"You shouldn't have come in here with me," Yan Zhi said slowly, her voice heavy with something she could not put into words. "This is a place neither of us can bear."
Jiu Jia Yi tightened his grip on her hand. "I don't care about that. Yan Zhi, all I care about is that we can be together."
Her heart trembled. His words pierced it like an arrow, leaving her defenseless. She looked up at the man who had never left her side and suddenly found him both utterly strange and deeply familiar. Whenever she fell into despair or felt she could not go on, he was there beside her.
"You shouldn't have to bear this." She shook her head gently, uncertainty in her eyes. "How could you understand this kind of loneliness?"
His gaze held steady. "I will understand. Just tell me, and I'll share the burden with you. Always."
At that moment, a powerful emotion surged through Yan Zhi. She could barely breathe. All her pain and torment flooded back at once. It was too much to bear. Her vision blurred, and cries and whispers from another world echoed in her ears.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Why are you so determined?"
Jiu Jia Yi did not answer at once. He only held her hand tighter, his grip giving her a sense of safety that seemed to reach across time and space. "Because I know you're just as determined," he said softly.
Yan Zhi's heart gave another violent thump. She opened her eyes and met his sincere, unwavering gaze. Suddenly, she realized she had never truly seen him clearly—or perhaps she had never truly understood her own heart.
It was not only his determination to stay with her. It was her own determination to heed a voice deep inside her. She had never forgotten that longing or the stubborn refusal to yield. She had only kept running from the fear buried deepest in her heart.
"You're right," she said softly, a bitter smile touching her lips. "I've been running from myself all this time."
Jiu Jia Yi paused, seemingly unsure what she meant, but his gaze softened further. He gently drew her toward him. "Then face it with me," he said quietly.
At that instant, the Mirror Realm began to shake violently, and the oppressive darkness grew stronger. The void around them twisted. It was no longer merely space that warped; the distortion tore straight through her thoughts. Yan Zhi felt herself being ripped apart, her consciousness pulled in every direction, as though countless versions of her were crying out at once.
"It's... trying to absorb us," she murmured. The force dragged at her consciousness, and she could barely stay awake.
"No." Jiu Jia Yi seized her shoulders, forcing her to focus on him. "You can't let it control you again!"
A golden light suddenly appeared before Yan Zhi's eyes. It was the power of the Short Blade, still flowing quietly through her body. She reached for its source, gripped the Short Blade tightly in both hands, and closed her eyes, forcing her consciousness back into place.
In the Short Blade's light, she saw countless fragments—memories that had once been shattered—spread out before her. She saw herself standing in an unfamiliar place. There was no one there, only a massive mirror.
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