At the sight of the creature wrapped around the temple, Leila pulled the whip from her waist and took a defensive stance. Guangfeng’s hand moved to the sword at his waist and Willow also took up a martial stance.

Byakko snorted and lowered himself to his belly to allow Yuelan to get down on her own and the young priestess slid off the tiger and walked forward and past the others.

“Yuelan--” Guangfeng reached out to try and stop her.

She turned to look at him and smiled. “It’s alright, Guangfeng. The three of you don’t stand a chance against the Azure Dragon, even with him as weak as he is right now. And if he were going to harm us, he already would have.”

As if to confirm what Yuelan had said, the serpentine body shifted until a head appeared. The giant dragon uncoiled itself until the head reached Yuelan then ever so gently nuzzled her before the dragon’s body shimmered and a human man with hair the color of the dragon’s scales took its place. The man looked weak and tired, but he wrapped his arms around Yuelan and hugged her. “I would never harm my own granddaughter, no matter how many generations may have passed between her and my daughter. I see that brat He did not come.”

Yuelan looked up at the Azure Dragon. “You’re the one who has been calling me.” It was a statement, not a question, and Yuelan’s voice was firm and sure.

“Of course. Unfortunately, I have been too weak to do more than whisper to you. I am Seiryu, but you, Yuelan, may naturally call me Grandfather.” The Azure Dragon gave her a tired smile. “Now come. There is much work to be done and little time in which to do it. Your companions must wait outside and guard the temple, but Byakko may come with you.”

The white tiger shimmered and took on his human form and then the two divine beasts ushered Yuelan into the ruins of the temple, leaving Guangfeng, Willow, and Leila behind with stunned expressions.

Yuelan followed Seiryu through the ruins and into the main building. Rotting floors made it so the trio had to step carefully to get to the entrance to the secret room. Just as in the temple in Zhongshu, Yuelan had to go down stairs and through passageways, but this time Seiryu led her instead of having her decide which way felt right.

The chamber Seiryu led her to looked just like the one that had been in the secret room of Zhongshu: small with a large piece of moldavite placed in the center on a pillar and three silk cushions for meditating on, but this time there was no crystal in the wall to play a message for Yuelan.

“You know what to do?” Seiryu asked her.

“The same thing as I did in Zhongshu, right? I repair the tapestry.” Yuelan settled herself on the center cushion and tried to relax.

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Seiryu nodded as he and Byakko settled themselves beside her. “If that is how you see it, then yes. Repair the tapestry.”

Yuelan focused her eyes on the moldavite crystal in front of her and steadied her breathing as she began to meditate. When the tapestry appeared before her there was the section to the left she had already repaired, the section representing the west and Zhongshu. Before her was a section riddled with holes, more than she remembered there being the last time she’d seen it. There was hardly anything left of it for her to work with. Before she started, Yuelan checked the rest of the tapestry. The sections at the top and bottom were in bad shape, but not nearly as bad as the section before her.

Her scrutiny finished, Yuelan started carefully repairing the tapestry.

***

Outside the temple, Guangfeng, Willow, and Leila watched as the air around them began to shimmer. It was faint at first, but as more time passed it became stronger and stronger. The creatures in the forest started to gather around. At first, the three had to fight to defend themselves because the creatures that came attacked them, but as the shimmering air grew stronger, the most of the beasts became less and less aggressive, but some still tried to attack only to find themselves unable to get through the shimmering, which had formed into a barrier surrounding the temple.

“How long is this going to take?” Leila asked on the second day after the barrier had formed. It was the fourth day since Yuelan had gone inside.

“It took three days last time,” Guangfeng answered. Willow was sleeping nearby. The group had decided on sleeping in shifts, one would sleep and two would stand guard, just in case.

“Well, it’s been longer than three days. Don’t you have a better answer? Isn’t she supposed to be your fiance?” Leila frowned at Guangfeng.

“I do not know how long it will take her or even what exactly she’s doing in there. No one was allowed in last time either.” Guangfeng looked back at Leila with a calm expression that was very different from the anxiety he felt. “All we can do is wait for her to finish and return.”

“Useless,” Leila snorted. Her eyes turned away from the prince and back to the creatures trying to get through the barrier. “You’re so calm, like whether she lives or dies has nothing to do with you.”

“To survive in the imperial family you learn to hide your emotions,” Guangfeng retorted. “Otherwise they’ll be used against you.”

“Some family.”

Guangfeng looked over at Leila. “The concubines and the empress fight for my father’s favor and they use whatever means they have at their disposal. Including murder. Those with sons fight to have their sons named crown prince. They stage ‘accidents’ and cause others to miscarry, plot who their sons should marry to give them the best advantages, and in general the place is worse than the battlefield.”

“And you’re going to just throw the priestess in your harem and leave her to a constant fight to the death for the rest of her life?” Leila’s eyes narrowed and she frowned at him.

“Of course not. I have no intention of ever taking a concubine. Yuelan will be the only one in my harem.” Guangfeng looks calm, but he turns his head toward the temple, looking for some sign that Yuelan is coming out. “My mother was murdered when I was still a child. I was fortunate to survive. I won’t subject anyone to that sort of life.”

Leila snorted. “At least someone in Longuo has their head on the right way.”