"I can hear him screaming in my head, Yao, and he wants me to tear you apart."The ragged confession tore out of Chen Mo as he stumbled into the narrow opening of the jagged canyon. Behind them, the horizon burned a horrific, brilliant crimson as the Chen Clan estate crumbled into ash. He was practically carrying Meng Yao, his left arm wrapped tightly around her waist while his right hand, still coated in thick, permanent black scales, twitched with a terrifying life of its own."Then fight him," Meng Yao gasped, her voice barely a whisper against his neck as she leaned all her weight onto his side. Her body was shaking violently, cold sweat soaking through her dark cloth armor. "Don't you dare... don't you dare let some old ghost take you away from me now.""I am trying," Chen Mo spat, his amber eyes flashing with a sickening, dual light. He slammed his scaled hand against the razor-sharp stone wall of the Ash Ridge, using the physical pain to dro

 "I will tear my own veins open before I let those murderers drag me back to the Shadow Demon Sect."Meng Yao’s raw confession cut through the damp darkness of the cavern. She grabbed the blue vial of antidote Chen Mo had snatched from the ruined apothecary, her black-veined fingers trembling so violently she almost dropped it."Drink it, Yao. Stop talking and just drink it," Chen Mo demanded, his hands hovering over her shoulder as he ushered her deeper into the suffocating stone alcove.Behind them, the entrance to the shallow mountain cave was already echoing with the terrifying, rhythmic crunch of heavy boots on loose gravel. The toxic purple fire from the destroyed hut had alerted the sect faster than he had feared. They had barely managed to drag themselves into this narrow cave system before the mountain canopy above began to shake with dark, oppressive spiritual pressure."It's working," Meng Yao gasped, tossing the empty vial o

 "I swear to you on my blood, Yao, if anything touches you through that stone, I will burn this entire mountain to the ground."Chen Mo slammed his fist against the solid wall of fallen stone, his voice raw, desperate, and echoey in the suffocating darkness of his side of the cave. The spiritual paralysis from the whistle was finally receding, his iron pathways snapping back to life with a violent, white-hot heat that made his black scales flare along his right arm."Mo, stop hitting the rocks," Meng Yao’s muffled voice came through the tiny fissure, strained and breathless. "The ceiling on my side... it's unstable. Every time you strike the wall, more gravel falls.""I am not leaving you on that side alone," Chen Mo growled, his amber eyes burning through the pitch-black air. He looked down at the floor beneath his feet, feeling a distinct, cold draft pulling downward into a subterranean chasm. "Listen to me, Yao. The air is thinning on your

 "If you want my blood, you are going to have to drown in it first."Chen Mo didn't wait for the captain to finish his deployment orders. He leapt across the tavern, crashing into the front rank of silver-armored guards like a falling meteor. The heavy oak tavern front exploded outward into the street, showering the cobblestones with splintered wood and screaming men."Form the ring! Kill the boy!" Captain Vane shouted, tumbling backwards onto the wet stones as Chen Mo’s scaled fist smashed the guard beside him into a bloody smear."Mo, watch the narrow alleys!" Meng Yao yelled, sprinting through the ruined doorway right behind him. She drew two short iron iron daggers she had snatched from a dead thug, her eyes wildly scanning the rooftops. "They brought archers!""Let them shoot!" Chen Mo roared.A volley of black-feathered crossbow bolts rained down from the surrounding rooftops. Chen Mo threw his scaled right arm over his fac

 "If she dies in this heat, Zhao, I will tear your soul apart piece by piece and feed it to the void!"Chen Mo’s voice shattered the roaring din of the arena as the white-hot river of molten iron crested the stone grates. The heat hit like a physical wall, blistering the air and sending thick waves of shimmering distortion across the pit."Mo! The heat... I can't... I can't breathe!" Meng Yao screamed from her position near the stone perimeter, collapsing to her knees as her clothes began to scorch. She covered her face with her trembling, dark-stained hands, the agony of the radiating air stripping the oxygen right out of her lungs."Hold on, Yao! Look at me!" Chen Mo yelled, abandoning the thrashing Void Chimera beneath him.He didn't panic. He couldn't. His amber eyes swept across the arena in a fraction of a second, calculating the speed of the rising liquid metal, the angle of the grates, and the height of City Lord Zhao's VIP box