Chapter 21: Shadows of the Fallen Lotus
The garden had fallen into a hush. The Demon Moon's crimson light shimmered off the assassin's pale skin as she lay bound in chains of glacial qi and violet sigils. Her eyes, so hauntingly like Yue'er's, were steady—unrepentant.
Jin Yue kept his stance ready, dantian still pulsing from the poisoned wound. Yue'er, however, stood frozen, lips trembling.
"Yin Xue... How?"
The assassin gave a quiet, bitter laugh. "You were raised to forget me. I was raised to kill you."
---
### The Forgotten Sister
Lianhua's seal flickered as the captive's suppressed aura surged. "She's on the edge of a Core Rebirth breakthrough," Lianhua warned. "If her chi rebounds, this place will become a slaughterhouse."
Jin Yue's soulflame flared in response. "Then we don't give her the chance."
But Yue'er stepped between them, voice firm. "No. Let her speak."
With a nod from Jin Yue, the bindings eased just enough for Yin Xue to breathe without strain. She coughed—once, twice—and then smirked.
"Our clan made a pact with the Raksha Dominion. When you ran, they branded me in your place."
"Branded?" Yue'er's voice cracked.
Yin Xue turned her shoulder, revealing a dark sigil branded in molten crimson—an inverted lotus with fangs curling inward.
"They made me their blade. I was forced to cultivate in shadows. They called me the Fallen Flower."
---
### Bloom of Betrayal
A silence stretched among them. Even Meimei's usual lightness had dimmed.
"They trained me to hate you," Yin Xue whispered. "To believe you abandoned me. That your rise was built on my suffering."
"But I didn't know!" Yue'er cried. "Mother said you died in the fire. I—"
"I *was* the fire," Yin Xue spat. "The day you awakened your frost spirit, they tested it on me. I was the flame they fed to your cold."
A gust of wind swept through the garden. The Demon Moon pulsed again.
Jin Yue stepped forward. "She's still bound to the Dominion. If we leave her, they'll reclaim her body and soul."
"And if we save her?" Meimei asked.
Lianhua gave a slow nod. "A ritual. Risky. She'd have to accept a soulflame fragment. A piece of *him*. It would bind her fate to ours."
---
### The Flame Offered
Yin Xue looked to Jin Yue, defiant. "You'd offer me your soul, cultivator?"
"I offer only choice," he said softly.
The silence that followed was heavier than any blade.
Then, slowly, Yin Xue nodded. "Fine. Burn me, if you must. But let the fire be mine this time."
Jin Yue sat before her, channeling his inner flame. His soulflame rose, a serpentine coil of sapphire and silver, pulsing in rhythm with his heart.
As it split, a shard of glowing spirit drifted into her chest.
Yin Xue screamed.
Her curse mark flared, fighting the intrusion. But Yue'er held her, icy essence shielding her soul. Meimei wove laughter and song into her aura. Lianhua sealed the ritual's edges.
And then... it was done.
Yin Xue collapsed, breathing hard, body trembling.
But the curse was gone.
And when she opened her eyes, they shimmered with the same silver hue as Yue'er's.
"Sister," she whispered.
Yue'er knelt, tears falling freely.
"No more shadows," she said. "You're home now."
---