The next day was quiet.

Mo Jue didn’t come.

Xuan didn’t come.

No messages. No footsteps. No warmth.

Yan Rui sat in the Cold Courtyard, thinking.

> Why do they both want me?

> What do they really want from me?

> Is there something about my past… they’re not telling me?

---

That evening, a note came to his room.

> Come to the eastern pavilion. No guards. No lies. Just truth.

— X

Even though Yan Rui felt unsure… he went.

---

🌙 The Eastern Pavilion

The garden was peaceful. The moonlight made everything glow silver.

Xuan was already waiting under the pavilion roof. His black robe was loose, and his hair was tied low. He didn’t look like a powerful noble.

> “You came,” he said.

> “You said you wanted truth,” Yan Rui replied. “So say it.”

Xuan turned to him. His eyes weren’t cold — they looked sad. And hungry.

> “Do you really not remember?” he asked softly.

“That night in the red chamber… You kissed me first.”

Yan Rui frowned. “I don’t remember kissing you.”

> “You told me I made you feel free,” Xuan continued.

“That I wasn’t like the others — that I made you feel human.”

He stepped closer.

> “I’ve been waiting for you to say that again.”

---

Yan Rui took a step back. “Even if I said that… I’m not that person now.”

But Xuan reached out.

He grabbed Yan Rui’s wrist. Not painfully, but firmly. Then his other hand touched Yan Rui’s jaw.

> “Let go,” Yan Rui said quietly.

But Xuan didn’t listen.

He leaned in — and kissed him.

Not gently. Not lovingly. The kiss was desperate, like he wanted to force Yan Rui to remember something that might not even be real.

Yan Rui’s heart raced. He pushed Xuan back hard.

> “Stop it!” he shouted.

But Xuan’s eyes were full of pain.

> “That night… you said you didn’t want to die alone.”

Yan Rui stared at him. “Then maybe I lied.”

---

Suddenly—

The wind blew in sharp and cold.

The air around them felt heavy.

And from the shadows, someone stepped into the light.

Mo Jue.

He said nothing. But the look in his glowing golden eyes was enough.

> “Take your hands off him,” Mo Jue said, very softly.

Xuan dropped his arms but didn’t step back.

> “Or what?” he said. “You’ll show him the monster you really are?”

Mo Jue took a step forward.

Something shifted in his body — scales appeared on his face, just barely. His eyes turned into narrow snake-like slits. His voice got colder.

Frost formed on the pillars around them.

> “You think I’ve been gentle because I love you,” he said to Yan Rui.

“But I’ve only been calm… because I was waiting for you to choose.”

He raised his hand — sharp black claws now showing.

> “He is mine,” Mo Jue growled.

“And I do not share.”

---

Xuan finally stepped back.

But Yan Rui stood frozen.

He wasn’t afraid of the cold.

He was afraid of the truth.

> Is this who he really is?

What have I awakened by coming here?

Mo Jue looked at him — not angry, but intense.

> “You asked me to give you a reason to stay,” he said.

“But if you look at me like I’m just a monster… I don’t know what I’ll become.”

---

Yan Rui’s breath shook.

Part of him wanted to run.

But another part — the deeper part of him — stepped forward.

> “Then show me,” Yan Rui whispered.

“Show me what you become… when you want to be loved.”

---

End of Chapter 13