Ren walked through the broken landscape, carrying Kyouka in his arms. As always the first floor of the dungeon was silent now, eerily so. The ground was cracked, and black smoke rose from distant craters.
Not even the sound of trees echoed anymore. It felt like walking through the aftermath of a storm that had erased everything.
He looked down at Kyouka's pale face. Her breathing was shallow, her armor cracked, and her hand limply hung at her side. Her once fierce eyes were closed.
"Hang on," he muttered quietly. "We're almost out."
The weight in his arms wasn't what bothered him. It was the thought that she might never fight again. Kyouka had dread of becoming one of the strongest hunters—soone who would carve her na among legends. But now, looking at the wounds and how deadly they were, Ren could already tell. She would struggle to even walk properly again.
It was truly a miracle how she could even breathe seeing her current status.
That thought hurt more than anything.
He sighed, tightening his grip around her as he kept walking toward the exit gate. The bluish glow of the gate shimred faintly in the distance like a promise of safety. But then, sothing made him stop.
A figure stood far away, partly hidden behind a column of broken stone.
Ren narrowed his eyes. "Who…?"
A woman. She was too still. Her long golden hair swayed lightly in the cold wind, and there was sothing about her posture—too calm, too deliberate—that made Ren uneasy.
He felt as if he know this woman, but at the sa ti, he knew he needed a closer look.
He thought about ignoring her. He really did. He didn't want another fight, not with Kyouka in this state. But when he turned slightly to leave, his gaze accidentally caught the side of the woman's face.
His heart froze.
That face—those eyes—he would never forget them.
His grip on Kyouka tightened, and a cold sweat ran down his back.
"No way," he whispered, his voice trembling. "Lan Jia…"
The woman slowly turned around. Her lips curled into a wide, eerie smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Ohhh, what a pleasant surprise," she said sweetly, her tone dripping with twisted delight. "Didn't expect to see my darling here."
Ren's stomach sank. He could feel his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he took a cautious step back. Then his eyes caught sothing else—sothing behind her.
A woman was lying on the ground, half-covered in jagged shards of ice. Her skin looked frozen, her body still. Ren recognized her instantly.
"Lan Xinyue…?" he breathed out.
Lan Jia crouched beside the frozen woman, tapping the ice as if testing it. "Hmm. Still a little too cold and hard," she murmured to herself. "I just need to break this annoying layer, and I'll be done."
Ren's jaw clenched. "What are you doing here, faceless woman?"
Lan Jia blinked, feigning surprise. "Faceless woman? Who told you to call that?" Then she smiled again, tilting her head. "Don't call that, sweetie. Call your darling… or your lover. I like those better."
Ren ignored her and took a step closer, shifting Kyouka's weight in his arms. His instincts scread that he should turn and leave, but seeing Lan Xinyue helpless in front of that monster—it made his stomach twist.
"What are you doing to her?" Ren demanded, his voice cold.
Lan Jia pouted. "Oh, nothing much. I'm just trying to get sothing from her." Her tone turned low and playful. "Don't mind us. You can leave, baby. I'll co to you later."
Ren gritted his teeth. He couldn't let her continue. He knew from Amanda's words what this woman was capable of—how she kept a collection of faces taken from others. Faces she used to wear, becoming those people in every way.
That ant she wasn't just torturing Lan Xinyue. She was about to take her face.
The thought made his blood boil in both anger and fear.
"Stop it," Ren shouted. "Leave her alone, or you're going to regret being here!"
Lan Jia blinked, then slowly smiled wider. "Oh, wow… my baby's threatening ." Her voice grew soft and trembling. "This is turning on. Make regret everything baby. Spank this bad woman and mark her yours."
Ren's expression hardened. Golden light flickered around his hands as fine threads of Imperial Qi began weaving through the air.
The golden threads shot forward, wrapping around Lan Jia's arms and body in an instant, freezing the air with divine pressure. For a mont, she looked surprised.
But then she laughed.
The threads around her began to crack, snapping one by one like thin glass breaking under pressure. "Cute," she said, stepping forward as golden fragnts fell from her wrists. "You really think you can bind with that?"
Ren cursed under his breath. He had expected this. There was no way he could overpower her—but maybe, just maybe, he could stall her long enough for Luxy to co back.
"If I can lure her out of the dungeon…" he thought. "Away from Xinyue…"
He didn't finish the thought. Lan Jia's laughter broke it.
"So, my darling," she said softly, "you love them that much, huh? That woman… and your big or little sister?"
Ren didn't reply. His silence said enough.
Lan Jia's grin twisted, her eyes wide with obsession. "All the more reason," she hissed. "I can't let either of them live."
Before Ren could react, golden energy surged from her body. Threads of her own Imperial Qi shot toward him, but they didn't aim for him—they aid for Kyouka in his arms.
"Stop!" Ren shouted.
But before the threads could touch her, sothing in the air shifted.
Lan Jia's body stiffened, her eyes widening. Ren felt his own vision blur as golden light swallowed his surroundings. The dungeon faded, replaced by an imnse golden void.
He blinked—and suddenly, both of them were standing before a colossal woman dressed in flowing traditional Chinese robes, her presence overwhelming like a god's. Dozens of others stood behind her, each glowing faintly with the sa golden light.
Lan Jia was bound by thick chains of golden energy, thrashing against them. Ren stood freely beside her.
The giant woman's voice bood, shaking the golden void.
"Intruders of our Golden Qi…"
Lan Jia snarled. "You lot again," she spat, glaring at them with disgust.
The golden won looked down with burning eyes. "Leave our daughter," the leader said. "You are not worthy to wield the Imperial threads."
Ren's eyes widened. He recognized them. These were the sa spirits he had t when he first obtained his power—the previous users of Imperial Qi.
He didn't speak. He didn't dare. Their anger wasn't aid at him—it was at her. So he stayed silent and beca an observer.
In unison, the golden spirits declared, "We prohibit you from using our golden threads."
Lan Jia scread in fury, her voice shaking the air. "Nothing can stop from getting what I want!"
"Let's see about that," the spirits replied.
A blinding flash swallowed everything.
Ren blinked again, and suddenly they were back in the dungeon. But now, Lan Jia's golden threads were dissolving into dust, burning away as if erased by unseen hands.
She gasped, clutching at the air. "Fucking old ti bitches! How dare you do this to again?!"
Ren saw his chance.
He quickly extended his hand, his own golden threads swirling to life. "Imperial Qi—Wrap!"
The threads shot toward Lan Xinyue, gently lifting her body from the ice. It wasn't perfect—she winced slightly even while unconscious—but Ren didn't have a choice.
He turned, tightening his hold on Kyouka and dragging Xinyue behind him. His legs burned as he forced himself to run.
"Co on," he muttered. "Just a little more…"
The gate wasn't far now. He could see the shimring golden light again.
Behind him, Lan Jia's screams of anger echoed through the halls. The sound made his skin crawl.
For a few monts, he thought she was gone. Then, he heard footsteps—fast, light, inhumanly fast.
He glanced back and saw a woman running toward him, her movent a blur.
Ren cursed under his breath. "Damn it… she changed faces again."
The woman's eyes glead with madness. "Where are you going, sweetie?" she called out. "Co on! Let's kill everyone and live happily ever after!"
Ren gritted his teeth and kept running. Every muscle in his body scread in pain. He knew he couldn't fight her—not while carrying two injured won. If she caught up, they were finished.
Then, suddenly, a hiss cut through the air.
A small tallic object rolled on the ground between them—then exploded in a burst of thick gray smoke.
Ren's vision vanished in a cloud of haze. He coughed, stumbling forward.
Lan Jia—or whoever she was now—stopped, waving her hand through the smoke. "What is this?" she hissed, coughing.
When the smoke finally cleared, Ren, Kyouka, and Lan Xinyue were gone.
Lan Jia's eyes narrowed. She scanned the ground, searching. Her gaze sharpened as she noticed a faint evidence—a single strand of crimson hair vanishing into the distance.
She smirked darkly. "Red hair… You annoying bitch!"
Her voice was soft, but her expression twisted with hate and anger. "I will kill all of you,"
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