Jiaoqiu was supposed to be resting. After everything that had happened in the past few hours, he was kindly told by Lingsha that he better stay in his quarters and recover. Of course, the foxian hadn’t taken her advises, hadn’t stayed inside and slowly, shakily escaped — just to hear anything other than silence.

After Hoolay’s defeat, with everyone celebrating, he felt bitter. The sacrifice he had to make, the one that took his eyesight away was gnawing at him, and Feixiao along with Moze weren’t making it any better. The healer wanted for them to not mind, to stay out of this and don’t question his tactic. After all, he did what had to be done, in order to buy them time and opportunity to win. His eyesight is the least price Jiaoqiu could pay.

His long fox ears flinch from time to time, as he stands there silently, hidden from people and his friends. The foxian listens to the sound of the sea nearby, which was now louder than before, thanks to the heightened senses. The loud noise of waves crashing against the ground was muffling his thoughts, and Jiaoqiu felt at peace, not having to think about anything. In this silence, followed by a distant rustle of the wind and sea, he slowly opened his once orange eyes — only to see nothing. The darkness surrounding him remained, and Jiaoqiu scoffed to himself, a bitter smile crossing his pale face. Just what did he expect? Was that an act of vulnerability he didn’t dare to show in front of others?

Eventually, he returned to his quarters. To ease the overwhelming silence, the foxian grabbed some wooden jars of herbs that were giving a pleasant smell, mindlessly running his slender fingers through them and focusing on the soft sound. It was soon followed by an opening door, someone’s footsteps. Jiaoqiu raised his head, his pinkish ears flinching from side to side.

“Is someone here?” He asked, not raising his voice because the loudness of it could hurt. The foxian’s closed eyes were giving him a calm expression, even though inside he was all tensed and agitated.