Lin Xue's wrist mark burned like someone pressed hot iron into her skin. The pain shot up her arm, then turned into a cold numbness that felt worse, like her bond was being peeled away layer by layer.
The copy's black thread was wrapped around her mark now, thin as hair, but heavy like law. It didn't cut like a blade. It cut like a rule—quiet, certain, unstoppable.
Wei Chen felt it in his chest at the same time. The gold-and-silver bond rope flickered in his mind like a candle being pinched. His black sun brand pulsed, hungry, and the thin crack in it leaked a cold breath again.
Lin Xue gasped and clenched her teeth. "It's cutting," she whispered.
Wei Chen grabbed her wrist with both hands, holding her mark like he could protect it with skin and stubbornness. His voice went low and hard. "No," he said. "Not while I'm here."
The copy smiled gently, like it was teaching children. "Anchors are meant to be lifted," it murmured. "Watch."
The thread tightened.
Lin Xue's knees almost buckled. Cold rushed up her ribs as her Frozen Heart Curse surged, excited by the weakness, ready to reclaim her. Her breath came out in a shaky white cloud.
Wei Chen moved fast. He pulled her against him, chest to chest, and wrapped one arm around her waist like a belt. His heat poured into her without asking permission, but his voice still asked anyway.
"Rules," he whispered near her ear. "Stop means stop. Do you want my heat?"
Lin Xue's cheeks burned even while she shook. "Yes," she whispered. "Now."
Wei Chen nodded and pressed his mouth to her temple—an intimate touch, quick and steady. "I'm here," he murmured. "Stay with me."
Lin Xue swallowed. Her eyes found his. "Chen Wei," she whispered, voice trembling. "Stay real."
Wei Chen forced a grin, roguish even with death in the air. "If you keep begging like that," he murmured, "I'm going to start thinking you like owning me."
Lin Xue tried to glare, but it cracked into something softer for half a second. "Idiot," she hissed. "Hold me."
Wei Chen did. He held her tighter, his heat steady, controlled—just enough to calm her curse, not enough to explode the brand. He could feel the crack in his black sun brand shiver under Lin Xue's frost seal, like a door rattling.
Then the copy lifted its finger and traced the air again. More black thread appeared. It reached toward Wei Chen's chest now, aiming for the thin crack in his brand.
Lin Xue saw it and snapped, "No!"
She shoved her free palm onto Wei Chen's chest, right over the brand, frost spreading like ice ink. "Bite shut," she whispered through clenched teeth. "Stay shut."
Wei Chen's breath hitched as her cold pressed down. Pain spiked, then eased as his Nine-Suns heat tempered it from inside. He leaned close to her face, voice rough. "Do you want me to stop you?"
Lin Xue shook her head. "Don't stop," she whispered. "Do it with me."
Wei Chen nodded and kissed her—slow, deep, steady—because he knew what her body needed to remember: choice, not fear. Lin Xue clutched his collar and pulled him closer, trembling, not forced—chosen. Their bond rope flared warm, and for one sweet breath the thread on her wrist hissed back like it hated their reality.
Wei Chen pulled back just enough to ask, "Do you want me to stop?"
Lin Xue's lips were swollen with heat and cold. "Don't stop," she whispered again, almost angry. "Anchor me."
Wei Chen pressed his forehead to hers. "Say my name," he murmured.
Lin Xue swallowed through pain. "Chen Wei," she whispered. "I choose you."
The bond rope flared bright.
The copy's smile twitched.
Then Su Mei moved.
Her black eyes stayed calm. Her body stepped forward like a doll on strings. She lifted her hand again toward Wei Chen's chest.
Lin Xue's voice snapped sharp. "Don't touch him!"
Wei Chen turned his head toward Su Mei, voice like steel. "Stop."
Su Mei froze.
For one breath, the rule still worked.
Wei Chen exhaled. "Good," he said.
Su Mei's lips parted, and her voice came out too smooth—still not hers. "Stop means stop," it repeated softly, like it enjoyed wearing their words. Then her head tilted, and she added, "But what if I say… yes?"
Wei Chen's black sun brand pulsed hard.
Cold stabbed his ribs.
The crack widened by a hair.
Lin Xue's eyes went wide. "No—"
Wei Chen grabbed Lin Xue's wrist again, holding her mark like a lifeline. "Lin Xue," he snapped. "Say my name. Stay real."
Lin Xue forced her voice through pain. "Chen Wei," she whispered. "Stay with me."
The bond rope flared, then flickered again.
The black thread tightened around her wrist mark like it was chewing.
Lin Xue's breath broke. A tiny sound escaped her—half pain, half fear. Her pride hated it. She tried to swallow it back.
Wei Chen felt it like a knife. His face went hard. He snapped his fan open and slashed at the thread around Lin Xue's mark. The fan blade knocked the thread aside, but it didn't cut. It was law. It didn't bleed. It didn't break.
The copy's voice stayed gentle. "You can't cut law with metal," it murmured. "But you can with a new law."
It stepped closer and smiled at Wei Chen. "Choose," it whispered. "Choose to release her. Say you don't want the bond anymore. Say it out loud."
Lin Xue went still.
Wei Chen's chest tightened. He stared at the copy like he wanted to kill it with his eyes.
Lin Xue's fingers trembled on his robe. She whispered, very small, "Don't."
Wei Chen looked down at her. Her face was pale, but her eyes were fierce. She didn't beg with tears. She begged with choice.
Wei Chen leaned down and kissed her—deep, slow, steady—like he was signing a promise with his mouth. Lin Xue clutched him like she was drowning, and the bond rope flared bright again, resisting the thread.
Wei Chen pulled back just enough to whisper against her lips, "I choose you."
Lin Xue's breath hitched. "Again," she whispered, like she needed to hear it to stay alive.
Wei Chen's voice went low and real. "I choose you," he repeated. "No matter what it says."
The copy's smile cracked.
The black thread around Lin Xue's wrist mark jerked like it was angry. It tightened and pulled hard.
Lin Xue cried out, and her wrist mark flashed—then dimmed.
For one terrifying heartbeat, Wei Chen felt the bond rope go thin, like a string about to snap.
The crack in his black sun brand widened in answer, like a door hearing a lock break.
Cold breath poured out.
And from inside Wei Chen's chest, the thing whispered, pleased and hungry, "Yes."
Wei Chen froze.
Because that "yes" didn't come from Su Mei.
It came from him.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
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