Jun Kai did not slow until he reached the river.
The training grounds had quieted with the night, lanterns dimmed to soft halos in the distance, patrol rotations reduced to low murmurs of movement. But the silence outside did nothing to quiet the unrest beneath his ribs.
He stopped at the water's edge, breath uneven despite his effort to steady it. The moon fractured itself across the river's surface, silver light breaking and reforming with each ripple.
"…Ridiculous."
The word slipped from him under his breath.
Without hesitation, he removed his outer robe and stepped into the water. The cold struck immediately... sharp, invasive, unforgiving. It climbed from his ankles to his thighs, then his waist, until the river rose to his chest. He did not stop there. He walked forward until it reached his shoulders.
Then he submerged completely.
Water swallowed sound.
Swallowed heat.
Swallowed breath.
For a suspended moment, the world narrowed to pressure and biting clarity.
