The prison door opened at dawn.
Not with ceremony. Not with warning.
Just the scrape of iron against stone, slow, lazy, cruel.
Shen Yueyin jolted awake instantly.
She had not truly slept. Her body had slumped into something like unconsciousness from exhaustion, but her mind had never let go. The moment sound entered the cell, her eyes snapped open, sharp and alert despite the dull ache pulsing through her veins.
Guards.
Three of them.
They reeked of sweat and old wine, armor clanking as they stepped inside, boots splashing through shallow puddles on the floor. One of them sneered when he saw her stir.
"Still breathing?" he muttered. "Persistent little thing."
Shen Yueyin didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
She had learned long ago that silence unnerved men like this far more than pleading ever could.
Her gaze slid sideways.
Yin Beichen was already awake.
He sat exactly where he had been last night, back against the wall, chains slack but unbroken. His eyes were half-lidded, expression unreadable. Calm. Too calm. As if the presence of the guards meant nothing at all.
That calm terrified her more than any rage.
The tallest guard strode forward and kicked the iron bucket near Shen Yueyin's leg. "You. On your feet."
Her body protested the moment she moved. Pain flared through her chest, sharp enough to steal her breath, but she swallowed it down and pushed herself upright anyway. Weakness showed blood in places like this.
She staggered slightly.
Before she could correct herself, a hand closed around her arm.
Warm.Solid.Real.
Her entire body froze.
Yin Beichen had moved.
She hadn't seen him stand. One moment he was seated against the wall, the next he was beside her, fingers wrapped firmly around her forearm, steadying her before she could fall.
The contact sent a shock straight through her spine.
Her breath caught painfully.
Too close.
He was too close.
She could feel the heat of him through the thin fabric of her sleeve. The subtle rise and fall of his chest. The faint, unmistakable rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her palm where she braced herself instinctively against him.
Alive.
Her vision blurred.
Let go, she screamed silently.
Let go now.
But her body betrayed her.
Her fingers tightened.
Just for a second.
Yin Beichen looked down at her.
Something flickered in his eyes, confusion, sharp and fleeting. His grip loosened immediately, as if he'd been burned.
"…Careful," he said quietly. "You're hurt."
The words were simple.
They gutted her.
She pulled her arm free at once, stepping back so quickly she nearly lost her balance again. This time, she forced herself to stay upright alone, nails digging into her palms to keep from reaching for him again.
One of the guards laughed. "Look at you, still playing hero?"
He grabbed Yin Beichen by the chain and yanked hard, forcing him forward. The iron bit into his wrists; fresh blood welled up instantly.
Shen Yueyin's heart lurched violently.
Stop it.
She almost said it out loud.
Instead, she bit down hard on her tongue, tasting iron.
Yin Beichen didn't react.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't even hiss in pain.
He only glanced at the blood running down his wrists, expression mild, as if it were happening to someone else.
"Move," the guard snapped.
They shoved both of them toward the door.
The corridor beyond was narrow and dim, lit by sputtering torches that cast uneven shadows across the stone walls. Other cells lined the passage, some empty, some occupied by figures too still to be alive.
Shen Yueyin kept her eyes forward.
Do not look.
If she looked, she would remember all the other prisons. All the other lives that had ended in places like this.
"Why are they taking us out?" she asked quietly, not turning her head.
Yin Beichen walked beside her, chains clinking softly with each step. "Interrogation," he said. "Or execution. Depends on their mood."
Her stomach twisted.
Execution.
Too soon.
This timeline was accelerating dangerously.
A door loomed ahead, larger than the rest, reinforced with iron. The guards shoved them inside and slammed it shut behind them.
The room was circular, empty except for a low wooden table and a brazier burning in the center. The heat hit Shen Yueyin immediately, oppressive and suffocating after the cold of the cell.
A man waited inside.
He wore official robes, dark and immaculate, hair pulled back neatly. His eyes were sharp, calculating, sweeping over them like objects to be appraised.
"Sit," he said.
They did.
Yin Beichen was forced down onto the ground beside her, chains secured to a ring embedded in the floor. Shen Yueyin sank to her knees, pulse pounding painfully in her ears.
The official leaned back slightly, steepling his fingers. "You two were arrested together. Care to explain why?"
Silence stretched.
Shen Yueyin knew better than to speak first.
Yin Beichen did.
"She collapsed," he said calmly. "I caught her. That offended someone."
The official raised an eyebrow. "And you expect me to believe that?"
"You don't have to," Yin Beichen replied. "It's still the truth."
The brazier crackled.
The official's gaze sharpened. "You're awfully composed for a man accused of treason."
"Treason is a matter of perspective," Yin Beichen said. "From where I'm standing, I've done nothing worth dying for."
Shen Yueyin's heart clenched.
You will, she thought bitterly.
You always do.
The official studied him for a long moment, then turned his gaze to her. "And you? Who are you to him?"
Her chest tightened painfully.
Who was she to him?
She swallowed. "No one."
Yin Beichen's fingers twitched.
Just once.
The official smiled thinly. "Funny. You don't look like no one."
He gestured sharply.
One of the guards stepped forward and struck Yin Beichen across the face without warning.
The sound echoed in the room.
Shen Yueyin gasped despite herself.
Blood bloomed at the corner of Yin Beichen's mouth. His head snapped to the side, hair falling into his eyes.
Still, he didn't cry out.
Didn't fight back.
Didn't even glare.
Something dark stirred deep in Shen Yueyin's chest.
Anger.
Raw. Hot. Uncontrollable.
The official watched her closely. "Does that bother you?"
Her hands trembled.
Say no.
Lie.
Survive.
She lifted her gaze slowly, meeting his eyes. "He's injured," she said, voice shaking despite her efforts. "If you kill him now, you'll get nothing."
The official laughed softly. "Concerned?"
"No," she said quickly.
Too quickly.
Yin Beichen turned his head.
I looked at her.
The look in his eyes made her chest ache unbearably.
Understanding.
Not of the situation,
Of her.
The official stood. "We'll see how long that indifference lasts."
He turned and left.
The guards followed.
The door slammed shut.
Silence crashed down around them.
Shen Yueyin's breath came out in a shudder.
She turned to Yin Beichen at once, fingers hovering uselessly near his face, afraid to touch him, afraid not to.
Blood trickled slowly from his lip.
"…Why didn't you fight back?" she whispered.
He looked at her quietly. "Would it have helped?"
"No," she admitted.
"Then why waste the effort?"
She closed her eyes.
Because one day, you'll fight back against Heaven itself.
And the world won't survive it.
Her hands curled into fists.
She had come back to kill him.
But the way her heart was breaking already,
Shen Yueyin wasn't sure she would survive doing it.