Help! I'm the Plot Device: Just Here to Save the Heroes

Peach Blossom Moon: Chaos Edition

Li Jie stared, then gave a small nod. He reached into his sleeve and placed another in Yuanzhou's hand-a token with a black sun engraving. "Then take this. My token, for entry into the clan."

Yichen blinked between them. "What about me?"

Li Jie ruffled his hair, smiling faintly. "You don't need one."

"Oh? Special treatment?" Yuanzhou teased. Then his smile thinned. "Choose one, then. Him or me."

Li Jie froze, caught off guard. "What?"

"Look at you hesitating."

"I am not. It's you who is asking silly questions."

Yuanzhou's eyes stayed firm, almost too calm. "Choose him."

The smile on Li Jie's face faltered, the mist around them suddenly heavier.

"His father-my uncle-asked me to keep him safe before he passed," Yuanzhou went on. His voice wavered only a little. "If something happens to me, I don't want him straying. He deserves someone... better."

Li Jie's brows drew together. "What are you saying? What could happen to you? Stop talking like an old sage waiting for ascending, Zhao Yuanzhou."

Yichen frowned, heart lurching. "Brother, what-?"

Yuanzhou's lips twitched into sudden laughter. He leaned forward and mussed Li Jie's hair with a swift hand. "Caught you."

"Don't touch my head," Li Jie barked, shoving after him.

But Yuanzhou was already sprinting down the riverbank, laughter ringing. Yichen chased, tugging at Li Jie's sleeve until he followed too.

The laughter of three boys-one prince, one heir, one demon lord-mingled with the rushing of the stream.

Jerry's mind spun in knots.
Princess? A Token? Did I land in a love triangle? And he throw me of the roof when I first met him.

He replayed it-the rooftop, Li Jie's hand shoving him into the abyss. Understandable. He probably held a grudge against Yichen too, everyone thought he was fighting for the throne. But then-why flirt with me? Why drag me out of death twice? Why act concerned suddenly?

Jerry clutched his head. What was that, Li Jie? Teasing? Or something else?

The thought barely settled before the next pull yanked him out of Yichen's body, hurled back into the dark.

Then-heat.

"Where am I?" Jerry gasped, choking. His vision was swallowed by black. "Why can't I see anything? Who are you-why won't you open your eyes-"

And then they did.

The world came back in fragments: the echo of flames, the sharp sting of smoke, the suffocating heaviness of silence. His body swayed as though rising from a deep, dreamless sleep. Vision blurred. Limbs heavy. He blinked hard, confusion thick, unable to place where he was.

Jerry's breath hitched. "Oh my god... my stomach..." His vision cleared, and his soul shriveled. "Wait. I've seen this... before. Zhao Yuanzhou."

Then-pressure.

A cold hand gripped his ankle.

Yuanzhou staggered back in reflex, stumbling into a puddle. Warm, viscous. His palms smacked against it, soaking deep into the fabric of his robes. He looked down. Blood. Everywhere. His hands, his sleeves, his chest-drenched scarlet.

He whipped around. And then-a name slipped from his lips, unbidden.
"Li Jie..."

The palace hall stretched before him, but it was no hall anymore. It was a tomb. The Shadow Clan lay butchered where they fell-women, children, warriors-all annihilated. The walls blackened with soot, the air reeking of iron and rot.