Nightfall had settled like a heavy shroud.
Lin Yan and Yan Ruo camped beneath the twisted boughs of an old willow, its roots curled around forgotten graves. The air was still. Too still.
Yan Ruo sat in meditation, drawing in soft strands of spirit qi. Lin Yan stood with his back against a tree, eyes closed, senses stretched thin like threads of flame. Something was coming.
Something familiar.
---
It arrived without sound.
One moment the forest was empty.
The next, a figure stepped out from between the shadows—tall, dressed in plain gray robes, his hair neatly tied back. His face was young, almost delicate. His eyes?
**Golden.**
Unnaturally so.
Lin Yan opened his eyes, and the breath caught in his throat.
> "Jin Zhou…"
The boy bowed slightly.
> "Hello, Lin Yan. It's been a long time."
---
They had once shared a cell.
A training chamber.
A prison.
Back when they were boys—two chosen furnaces of the Cauldron Hall, trained to endure, serve, and obey. Lin Yan had broken free.
But **Jin Zhou** had stayed.
Had **risen**.
He was no longer a furnace. He was a **weapon**—forged and wielded by the very people who had destroyed them.
---
"I see you're still angry," Jin Zhou said, stepping closer. His voice was calm, practiced. "I'm here to bring you back. Alive if possible. Broken if necessary."
Lin Yan didn't move.
"What did they promise you?" he asked quietly.
Jin Zhou's smile was thin. "They didn't need to promise anything. I've found peace. Power. Purpose."
"You're still a tool," Lin Yan said. "You've just accepted the chain."
Jin Zhou's smile faded.
"They treated you like trash, Lin. Me too. But unlike you, I learned to use that pain. I became stronger inside their system. While you ran like a dog."
Flames surged in Lin Yan's eyes.
"I didn't run," he said.
"I **escaped**."
---
Jin Zhou drew his blade.
It shimmered with the Cauldron Hall's mark—black steel, curved with embedded talisman rings that glowed with soul-binding energy.
"I don't want to kill you," he said.
"But I will."
Lin Yan stepped forward, flame igniting around him.
"You're not the only one who learned to survive."
---
The clash was instant.
Steel met flame. Explosions lit the forest in bursts of red and gold. Jin Zhou was fast—faster than Lin Yan remembered, his movements precise, almost machine-like.
But Lin Yan was different now too.
He didn't dodge as much.
He **devoured.**
Every strike that touched his flame was consumed. The Reversed Furnace Art drank Jin Zhou's energy with every exchange.
Jin Zhou's blade began to slow.
His golden eyes narrowed.
"You're becoming like her…" he whispered.
"The Furnace Queen."
---
Yan Ruo tried to step in—but Lin Yan raised a hand.
"No," he said. "This is mine."
And then, with a roar, he unleashed a torrent of reversed fire—crimson and black, crashing into Jin Zhou's chest.
The talismans on Jin Zhou's blade shattered. He fell to one knee, coughing blood.
Lin Yan approached, panting, his flame dimming.
Jin Zhou looked up at him, hate flickering behind golden eyes.
"Do it," he said. "Kill me."
Lin Yan stared down at the one person who had once been closer than a brother.
"No," he said.
"You'll carry the memory of this moment instead."
---
As Lin Yan turned away, Jin Zhou called out:
> "You think this path leads to freedom?"
> "It only leads to fire."
Lin Yan didn't look back.
"I know," he said.
"But I'd rather burn on my own terms… than live as someone else's spark."