The belching continued for some time until finally, it stopped. A large pile of things lay in Daoist Obscurus’s audience chamber, and at the top lay some thin blue items. Wang Jun summoned them to his hand. He held them tight and sighed. They were solid blue hairpins, those worn by the Icy Heart Pavilion, taken from their dead bodies. His shadow had killed them, and in turn, Hong Xin had been forced out, only to be captured by the Spirit Temple and his cursed relatives.
He’d told Hong Xin he had nothing to do with the killings, but it seemed her suspicions were well founded. He wasn’t just involved; he was completely responsible. He’d caused her predicament. And now he’d gotten what he deserved for it—a collar to tie him to the brother he hated and the family he loathed. A one-way ticket to hell.
Hong Xin blinked, the last of the haze leaving her eyes and revealing a cell. A comfortable cell, mind you, but a cell nonetheless. A dozen guards stood outside, carefully guarding her, lest she escape. Not that she’d make it very far if she tried. The guards, she knew, weren’t there to stop her from escaping her prison. They were there to stop her from ending her life.
“Just what went wrong?” Hong Xin thought out loud. “What happened?”
A loud sigh filled the room as a woman appeared there. None of the guards seemed to see her, and their eyes shied away from the dazzling red dust that surrounded her. One by one, their eyelids drooped as they fell asleep.
“Sister Yinyue!” Hong Xin said, so happy she could barely contain herself. She moved to hug the woman but found herself restrained by shackles. She could only sit down ruefully.
“You’ve suffered, child,” Hong Yinyue said. “Much has happened during my absence.” She walked up to Hong Xin and stretched out a hand, feeling the spot on her chest where the cultivation-crippling dagger had pierced her Dantian. “I can’t heal this. No one short of an immortal or a god can, for it’s not a wound of the body, nor is it quite a wound of the soul.”
Hong Xin sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes. “It’s not so bad. My cultivation wasn’t going to be very useful anyway.”
“Nonsense,” Hong Yinyue said, shaking her head. “If I hadn’t had to leave and monitor what was happening in the South, I would have prevented it.”
“What happened?” Hong Xin said, noting the worry in her voice. She hadn’t seen Hong Yinyue this upset since, well, ever. Hong Yinyue was a composed fairy maiden, a temptress who moved the hearts of others while maintaining her own stable disposition.
“Nothing you need worry about,” Hong Yinyue said. “We will see if what we fear truly comes to pass. But it’s out of our hands now. What matters now is what he chooses. Now, enough of things we can’t affect.” She looked to the sleeping guards. “The things they have done to you have made it difficult for me to help. I can kill you or save you, but if I save you, you’ll die within days no matter what I do. It would be enough time for you to say goodbye to your loved ones.”
“Just kill me,” Hong Xin said. “End this meaningless life and tell Wang Jun he’s free. Let him kill those who did this to me and be done with his awful family once and for all.”
“That’s an option,” Hong Yinyue said. “The coward’s option.”
“I’m only a burden now,” Hong Xin said. “I can’t help anyone anymore.”
“You’re far from a burden,” Hong Yinyue said, sighing. She walked up beside Hong Xin and placed a hand on her shoulder. “In fact, as a hostage, you’re in a position of great power.”
Hong Xin frowned. “I know you’re trying to reassure me, but isn’t this trying a little too hard?” She shook her head. “I’m a hostage, and a crippled one at that.”
“A crippled hostage they don’t dare to kill,” Hong Yinyue said. “One very close to Wang Jun’s heart, the very reason he’s playing along with the Wang family in their quest to sabotage the North. You have his ear, child. Not many people can claim the same.”
“If I die, he can go ahead and kill them,” Hong Xin said. “I’d like to see them collude with the South then.” She’d also be done with this miserable life. She’d be free to start a new one after drinking Meng Po’s tea.
“Tell me, child,” Hong Yinyue said. “To seduce a man, should a woman take off her top and climb on him, mounting him in the middle of a crowd? Or should she play with his heart and tease his mind? Or should she instead talk with him and get to know him and his family? Once she knows him through and through, a simple touch would be all she needs to make him lose his mind. And if she decided to take off her top and mount him in the middle of a crowd, would he be able to resist? There is a time and a place for all things. Here and now is hardly the best time or place for your death. If you’re going to die, have it mean something.”
Hong Xin closed her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks. “What must I do?”
“The hardest thing you’ve ever done,” Hong Yinyue said softly. “You must teach him to care. For himself, and for others.”
“And then?” Hong Xin said.
“And then you’ll need to ask him to do the hardest thing he’s ever done,” Hong Yinyue said. “I don’t have to tell you what that is.”
Hong Xin opened her eyes. She blinked away the tears and saw that Hong Yinyue, the Red Dust Mistress, had left. Her jailors were awakening from their confused stupor, surprised at the fact that
