Centuries had passed since she'd caught a glimpse of her lover and with it centuries of painstaking labour and pain inflicted on anyone and anything dumb enough to cross her path. And yet.. he still failed to reach out. To return to her. Every temple set ablaze, believers ran out and brides kidnapped and torn apart in his name and yet, Pei Ming had not replied. Had not even given her a crumb of clarity or decency since his rejection.

Was it truly this difficult to catch a man's attentions?

Xuan Ji's brows furrowed, her nails digging into the cold surface of stone. It seemed that no matter what she did, no matter how many women she maimed in his name nothing worked. Her hands curled into trembling fists.

"Am I really that shameful?" She hissed aloud, her voice echoing across the temple. Was there truly nothing she could do? Nothing left that would make him look her way, even in disgust? "Or do you truly not remember me at all?"

The thought festered, growing hot and bitter in her chest. All the pain she inflicted it was all for him. Not out of vengeance or a desire for power but instead recognition. Just one moment where his gaze would lock with hers, where he'd speak her name. Not in scorn, but as proof he hadn't forgotten about all the moments they had shared together in the past.

But Pei Ming remained silent. Distant. Untouchable even to her. She needed something bolder. Something so vile, so inescapably her, that even he couldn't turn away. Something that-

Xuan Ji paused. A faint crunch catching her attention.

Someone was here.

She remained still for a moment. No one had been stupid enough to enter this temple in months.. She strained her eyes in the darkness her arms dragging her along the cold stone with a rhythmic thump as she moved towards the broken archway.

Xuan Ji's eyes narrowed as she took in the figure down the hallway. A woman, by the looks of it but the more her eyes adjusted..the more familiar the figure looked. Her heart hammered in her chest as a wild thought seized her. Could it be? After all this time, had Pei Ming finally come for her?

"Pei Ming?" she called out, her voice echoing through the cavernous space. "Is that you?" Xuan Ji dragged herself forward, her broken legs scraping against the stone. "You've kept me waiting for so long, my love. Too long!"