The Ancestral Hall — Midnight
By midnight, the house had settled into the kind of silence only old homes seemed capable of keeping.
The courtyard breeze wandered through the open doors before disappearing among the wooden beams. Somewhere in the distance, bamboo brushed against bamboo with a dry whisper. The sound never reached the city.
The ancestral hall waited in soft candlelight. Two candles burned before the ancestral tablets. Nothing more. No incense had been lit. No ceremony had begun.
Qiū Huà Bǐ stood near the entrance with his arms folded, looking from Yè Yī to Violet, then back again.
An hour ago he'd been looking for tea. Now he was somehow standing inside an ancestral hall, expected to witness an oath older than the city outside. He still wasn't sure how that had happened.
Yè Yī walked toward the altar with quiet familiarity. He had never performed this ceremony himself, but he'd read about it enough growing up to remember every step.
The ritual wasn't complicated. It wasn't supposed to be. Things people intended to keep rarely needed decoration.
He placed two porcelain cups onto the table, then a small bottle of clear liquor. Lastly, an empty bowl.
Qiū Huà Bǐ leaned forward.
"...No blood?"
Without looking up, Yè Yī answered,
"Only if someone wants to make it dramatic."
Qiū Huà Bǐ nodded seriously.
"Good. I wasn't planning on joining a vampire society tonight."
Violet looked over the arrangement.
"...Walk me through it."
Yè Yī glanced at her.
"We kneel."
She nodded once, then quietly knelt before the altar, without hesitation.
Qiū Huà Bǐ blinked.
...She actually did it.
Yè Yī lowered himself beside her. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. Behind the candles, generations of the Yè family looked on through carved wooden tablets polished smooth by time.
Qiū Huà BǏ shifted awkwardly.
"...Am I supposed to stand somewhere?"
"You're the witness."
"What does a witness actually do?"
"You remember."
Qiū frowned.
"...That's it?"
Yè Yī nodded.
"If either of us ever denies today..."
"...someone has to say we didn't."
Qiū scratched the back of his neck.
"I really was just looking for tea."
Violet glanced sideways.
"You're here now."
"...Apparently."
He sighed.
"Fine."
"I'll witness the whole thing."
Yè Yī uncorked the bottle and poured the liquor into both cups. The clear liquid caught the candlelight before settling. He picked up one cup, then paused.
"...There's something you should know."
Violet looked at him.
"This oath is traditionally made before Heaven and Earth."
She looked quietly toward the ancestral tablets, then back at him.
"I can kneel here."
A brief pause.
"But I don't swear before anyone except God."
The room remained quiet.
Qiū Huà Bǐ looked between them. He wasn't sure whether this was about to become awkward.
Instead...
Yè Yī simply nodded.
"...Then how do you want to do it?"
Violet thought for a moment.
"I'll stand before your family's history."
Her eyes rested briefly on the ancestral tablets.
"And I'll make the same promise before God."
Yè Yī held her gaze for another second.
"...Alright."
There was no debate, no persuasion, only understanding.
Qiū Huà Bǐ watched the exchange in silence.
For some reason...
that felt more solemn than the ceremony itself.
Yè Yī lifted his cup slightly. His voice remained steady.
"I, Yè Yī..."
"...before Heaven, Earth, and my ancestors..."
"...acknowledge Violet as my sworn sister."
He turned slightly.
Violet raised her own cup.
"My name is Violet."
She spoke simply.
"Before God..."
"...I make the same promise."
No ornament was needed. No performance. Just certainty.
Yè Yī continued.
"From today onward..."
"...in hardship..."
"...we stand together."
Violet repeated softly.
"In hardship..."
"...we stand together."
"...In disagreement..."
"...we speak honestly."
She echoed him.
"...In danger..."
"...we do not abandon one another."
Again she repeated it.
The hall grew quiet. The candles burned steadily.
Then Yè Yī spoke the last line.
"If one falls..."
He looked toward her.
"...the other remembers."
For the first time that night...
Violet paused but only for half a heartbeat.
Then she nodded.
"If one falls..."
"...the other remembers."
Qiū Huà Bǐ felt something settle in the room. It wasn't pressure, nor was it power. It felt more like the weight of something which could enlighten.
Yè Yī held out his cup.
"Drink."
Their cups met. A single clear note rang through the hall. They didn't hurry. They drank slowly. The liquor burned all the way down.
Violet swallowed.
"...Bland."
Another second.
"...Mostly bitter."
Qiū Huà Bǐ almost laughed. Only Violet could summarize an oath with a tasting note.
Yè Yī bowed toward the ancestral tablets, though not deeply, but enough to serve as a quiet acknowledgment.
Beside him, Violet lowered her head. She didn't bow to the tablets. She simply stood in respectful silence while Yè Yī honored his family.
Neither asked the other to become someone different. When they straightened again...
nothing had changed. And yet everything had.
Qiū Huà Bǐ cleared his throat.
"...Do I say something now?"
"You confirm it."
"...Seriously?"
Yè Yī nodded.
Qiū rubbed his forehead.
"...Alright."
He stood a little straighter.
"I..."
He glanced at the two of them.
"...Qiū Huà Bǐ..."
"...confirm I witnessed all of this."
A beat.
"And unless one of you hits your head tomorrow..."
"...you're officially siblings now."
Silence.
Violet tilted her head.
"...That's not traditional."
Qiū shrugged.
"I'm not traditional."
For the first time that night... the corner of Yè Yī's mouth lifted.
"...Good enough."
The ceremony ended without fanfare.
No mystical wind. No blazing light. No unfathomable miracle appearing before anyone's sight.
Only the sound of candles burning remained.
Violet stood first. She looked at Yè Yī for a moment.
Then nodded once.
"...Brother."
The word sounded unfamiliar but not uncomfortable. Just... new.
Yè Yī rose as well.
"...Sister."
Qiū Huà Bǐ looked from one to the other.
"...That might be the calmest life-changing event I've ever seen."
Violet looked at him.
"You could've left."
"You never told me."
"You didn't ask."
Qiū threw both hands into the air.
"That's it."
"Next time someone asks me downstairs for tea..."
"...I'm hiring a lawyer... or maybe I could just pretend to be asleep."
The laughter that escaped Yè Yī surprised even him.
It was brief, quiet but real. Something inside him had shifted. Though not all at once, but that alone was enough.
For the first time in four years...
the word family no longer felt like something buried beneath grief.
It felt... possible again.
Across the hall, Violet looked once more toward the ancestral tablets. It wasn't in worship or doubt but only with quiet respect.
Some promises belonged to history. Others belonged to the people willing to carry them forward.
Tonight...
they had made one of each.