The world shrank until it felt like a coffin. The cage that held them was no longer white light. It was black, like obsidian bars, and it pulsed like a hungry heart. The air turned thick and hot. Every breath tasted like ash. The altar under their feet stopped feeling like stone. It felt alive. It squeezed, slow and cruel, like it wanted to crush them and drink what was inside.
"Truce!" Su Mei's voice cut through the grinding sound. Her hands moved fast, carving signs in the air. Purple demon qi spilled from her fingers like silk. A clear purple shield formed between her and Wei Chen, then spread to cover Lin Xue too. The Truce Seal chimed softly, like a bell that did not want to ring. Su Mei's eyes stayed on Wei Chen. For the first time, her smile was gone. There was real fear under her lashes. "I can get us out," she said. "But we do this my way. Repeat the terms, Wei Chen. Now."
Wei Chen forced a grin even as his ribs ached from the pressure. "Fine," he said, voice steady. "You help me and Lin Xue escape. You get a taste of my Nine-Suns fire. No draining. No killing. A small sample. That's the deal."
"A small sample," Su Mei said, and her voice turned sweet again, but sharp at the edges. "And you protect me from that thing." She nodded toward the storm above the cliff, where shadows twisted like wet smoke.
From far up, Han's laugh rolled down the mountain like thunder. "He's trapped!" Han shouted. "Ropes! Grappling hooks! Bring formation-breakers! I want Wei Chen alive!"
The killing intent from above was like needles in the air. The black altar loved it. The bars throbbed harder. The storm answered. The shadow-creature crawled back into sight, more solid than before, like darkness had learned how to grow bones. It clung to the cliff face with too many joints and too-long arms. It stared at the altar. It stared at the men above. Then it stared at Wei Chen and Lin Xue, because their mixed Yin and Yang shone like food.
Lin Xue swayed beside Wei Chen. Her skin was turning too cold. Frost formed on her lashes and along the edge of her robe, even in the heavy heat. Her lips were pale. Her blue eyes widened with pain. "The curse," she whispered. "This heat… it's fighting the cold inside me. It's tearing me apart."
Wei Chen's grin vanished. He stepped closer to her at once. "Stop fighting," he said, low and firm. "Look at me."
Lin Xue tried to straighten, but her knees shook. "Don't order me," she snapped, but her voice broke.
Wei Chen took her wrist, careful, not forcing. "Rules first," he said. "Say it. Stop means stop."
Lin Xue's breath hitched. Pride fought inside her face. Then she nodded once, small and hard. "Stop means stop," she whispered. "And… I choose this."
Wei Chen's eyes softened. "Good," he said. He pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist like he was holding a flame from the wind. His body was burning, but he pushed the heat slowly, like a steady river, not a blast. He guided it into her through the bond mark. "Feel it," he murmured near her ear. "Let my fire warm the frozen parts. Don't fight it. Use it."
Lin Xue shuddered, then went still. A small sound left her throat, like a sob that she tried to swallow and failed. Her shoulders loosened. Her back pressed closer to him, not by force, but by need. Wei Chen felt the scent of frost and clean flowers on her hair. He felt her heartbeat stumble, then steady. The bond mark on their wrists flared hot, gold and silver, like a thread turning into a rope.
Wei Chen turned her gently so she faced him. Lin Xue's eyes were bright, angry, and soft all at once. "Don't look proud," she whispered, as if she hated that she needed him.
"I'm not proud," Wei Chen said. "I'm scared for you."
Lin Xue's lips parted. Her breath touched his mouth, cold and trembling. Wei Chen waited one heartbeat. "Do you want this?" he asked.
Lin Xue swallowed. Then she grabbed his collar and pulled him in first. "Yes," she said, almost like a command. "Now."
Wei Chen's lips met hers. Slow at first. Then deeper, hungry, like a promise he couldn't take back. Lin Xue's fingers twisted in his hair. Wei Chen's hands held her waist tight. Heat and frost met between them, and the air filled with a trembling pressure, like their meridians were humming together. For a moment, the black bars around them dimmed, as if the altar hated seeing them become steady.
"Enough," Su Mei snapped, and there was a strange bite of jealousy in her voice. "I made a gap. Be careful."
A small opening appeared in the bars, just big enough for a fist. The moment it opened, the altar reacted like a mouth. The black stone around the gap twisted and pulled. A cold hunger latched onto Wei Chen's core, trying to drink his Yang straight from his dantian.
Wei Chen grunted, teeth clenched. Lin Xue grabbed his arm. "It's pulling you," she whispered, fear sharp now.
"It's a demon formation," Su Mei shouted. "It feeds on panic and killing intent! Don't let it taste your fear!"
Above, stone cracked loud. Han's men broke part of the cliff edge. Rocks and debris rained down onto the altar. The formation shuddered. The shadow-creature sprang upward, drawn to fresh anger and fear. It latched onto a disciple who got too close. His scream cut off fast, like someone snapped a string.
Chaos opened a door.
Wei Chen's mind raced. "Su Mei!" he yelled. "Your demon qi is the key! Lin Xue, your ice is the lock! The moment she weakens the bars, freeze them. I will push!"
Su Mei's smile came back, sharp and wild. "Finally," she said. She slammed her palm into the bars near the gap. Violet demon qi surged like a wave. The black bars hissed and turned sickly gray, weakened and shaking.
"Now, Lin Xue!" Wei Chen roared.
Lin Xue thrust both hands forward. Her eyes went cold and bright. "Frost Lotus," she breathed. Ice burst out, stronger than before, because Wei Chen's heat had steadied her. The weakened bars froze in a blink. Then they shattered with a sound like breaking glass.
"Push!" Su Mei shouted.
Wei Chen drew in one breath, then released the Nine-Suns fury in his chest. Golden Yang exploded outward, not gentle now, but fierce and clean. The broken section blasted open. The whole altar screamed, a sound that wasn't sound, a pain inside the mind.
They ran.
They jumped off the altar onto the cliff path just as the black formation folded in on itself. The altar collapsed inward, shrinking into a point of darkness, then vanishing like it was swallowed by the world.
Wei Chen took one free breath—
And a sharp pain stabbed his chest.
He stumbled, clutching himself. Lin Xue grabbed him. Su Mei's eyes narrowed.
On Wei Chen's skin, near the bond mark, a new symbol burned into place. A black sun, twisted and thorny, with jagged rays like claws. It pulsed with cold hunger.
Su Mei's face went serious. "That mark," she said quietly, "means the altar did not just trap you. It chose you. It branded you. Now it will follow."
Han's voice screamed from above, shaking with rage. "Shoot him!"
Wei Chen's head snapped up.
An arrow flew down, black-feathered, green-tipped, glowing with poison. But it wasn't aimed at Wei Chen.
It was aimed at Lin Xue's heart.
Lin Xue was still weak. She turned too late.
Wei Chen moved without thinking. He threw his body in front of her.
"WEI CHEN!" Lin Xue screamed.
The arrow hit him hard in the back, just under his shoulder. Pain flashed white through his body. Cold poison tried to spread like ice in his veins, trying to stop his heart.
But his Nine-Suns fire answered.
The poison hissed and burned away, like water thrown into a furnace.
Wei Chen still dropped to one knee. Blood darkened the snow.
Lin Xue fell beside him, hands shaking as she reached for him. Her eyes were wide and wet. "Why?" she whispered. "Why would you—"
Wei Chen forced a grin, even through the pain. "Because," he rasped, "I told you… I protect you…"
And the black sun mark on his chest pulsed once, like it was laughing.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.