The snow kept falling. The cold seeped deeper into his bones. Every breath hurt, and it felt like his ti was running out. He didn’t even care if she was real anymore—fairy, ghost, demon, goddess of death—it didn’t matter.
He looked up at her with pleading eyes. “Can you stay?” he asked, voice quiet.
He swallowed. “Just sit here and talk with . Before I die.”
A soft negotiation, spoken between cold breaths and flickers of fading hope.
“I’m not good at talking,” she said flatly.
But still, she sat down beside him.
Shu Mingye let out a slow breath, not from relief exactly, but sothing close. He leaned his head gently against her shoulder, drawn to the sweet, refreshing scent that surrounded her. For a mont, her body stiffened, like she wasn’t used to soone being this close. But then, she slowly relaxed.
“Tell about you?” he asked, his voice soft and a little slurred.
“There’s nothing to tell,” she replied, looking straight ahead.
“What’s your na?”
“Call whatever you want.”
He glanced at the pie beside him and smirked a little. “I’ll call you Pie then.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Alright, I’ll call you Clingy then.”
He choked on a laugh. “Pfft… aha… alright. Clingy it is.”
For a mont, it felt like the pain faded just a little.
Clingy. Was that because he stuck to her shoulder like glue? What a ridiculous nickna and yet, it ward him.
“How old are you?” he asked, still catching his breath from the laugh.
“Sixteen,” she replied, as if age ant nothing.
He blinked. Sixteen? What was a girl that young doing out here, outside the wall, in the middle of nowhere, calm as a rock beside a dying man?
“Why are you out here?” he asked, trying not to sound too nosy.
She didn’t answer right away. The silence stretched between them, filled only by the howl of the wind and the soft fall of snow. Then finally, she said quietly, “There’s no place for inside.”
He turned his head slightly to look at her. “Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her eyes didn’t move. They just stayed on the snowy ground ahead. “Because no one’s by my side,” she said simply.
Shu Mingye let out a weak laugh. “You’re really bad at talking.”
Her answers were short, straight, and full of dead ends.
“I have no one to talk to,” she replied.
“Talk to , then.”
“I’m talking right now.”
“Pfft… you’re right.” He smiled despite the cold. “Are you really alone? No one… at all?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? Don’t you have any friends or family?” he asked, genuinely curious.
She thought for a mont. “Family, no. Friend… if you don’t count a possibly demon, cute-looking puppy… then no.”
He laughed harder, even though it made his ribs hurt. “Pfft… then let’s be friends.”
What a strange girl, he thought. Strange but sohow… not scary. Not anymore.
“Why?” she asked.
“So you won’t be alone,” he said simply.
She turned her head and looked at him. Then she nodded, “Alright.”
Shu Mingye smiled. It was small, tired, but real. “You said there’s no place for you inside… then do you live here?”
“Yes.”
“Really? …Are you actually a fairy or a demon? How can you live out here?” His voice was full of disbelief. What kind of young girl could survive alone outside the wall?
“I’m strong.”
“Yeah, must be.” He chuckled softly. “How long have you been living here?”
“Nine years.”
His eyes widened. “Nine years?” But she said she was sixteen. That ant… she had been out here since she was seven?
Everything about this felt unreal. A strange girl, calm, beautiful like a painting, suddenly showing up beside him in the snow. Not an enemy. Not a savior. Just… soone. And sohow, she beca a friend.
Her voice, her scent, even her silence—all of it made him feel at ease. She might be a demon in disguise. He had heard that level ten demons could shapeshift into human form. But it didn’t matter anymore. His wounds hurt and bleeding. His body was cold. He might die here any mont. But with her sitting beside him, it didn’t feel so bad. If this was the end, at least it ca with a good mory.
“If I die, will you visit my grave?” he asked, his voice quiet but hopeful.
She looked at him and said, “Depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“If it’s outside, then yes.”
“What if it’s inside?”
“No.”
He smiled softly, a little tired but real. “Alright. If I die, I’ll be buried here. Visit often and bring pie.”
“Alright,” she said simply.
That answer made sothing warm bloom inside him. Knowing soone might rember him, visit him after he was gone, it actually made him happy.
He tried again. “If I live, will you visit inside?”
“No.”
“You don’t want to go inside?”
Maybe she really was a demon, since she didn’t want to step inside the wall. He thought it was strange, befriending a demon right before he might die. But sohow, it felt… right.
“There’s no one waiting for inside,” she said softly.
He smiled faintly, struggling to keep his eyes open. “If I live, then I’ll be waiting for you inside.”
She looked at him, curious. “Why?”
“Because we’re friends.”
She nodded slowly. “I see.”
“That’s a promise then,” he said, his voice growing weaker as his eyelids drooped.
“I didn’t say yes.”
“Then my ears must be betraying ,” he chuckled quietly.
He paused, trying to speak through the fog in his mind. “Hey, Pie… if I live, and then… kill a lot of people later...” His voice faltered. “Will you regret being my friend?”
She looked calm, but asked, “What people?”
“Just… people,” he whispered, the worry hanging in the cold air between them.
“I just killed people before I t you,” she said quietly.
Did she just admit she was a demon who killed people?
Shu Mingye decided to play along. He closed his heavy eyes. “Really? Who?”
“People with armor. They asked sothing about running… chasing… injured… claws… black… dangerous, or sothing like that,” she said, her voice calm.
He opened his tired eyes and looked at her. “And then?”
“Then I shoved a demon that seed to match that description,” she said plainly.
He laughed softly. “Pfft… and then?”
Those people must be his pursuers, the assassins his uncle had sent. Yet, she thought they were looking for a demon. Huh? Wait. That didn’t sound right. Did she think that he looked like a demon?
“Then they attacked . And I killed them,” she answered as if it was no big deal.
He coughed weakly, his chest aching. “I see…” So that was why no one ever caught up to him. She must be strong—those assassins were all tough, at least late-stage cultivators. And she didn’t seem hurt at all. Maybe she really was a level ten demon after all.
“Oh… were they your people? Should I offer them flowers?” she asked, head tilting slightly.
Offer flowers? What kind of suggestion was that?
He chuckled. “No, they weren’t good people.”
There was a mont of silence. Then she looked away, like she was thinking about sothing serious.
“Good then,” she said. “Do not play with the lives of the innocent. That’s what I’ve been told.”
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