Yin retracted his hand as if he had done nothing more than brush away a cobweb. He glanced at Nian Shi and made a graceful, inviting gesture towards the now-undefended Yun Lintian. "After you, Timekeeper. Go ahead. Seize your destiny."
Nian Shi stood frozen for a heartbeat. His silver eyes darted from Yin's mocking face to Yun Lintian's serene form, then back again. Every instinct, every eon of experience dealing with Yin's treachery, screamed that this was a trap.
Why would Yin, after arguing for his own supremacy, simply hand over the key to ultimate power? It made no tactical sense.
But the temptation was too great. The prize he had schemed for, fought for, across countless timelines, was sitting right there, utterly vulnerable. Yin's reasoning, however twisted, held a perverse logic. Their goals were aligned in this one specific outcome.
Perhaps... perhaps this was a rare moment of pragmatic truce.
Suspicion warred with overwhelming desire. In the end, desire won.
