"You held out well," whispered the Heavenly Demon, crimson eyes cast down to gaze upon his resting daughter. "We..."
The Head of the Cult, the supre of the sect, the feared one, trailed off. His voice faded whilst the words died in his throat. He opened his mouth, lips curling, and then closed it again.
Perhaps he wished to say sothing, to say the words he was not quite sure of. Finally, Cheon WuHui stood by his daughter’s side, and approached no further.
He did not hold her hand, he did not weep in relief, simply and silently stared at the little girl. In his eyes was a stifled storm.
"You’ve held out well." He repeated himself, his mind a quiet place of turmoil. The Heavenly Demon was strong, terrifying, ruthless. Cheon WuHui was... Unsure. Hesitant.
In the stifling silence, thin under the pressure of his making, Cheon WuHui simply accompanied his daughter, doing nothing. Without even touching her.
His hands rested behind his back, tight. His heart thundered in his chest. If the servants standing outside could hear the echoes of them, they would flee in fear.
For a long ti, Cheon WuHui stood there, listless, still. Slowly, however, he reached forward, calloused fingers curled slightly.
With the carefulness of a man touching a newborn, he brushed the back of his fingers against Cheon Yerin’s forehead. And finally, he released a tight exhale.
Afterwards, through the doors of the sterile room, walked out the Heavenly Demon. His gait was steady, head held high with an innate pride.
Outside the room, the Heavenly Demon stood still for a mont, seemingly lost in his musings. Then, as a maid walked past him with her head bowed, he jolted awake from his silence.
Before he could stop his tongue, the Heavenly Demon spoke. "Halt."
The maid froze, body rigid and face pale. "..."
"Where are you headed?" In a rather calm, baritone voice, he inquired. Out of character, so unlike him to act curious to soone he never saw before.
The maid flinched the slightest as she looked up. Although her face was akin to a deer caught off guard, she dared not look him in the eye. "To... To Young Master Bai’s chamber." She stamred.
"Oh." The Heavenly Demon nodded like it made sense. With his hands still behind his back, he added slowly. "Has he awakened?"
The maid shook her head, perplexed, tongue-tied. Seeing her discomfort, the Heavenly Demon dismissed her casually.
Once the maid scurried back on her path, the Heavenly Demon turned to a different direction. He had wondered if he ought to visit Bai Huiqi, but if he wasn’t awake yet... He should go and express his gratitude to Doctor Li instead.
That would seem more appropriate.
...
"So, you’re saying that Bai Huiqi is still in and out of consciousness." Li Xinyuan asked, worried. "And you did not bother informing ? Why would you do that, Lijing?"
Hu Lijing simply sat by his bedside, without responding to the reprimand. "Young Miss Cheon is the patient, not Bai Huiqi. You asked to tell you if sothing happens to the patient—"
"—That is beside the point!" Li Xinyuan interjected, eyes wide. "Hu Lijing... Why?"
Hu Lijing looked up, his hands stopped cutting the fruit. "Hm?" He said, looking at the surgeon with hooded eyes.
Li Xinyuan blinked, appalled. "This... I tried so hard, so much—just so the two of you could foster an amicable relationship. But this is what you do?" He whispered, grabbing Hu Lijing’s arm in a vice grip. He pulled the nine-tailed fox spirit close. "All your resentnt, all your anger is one-sided!"
"You think it is easy to let go of age-old resentnt?" Hu Lijing replied, turning to face Li Xinyuan, and looked him in the eyes. "Xinyuan, do you really think it is easy to forget the atrocities he committed through ? The slaughter? The pain he put through? He is the reason my—"
The fox spirit cut himself off, stood up abruptly and walked away from Li Xinyuan. "Forget it, you wouldn’t understand."
Li Xinyuan stared at his back, eyes slightly wide. The surgeon turned away and took a deep breath. "Yes, I admit I do not understand such resentnt. I do not understand your hatred, and I will not pretend I do. But—" he threw off the duvet covering his legs and left the bed to approach the fox spirit "—are you forgetting that this Huiqi is not the one responsible for everything that happened."
"It is that sa soul!" Hu Lijing raised his voice, and whirled around to face his ward. His eyes were wide, amber irises blazing. "It is the sa soul of that spirit of winter!"
Li Xinyuan flinched at Hu Lijing’s sudden outburst. Almost on instinct, he took half a step back, shaken.
Hu Lijing stilled, his eyes tracking the surgeon’s movents. "I..." His expression crumbled, and the belated realisation dawned on him. "I shouldn’t have..."
This was a crisis for Li Xinyuan. A crisis between his closest friend and a man who needed help. Desperately so. Between a bitter man and a man who was faultless in all but a past life he did not recall. At all.
Why was he always stuck in a grinder?
The surgeon let out a trembling exhale. "No." Li Xinyuan shook his head, fist tight on his robes. "It is a sensitive matter for you. I should not have pressed it." He swallowed tightly. "But Lijing... I just want you to rember that this— this Bai Huiqi is not that cold-blooded killer you rember.
"Heaven, this one is barely living in his own skin. He doesn’t need hatred, he needs comfort. He needs support. I know it is hard for you. I won’t force you to coddle him, or anything like that. Just... Don’t treat him like an afterthought. Not for . I know I cannot help him with everything. But let help him with sothing."
Hu Lijing looked at him, expression undecipherable. He didn’t know what to feel. Was he to feel betrayed? Or was he to feel ashad, inferior, at the compassion and willingness Li Xinyuan was capable of.
"I understand." He whispered with a soft nod.
Li Xinyuan sucked in a deep breath through his teeth. Fingers pressing against the bridge of his nose, the surgeon waved his other hand. "Now go... Do whatever. I don’t know, prepare to leave. We should be good to leave Heavenly Demon Cult in a few weeks or a month at best."
"What of you?"
"I shall go and check up on Young Miss Cheon and Bai Huiqi." Li Xinyuan shrugged, stretching himself. "It is best we leave before the entirety of the Murim thinks Li Clan has allied with the Heavenly Demon."
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