Page 124 of The Scarlet Alchemist

Wenshu had thought I wouldn’t go back for him and Yufei, but he was wrong.

Fans don’t leave each other behind.

I rolled the Empress onto her stomach and tore her dress, exposing the skin along her spine. Yufei’s body was gone, but her soul might still be at the river. The Moon Alchemist had said that two resurrections would never be successful, but I doubted she’d ever tried to attach a soul to a different body.

I held my breath, three bloodstones crushed into my palm, and closed my eyes.

The river rushed around me in a stormy torrent, sticks scraping against my bare legs, shredding through my silk dress. I didn’t know if this would work, but I called Yufei’s name out across the expanse, the rain swallowing my words.

I stumbled over roots, the river knocking me to my hands and knees, filling my mouth with murky water. I trudged across it as the expanse opened up like an endless ocean, deeper and deeper. When I could no longer walk, I swam even as my arms went numb, the current dragging me toward an unseen endpoint. I erased all other thoughts from my mind but my sister’s name until I washed up on a sandy shore beneath an overcast sky. I couldn’t lift my head, but I heard footsteps crunching across the sand, then coming to a halt in front of me.

“Took you long enough,” Yufei said.

My sister gasped awake and ran her hands across her bloodied chest, over the sealed wound on her neck.

“This isn’t me,” she whispered, startling at the sound of the Empress’s voice. “Zilan, what did you do?”

I couldn’t find the words to answer, could barely raise myself from my hands and knees, still feeling like I was underwater.

“Are you okay?” Yufei said, dragging me upright and then leaning me against the side of the throne.

I nodded, wiping my forehead with the back of my arm, even though I felt half-dead again. My gaze fell to the prince, still lying in a pool of his blood, and I forced myself to crawl down the stairs.

“Jiejie, are there any guards left?” I said, taking the prince’s hand.

She rose to her feet, tripping over her skirts, and peeked out the front door. “No,” she said.

“Are there any bodies that aren’t ripped to pieces?”

She paused, then turned back to me, shaking her head. “Can’t you use that one for Wenshu Ge?” she asked.

“This is the prince,” I said, my mouth numb.

“But it’s the only body we have,” she said. Then her eyes widened and she crossed the room quickly. “Zilan, you’re going to bring Wenshu Ge back, aren’t you?”

I said nothing, my hand tightening around the prince’s.

“Aren’t you?”Yufei said, her eyes wet. “You put me in another body, so you can do the same for Wenshu Ge, right?”

I twisted my fists harder into the prince’s clothes. I thought of the prince finding me in Guangzhou, of telling me I was special, of looking at me like I was every constellation. I thought of Wenshu stabbing the magistrate for me, of always feeding me his portion when food was scarce, of carrying me on his shoulders when we were kids.

I couldn’t bring back both Wenshu and the prince into one body.

“Zilan,” Yufei said, grabbing my sleeve.

“Shut up!” I said. “Shut up, I need to think.”

“Tothink?” Yufei said.

But I couldn’t listen to her anymore, so I slammed three bloodstones into the prince’s chest and closed my eyes.

I combed through the river for what felt like years. Somewhere above me, I sensed Yufei hovering, but I had to ignore her. After ages of darkness and sour water, I opened my eyes and carved a name into the white skin of his forearm. At last the prince gasped, back arching. He rolled over and coughed blood onto the floor.

Yufei lingered behind me as I cupped his face in my hands.

“Zilan?” he whispered.

I smiled, even though I tasted tears.

---