Rui and Shen walked in silence through the winding corridors away from Madam Yao's sanctum.
The weight of revelation pressed down on Rui's shoulders, making each step feel heavier than the last.
"So, I'm a freak of nature," she whispered, testing the word on her tongue. "Neither fully demon nor celestial."
Shen glanced at her, his expression uncharacteristically gentle.
"Does it matter what you are?"
"How can it not?" Rui stopped abruptly, staring at her palms as if expecting them to reveal some hidden truth.
"My entire life has been a lie. I'm not even fully of this realm."
The chaos core within her pulsed, as if responding to her distress.
Was there truly celestial energy dormant inside her too? Two opposing forces, meant to be eternal enemies, somehow coexisting within her being.
"I could save them," she murmured, thinking of Zou's corrupted form, of her father wasting away. The power to heal them might be within her grasp.
