Author's Note: Do Not Unlock Yet. Chapter Is Still Under Construction.
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They left the way he'd arrived: steps that weren't steps, Shadow Blink stitching the gaps. The heat clawed and howled just beyond the line where his will said no. When his boots hit the edge of Nie Lan's chalk again and cool bled up through the soles, the juniors breathed like drowning people finding air.
"Luo Min," Zhang Rui said, already reaching, "sit. Water, small sips."
She obeyed for once, easing to the stone with the stalks mothered against her belly. Fang kept his eyes on the fin. The masked trio hadn't followed. Smart. He'd left them with enough bruises and a very clear story to tell—if they had a boss, the boss would hear it and either get cautious or get ambitious. Either way, Fang would be ready.
"Senior," Meng Xinyi said, voice thin with relief and anger, "who were they?"
