The chamber was bathed in a soft golden glow as the light of dawn seeped through the paper screens.
Rui's body extended diagonally across the bed, one arm draped across Zou's chest, her fingers entwined in his velvety hair.
Her right leg had moved over Jin's chest, leaving her foot dangling over the edge of the mattress.
Jin had been awake for hours and remained completely still beneath her limb.
He'd watched the shadows fade across the ceiling, terrified that the smallest movement would awaken her.
Across the bed, Zou maintained a faultless illusion of sleep.
His eyes remained closed, his breathing deep and even, yet a smile flickered at the corner of his lips.
The weight of her arm around his chest provided a satisfying anchor.
If he could keep this moment going forever, he would.
Kee Kee, who had managed to stay on Rui's head throughout her nighttime travels, stretched his small limbs.
With deliberate wickedness, he began bouncing on her head as if it were his personal trampoline.
"Wake up, Rui, the sun is burning my fur!" he exclaimed.
Rui's eyes flickered open.
For a brief period, she couldn't comprehend why her limbs felt so heavy and she couldn't move freely.
Then awareness returned.
"Oh!" She wrenched her arm and leg back, almost launching Kee Kee across the room.
"I'm so sorry! I tend to... move when sleeping."
She sat up, her hair wild around her shoulders and her cheeks burning.
"Did I crush you both?"
"You should have pushed me off!"
Jin sat up stiffly, his eyes filled with fatigue.
"You were sleeping soundly. I didn't mean to bother you."
Zou slowly stretched, finally "waking up."
"You may use me as a pillow anytime you wish, Princess."
Rui peered between them, noting Jin's heavy circles and Zou's careful avoidance of direct eye contact.
"You two didn't sleep at all, did you?" she inquired, her tone softening.
"Don't worry, foxes don't need much sleep," Zou remarked lightly.
Jin only shook his head.
A gentle knock disrupted the awkward morning scene.
"Honored guests?"
"We have brought your breakfast." The innkeeper's voice echoed through the door.
Jin quickly pulled on his outer robe and opened the door, revealing the innkeeper and two attendants carrying lacquered trays.
Steam emerged from bowls of silky tofu, fragrant congee, and plump bao buns. Fresh fruits glistened alongside miniature containers of honey and preserves.
"Our finest morning offering for our esteemed champions and their... companion." The innkeeper nodded, his gaze flickering between the three of them before disappearing.
Zou quickly took the seat next to Rui, his motions fluent and possessive. He removed a gleaming red pickled plum from a little ceramic plate.
"Princess, you must try this." He grabbed it between his exquisite fingers and placed it directly on her lips.
"The tartness will awaken your senses completely."
Rui's eyes widened as the unexpected sourness spread across her tongue. She sputtered and reached for tea.
Jin watched calmly from across the table. He extended his hand, presenting the last steamed bao from his dish.
Their fingers brushed as she accepted it, and Zou couldn't help but notice the gentle smile between them.
After breakfast, Rui and Jin started packing for their departure.
"I'll meet you at the town gate," Zou said, then vanished in a blaze of orange light before either could answer.
Jin folded his spare robe with precision. "He probably went out for more shopping."
"Yes, more "supplies" for the journey," Rui joked, slipping Kee Kee into her travel satchel despite his protests.
They finished packing and made their way through the busy morning market.
Merchants announced their wares, while the aroma of fresh steamed buns mixed with incense from a neighboring shrine.
Jin's hand met Rui's, his fingers intertwining with hers as they moved through the crowd.
Rui paused as they approached the town gate.
Zou stood waiting, but he was not alone.
Three horses stood beside him: a muscular black stallion with intelligent eyes, a sleek chestnut mare decked with bells and multicolored tassels, and a stupidly fluffy white pony that resembled an overgrown sheep rather than a horse.
"Surprise!" Zou declared, spreading his arms wide.
Jin approached the tall black stallion warily. "You… bought these?"
"I couldn't bear to see our princess walk," Zou said, flipping his hair with exaggerated grace.
"And frankly, I didn't want to watch you try to carry her the whole way."
He swept into a dramatic bow.
"For you, a noble steed befitting a warrior monk. Strong, brooding, unnecessarily serious."
Then, he gestured to the next mount, a sleek chestnut mare with jeweled tack that gleamed in the morning sun.
"And for our radiant princess: a spirited beauty adorned with the finest ceremonial gear.
Finally, he turned to the last horse, an impossibly fluffy white pony with a voluminous mane and dainty hooves. Zou He patted the white pony's incredibly fluffy mane.
"And this is Velvet." She is majestic. "Like me."
Rui's expression softened. She understood Zou's mortal powers were limited. He must have spent almost all of his remaining coins buying these horses.
"Thank you," she replied quietly, reaching out to touch his arm.
"This was... thoughtful."
For once, Zou's expression lacked artifice or performance. He merely smiled, with true warmth in his golden eyes.
"Anything for you, Princess." Always."
As they left Golden Blossom Town, the path constricted and wound through verdant hills that sloped toward the distant mountains.
Jin rode at the front, back straight and his gaze fixed on the horizon. The black stallion matched his rider's demeanor, riding purposefully.
Rui trailed several feet behind, the silver bells on her mare's mane playing a gentle melody with each step.
Kee Kee popped his head out of her satchel, his small face screwed up in frustration.
"This is torture," he groaned.
"Nothing but trees and dirt for hours. I'm dying of boredom."
"You could always walk," Rui suggested.
"And soil my precious paws? Never." Kee Kee flopped dramatically across her lap.
"Entertain me, or I'll start chewing on your fancy saddle."
Zou followed behind on his absurdly fluffy pony.
"The little beast demands a show? Then a show he shall have."
With a flick of his jeweled fan, Zou summoned a swarm of iridescent dragonflies that shone like liquid gemstones in the sun.
They spiraled around Rui's head, forming a crown before fleeing in all directions, their wings trailing golden light.
Rui gasped with delight. "Zou, they're beautiful!"
"It's just a simple illusion," Zou replied, although the effort had cost him more than he was willing to admit.
Kee Kee smacked the dragonflies away, growling as his paw passed through the enchantment.
Rui's laughter rang out, clear and brilliant, as dragonflies fluttered around her.
Jin looked back just as Rui's mare slipped on a loose stone.
Zou was there fast, grabbing her reins before she could slip.
Their eyes met, Rui's wide with surprise and Zou's with concern.
"Be careful, Princess," he muttered. "I'd hate to see you fall."
Jin's jaws tightened. He turned away and spurred his horse ahead without speaking.
The sun rose higher as they rode, sending mottled shadows through the leaf canopy overhead.
Jin kept his distance, and the gap between him and the others grew with each passing mile.
His shoulders remained tense, and his hands gripped the reins too tightly.
Rui continued to steal looks behind him, her brow furrowed in alarm.
She drove her mare forward, the bells jingling faster as she closed the gap.
"Jin?" she said gently. "Is everything alright?"
He did not respond, keeping his focus fixed on the trail ahead.
When he eventually spoke, his tone was intentionally neutral.
"We should get to the forest's edge by midnight." There is a village where we can rest."
"That's not what I asked." Rui led her horse alongside his.
"You've barely spoken since we left town."
Jin's gaze shifted quickly to Zou, who was lagging after them, seemingly preoccupied with brushing his pony's crazy mane and whistling a merry melody.
"I'm just focused on our journey," Jin stated.
"The Crimson Battlefield is beyond these mountains. We need to be ready for whatever awaits us there."
Rui reached across the distance between them, stroking his arm.
"You don't have to pretend with me."
Jin's control slipped slightly, and his eyes met hers with such intensity that her breath caught.
Words burned in his throat—how every moment with Zou made him feel like he was losing her, how each stride toward the Crimson Battlefield pushed them closer to their unavoidable separation.
He would remain here, alone with his memories, while she would return to the Underworld once her trial concluded.
"Rui, I—" He paused, swallowing his confession.
What justification did he have to trouble her with his feelings of jealousy and concern about losing her? Long before she entered his life, fate had already set her path.
"Yes?" Jin nearly broke down because her eyes were filled with genuine concern.
"Nothing. We should continue moving." He turned aside, missing the hurt on her face.
Zou narrowed his gaze, sensing the unspoken tension like a creature smelling blood in the air.
The woodland became deeper as they rode, with shadows reaching longer beneath ancient trees.
Jin's stallion came to an abrupt halt, nostrils blazing and ears pushed back.
"Something's wrong," Jin said quietly, studying the treetops.
The ground trembled. The earth let forth a low sigh, a twisted sound of anguish and desire.
"Jin!" Rui's voice became more agitated as the soil around the path began to bubble and churn.
Pale, wrinkled fingers scraped at the dirt. A corpse emerged from the ground, skin grey and mottled, eyes empty black pits.
Another appeared beside it, and another until a dozen reanimated bodies encircled them.
"Gloom Wraiths!" Rui yelled.
The horses panicked. Rui's mare reared, nearly throwing her as other bodies dragged themselves off the ground, moving with strange jerking gestures.
"Someone must have sent them," Zou exclaimed, dropping his pony and leaping protectively in front of Rui.
"Someone has bound and directed these spirits—they are not natural wanderers."
Jin slid off his horse and positioned himself between the spirits and Rui.
"From the Underworld?"
"Has to be," Zou agreed, his lighthearted manner fading as his eyes flashed with lethal intent.
"Looks like someone doesn't want us reaching the Crimson Battlefield."
The spirits lurched forward, dirt spilling from their decaying bodies as they closed in on the travelers.