The world noticed them.
Not because they were loud.
But because they were wounded and still standing.
1. The Moment After the Choice
Qin Mian felt it crawl up her spine first.
A thin, cold sensation, like fingers brushing the back of her neck.
She froze.
Yin Lie felt it half a second later.
Not through danger sense.
Through absence.
Something had stopped behaving like background.
"Don't move," Qin Mian whispered.
Yin Lie's jaw tightened.
"…It already found us."
2. The Broken World Tightens
The fractured sky above them shifted again.
This time, not calmly.
The gaps narrowed, edges grinding together with a low, uncomfortable sound, as if two incompatible ideas were being forced into the same shape.
Light bent sharply. Shadows stretched too far.
The ground pulsed under their feet.
Qin Mian swallowed hard.
"This place doesn't like us anymore."
Yin Lie shook his head slowly.
"No," he said.
"It likes us too much."
3. The Anchor Sends a Warning Too Late
The Anchor surged violently inside Qin Mian's chest.
Not pain.
Direction.
A vector slammed into her awareness, pointing toward a high fracture where the sky looked thinner than the rest.
"…Up there," she gasped.
"It's watching."
Yin Lie followed her gaze.
His pupils narrowed.
"That's not a hunter," he said quietly.
"It doesn't chase."
4. The First Shape Moves
Something slid along the fracture.
Not a body.
Not even a shadow.
A misalignment—space bending around an outline that refused to fully resolve.
Qin Mian's breath shook.
"I can't tell what it is."
Yin Lie's voice dropped.
"Neither can it."
5. A Scavenger, Not a Predator
The thing did not attack.
It circled.
Testing.
Measuring the pressure of their existence against the stability of the space.
Yin Lie understood immediately.
"It feeds on instability," he said.
"On things that are mid-transition."
Qin Mian's stomach twisted.
"…Like us."
6. Yin Lie Does Not Step Ahead
Before, he would have moved in front of her without thinking.
Now—
he didn't.
He shifted sideways instead, placing himself beside Qin Mian, shoulder to shoulder.
She noticed instantly.
"You're not blocking me," she said.
His answer was calm.
"If it targets you," he said,
"I won't erase your reaction."
Her heart pounded.
"That means I can get hurt."
"Yes."
She swallowed.
"…Okay."
7. The First Test Strike
The air compressed violently.
Pressure slammed into Qin Mian's chest, knocking her backward. Pain exploded sharp and real, stealing her breath.
She cried out.
The Anchor screamed in panic.
Yin Lie moved—fast—but not suppressing.
He grabbed her arm, grounding her.
"Stay with it!" he snapped.
"Don't let it flatten you!"
She gasped, tears streaming.
"I'm here—! I'm still here!"
The pressure hesitated.
8. Yin Lie Attacks — and Misses
Ice surged along Yin Lie's arm.
Not smooth.
Not optimized.
Jagged, unstable, cracking as it formed.
He struck.
The ice tore through the space where the distortion had been—
and cut nothing.
The shape slid sideways, not dodging, but refusing to occupy the same definition.
Yin Lie staggered.
Blood dripped from his nose, freezing halfway down.
"…Damn it," he muttered.
Qin Mian felt fear spike hard.
"You're slower."
He didn't deny it.
"Yes."
9. Pain Becomes a Signal
The scavenger pressed closer.
Pressure clawed at Qin Mian's senses, trying to dull them, simplify them, make her easier to consume.
Her vision blurred.
She screamed.
Not in terror.
In defiance.
The Anchor surged violently—wild, unstable, loud.
Yin Lie felt it.
Felt her.
And something inside him reconnected—not calculation, not efficiency—
recognition.
10. Fighting Side by Side
"Left!" Qin Mian shouted hoarsely.
Yin Lie moved instantly—not questioning, not optimizing.
Ice erupted where she pointed.
This time, it hit.
The distortion shrieked—an awful, tearing sound that made the space ripple violently.
The scavenger recoiled.
It could be hurt.
Just not by one of them alone.
11. The World Recalculates
The fractured space vibrated.
Not collapsing.
Not stabilizing.
Observing.
The Third adjusted its assessment.
This pair was unstable.
Dangerous.
Coherent under stress.
That mattered.
12. After the First Contact
The distortion retreated, dissolving into the fracture like a wound pulling itself closed.
The pressure lifted.
Silence rushed back in.
Qin Mian collapsed to her knees, shaking uncontrollably.
Yin Lie dropped beside her, breathing hard, ice cracking along his arms.
"That wasn't the main threat," he said.
She looked up, pale but steady.
"…Just a scout?"
"Yes."
Her hands clenched.
"And it almost killed us."
Yin Lie met her eyes.
"Yes."
Then, after a pause—
"But now," he said quietly,
"it knows we bite back."
End of the Chapter
The broken world had tasted them.
Not as prey.
Not as anomalies.
But as something unstable enough to be dangerous—
and wounded enough to be worth hunting.
Qin Mian wiped the blood from her lip and looked up at the fractured sky.
"Is this what it's going to be like now?" she asked.
Yin Lie didn't soften the truth.
"Yes," he said.
"From now on, the world comes to us first."