Madam Yueying, her face against Tianlong's chest, her dark eyes wet, looked at the young woman. At Bai Lian. At the girl who had given her virginity to save her.
"Bai Lian," she said. Her raw voice was calm. Too calm. The corrupted calm. "Stay here. Stay in the academy. Be safe. I am going with the Lord Immortal. It is my choice."
"No!" Bai Lian screamed. Her green eyes, streaming, were on the headmistress. "No! You're not choosing! You're... you're broken! He broke you! You can't... you can't choose this!"
Tianlong's gold-crimson eyes, on the young woman, held the assessment. The green eyes. The fury. The desperation. The loyalty. The willingness to sacrifice. The protagonist-adjacent qualities. The qualities of a heroine in a story.
"You can accompany too," he said. His voice was casual. The tone of a man adding an item to a shopping list.
