—I mean, he’sfromthe underworld? What does that sentence even mean?”
“Don’t get hysterical, darling,” Kodie soothed. She winked at Rui. “Ash was always going on about Zizi being some kind of genius, a prodigy to take under his wing. Guess this explains why the boy was so good with magic. He’s an otherworldly being! A death god being a healer, a protector of life—ironic, don’t you think?”
Rui had a feeling that if the doctor ever met Zizi, she would put him under her microscope and study him like a prized specimen.
“They speak of three realms in the old folktales,” Kodie mused, flipping a slim silver cigarette case between her fingers. “A trifecta of sorts. Our world, the underworld, and the celestial realm. If we’re here in the mortal realm and the underworld also exists, I wonder...” She let that thought trail. “Anyway, I need a smoke.” She fished a lighter from her purse and went to the street corner.
Alone with Ash, Rui shifted uncomfortably. He hadn’t addressed what had happened between her and his brother yet. She curled up, drawing her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins as she rested her forehead on her knees.
“It’s all my fault,” she mumbled miserably, feeling sorry for herself and everyone else.
“No, it’s not,” she heard Ash say.
She lifted her head. “You don’t get it. Everything’s my fault. If I hadn’t cast that spell on Yiran, my spiritual energy wouldn’t have transferred to him and caused that cascade of events. He wouldn’t be so distant from everyone now. And if I hadn’t made that stupid deal with Ten, if I hadn’t gone to the tunnels without any backup, he wouldn’t have had the chance to force Zizi to create the new spell, and Zizi wouldn’t be stuck in the underworld.”
And if I hadn’t thrown a stupid tantrum over some candy, my mother would be alive, and none of this would be happening.
Years of guilt pressed down, suffocating her. “I’m so sorry about Yiran.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Ash said without missing a beat.
“But it’s my fault he’s like this now.”
“You did what you had to in the moment when you cast the separation spell. I don’t blame you. As for what came after... the magic wasn’t his to keep.”
Rui stayed silent, wrestling with her guilt.
“I was really happy when Yiran first came to live with us,” Ash said. “Some people in Exorcist society were surprised my grandfather would adopt Yiran and cause a potential succession fight. But Mama had passed from illness, and Baba was gone too. I was lonely, and I’d always wanted a sibling.” His fingers clenched his mug. “I tried to protect Yiran, but I failed.”
Rui asked the question she’d wanted to for so long. “What happened between him and your grandfather?”
“I wish I knew. At first, my grandfather was obsessed with drawing magic from Yiran. He was so certain it was inside him. No one in our family—no potentialheir—had ever been born without the ability to use magic. My grandfather couldn’t accept it. Yiran would return from their sessions together with bandages wrapped around his hands. Sometimes there was blood on them. Our housekeeper would take care of it, but I was never allowed near him on those days.”
Rui listened in horrified silence as the light in Ash’s eyes dimmed.
“But once, I snuck into the old northern wing of the estate behind the bamboo garden. The Guild’s top brass used to hold their classified meetings there decades ago, but it’s out of use now, and most of it is sectioned off. No one’s allowed there.” Ash slumped forward, burying his head in his palms. “I heard his screams.”
“The experiments happened in his ownhome?” It was worse than she had imagined.
