The morning sun over Shanghai did not rise; it bruised. The sky was a heavy, suffocating blanket of grey smog and humidity, pressing down on the city like a wet wool coat.
Inside the abandoned mansion on the edge of the French Concession, the air was still thick with dust and the metallic tang of dried blood.
Li Wusheng opened his eyes.
He did not wake with a gasp or a start. He woke with the slow, terrifying realization that he was still alive. He could feel the floorboards beneath him (he had been moved from the bed to the floor, presumably for safety). He could feel the dampness in the air.
And he could feel her.
Elara was asleep in the armchair a few feet away, curled into a ball, clutching a packet of spicy duck neck like a talisman. Her aura—usually a quiet, flickering candle—was now a dim ember. She felt thin. Stretched.
"You are staring," a voice came from the shadows.
Li turned his head. It hurt. His neck felt like it had been replaced with rusty hinges.
Aldren Valcour was sitting on the windowsill, peeling an orange with his long, deadly claws. The Vampire Lord looked surprisingly domestic, despite the bloodstains on his cuffs.
"She saved you," Aldren said quietly, popping an orange segment into his mouth. "She stitched your soul back together with a hairpin and sheer stubbornness. It was... horrific to watch. And beautiful."
Li tried to sit up. His back screamed in protest, a phantom echo of the lightning bolt, but the Qi flow was stable. The leak was gone.
"I failed," Li rasped. His voice sounded like grinding stones. "I was the shield. And I broke."
"We all broke, Monk," Aldren tossed a piece of peel out the window. "General Lei is a celestial tank. The fact that we are not currently smears of ash on a mountain in Washington is a victory."
Li looked at his hands. They were trembling. "I endangered her. I dragged her into the Void without a secure anchor. We are thousands of miles off course."
"Shanghai," Aldren supplied. "The food is excellent, though the blood is a bit... industrial."
Li closed his eyes. Shanghai. The Pearl of the Orient. A city of twenty-six million souls. And he had brought a war right to their doorstep.
"We must leave," Li said, forcing himself to sit up fully. The room spun, but he grit his teeth and held the pose. "Lei will not stop. She will tear this city apart to find the Key."
"We can't leave yet," Aldren nodded toward Elara. "She is drained. If she uses the Keystone again today, she will burn out. Permanently."
Li looked at Elara again. The exhaustion etched on her face, even in sleep, made his heart ache. He remembered the sensation of her energy pouring into him—warm, chaotic, smelling of rain and coffee. It was the most human thing he had ever felt.
"I will meditate," Li said, crossing his legs into the lotus position. "I will gather the ambient Qi of the city. I will restore my reserves so she does not have to carry us."
"Good luck," Aldren muttered. "The Qi here tastes like diesel."
Part I: The Smoke on the Horizon
Elara woke up to the smell of burning plastic.
For a second, she thought she was back in the office and Gary had put a fork in the microwave again.
Then she opened her eyes and saw the peeling wallpaper, the dust sheets, and the two supernatural men staring out the window.
"What is it?" Elara asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Her body felt heavy, like she was wearing a lead vest.
"Trouble," Aldren said without turning around.
Elara pulled herself up. She walked to the window, her legs wobbling.
She looked out.
To the south, over the rooftops of the French Concession, a plume of smoke was rising. It wasn't the white, puffy smoke of a chimney. It was black, thick, and oily. And underneath it, flickering violently, was a glow.
Not orange fire. Purple fire.
"The Old City," Li Wusheng said. He was standing, though he leaned heavily on the window frame. His face was pale, but his eyes were hard. "Yu Garden. The Chenghuang Miao Temple. It is burning."
"General Lei," Elara whispered.
"She is flushing the pheasants," Aldren corrected. "Or flushing us. She knows we are hiding. She is setting the field on fire to force us to move."
Elara watched the smoke rise. She could hear sirens now—a distant, wailing chorus that was growing louder.
"There are people there," Elara said. "Tourists. Shopkeepers."
"Yes," Li said. "Thousands."
"She's killing them?"
"She is a General of the Heavens," Li said bitterly. "To her, mortals are ephemeral. Like grass. If you burn the grass to kill the snake, the grass grows back next season. It is... arithmetic."
Elara gripped the windowsill. The wood splintered under her fingers.
She remembered the feeling of the medical tent in the Tang Dynasty. The soldiers groaning. The smell of burning flesh.
She remembered the Pirate ship. The crew looking to her for orders.
"We can't stay here," Elara said.
"We must," Aldren argued. "If we step out, she sees us. If she sees us, she strikes. And this time, Monk cannot block it."
"So we just watch?" Elara turned on him. "We watch the city burn?"
"We survive!" Aldren snapped, his red eyes flashing. "That is the mission, Elara! You are the Keystone! If you die, the realms collapse! That is billions of lives versus a few thousand in a shopping district. Do the math!"
"I don't do that kind of math!" Elara shouted. "I work in logistics! I move boxes! I don't trade lives!"
She grabbed her broom—which she had miraculously carried through the portal—and marched toward the door.
"Where are you going?" Li stepped in front of her.
"I'm going to put out the fire," Elara said.
"With a broom?" Aldren asked, incredulous.
"No," Elara said. She looked at Li. "With you."
Li blinked. "Me?"
"You're a water cultivator, right? Cloud Peak Sect? You made it rain on the mountain."
"I... yes. But my core is recovering. I cannot summon a storm large enough to douse a district. Not without draining myself to death again."
"You don't need to summon it," Elara said. She pointed out the window, past the smoke, to the wide, grey expanse of water churning through the heart of the city.
"The Huangpu River," Elara said. "It's right there. Millions of gallons of water."
Li looked at the river. He looked at the fire. He looked at Elara.
"You want me to... move the river?"
"I want you to throw it," Elara said. "And I'll be the battery."
"Elara, no," Aldren grabbed her arm. "You are running on fumes. If you channel that much power, you could burn out your nervous system. You could become a vegetable."
Elara looked at his hand on her arm. She looked up at his worried, ancient face.
"Aldren," she said softly. "In Life 23, when the dragon attacked... did I hide below deck?"
Aldren flinched. He let go of her arm. He looked away.
"No," he whispered. "You jumped into its mouth."
"Exactly," Elara said. "I'm not the kind of girl who hides in a mansion while people burn. I never was. And I'm not starting now."
She turned to the door.
"We're going to the Bund. We're going to fight a god."
Part II: The Bund
The Bund was usually a place of tourists taking selfies and couples walking along the promenade. Today, it was a scene of panic.
Smoke billowed from the south, choking the air. Ash fell like grey snow. Police cars were screaming down Zhongshan Road, trying to cordon off the burning district.
Elara, Aldren, and Li stood on the riverside walkway. The massive skyscrapers of Pudong loomed across the water—the Pearl Tower, the Shanghai Tower—looking like silent, indifferent giants.
The heat from the fire, even a mile away, was palpable.
"The Shades are in the streets," Aldren reported, his vampire sight piercing the smoke. "I see them. They are spreading the purple fire. It doesn't burn wood; it burns spirit. But the heat is igniting the buildings."
"General Lei?" Li asked, scanning the sky.
"She is hovering over the Yu Garden," Aldren pointed. "Watching. Waiting for the mouse to squeak."
"Well," Elara said, stepping up to the railing. Below her, the Huangpu River churned, dark and heavy with silt. "Let's roar."
She turned to Li.
"Connect to the water," she ordered. "Don't try to lift it yet. Just... grab it."
Li Wusheng took a deep breath. He closed his eyes. He extended his hands toward the river.
He felt the water. It wasn't the clean, singing water of the mountain streams. It was heavy. It tasted of oil, salt, cargo ships, and history. It was a dragon, old and tired, sleeping in the mud.
"I have it," Li whispered. "It is... heavy."
"Aldren," Elara said. "Watch our backs. If Shades come, you kill them."
"With pleasure," Aldren cracked his knuckles. He shed his stolen suit jacket, rolling up his sleeves. "I always hated this humidity."
Elara placed her hands on Li's back, right over the healed wound.
"Okay," Elara said. "I'm going to push. You aim."
She closed her eyes.
Roots. Earth. Wind. Sky.
She didn't dig for her own energy this time. She dug deeper. She reached past her own soul, past the forty-six lives, down to the Keystone itself. The infinite well that the Weaver had placed inside her.
It felt like opening a door to a supernova.
"NOW!" Elara screamed.
She shoved the energy into Li.
Li Wusheng's eyes flew open. They glowed—not gold, but blinding, electric blue.
He roared. He lifted his hands.
The Huangpu River exploded.
It wasn't a splash. It was an upheaval. A column of water, fifty feet wide, rose from the riverbed. It twisted, shaped by Li's will and powered by Elara's battery.
It took the shape of a dragon.
A massive, liquid dragon, shimmering with the oil and silt of the city, rose over the Bund. It roared—the sound of a thousand crashing waves.
Tourists screamed and ran. Cars swerved.
"Send it!" Elara yelled, her veins burning with white fire.
Li thrust his palms forward.
The Water Dragon flew. It surged over the city, flying through the air, ignoring gravity. It arched over the French Concession, heading straight for the plumes of purple fire in the Old City.
Part III: The Collision
High above the Yu Garden, General Lei watched the chaos with disinterest. The burning of the mortals meant nothing. It was simply heat.
Then she felt the surge.
She turned. She saw it.
A massive serpentine construct of river water, flying through the smog, glowing with blue Qi.
"So," Lei smiled, her steel fan snapping open. "The mouse bites back."
She didn't move to dodge. She waited.
The Water Dragon crashed down onto the burning district.
It didn't just dump water. It slammed into the purple fire with the force of a tidal wave. Water meets spiritual fire.
HISSSSSSS.
Steam exploded. A cloud of white steam, miles wide, engulfed the Old City instantly. The purple flames hissed and died, smothered by the sheer volume of the river.
The physical fires were crushed. The spiritual fires were drowned.
On the ground, the Shades shrieked as the water hit them. The river water, charged with Li's Qi, acted like acid to the void constructs. They dissolved into black sludge.
Back on the Bund, Li Wusheng collapsed to his knees, panting.
"It is done," he gasped. "The fire is out."
Elara didn't let go of him. She was trembling, smoke rising from her clothes. "She sees us now."
"Yes," Aldren said, turning from the railing. "She does."
A bolt of lightning struck the pavement ten feet away.
General Lei descended from the steam cloud. She didn't look amused anymore. She looked annoyed. Her pristine robes were damp. Her hair was frizzy.
"You threw a river at me," Lei stated, landing on the promenade.
"I missed," Li wheezed, standing up with Elara's help. "I was aiming for your face."
"You have spirit, Li. I will give you that," Lei walked forward. The tourists had fled. The Bund was empty, save for the three fugitives and the god. "But you have no moves left. You are drained. The Vampire is a glorified brawler. And the girl..."
Lei looked at Elara.
"You are dangerous, child. You wield power you do not understand. You are a child playing with a loaded gun."
"I hit the target, didn't I?" Elara said, her voice shaking but defiant.
"You put out a fire," Lei scoffed. "And you revealed your position. Checkmate."
Lei raised her fan. The sky darkened. The steam cloud above swirled, turning into a thunderstorm.
"I am done playing," Lei said. "I will take the Key. If I have to peel her soul from her corpse, so be it."
"Aldren," Elara whispered. "Plan B."
"We have a Plan B?" Aldren asked, eyeing the lightning.
"The river," Elara said. "We didn't just use it for ammo. Li, tell him."
Li smiled. It was a weak, bloody smile.
"The Dragon's Pulse," Li said. "Every great river has a ley line. A spiritual current that runs beneath the water. It is fast. It is chaotic. And it is hidden from the Heavens."
"You want to jump into the river?" Aldren looked at the dark, churning water below. "It is full of pollution! And eels!"
"Better eels than lightning," Elara said.
"DIE!" General Lei screamed, unleashing a torrent of electricity.
"JUMP!" Elara yelled.
She grabbed Aldren and Li. And for the second time in twenty-four hours, Elara Vance threw herself into the unknown.
They vaulted over the railing.
The lightning struck the spot where they had been standing, shattering the concrete.
They hit the water.
Part IV: The Underwater Highway
The shock of the cold water was instant. It was dark, murky, and tasted of oil.
But Li Wusheng was in his element.
As soon as they submerged, Li activated the Dragon's Pulse. He didn't use a portal. He grabbed the spiritual current of the river itself.
A bubble of air formed around them—a sphere of rotating water that acted like a submarine.
WHOOSH.
The current caught them. It yanked them forward with the speed of a bullet train.
Inside the bubble, it was silent. The roar of the city, the thunder of General Lei—it all vanished.
Elara gasped, coughing up river water. She was floating in the center of the bubble. Aldren was clinging to the "wall" of the sphere, looking green.
"I hate water," Aldren gagged. "I hate it so much. It ruins the suede."
"We are moving," Li said, his hands glowing as he navigated the ley line. "We are traveling downstream. Toward the ocean."
"Where does the ocean take us?" Elara asked, wiping slime from her face.
"Away," Li said. "The ocean is vast. Even Lei cannot scan the entire Pacific."
"We are going to America?" Aldren asked hopefully. "Back to the cabin? I left my flannel shirt there."
"No," Li said grimly. "The current is pulling us South. Toward the old magic."
"What old magic?"
"The South China Sea," Li said. "There are islands there. Hidden islands. Where the rogue cultivators live. Where the demons trade. It is a lawless place."
"Pirates," Elara whispered. A memory flickered. Valeriana. The scent of salt and gunpowder.
"Yes," Li looked at her. "Pirates. Smugglers. Exiles. It is the only place Lei has no jurisdiction."
Elara looked out into the murky darkness of the river zooming past them. She saw shapes in the silt—fish, trash, the rusted hull of a sunken barge.
"We ran," Elara said quietly. "We saved the city, but we ran."
"We survived," Aldren said, floating over to her. He put a wet hand on her shoulder. "And you made a General of Heaven look foolish. That is a victory."
"She's going to follow us," Elara said.
"Let her come," Li said, his eyes glowing in the dark bubble. "In the open ocean, I am not limited by the city. If she comes to the sea, I will show her why the Cloud Peak Sect fears the depths."
The bubble accelerated. The lights of Shanghai faded behind them.
They were heading into the dark. Toward a lawless sea, forgotten magic, and a destiny that was spiraling further and further out of control.
Elara closed her eyes. She felt the water rushing around them.
Roots. Earth. Wind. Sky.
And now, Ocean.
She was getting used to the chaos. And that, she realized with a start, was the most terrifying thing of all.
Part V: The Report
General Lei stood on the empty Bund. The rain poured down on her, finally soaking her robes.
She looked at the river. The ripples where they had vanished were already gone.
"The Dragon Pulse," she hissed. "Clever rat."
A Shade materialized beside her. It was larger than the others, wearing tattered armor.
"General," the Shade rasped. "The trail is lost. The water masks their scent."
Lei snapped her fan shut. She turned her back on the river.
"They are heading to the Azure Archipelago," Lei said coldly. "It is the only sanctuary for filth like them."
"The Archipelago is... forbidden," the Shade warned. "It is the domain of the Dragon King. The Heavens have a treaty."
"I don't care about treaties," Lei snarled. Lightning crackled around her, shattering a nearby lamppost. "I want the Key. Prepare the Sky Ships."
"General?"
"We are going to war with the Ocean," Lei declared. "And if the Dragon King gets in my way... I will fry him too."
She walked away, leaving footprints of scorched concrete in the rain.
The hunt was no longer a chase. It was an invasion.