Power Up, Artist Yang!

Just like everything else from this day, it all happened faster than Yujia could process it.

She was falling through the air for just the briefest of a second. Then, there was a sharp jolt.

Yujia looked up. Feet dangling weightlessly, she was hanging in the air. The only thing keeping her from falling was her hand, tightly clenched around Xie Yufeng's. 

Yufeng had saved her life, but— 

A sliver of faint light from the stars was just enough for Yujia to see Yufeng grabbing onto the edge of the cliff they had just stumbled off of. Yufeng had lurched over the cliff too, the only thing keeping them suspended in the air being her hand on the edge.

Yufeng glanced down at her, gritting her teeth. "Hold on to my hand," Yufeng ordered. Her voice, for the first time, sounded breathless to Yujia. "Don't let go."

Yujia's palms were sweating. Or was it Yufeng's? 

She couldn't find a voice to respond to Yufeng with. She could barely breathe. She could barely think, even. 

She was hanging at the edge of a cliff. It was a cliff that hung over a chasm of darkness. She couldn't see how high up it was, with the shadows that swallowed her feet, but she wouldn't have the guts to look down either. 

Yufeng was hanging, too. Yufeng was hanging for her life at the cliff's edge, but she was hanging for Yujia's life as well. If she fell, Yujia, too, would fall.

At this point, both of Yujia's hands had gone up, holding onto Yufeng's hand. They were trembling. Every fiber of her muscles were tensed, strained. She could not let go. She could not let go. She could not let go.

Yet simultaneously, with such pain, she could already envision herself falling. It only took a slip of a hand, a moment of hanging that went past their strength. And then, she would be falling, falling, and falling.

She could not let go.

As Yujia held on for her life, she felt Yufeng's attempts to pull them upwards. It was of no use. Yufeng may have been strong, but she was clutching the crumbling edges of a cliff by the fingertips of one hand, all the while another person's weight dragged her down. Yujia was not sure for how much longer she could hang on either. 

It was impossible to hang on forever. It was even more impossible to expect Yufeng to pull them up, back to safety. It would be a different matter if Yujia was not weighing Yufeng down. 

Yujia's lips parted. She could not let go. 

Or— could she?

There were only two options: she could sacrifice her life to let Yufeng save herself, or both of them would fall to their doom.

She knew this. Yufeng knew this as well.

A leaf that fluttered past in the wind caught in Yujia's hair. An extra heartbeat skipped in her c.h.e.s.t. Resolute passed through her gaze. 

She could let go. She needed to let go.

Slowly, Yujia let her second hand drop, so that she was only hanging onto Yufeng by one hand.

Immediately after feeling this, Yufeng yelled, "What are you doing?"

It was difficult to find her voice, but she did. With something caught between a harsh whisper and a breath of air, Yujia told Yufeng, "Let go of me."

Yufeng's head twisted towards her again. "Are you insane? I'm not going to. I can pull us up. Just— I'm not going to let you fall. I'm not going to let us fall." 

"Yufeng," Yujia said, finding her voice rising, "you know you can't. Not with me like this. Let go of me. Save yourself. Please." 

"I won't—" Yufeng's hands tightened around Yujia's even more, her nails digging into Yujia's skin.

Yujia found words tumbling out of her mouth in a rush. "I beg of you, please— let go of me. I need you to save yourself. I can't drag you down with me. You just— please— let go." 

"If I let go now, I can't live with this guilt." 

"There's no other choice. You have to." Her last words came out loud and sharp, something close to a yell.

Yufeng replied back, her voice equally loud with a shout, "YANG YUJIA! Today on this cliff, I swear that I will never let you go. If we're falling, we're falling together." 

"Yufeng—"

Yujia's words were cut short. She saw something above. A flicker of light. Yellow light. Light from a torch.

There were sounds. Footsteps. People were coming. They were running through the forests.

People. Bandits?

Yujia couldn't afford to care as of this moment.

At the top of her lungs, she hollered, "HELP! HELP US." 

The burning light grew brighter. She could hear the voices of men. The footsteps, along with the voices, grew louder.

And then, she felt the sensation of being pulled up.

It was like a miracle, but Yujia didn't have time to let out a breath of relief. If these were bandits, her and Yufeng could be going from one life-threatening situation to the next.

But when she was finally pulled over the ledge, her knees touching soft grass again, she saw the faces of those who had saved her. Illuminated by the golden light of their torches, they were men dressed in the armor and uniform of soldiers. 

One of the soldiers held his arm out, helping her up. Another helped Yufeng to her feet.

The one facing Yujia asked, "You— what are you two women doing on a mountain like this?"

Yujia's eyes were fixed on his, scanning his face over and over again. "You are soldiers. You all are soldiers," she spoke breathlessly. "Not bandits." Her hand gripped tightly around his arm.

"No, not bandits," he replied. "We are loyal soldiers that serve Xiang." 

Hearing this confirmation, Yujia felt a breath that she had been holding escape her. Her entire body was trembling, so much. Her legs felt weak; her knees could collapse under her at any moment. 

Before she could fall over, Yujia let go of the soldier's arm. Then, she spun to Yufeng, pulling Yufeng into a hug. Yujia buried her face into Yufeng's shoulder. She felt Yufeng's arms wrapping around her as well, pulling Yujia even closer.

For the first time, Yujia could feel her own face again. She finally noticed the salted tears running down her cheeks. Even if she tried, she couldn't stop them from spilling out. They were tears coming from somewhere deep inside of her, tugging at her heartstrings. The tears fell and fell and fell.

They were safe. 

It felt like a dream.