Urgent Message from Black Mountains

"The damn sword," Yinyue mumbled while still lying on her back, covering her eyes with her sleeve. Her forearm ached along with the rest of her limbs. Her memory before she blacked out was the sword appearing on the table.

After Yinyue blacked out, she found herself in a dreamlike trance, wading through fields of red spider lilies wavering in the wind. During the dream, she saw 01 standing before her and turning his back to her. Then fragments of images from her two lives floated about like shards of a shattered mirror.

She racked her head to piece those fragments together, triggering a sudden shot of throbbing pain burst through the back of her head. It felt like someone had smashed her skull. A fall wouldn't cause such an ache.

Was it her imagination? A slew of questions fogged her mind, causing the throbbing pain to pulse intermittently behind her temples. Nothing came to mind, but she knew what she saw — the sword sheathed in its scabbard laid on the table, moved by a mysterious force.

She felt the urge to get up and check where the sword went, but the turn of events spooked her too much to do so.

"What about that sword?"

Yinyue opened her eyes at Chiyin's voice, blinking away the blurriness clouding her vision. Flashes of colour, shapes and shadows swirl and swam into focus with the dim light casting eerie shadows across the bed.

"Just lie down on your bed and don't get up," Chiyin said sternly, recalling how she laid senseless and limp on the ground. "The patrolling guards found you unconscious in the garden near the hot springs. Ayi tried to shake you awake but couldn't."

Ayi, although his senior and his grandfather's older disciple, had little experience with strange ailments compared to him. If Ayi couldn't wake her up, the responsibility fell on him. Then Hua Dushen.

"How long was I out for?"

"Not long after we found you. It's dawn now. What happened?"

Yinyue shook her head, still in a daze. "I don't know. But…"

"But what?"

"How's 01?" she asked suddenly, changing the topic.

Chiyin leaned on the side of the bed by her side. His face fell at the mention of 01. Yinyue knew he had never liked 01 from the first time they met. Chiyin looked ragged and worn, like he didn't sleep the entire night. His lips pursed, unwilling to answer.

With trembling hands, Yinyue pushed herself up from the bed, only for him to restrain her shoulders, preventing her from sitting up.

"Stay down," he insisted. "Your pulse is very thready from exhaustion."

Chiyin had a mind to enforce bed-rest on her. Tie her to the bed if he could. Maybe he should have added more sedative drugs to the concoction Ayi was making for Yinyue.

The state they found Yinyue scared him when he arrived. Her pulse was so faint, like a dying person. Exhaustion could kill and Yinyue hardly slept, despite injuries on her.

Thankfully, Hushiyi was fast asleep or else Chiyin would have to deal with his nephew adding to the earlier mess. Chiyin even threatened to poison the servants and guards if they tried to wake Hushiyi up.

"Did something happen?"

If he didn't answer, the stubborn nature of his niece will culminate into another round of pushing her limits. Yinyue might even get up and see 01 herself. Chiyin made a mental note to tell Ayi to make a heavier sedative.

"Your 01 nearly died tonight." Chiyin pinched his forehead with a heavy sigh. "Had to do what I can to save him from the clutches of hell."

"What happened to him?"

"Went into a violent seizure and now he has some memory loss. Only remembers you. Not even me," Chiyin replied and then paused, pursing his lips.

He had a strange feeling ever since 01 woke up. 01's eyes creeped him out even more than usual. As though 01 wasn't the same person. Chiyin didn't know if his mind was playing tricks on him.

The night was a mess. At first, relieved to be released from Yinyue's interrogation about Hushiyi's mess, he thought he could get some sleep. Only to have his sleep disrupted by a panicky manservant from 01's quarters who burst into his room to report 01 contorted and flailed violently non-stop.

"And?"

"I couldn't even get a pulse out of him when he stopped moving, almost like he was dead, then after a while, his eyes opened…don't you know how freakish his eyes are?" Chiyin continued, thinking of those different coloured eyes which made his skin crawl.

Yinyue tugged his sleeve as he tried to get up. "When did his pulse stop?"

"Eh?" Chiyin glanced at Yinyue's face. "He's still alive."

She shook her head. "When did it stop?"

Chiyin studied her eyes. Why would she be interested in that Xirong slave's pulse? 01 maybe her closest bodyguard and confidant, but the question seemed odd. Her deadpan expression warned him not to joke.

"Just before they found you. Exact time, I can't tell. When I'm busy saving someone, I don't care about keeping time."

"And how is he now?" She asked.

Chiyin rolled his eyes.

"Resting. Conscious now. Just too weak to move," he replied.

Three sharp raps on the door interrupted Chiyin, whose hand instinctively moving to restrain Yinyue from trying to sit up.

"The Grand Prince is resting. If there's nothing urgent, don't disturb." Chiyin stood up, chiding the person outside. He had the mind to kick someone now.

"It's urgent news from Mingyi in the Black Mountains about the Xirong," came Ayi's reply from outside.

Chiyin had a mind to tell Ayi off. Ayi should know the condition of Yinyue at the moment.

Yinyue swiped Chiyin's hand away with a look of defiance. Despite her condition, the mention of developments involving the Xirong demanded her immediate attention. Even if she lay dying in her bed.

"Come in," Yinyue ordered, leaving no room for debate.

Ayi stepped inside with a rolled up message while Chiyin glared at her, fuming at the intrusion.

"Not my fault," Ayi muttered, unapologetic as she passed him, waving the message along with the visible red string around it in Chiyin's face intentionally.

The red string meant a matter of emergency that cannot wait.

"Who knew peregrines flew in the night?" Chiyin grumbled.

Ayi ignored him. She also didn't want to disturb Yinyue, aware of her condition. However, Mingyi never sent a message out of the blue, especially at night, unless it was very important.

Ayi handed the message to Yinyue, who pulled off the string to read the message quickly.

Yinyue's pale face turned whiter while her eyes poured through the message. Chiyin exchanged glances with Ayi. Something big must have happened. Both of them held their breath, waiting for her to reveal the news.

"Candle," Yinyue pointed to the nearest burning candle by her bedside. Ayi stepped forward and took it to her.

Yinyue quickly burnt the paper and said nothing more. Much to Chiyin's surprise, she laid down and closed her eyes.