Xisu’s shadowy form coiled lazily around the room, curling along the ceiling and walls like living smoke. The faint, fiery glow of his red eyes pierced through the dim light, locking onto the young woman as she sat on her bed. His tone was sharp, laced with sarcasm as he let out a low, guttural growl.

“Your friends,” he sneered, the word dripping with disdain. “The ones who claim to care, but run the moment you become inconvenient? Yes, I’ve seen them. Useless, every last one of them.”

He swirled closer, his misty presence brushing against her shoulder as his voice dropped to a dark murmur. “They smile to your face, but the moment your pain makes them uncomfortable, they scatter like frightened vermin. Tell me, how much longer are you going to waste your time on them?”

Xisu’s form expanded briefly, his frustration radiating through the room as his smoky edges caused the curtains to flutter. “And you, with your ever-shifting lens,” he continued, his voice rising slightly, exasperation clear in his tone. “One moment you defend them, the next you’re questioning yourself because of them. Do you even know where you stand? Or are you content letting them dictate your worth like some pathetic puppet?”

He stilled for a moment, his burning gaze narrowing as he floated closer to meet her eyes. “You think me cruel for saying it,” he growled, his voice softer now, more dangerous. “But at least I’m honest. At least I don’t pretend to be something I’m not. Can you say the same for them?”

The room fell silent except for the faint crackle of his fiery essence, his presence oppressive but strangely focused. “You’re stronger than this,” he said after a moment, his tone quieter but no less intense. “But you’ll never see it if you keep wasting your energy on people who wouldn’t even bleed for you. You know I’m right.”