The coffin lid stayed half shut, but the crack was still there, breathing dark air into the hall. The chains shook like angry snakes. The runes blinked, watching them. Wei Chen stood very still, because his blood felt cold.
From inside the crack, the coffin whispered again, soft and proud. "Chen Wei…"
Lin Xue's hand snapped to Wei Chen's wrist. Her fingers were cold and tight. "It said it," she whispered. Her eyes were wide. "It said your true name."
Su Mei's face was pale. "That's bad," she said. "A stolen true name is like a key. It can call you. It can pull your spirit. It can make your body listen."
Wei Chen forced a grin, even though his chest hurt. "So it's obsessed with me," he said. "I've had worse women chase me."
Lin Xue glared at him, cheeks warming even in fear. "Don't joke."
Wei Chen leaned close to her ear anyway, shameless. "You're jealous," he whispered.
Lin Xue's breath hitched. "This is not jealousy. This is a coffin."
Wei Chen kissed her temple, quick but deep enough to steady her. "Rules," he murmured. "Stop means stop. You choose."
Lin Xue swallowed. "Stop means stop," she whispered. "And I choose you. Stay with me."
The gold-and-silver rope between their bond marks flared, and the black mist hissed back like it got burned. For one heartbeat, the coffin went quiet, like it hated seeing them lock together.
Then it laughed.
The crack widened by a finger. Cold and heat rolled out at once. The chains lifted and pointed toward Lin Xue's wrist like a claw.
"Give me the anchor," the coffin voice purred. "Give me the ice girl. I return your name."
Lin Xue stiffened. Frost crawled up her arm. "No," she said, but her voice shook.
Wei Chen stepped in front of her. His fan snapped open. "You can have my fan," he said. "Not my woman."
The coffin voice turned sweet. "Then I take you."
Wei Chen's black sun brand pulsed hard. A tug grabbed his ribs, like someone hooked a fish line into his heart. He grunted and grabbed the edge of the coffin chain to stay standing.
Su Mei moved fast and pressed her palm to Wei Chen's chest, right beside the brand. "Don't let it pull you," she hissed. "Look at me."
Wei Chen's eyes flicked to her. "Why?" he rasped.
Su Mei's mouth tightened. "Because I'm the only demon here who knows demon tricks," she snapped. Then, softer, she added, "And because I don't want you stolen by a box."
Wei Chen tried to smirk. "That sounded like care."
Su Mei's eyes flashed. "Don't get proud. I'm invested."
Lin Xue's grip tightened on Wei Chen's sleeve. "What do we do?" she whispered.
Su Mei spoke quickly. "We lock his name to a living sound," she said. "If the coffin can speak it, we drown it out with our own anchor. Not just the mark. Not just the vow. A choice it can't fake."
Wei Chen swallowed. "What choice?"
Su Mei glanced at Lin Xue, then back to Wei Chen. "A three-way lock," she said. "Ugly, but strong. Lin Xue anchors your true name with her bond. I coat it with demon seal so the coffin can't bite it again."
Lin Xue's eyes narrowed. "Your demon seal will touch our bond."
Su Mei's smile turned sharp. "Yes. And you'll hate it."
Lin Xue's cheeks warmed. "I do hate it."
Wei Chen's grin returned, naughty even with pain. "Say it louder," he teased Lin Xue. "Claim me again. I like it."
Lin Xue glared at him, then surprised him by pulling him close by the collar. "Chen Wei," she said, voice firm. "You are mine by choice."
Wei Chen's breath caught. "Good," he whispered. "Now kiss me like you mean it."
Lin Xue froze for one heartbeat, then kissed him—slow, deep, and shaking. Their bond rope flared gold and silver, bright like dawn. The coffin hissed, and the pulling on Wei Chen's chest weakened for a moment.
Su Mei clicked her tongue. "Stop flirting with death," she said, but her eyes stayed on Wei Chen's mouth like she was measuring a distance.
Wei Chen broke the kiss just enough to ask Lin Xue, "Do you want me to stop?"
Lin Xue shook her head, breath trembling. "Don't stop," she whispered. "Not because of it."
Wei Chen nodded, then looked at Su Mei. "Your turn," he said. "But rules."
Su Mei raised a brow. "Rules?"
Wei Chen's voice turned low. "Stop means stop," he said. "You take only what we need. You don't chain me."
Su Mei's smile turned dangerous and pleased. "Say yes."
Wei Chen swallowed. "I choose this," he said. "For her. For us. One seal."
Su Mei grabbed his chin and kissed him—hot and bold, like smoke turning into silk. It was not gentle. It was a demon stamp. Wei Chen felt her qi slide across his true name like ink over gold. The black sun brand on his chest pulsed, angry, then stuttered, like it hit a wall.
Lin Xue's fingers tightened on Wei Chen's wrist, jealous heat in her eyes. Wei Chen squeezed her hand to anchor her. "Stay," he whispered.
Su Mei pulled back at once. "Stop?" she teased.
Wei Chen's mouth was rough with heat. "Stop," he said.
Su Mei stopped. No fight. She smiled like she respected it. "Good boy," she murmured.
Wei Chen shot her a look. "Careful," he warned. "I bite back."
Su Mei's eyes glittered. "I'm counting on it."
The hall shook. The coffin chains slammed down. The crack widened again, angry now, because it felt the seal.
A new whisper slid out, colder than before. "Chen Wei… open."
Wei Chen's vision blurred for a second. His body leaned forward without permission, one step toward the coffin. The stolen name pulled him like a leash.
Lin Xue grabbed him from behind and pressed her cheek to his back. "Chen Wei," she said into his shirt, voice shaking but clear. "Stay real. Stay with me."
The bond rope between their wrists flared hard. Wei Chen's feet stopped.
Su Mei threw violet qi at the coffin crack. "Not today!" she shouted. The qi burned, but the coffin drank it and smiled.
The coffin voice became gentle again, like a lover. "Branded one," it said. "I can give you perfect control. No burning. No pain. No rules. Just power. Bring me the ice girl… and I return your name."
Wei Chen's jaw clenched. He turned his head and whispered to Lin Xue, naughty even now, "If I sell you, do I get a refund?"
Lin Xue punched his side weakly. "Idiot."
Wei Chen smiled, then kissed her fingers. "I won't," he said. "I swear."
The coffin crack opened wider, and a black doorway formed inside it, breathing like a throat. The floor symbols lit up and pointed toward that door.
Su Mei's eyes widened. "It's opening an exit," she whispered. "Or a mouth."
The coffin voice purred, "Step through, Chen Wei. If you don't… I will call your name until your body walks into me on its own."
Wei Chen felt the leash tug again. The brand burned cold. The door breathed.
Lin Xue clutched him tighter. "Don't go," she whispered.
Wei Chen stared at the open dark and forced his grin back. "Then hold me," he said. "And don't let go."
And the doorway inside the coffin widened like it was smiling.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
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