Shi Qingxuan tried flipping through the top book in the pile, a fluffy romance they'd read before, but they were too tired to concentrate and instead just lay back and had a nap.

When they woke, they could smell food, and their stomach rumbled a reminder that it had been some time since they ate. Sitting up, they saw a covered bowl on the little table by the bed, which turned out to be full of warm rice porridge sprinkled lightly with dried fish. Was the bowl enchanted to stay warm, or had someone only just placed it there? Well, it wasn't going to sit around long enough for them to find out. Shi Qingxuan took a big spoonful only to choke a little as it went down, and then ate more slowly until the porridge was gone.

Feeling better, they had a proper look at the pile of books. They were all fluffy romances Shi Qingxuan had read before, and exactly the sort of thing He Xuan had always made fun of them for reading. Yet here they were in his house. Adorable.

There was more of He Xuan's stamp in the rest of the room. Shi Qingxuan realised why it was familiar: it was the same sort of decor he'd used in his palace as Ming Yi- understated, but elegant, decorated with swirling designs and delicately worked silver. This was prettier, though, almost feminine, and splashed with a very un-Ming-Yi amount of bright colour. Wait...was that the floral vase Shi Qingxuan had bought for the Wind and Water palace years ago, only for their brother to throw it out for being too tacky? Did He Xuan take it? Or just buy something similar? Either way, was this what he really liked when he wasn't playing a role? Delightful!

Shi Qingxuan carefully got out of bed, the desire to explore further overcoming their bloodloss-induced fatigue. The chest He Xuan had taken the books from turned out to contain more books on a variety of topics: poetry, history, even a little theology. Some were, again, favourites of Shi Qingxuan's, but there were also several of the sort Ming Yi had preferred, and unsuccessfully suggested Shi Qingxuan should try reading themself.

A pretty set of shelves contained some even prettier clay and carved figures, just the sort Shi Qingxuan used to drag Ming Yi to look at whenever they had the chance. Shi Qingxuan couldn't see a speck of dust on any of them, either He Xuan had a lot of guests (unlikely) or he made sure his servants kept this room clean just in case. Were the servants ghosts too? Was Shi Qingxuan the only living person in the house, now that Yu Yanli was gone? It was a strange thought. But no stranger than visiting Ghost City, with its thousands of ghosts. At least here nobody would try to turn them into soup.

Probably.

Curious to learn more about where they were, Shi Qingxuan opened a window, and was rewarded with a face-full of brisk salt air. There wasn't much of a garden, just a few spindly shrubs and a comfortable looking wooden bench under a small tree, all surrounded by high stone walls with a few narrow windows showing hints of a broad blue sea. It wasn't very fancy, but Shi Qingxuan could imagine it being a pleasant place to while away the time in daylight. Did He Xuan sit on that bench, when he was home alone? Reading a fluffy romance, perhaps? It was an endearing image, but faintly melancholy.

There was a padded seat by the window, and Shi Qingxuan sat for a moment, looking out at the stars and watching the the bushes rustle in the breeze. A gust of cool night air made them shiver, and they were reminded of how little clothing they were wearing.

Further exploration led to another chest, this one full of clothes. And not He Xuan's clothing, with their boring blacks and excessive length. These robes were actually pretty, and in a variety of styles for both men and women. The styles were mostly out of date, but otherwise very much to Shi Qingxuan's taste, and even in their size.

Digging through a stack of plain cultivator's robes, they suddenly stopped and let out a gasp. They carefully extracted the delicate fabric, and then held up a beautiful white robe, soft silk embroidered with silver threads forming stylised birds and bats wheeling through flowing clouds. They'd owned a robe just like this, once, but it had gone missing just before everything went to hell. Not that it had made much difference in the end, since they'd lost all their old clothes with their divinity. They hoped whatever god eventually took up the Wind Master mantle appreciated the free wardrobe.

Shi Qingxuan put the robe down again carefully, and went to wash themself properly before they got dressed. Since He Xuan had gone to the trouble of providing them with such nice clothes, they should make sure to treat the clothes with respect. Normally Shi Qingxuan felt a bit uncomfortable dressing in women's clothes when their body didn't match, but it would be a bad idea to change shape while their body was still healing, and they couldn't resist wearing something so similar to their old favourite robes. They could change into something more practical and masculine later.

Once they'd gotten dressed and done up their hair they stared at themself in the mirror, and decided they didn't look too bad. No bosom, of course, and a little narrow in the hips, but with all the feminine layers of underwear and robes they still felt like enough of a woman not to be too uncomfortable about the body underneath. Anyway, a pretty face was a pretty face.

Looking at themself dressed up like this, it was hard not to reminisce. They'd been given the robes these ones reminded them of a a few decades ago by their lover at the time, only to tear them immediately with an overly enthusiastic thank-you hug. The lover had decided to darn the tear herself, having been a very romantic-minded girl, prone to those sorts of sentimental gestures. Well, she had been before she left Shi Qingxuan for another flower goddess, anyway. The robes had been so pretty that Shi Qingxuan had found it easy to forgive her, and they'd kept wearing them even as fashions changed.

These robes really were remarkably similar. The same birds sitting on the shoulders, the same swirling design over the hem... With a growing sense of unease, Shi Qingxuan lifted their arm to look at the under-seam...and there was a visible, slightly jagged line, where an inexperienced seamstress had done her best to darn up a tear.

Shi Qingxuan's strength left them in a sudden wave of fear, and they fell to their knees. They crawled over the the chest again, going through the clothes more carefully this time, seeing how many more were familiar. How many more were items they had lost, and thought they'd never see again.

It was quite a few. Not just from recent years, either. There were some Shi Qingxuan could only barely remember owning, and others so out of fashion they could easily imagine having owned the item once, and then forgotten it.

They wanted to tear off the robes and throw them to the ground.

But what would they wear instead? And these were Shi Qingxuan's robes, not He Xuan's. That much was undeniably clear. They had been a source of strength once, they could be one again.

Because Shi Qingxuan was going to need their strength.

Nobody tried to stop them.

In fact the halls and courtyards of He Xuan's manor were suspiciously empty, it was eerily reminiscent of that other residence he'd built, with its empty rooms and hidden secrets.

What secrets did this one hold?

Outside of the thick-walled building containing Shi Qingxuan's room, the decor was even more reminiscent of Ming Yi's palace, and not at all feminine or pretty. Apparently, only Shi Qingxuan's chambers were designed with their tastes in mind.

At least He Xuan had been honest about this not being a palace. Shi Qingxuan didn't have the energy to walk very far, but only had a few false starts before they found a door to the outside.

Shi Qingxuan was still left gasping by the exercise, and had to collapse on a decorative rock sitting not far from the door. But the building they'd escaped from loomed over them like the entrance to hell, and they forced themself up. To where, they weren't sure. They just had to get away. Part of them felt like they were over-reacting, being paranoid- was it really so bad, that He Xuan had made quarters to Shi Qingxuan's tastes? But another part of them remembered the last time He Xuan had made detailed secret plans involving them. They had visions of shackles, and rags, and cold stone walls splashed with filth and blood. They kept walking, as fast as their shaking legs could take them.

The next time they had to catch their breath, they turned back to look at the set of buildings they'd escaped from. It really was just a house. A large house, with room for servants and guests, but far more humble than the sort of residence you saw in the heavens. Tasteful, even. The gardens on this side of the house were more extensive than the courtyards inside, or the little garden in front of Shi Qingxuan's room, and the kitchen gardens looked large enough to feed a household indefinitely. Assuming anyone in it needed to eat. There were no dungeons they could see, but Shi Qingxuan knew better than to assume that everything in this place was visible at first glance. And there was certainly plenty of water, the garden was criss-crossed by a network of canals and ponds, any one of which could be a portal to who-knows-where.

They kept forcing themself forwards, past herb gardens and over bridges, stumbling on the uneven ground and scraping the skin on their hands and unshod feet. The moon was full, but being able to see where they were going wasn't much help when their legs refused to walk straight. And then the neat flower beds gave way to messy scrub, and then a rocky beach, and there was nowhere left to run. They reached the edge of the island they were trapped upon, and collapsed onto the rocky shore. They looked out at the endless sea, the inky depths of Black Water Sinking Ships's domain, and laughed until they cried.

"Are you going to try to swim?"

He Xuan was standing a short distance away, and didn't come any closer. Shi Qingxuan hadn't bothered to call for him. As if there was any chance he hadn't been watching the whole time.

"No," said Shi Qingxuan. "What would be the point?"

He Xuan didn't reply.

Shi Qingxuan painfully shifted their bad leg so it was less uncomfortable to sit on. "How long has this been here?" they asked, leaning back on a sand-dusted bush and absently noticing how much they'd torn the robe's beautiful hems.

"The island is older than either of us. The house I built...maybe a century ago. I wanted a second base in case the first was ever compromised, something small and easily overlooked."

"And what about the...the room you made for me?"

"Fifty years ago, or thereabouts. Some parts are newer."

He didn't even try to deny it. So much for being paranoid. Shi Qingxuan let out a shaky breath. "Fifty years! Why?"

"A kinder prison, should I require it."

Shi Qingxuan's breath broke in a sob, and they curled into a ball in a vain attempt to feel safe.

"It's not a prison now," said He Xuan, voice almost gentle. Almost sad. "It's just a room. You can go whenever you want. I have had my revenge. I only took you here because you called for me, and I didn't know where else would be safe."

"Really? You'd let me..." let me run, they nearly said. But run where? "Let Xie Lian come for me, if I called him?" As always, Shi Qingxuan had to rely on others to fight their battles.

"You haven't already?" He tried to sound indifferent, but Shi Qingxuan knew that, at least, was a lie.

"No. At first I was just panicking. And then...I wanted to talk to you first." But they'd certainly thought about it. It was Xie Lian who'd saved Shi Qingxuan from He Xuan the first time, who'd whispered his identity in their ear when they thought "Ming Yi" was protecting them. Was safe.

Was he safe now?

"And are you satisfied?" asked He Xuan, standing a little closer now.

Were they? Shi Qingxuan couldn't decide how they felt. "I...I still don't really understand," they said, arms tight around their knees. "A kinder prison? Why did you make this place, then choose to keep me...to lock me up in the other prison? Why make a kinder prison at all, if you weren't going to use it? Why keep it all this time?"

He Xuan was silent for a moment, and then he sighed. "Because a ridiculous part of me thought I could have my revenge without destroying you. A pleasant lie I told myself. But ultimately...I knew how things would end."

So he'd lied to himself, too, for all those years. Somehow, that made Shi Qingxuan feel better.

"You didn't destroy me," said Shi Qingxuan. "I'm still here." They were damaged and traumatised, yes, their life so much worse than they ever imagined it would be. But not destroyed.

"And so am I," said He Xuan. "In that respect, my plan failed entirely."

Shi Qingxuan didn't want to think about that, about what it would mean if He Xuan's plan had succeeded in that respect.

"What was the original plan, then?" they asked. "To take me here and then...imprison me? For how long?" Without any cultivation, Shi Qingxuan would have been as trapped by the ocean as surely as by any shackle or stone wall. They still were.

"Long enough to have my revenge," said He Xuan. "I always planned make you understand who I am, what happened to me. To take away your stolen divinity." To give Shi Qingxuan a taste of the terrible pain He Xuan had suffered before he died. The pain that still drove him now. "But then...then I would separate you from your brother. Kill him, be free, without involving you further."

"And I'd still be trapped here?" Shi Qingxuan could just imagine it, wandering the empty island, physically comfortable but unable to leave, not knowing what was happening to their brother. Or, worse, knowing, and being able to do nothing to stop it.

"No. Once I was gone, you'd be free too." As if He Xuan letting go of their hold on existence was the same as Shi Qingxuan being able to move around as they pleased. Maybe, to him, it was. "I would have just as happily left you with the Rain Master if you weren't so insistent on throwing yourself...well, it doesn't matter, does it? I had no use for this place, in the end. There was no separating you."

Right. Even knowing the consequences, even knowing everything their brother had done, Shi Qingxuan couldn't imagine ever choosing to abandon their brother to save their own skin. There was nothing He Xuan could have said or done to change that.

But if they had been separated, somehow...Would being imprisoned here instead have felt like a reward, or a punishment? At least, the way things played out, Shi Qingxuan was there by their brother's side in the end, and had the chance to try to persuade He Xuan to spare him. Even if He Xuan being persuaded to spare Shi Wudu was no more possible than Shi Qingxuan being persuaded to abandon him.

"I...I'm not sure if it's better or worse," said Shi Qingxuan, "knowing that you could have used this place, and chose not to."

"Like I said, it was never going to happen," said He Xuan. "You were always such a loyal sibling." He managed to make it sound like an insult. As if He Xuan wasn't motivated by family loyalty just as strongly.

"Then why did you build it?" asked Shi Qingxuan. "You went to so much trouble. And for so long!" Shi Qingxuan could barely imagine it. Fifty years, He Xuan had watched Shi Qinguan, had watched and thought about what they liked, what would make them happy, and then tried to recreate those things here. Fifty years, and he never used this place, might never have brought Shi Qingxuan here at all were it not for the happenstance of the attack. Yet there still wasn't a speck of dust on the shelves, nor a single weed in the garden.

He Xuan looked away. "Who knows." He brushed his hand along the leaves of a small and twisted tree, bent over by the wind from the sea. "Once you're gone, I'll destroy it."

"What?"

He scoffed. "You would rather I keep it?"

"I...maybe? You...you made it for me."

"As a prison."

"You said you were lying to yourself. That means you didn't really want to hurt me. You didn't want it to be a prison. You wanted to use it keep me safe."

"I am what I am, and I did what I did." He shook his head and laughed darkly. "What's the point. You always see what you want to see."

"And you always see the worst in everything!" Shi Qingxuan let out a deep sigh, and slowly dragged themself back to their feet. "He Xuan. Will you please help me back to my room?"

"Why?" asked He Xuan. "So you can run out again?"

"I'm not going to run," said Shi Qingxuan, limping towards them. "I'm sorry."

"You're apologising to me?" He Xuan shook his head, as if in disbelief. "Anyone would run, and with good reason." But he walked towards Shi Qingxuan, closing the distance quickly to save Shi Qingxuan's feet the extra pain. "You're ridiculous. You should call for your friend the scrap immortal. You should leave and never look back."

Maybe they should. But they weren't going to.

"You're ridiculous," said Shi Qingxuan, and took his arm. He Xuan stared at them for a moment, as if waiting for Shi Qingxuan to change their mind. But they just started leading them both back slowly to the house. Their feet stung like crazy. The next time they ran away in a panic, they should remember to put on shoes first. "You stole my clothes. You couldn't have just bought me new ones?"

"As if you have ever worn anything I've picked out for you."

Shi Qingxuan laughed, with only a slight edge of hysteria. "I'm not sure most prison wardens worry about that sort of thing, you -nng!" They hissed as an especially sharp pebble dug into their foot, and stopped walking. The panicked energy that had gotten them to the water's edge had worn off, and now they could barely stand. They wobbled unsteadily and had to lean against He Xuan to avoid losing their balance. "This isn't working. You're going to have to carry me."

"Most prison wardens don't worry about this sort of thing either," muttered He Xuan, then pulled Shi Qingxuan up onto his back. It should feel awkward, or scary, but Shi Qingxuan was mostly just relieved not to have to walk any further, and rested their woozy head on the softness of He Xuan's shoulder.

"I still don't understand you," they murmured. "Even while you were planning to ruin my life, you still wanted to make sure I had clothes I liked."

A cool breeze whispered past as they travelled back through the garden, carrying the scent of fennel and citrus blossom. Shi Qingxuan shivered, and wondered what this place would look like to them in daylight. Like a prison? Or a sanctuary?

"How would you plot to ruin someone's life?" asked He Xuan, as his previously cold back started to radiate a gentle heat. "On purpose, that is."

"I...I wouldn't," said Shi Qingxuan.

"Exactly," said He Xuan, as they reached the house. As they headed to the chambers He Xuan had created as as a prison for Shi Qingxuan, but only ever used to save their life. "Don't try to understand the logic of someone who would."