Xīng sat where she had fallen, her breathing slowly evening out.
"That was for Heiyun," Yao said behind her, voice cold and final. "And for everyone in his realm. You held enough strategic leverage to tilt the outcome in your favor, and instead you let thousands die. I will never forgive you for that."
Xīng's heart clenched.
She shouldn't have cared. Not about Yao's judgment. And yet… Yao was the truest person she had met here. Honest to the point of brutality.
That honesty burned.
It hurt that she had failed Yao's expectations.
"If I may ask something," Xīng said quietly.
Yao did not stop her.
"You said… Lord Heiyun was unaware of Bai?"
"Yes," Yao replied. "He was weak."
Weak. The word echoed.
"Then why," Yao continued, "did you think Bai was close to you?"
Xīng froze. She had always assumed it was because she was special.
But if Heiyun had been weak—
"Wait," she said slowly. "How do you know this?"
Yao's answer came without hesitation.
"You're a byproduct, Xīng. We all are. Heiyun was always the objective."
Xīng's throat tightened.
"And how do I know?" Yao went on. "I watched the battle."
"You… watched?"
"Heiyun fought poorly," Yao said. "At his peak, he should have taken at least two of the three Transcendents with him."
The information struck like a hammer. Three ancient Transcendents.
"How weak was he?" Xīng whispered.
"He fought like a newly evolved Transcendent against three ancients."
Xīng swallowed.
"Then why," she asked, voice shaking, "didn't you save anyone?"
Yao sounded almost confused. "What do you mean?"
"You were there," Xīng said. Her pulse thundered. "You confirmed his condition. You watched everyone die."
"I was spectating," Yao said simply.
Yao had been powerful enough to observe the battle, powerful enough to judge Heiyun's decline and yet she had done nothing. Then she had turned around and nearly killed Xīng for far less.
The hypocrisy was suffocating.
"You would have killed me for something smaller than that," Xīng said, bracing herself for pain.
Yao laughed.
"I would have killed you," she admitted, "if you hadn't called me out."
Xīng stiffened.
"We'll talk later," Yao added lightly. "Bai is here."
The darkness thinned, like silk pulled taut. Bai Jinxue stepped through the seam and appeared between them. Her gaze flicked to Xīng's ruined state, her partially dissolved hand and then to Yao.
She nodded. "Good."
Yao ignored her.
"Heal her," Yao said, already turning away.
Then she stormed out of the realm, leaving silence and consequences behind.