ORACLE'S PERCH – Afternoon Session
Dream vision:
"Xiao'xiao, come back! I'm waiting for you."
A low, mature voice, warm as aged wine, yet carrying an ache that pierced the soul.
Yu Xiao jolted awake, gasping, nearly tipping her chair backward. Her heart pounded hard against her ribs—her whole body numb, heavy as stone.
She pressed a trembling hand to her forehead, trying to steady her breath. Sweat slicked her brow, and for a moment the world spun.
Mei Zhu noticed instantly, rushing over, worry etched deep in her frown.
"What's wrong, Xiao?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry," Xiao croaked. Her voice was hoarse, her body curling forward as a sharp, twisting pain stabbed her stomach.
Zhu pressed the back of her hand to Xiao's forehead, eyes going wide. "You're burning up! You're sick!"
Yu Xiao's breathing grew ragged, fingers clutching at her chest and stomach. Her skin had gone deathly pale, lips tinged blue as she grimaced in silent agony.
"Yu Xiao, talk to me!" Zhu's voice cracked, panic rising as she shook Xiao's shoulders, hands cupping her cheeks.
"You're so pale—are you hurt?" She pulled Xiao into a desperate hug.
"Hurt…" Xiao whispered, eyelids fluttering. "Why do I suddenly feel like this?"
Zhu's panic spiked. She gripped her friend's cold hands. "Stay here—don't move—I'll get medicine!" She bolted for the supply tent.
Editor Gao and the senior staff stopped working, screens going dark as everyone circled around.
"What happened?" Editor Gao asked, brow furrowed with worry. "Somebody get Ms. Wang—now!" A crew member sprinted off.
Zhu rushed back, clutching the medicine kit, face flushed, hands shaking. "I brought it!" She fumbled through the kit, face crumbling. "We're out of painkillers… only fever pills left." She pressed the tablets into Xiao's palm.
Editor Gao uncapped a water bottle and handed it over.
Ms. Wang arrived with Zhiyu right behind her, both shocked to see Xiao slumped, fighting agony.
Ms. Wang knelt, touching Xiao's forehead, cheek, neck. "She's on fire. When did this start?" No one had an answer.
Xiao sat hunched, fighting the sensation of burning coals inside. Her expression was eerily calm, but her skin was paper-white, lips nearly blue.
Editor Gao's voice was urgent. "Ms. Wang, hospital now! Temporary medicine won't help." He checked his watch. "It's three p.m. The nearest ER is far—go now!"
Zhiyu stepped forward and took Xiao's hand, his own voice trembling. "Senior…"
Xiao forced her eyes open. "I'm fine," she rasped.
"You're not." Zhiyu brushed damp hair from her face with gentle fingers.
Xiao closed her eyes again. "Your work isn't finished… I won't leave."
"Senior, your life is more important than any shoot," Zhiyu pleaded, voice breaking. "Please. We need you alive. The set will be here when you come back. Zhu, the whole team—we all need you."
A weak, pained smile curved Xiao's lips. "Fine… I agree."
"Let's go!" Zhiyu slipped an arm behind her, lifting her gently.
Together they carried her four kilometers to the car, Zhiyu never feeling her weight, only terror that he might be too late.
Two hours later, they reached a roadside department store. Xiao had slipped into uneasy sleep in the back seat.
Ms. Wang checked the clock. "Thirty more minutes to the hospital. Let's grab ready-made food—just in case." She exhaled sharply. "You two come with me. She'll be safe for a few minutes."
Zhiyu and Zhu nodded and hurried inside.
When Xiao woke alone in the car, a sharp pressure in her bladder forced her awake. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she dragged herself out and stumbled toward the public restroom beside the store.
Outside, Zhu lifted two grocery bags.
"Ms. Wang, is this enough?"
"Those are for you two," Ms. Wang replied, already moving. "If anything happens, call me. I'll come running."
They were halfway to the car when the roar of an engine tore the air.
An SUV barreled straight toward them, headlights blinding.
Time slowed.
Ms. Wang, Zhu, and Zhiyu froze.
Then—a flash of white. Xiao, somehow on her feet, sprinted despite her fever, slamming into them and shoving all three clear.
The car hit her instead.
Her body flew, spun in the air, and crashed hard onto the concrete.
The SUV sped away, leaving only smoke and silence.
Zhiyu's mind blanked. "Senior Mei!" He scrambled to help Zhu up, then Ms. Wang, who was clutching a bleeding knee. "Ms. Wang, your knee—"
"It's nothing," Ms. Wang hissed, waving him off.
A weak cough sounded behind them.
Zhiyu turned to the car, then saw the empty seat. His head snapped to a crumpled figure on the ground—the white shirt, the dark hair.
The world spun.
"Senior Yu!" he screamed, running, dropping to his knees to cradle her head. Tears fogged his glasses. "Senior! Senior, please!"
Zhu stumbled over, collapsing to her knees, sobbing. "You idiot! Why did you do that!" She clutched Xiao's hand, face wet with tears.
Ms. Wang limped closer, face drained, hand over her mouth, shaking.
Xiao's lips moved, blood trickling. She managed a tiny, broken smile. "If… you all… got hit…" She gasped, each word a fight. "Then… we'd all… end up… in hospital anyway…"
"Stop joking!" Zhu sobbed, pressing Xiao's hand to her cheek.
"Senior, hold on, okay?" Zhiyu begged, tears falling onto her face. "We'll save you—"
"I'm… tired," Xiao whispered. More blood slipped from the corner of her mouth. Her gaze drifted to the darkening sky.
"Don't say that!" Zhiyu cried. "You promised to take us traveling after the shoot—remember? You promised!"
Xiao's lips curved again. She nodded faintly. "I… promise." Her eyes fluttered. "Let me… rest a bit…"
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Xiao's sight dimmed. The world grew shallow, then black. The last thing she felt was a single tear sliding down her cheek.
Her hand slipped from Zhiyu's grasp and hit the ground.
"Senior!" Zhiyu shook her gently. "Senior, no—wake up!"
Paramedics arrived in a rush of shouts and stretcher wheels.
A medic checked her pulse, face grim.
"Pulse is thready—we're losing her! ICU now!"
They lifted her. Zhiyu and Zhu followed, sobbing, Ms. Wang barking orders at the bodyguards.
HUÁNYÌNG GRACE HOSPITAL
"She's stable for now," the doctor said, voice calm but serious. "Multiple fractures, internal bleeding, whiplash, head trauma, soft-tissue damage. She's in a coma. We're moving her to ICU."
Zhu covered her mouth, shoulders shaking.
Zhiyu sat frozen, glasses fogged with tears.
Ms. Wang stood rigid. "Do everything you can, Doctor. Money is no object. She has no family—only us."
The doctor nodded and left.
CELESTIAL REALM – TIGER ASH MOUNTAIN (Hǔhuī Shān)
A black volcano, untouched for thirty thousand years. Its heart is molten lava; its silence absolute. No Nascent Soul cultivator has ever returned from its slopes.
The immortal sect calls it the Forbidden Core.
Deep inside the sealed heart, in a sphere of darkness and fire…
Yu Xiao opens her eyes.
She wears a plain black robe, lies on floating obsidian glass. Ash swirls around her like silver starlight, sinking into her skin.
The mountain hums—an ancient, bone-deep note of ending and beginning.
She sits up slowly.
Her eyes widen, gold and black irises blazing in the dark.
"Where am I?" she whispers.
The sound is so small it should vanish, yet the darkness cradles it, echoing through the mountain's hollow.
Yu Xiao raises her arms, staring at the sleeves of the black robe that clings to her like liquid night.
"How did I…" she stops. Her throat feels raw, as if she hasn't spoken in years.
"Wait!"
Her hands fly to her face, neck, collarbones—desperate to feel something real.
"I'm not dead," she gulps, eyes darting around the darkness.
She pushes herself upright. The obsidian plate rocks gently but holds her weight. Her legs are steady—too steady, as if they've never known weakness.
"What is this place?" she asks the dark, voice cracking with fear and wonder.
A tiny silver-blue spark hovers before her, no bigger than a child's thumb, glittering like a shard of winter moonlight.
"Finally, you came back!"