Chapter: Stormbound Rescue
The signal disk flickered above the ruins, its Rift light casting fractured beams across the night.
Jin Minhe's breath came in ragged bursts, every step a war against the weight of Min Zhao's limp body on his back.
His panda loped beside him, blood streaked across its fur, growling low as it tore through the guards closing in.
"Three cities away," Fan Yumei's voice echoed in his mind, crisp and unshaken.
Her words burned through his panic, an anchor against despair. He could almost picture her—blindfold over her eyes, aura flaring like a storm, preparing to cut through distance itself just to reach them.
The disk dimmed as the connection broke, leaving only darkness, pursuit, and the thundering of his own heart.
⸻
Egg Hatch City was a graveyard.
Once bustling with traders and caretakers, now it was nothing but shattered shells and ruined nests, abandoned when the trade routes shifted decades ago.
Every alley carried the smell of rot, of stale blood, of things long dead and forgotten.
Walls leaned crooked, beams snapped like broken bones. Wind howled through shattered windows, carrying with it the faint rattle of shells clinking together.
Every shadow looked like death waiting.
Jin Minhe stumbled through the cracked stone streets, muttering under his breath as he pressed talismans onto Min Zhao's chest.
The papers glowed faintly, too faint, before burning out against her unstable qi.
"Hold on. Just hold on. Don't you dare leave me now."
Her eyes flickered open, pale and weak. Her voice cracked, barely above a whisper.
"You're… sweating all over me…"
Jin barked a broken laugh, throat raw.
"Of course I am! Carrying you around like a sack of rice, what do you expect?!"
Her lips twitched, a shadow of her usual smirk.
"…Sack of rice… better… than sack of rocks…"
"Don't talk," he said quickly, tightening his grip. "Save your strength."
"Can't," she whispered. "If I stop… you'll panic."
He clenched his teeth, blinking hard. "Too late for that."
She coughed, crimson staining her lips, but her eyes softened. "Always… too loud…"
"Good," he shot back desperately. "Means you're still here to complain."
⸻
A blast tore through the roof above, raining stone fragments around them. His panda growled, swiping the debris aside with one massive claw, before ramming a charging beast into a wall. Blood spattered across its fur, but the beast fought on with tireless fury, fangs snapping, eyes burning with unnatural loyalty to its masters.
The guards' shouts closed in, echoing through the ruins.
"Over there!"
"Don't let them escape!"
"Bring the girl alive—the boy can die!"
Jin ducked into a broken courtyard, setting Min Zhao down behind a collapsed wall. His hands shook as he ripped a pouch from his belt, scattering silver dust across the ground. The powder ignited into a haze, a minor concealment spell. Not enough to last long, but it might give them breathing space.
He pressed another talisman against Min Zhao's wrist. The glow steadied her pulse for a moment, her breath evening out.
She opened her eyes again, voice faint.
"Why… are you crying…?"
"I'm not!" he shot back, wiping his face furiously with a bloodied sleeve. "It's just the smoke! Stupid dust got in my eyes!"
She gave the smallest laugh, coughing blood.
"Liar."
"Shut up," he snapped, though his voice broke. "You're going to be fine. Yumei's coming. You know her—she doesn't say things she doesn't mean."
Her eyes fluttered closed, but a whisper slipped out. "Then… run faster…"
⸻
Above, thunder cracked.
For a heartbeat, Jin thought it was just the storm rolling over the ruins. But no—the sound was sharper, resonant, like the sky itself had split in answer to his plea.
The air trembled.
From the direction of the jungle, a long, sonorous call rolled across the ruins. Low at first, then rising into a haunting wail. It was a sound of impossible weight, like the voice of the deep ocean carried into the sky.
Jin froze. His panda's ears flicked back, tail stiff. Even half-conscious, Min Zhao stirred, brow furrowing.
"…Mystic…?" she whispered.
But Jin shook his head slowly, dread prickling down his spine.
"No. Not quite… it's… like her, but… off. Wrong somehow. Too sharp."
The hunting whale call echoed again, powerful, commanding, shaking dust from the crumbling walls. Windows rattled, tiles cracked, whole beams shifted as though the city itself bent under the pressure of the sound.
Jin clenched his jaw, panic rising. "Nope. Not dealing with that. Whatever it is, it's not Yumei—and I'd rather not meet it."
He pulled Min Zhao onto his back again, forcing his legs to move. "We're going the other way."
⸻
He bolted through a half-demolished lobby, glass crunching beneath his boots. The floor groaned under his weight, cracks spiderwebbing outward. The walls leaned inward, dust falling from the ceiling in thin streams.
"Don't give out now—!" he hissed, legs burning.
Too late.
The tiles caved.
The floor collapsed with a thunderous roar, swallowing rubble, dust, and both of them in freefall.
"Min Zhao!" Jin screamed, clutching her tight. His panda roared, body glowing with qi as it leapt with them, trying to brace the fall. The air whipped past, choking and cold, carrying with it the shouts of guards falling too, their armor clanging as they plummeted into the same abyss.
Instinct screamed. Pain tore through his limbs as Jin forced the panda's qi through his own body, stretching his frame unnaturally, pulling muscles and bones past their limits.
"Arghhh—!" he howled, agony lancing through every nerve. He hadn't practiced this technique nearly enough, but there was no choice.
His arms elongated, straining, wrapping tighter around Min Zhao's small frame. He hugged her to his chest, shielding her with his body. Every tendon felt like it was tearing, his spine burning under the pressure, but he refused to let go.
The abyss below swallowed them whole, deeper than he'd expected, darkness rushing past.
The guards fell too, screaming as the floor shattered under them. Their cries echoed, distorted, swallowed by the endless black.
"Hold on—hold on, Zhao!" Jin cried, voice raw with desperation.
The world blurred. His body screamed in protest. He thought his arms would rip from his sockets.
Then—impact.
Something solid and unyielding caught them at the bottom. The shock tore through him, bones rattling, air ripped from his lungs. His panda landed beside them with a brutal thud, rolling, its roar turning into a grunt of pain.
The breath was driven from Jin's lungs as the shock tore through him. He clung to Min Zhao like a lifeline, refusing to let her go, even as stars exploded across his vision.
⸻
The silence after the fall was suffocating.
Dust hung in the air like a curtain, catching faint light that bled through the cracks above.
Jin Minhe lay still, breath shallow, arms locked around Min Zhao.
Then the pain came.
White-hot agony seared through his left arm, a grotesque snap echoing inside him as he tried to move.
His leg screamed next, the bone bent at an angle that made his stomach twist. He gasped, biting down on the cry that wanted to rip from his throat.
"Broken… damn it… broken." His words were ground through clenched teeth.
But Min Zhao was still breathing. Shallow, faint, but alive. He hadn't dropped her. Not once. No other injury marred her fragile body beyond what she'd already suffered.
He let out a shaky laugh that bordered on a sob. "Good… good. That's all that matters."
His panda staggered upright beside him, bleeding from its flank, growling low as it shook dust from its fur. Its eyes burned with pain and defiance, as if daring him to collapse now.
⸻
From above, muffled chatter echoed down the fissures of the ruined building.
"Did you see that?!" one guard shouted, voice trembling. "They… they fell all the way down!"
"I think… they're still alive," another muttered, panic creeping in. "Impossible—both of them at that low cultivation level… surviving that fall…"
A third hissed into a communicator, urgency shaking his words. "We need… we should contact the princes! This is… this is crazy!"
Seconds later, Yumei could almost feel the surge of displeasure from the rulers' command. The voices returned, sharper now.
"Enough! If it's a fall, that's super deep down there—no way both of them survive! I don't want to waste time on broken dolls. Forget it. Cure them, then send a report."
"They… they said… incompetent…" a guard muttered nervously, sweat beading on his brow. "We'll be… expecting harsh punishment… if they come back alive."
Jin Minhe's ears twitched. He forced himself to still, holding Min Zhao tight, body trembling with the effort, desperate to remain silent. The words stung, a bitter reassurance that the danger had passed… for now.
⸻
Only when the echoes of the guards faded did Jin start moving, dragging himself and Min Zhao across the debris, noticing with wary eyes the structured ruins of an old lab beneath the city.
Metal beams jutted from the walls, wires coiled like vines, shattered glass crunched beneath his boots. Faded sigils hummed faintly under his dragging weight.
Step. Drag. Step. Drag.
He muttered curses through gritted teeth. "We… we're not dead yet… just… keep moving…"
⸻
Far above, cutting through night clouds, Fan Yumei stilled mid-flight.
Her blindfold fluttered in the wind, golden threads of aura trailing from it like strands of lightning. Maxius, the Phantom Apex Mirage bound to her soul, perched on her shoulder, talons flexing in anticipation.
Beside her, Grimme and her beast mirrored her focus, coiling energy, ready to intervene.
She reached through her senses, extending toward Egg Hatch City, and froze.
Something shifted.
Mystic and Lufei pulsed at the edge of her awareness, but not steadily. Their energy wavered, layered, as if something mimicked them. Not hostile, but… wrong.
"…Mystic… Lufei… what are you two doing?" she whispered.
And then, six presences. Two she recognized immediately: Kai Shi and Zhou Qian. Their aura flared sharp and heavy, respectively. Three more were unknown—rough, jagged, unregistered. Outsiders.
Fan Yumei's jaw set. Maxius screeched, wings lifting; Grimme's beast growled low, energy coiling.
Jin Minhe and Min Zhao were alive. Close. Not close enough.
Fan Yumei inhaled, steeling herself. "I'm coming."
The storm surged with her.