劳燕分飞 (láo yàn fēn fēi) - to be like birds flying in different directions; the break up of a couple.

  For a moment, Zéyì and Dzue Yi-sang were frozen.

  Their gazes were riveted to the item on the stage. There was no mistaking it, even from this distance. How could they? It was enormous, and shone with a brilliant bronze radiance that even a blind person could see.

  It was a loong skin.

  Stretched flat, the dazzling skin was whole from nose to tail, with even the legs present. Not a single scale out of place, every talon as it should be, this skin had clearly been carefully preserved. Zéyì remembered that bronze glow. It had protected her the day her mother had tried to kill her.

  Gong Lau Yan was rampaging. Panicking patrons fled as she began stampeding down towards the stage. Dzue Yi-sang called out after her. "Gong Dze! Come back!"

  Of course, she didn't even turn her head.

  Making up her mind in an instant, Zéyì divested a young man of his sword as he tried to escape, and followed Gong Lau Yan without hesitation, leaving the doctor gaping. Crazy!

  In the pandemonium, Tsaam Lei seemed to have disappeared. Gong Lau Yan was being hampered by the escaping people and by the appearing guards, although both groups seemed to be completely terrified and also unprepared for a real live loong to appear. Zéyì darted about, pulling patrons out of the way of the loong's thrashing tail and knocking out the dithering guards. Her skills had rusted a little over the years, but she was still more than a match for them.

  One guard ran up to Gong Lau Yan's side with murder in his eyes, a thick spear clenched in his meaty fist. Zéyì ran him through without blinking, and even found herself laughing at the look of surprise on his face. The remaining guards fell back and seemed to be contemplating leaving, when it became apparent that some of the patrons had other ideas.

  Perhaps emboldened by the items they had seen auctioned that evening, some armed people were circling the unaware Gong Lau Yan avariciously. Zéyì grabbed the sword of the man she had just slaughtered, and so, with one in each hand, she turned on these people lurking about.

  Some of the audience were cowering under their seats, too frightened to move, while others fought each other at the entrance to be the first to escape. Still others seemed to be running about the hall, for what reason Zéyì could not tell, but if they threatened Gong Lau Yan, she would make them pay.

  She swung her swords over and over, beating back those who came for Gong Lau Yan. There was no mercy. If they would not back down, she would cut them down, slicing and stabbing until her swords and robes were red with their blood. Occasionally she almost found herself enjoying it. She looked over her shoulder to say something to Fàn Bì'ān, fully expecting him beside her as usual, enjoying the fight too, but there was no sign of him, anywhere in the hall.

  The next moment, two shī zi came charging out from backstage, scattering those who had come for Gong Lau Yan. They were followed by a herd of qílín, and creatures Zéyì did not recognise, strange horses with dripping manes and tails, a giant snake, two giant flaming birds. Someone must have let all the legendary beasts backstage loose.

  The fighting broke in an instant as Zéyì's opponents also fled. Several were pulled down to the sound of bones cracking and chomping jaws, but several managed to escape the hall. The legendary beasts followed them out.

  The guards were long gone. All that remained in the hall were a few people who had fainted or were too terrified to leave, Zéyì, and the dead bodies around her.

  And Gong Lau Yan, who was staring at the loong skin.

  Although she was still in loong form, Zéyì could see a kind of frozen horror in her whole attitude. She licked her lips repeatedly like a frightened animal, ears drawn back. She seemed to both want to touch, and never want to touch, the skin before her. Zéyì thrust the swords into the ground, and leapt up to the stage, eyes roaming from Gong Lau Yan to the gleaming bronze skin. "G... Gong Ming Dzue?"

  Her words seemed to let something loose in Gong Lau Yan. She howled, the strength of her roar shaking the very foundations of the hall so that giant cracks began to appear throughout the structure.

  Zéyì closed her eyes and bore the onslaught. When she opened her eyes again, Gong Lau Yan, in humanoid form, was reaching slowly out to the skin, barely able to see through the tears in her eyes. Her trembling hands touched it and she looked ready to vomit, but she swallowed compulsively as she cried, "Dze dze" over and over.

  Zéyì felt tears sliding down her own face. Breathing deep, she turned her face to the ceiling, motes of limestone dust softly falling onto her face and eyelashes.

  She stood there for a very long time, as the lights in the lanterns burned lower and lower, and Gong Lau Yan cried.

  *

  "Dàjiě?"

  Zéyì jerked awake. At some point, she had sat down by the edge of the stage and then apparently fallen asleep. Gong Lau Yan sat nearby. She had untied her sister's skin from the frame that held it, and sat motionless with her face buried in its folds. Fàn Bì'ān stood by Zéyì's side, looking concerned.

  He had back to his previous appearance, eyes dark rather than red, his whole being once more reminding her of Měng Huàn. She looked at him helplessly. "Why are you doing that?"

  "Doing what?"

  "Making your appearance like my Fifth Brother's? How did you even know what he looks like?"

  "I just know." He smiled softly, and then, to her surprise, sat beside her and bundled her under his cloak. They really did look like siblings, in their disguises. It was like she was sitting next to her brother again, maybe by the lotus pond, where they teased the fish with scraps from their lunch.

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  She found herself crying again, not the silent tears of sympathy she had shed earlier, but body-wracking sobs.

  "Miss, are you alright?"

  A few people were still around. A small person in cultivator garb stood before her, looking concerned, while the tall foreign woman from earlier lurked behind, trying to look unbothered. In the gloom, it was a little hard to make them out.

  "I... I'll be okay. Thank you. Please don't bother yourself, my friend here will look after me."

  "Friend?" the foreign woman repeated. Zéyì wasn't sure if she simply didn't understand the word, but her tone sounded incredulous. The other person smiled peacefully. Zéyì felt a little relaxed just by looking at them. They had a round face, dark eyes, and unusual pale golden hair.

  "I know some medicine, may I at least check your pulse?"

  "Oh... thank you, but I... Dzue Yi-sang...?" She looked around.

  There was no sign of the doctor.

  Zéyì jumped upright in alarm and called loudly. "Yi-sang! DZUE YI-SANG!"

  No response. Even Gong Lau Yan, breath hitching, looked up.

  "DZUE YI-SANG!"

  "Miss?"

  "There was a doctor travelling with us... Where... where is she?"

  "When was the last time you saw her?" A hoarse voice spoke from behind them. Gong Lau Yan had risen, still clutching the skin in her hands.

  "She was there when... I saw her as you were heading to the stage." Zéyì could feel herself begin to shake. A pair of reassuring hands held her shoulders as the unnamed cultivator stepped up beside her. Although they were shorter than her, their presence felt grounding and soothing.

  "We can help look for her. What does she look like?"

  "Um... a little shorter than you, silver hair... she was dressed as a poisoner..." Zéyì's words tumbled trustingly out, but Gong Lau Yan was in no state to be suspicious either.

  Zéyì felt her tremors become worse. Her vision seemed to swim.

  "You need treatment," the unnamed cultivator said. "May I...?" At Zéyì's weak nod, they pressed their fingers to her wrist.

  "You have a serious case of qì deviation," they said quietly. "I only know some basic treatments. Otherwise, I only know of my Master who can provide a full treatment."

  "Your Master?"

  "The Grandmaster of the Yuān Wěi School of Healing. Yuān Mù Shī fù."

  Zéyì looked dazed. "Yuān Mù Shī fù? Is he tall, has gold and black eyes?"

  "You know him?"

  "I..." The tremors were so strong now that Zéyì could barely speak. "When I was a young girl in the Chūn Kingdom, I used to spend time in the Yuān Wěi Temple there... I thought... The temple burnt down over a century ago!"

  The small cultivator bowed politely. "Greeting Shī jiě. This humble cultivator is Yuen Sou Yuet, courtesy name Yuān Yì Fēng, Head Disciple. Yuān Mù Shī fù is now Master of the Yuān Wěi School of Healing in the Huáng Kingdom... My companion here does not have a name."

  The pale woman grunted, although she looked a little less intimidating than she had before.

  "Ch- Zéyì. My name is Zéyì. And this is -"

  "Yuān Mù..." a voice behind them mused. "I seem to remember than name, somehow..." Gong Lau Yan's grey-brown eyes slid down to the skin in her hands, then towards the shadowy wings of the stage where Tsaam Lei likely escaped. "... the ones that died here..."

  "Other than the ones that Shī jiě dealt with personally, there were a couple of smugglers that also died in the stampede. As far as we can tell, there were no innocent lives lost. I am certain your doctor is not among them."

  The mood was very heavy. The innocent could have died so easily, trampled in the crush. Gong Lau Yan seemed to draw even further into herself. Her lips were dry and cracked, her eyes sunken. It had been a long time since she had last drunk water, and she had cried on top of that. But when Zéyì offered her a flask, she turned away.

  Yuān Yì Fēng turned to Zéyì apologetically. "I'm sorry we can't take you to Yuān Wěi ourselves, but we've been tasked with an investigative mission and must be going. Here, I'll draw you a rough map and give you the location."

  Zéyì felt lightheaded as she watched her junior sibling quickly sketch a map on the back of a menu that their companion was carrying for some reason, but a movement from Gong Lau Yan caught the corner of her eye. The loong was staring into the darkness beside the stage, clearly coming to some conclusion.

  "We'll help you look for your companion for a day before we have to leave. We might have a good chance of finding her."

  Zéyì looked at Gong Lau Yan. The loong's face was emotionless, no suggestion of what she might be thinking appearing on her expression. Zéyì could somewhat guess what she was thinking, though. Chase after Tsaam Lei and get answers, perhaps revenge? Search for Dzue Yi-sang?

  "I'll go where you go, Gong Dze," she said firmly. "Wherever you choose, I'll help you."

  "Help?" Gong Lau Yan shook herself, her voice strained. Zéyì flinched from the strange anger in her words. "Can't you think for yourself for once?"

  "Don't take your anger out on others," the pale woman reprimanded. When Gong Lau Yan's fierce burning gaze turned to her, she barely flinched.

  "Are you saying I shouldn't be angry?"

  "Of course you should be angry," Zéyì broke in, also glaring at the nameless woman. "Your dze dze-"

  "Stop! Just stop..." Gong Lau Yan clutched her face as if she wanted to tear it off. "Go and get treated, Zéyì. You can't... you can't help me."

  "But... I'm sorry I'm so unreliable, Gong Dze, but... I can fight – Didn't I protect you just before? And if there's-"

  "You can't even look after yourself! You don't even... Is he here?"

  "He... who?"

  "That thing you call Bì'ān Dì."

  "Gong Dze!"

  "He's not real, Zéyì! You've imagined him!"

  "... What?"

  Gong Lau Yan's shoulder sagged. Her voice became very soft. "A Yì... there's no one there. You've been talking to yourself for the past few months."

  "But... but you talked him too!"

  "Sometimes you would... your voice would change. You whole body language would change... You would say things that didn't sound like the usual you..."

  Zéyì's gaze swung around to look at the demon prince sitting on the stage. No one else was looking at him. No one else had looked at him from the start. He smiled apologetically.

  "This isn't funny... Why are you doing this to me?" Zéyì shouted first at Fàn Bì'ān, then turned on Gong Lau Yan. The other two watching people exchanged concerned looks.

  Something broke in the loong. Her eyes glowed green and she seemed to grow in height. "That's what I should be saying to you! It's Fàn Bì'ān this and Bì'ān Dì that when he doesn't even exist! Why do you think he looks like your brother? And when you saw him today, and he looked different, that was the real Demon Prince! He-"

  Her words suddenly stopped abruptly. "Oh... Little Wan...?"

  Slowly, her eyes focused on Zéyì. "A Yì... You should go and get treated."

  "But-"

  "I'm sorry, Shī jiě, but I agree with Lady Gong," Yuān Yì Fēng said quietly. "To be in such a state of qì deviation that your demonic side is manifesting as an entity that you can see and talk to... It's far too dangerous, for everyone. We released the shī zi earlier, and rescued their child, I'm sure they would be quite willing to guide you safely to Yuān Wěi."

  Zéyì's eyes sought the person who had been by her side for the past few months, who she had never questioned for their continuing presence, despite it not making any sense. The young man who smiled back at her looked nothing like the demon prince she had seen only a few hours before.

  "I have to find Dzue Ngan Wan. And Tsaam Lei. And..." Gong Lau Yan stared at the skin in her hands as if she didn't know why it was there.

  Zéyì looked at the loong with the skin of her own sister in her hands, and swallowing hard, she bowed deeply. "Thank you, so very, very much, Miss Gong. It was an honour to travel with you. I wish you every success with your quest."

  "... Get well soon, Zéyì. And... I'm sorry."

  In this moment, there was no space for the two of them, together. The world had come and cruelly crowded out the space between them. Zéyì remained bowed. She heard Gong Lau Yan turn, heard her footsteps fade away, disappear.

  鳶目师父 (yuān mù shī fù) – Master Hawk-eye.

  師姐 (si1 dze2) - 'Senior Sister' i.e. a fellow older female student/disciple.

  鳶素月 (yuen1 sou3 yuet6) - 'Hawk/Kite', 'A bright and clear moon'.

  鳶奕风 (Yuān Yì Fēng) – 鳶 as in the first syllable of Yuān Wěi, meaning 'hawk' and 奕风 'abundant'/'graceful' and 'breeze'/'wind'.

  珠銀雲 (dzue1 ngan4 wan4) - 'pearl' and 'silver cloud'.