<blockquote>Luo Binghe peeks up at him, eyes rimmed nearly as red as his demon mark. “Shizun won’t send me away from him?”
Slowly, almost involuntarily, Shen Qingqiu's arms come up to embrace Luo Binghe in return. He’s already gone totally off-script here, what’s a little more adlibbing? He has fifteen seconds left before Luo Binghe must enter the Abyss. “I won’t,” he says quietly. “But you must be brave, Binghe. This will not be easy, but there is only one place for us to go. Shizun is sorry.”
The two of them are only a few paces away from the cliff. Even without access to his cultivation, Shen Qingqiu has a height advantage, and more importantly, he has surprise on his side. It is almost too easy to clutch Luo Binghe tighter in his arms, step forward, and --
Shen Qingqiu really hopes he doesn’t die when he hits the bottom. That would be so embarrassing.</blockquote>