Li Wei didn't sleep that night.
He lay on a thin cot in one of the HQ's side rooms, staring at the ceiling while the hum of computers and the scratch of Mei Xuan's pencil drifted through the walls.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the dragon again — coiled in the void, eyes like dying stars.
Get used to the sight, Longyuan said in his mind. I am your shadow now.
Morning came with the metallic clatter of Huang's cane against the floor. Li Wei sat up groggily as the older man appeared in the doorway.
"Up," Huang said. "You're going on a run."
Li Wei rubbed his eyes. "Run? As in… training?"
"As in a mission," Huang replied. "Demons don't wait for you to be ready."
Before Li Wei could argue, Chen Mu appeared beside Huang, already wearing a tactical harness strapped across his hoodie. He tossed Li Wei a black jacket and a pair of gloves.
Li Wei frowned. "What's with the dress code?"
"Blood stains less visibly on black," Mei Xuan called from the main room without looking up from her sketchpad.
Li Wei almost handed the jacket back, but something in Huang's expression told him refusing wasn't an option.
---
Ten minutes later, Li Wei found himself in the back of the van again, Chen Mu sitting silently across from him. The air between them was heavy with unspoken questions, but Chen Mu didn't seem like the type to answer them.
"Where are we going?" Li Wei finally asked.
Huang, seated up front, spoke without turning around. "Abandoned textile mill on Hong'an Street. Reports of… activity."
Li Wei swallowed. "Activity meaning…?"
"Something that will try to kill you," Huang said.
---
The mill loomed at the edge of the industrial district, its windows smashed, ivy crawling up its weather-stained walls. Rusted machinery stood in the yard like the skeletons of long-dead giants.
The moment Li Wei stepped out of the van, the air changed. It was heavier, colder — as if the building itself was holding its breath.
Smell that? Longyuan murmured.
Li Wei hesitated. "I smell… iron?"
Blood, the dragon corrected. Old blood, soaked into the stone.
Chen Mu motioned for silence, then moved toward the entrance. Li Wei followed reluctantly, stepping over broken glass.
Inside, the mill was a maze of shadows and half-collapsed walkways. Dust motes swirled in the dim light leaking through the cracked roof. Every sound — the drip of water, the creak of old metal — echoed too loudly.
They reached the central hall, where rows of rusted looms stood like rows of sleeping beasts. And that's when Li Wei heard it.
A wet, ragged sound — like breathing, but wrong.
Something shifted between the looms.
Li Wei's heart thudded. "Uh… Chen Mu?"
The boy didn't look back. Instead, his hands twitched, sleeves rolling back just enough for Li Wei to see it — another arm, pale and sinewy, sliding out from beneath his hoodie. Then another. And another.
Within seconds, six arms flexed in unnatural unison, muscles rippling under scarred skin.
From the shadows, it emerged.
The demon was vaguely human in shape, but its skin was blackened and stretched too tightly over its frame. Its head was split down the middle, two sets of milky eyes blinking independently. Jagged, needle-like teeth jutted from a mouth that opened far too wide.
Li Wei froze. "Oh, hell no—"
The demon moved.
Chen Mu lunged first, faster than Li Wei's eyes could follow. His six arms moved like whips, two grabbing the demon's limbs while another two drove curved blades into its torso. The last pair of hands gripped the creature's jaw, forcing it open in a guttural screech.
Li Wei stumbled back, heart hammering. The fight was brutal, silent except for the wet sounds of tearing flesh. Chen Mu moved like a spider dismantling prey, efficient and merciless.
But then, another shape dropped from the ceiling.
"Chen Mu!" Li Wei shouted without thinking.
The second demon landed between them, its clawed hands reaching for Li Wei. He threw himself backward, tripping over debris.
Do you want to live? Longyuan's voice thundered in his mind.
"Yes!"
Then call me.
Li Wei's fingers brushed the bracelet — and heat exploded up his arm. Gold light flared, coiling like fire given shape. He felt something immense and ancient surge through his veins, a heartbeat that wasn't his own.
His vision sharpened. The demon's movement slowed, every twitch of its muscles clear. Instinct — or maybe Longyuan — guided his arm. He swung his fist, and golden light burst from his knuckles.
The impact hurled the demon into a loom, splintering the wood and sending shards flying.
Chen Mu glanced at him briefly, eyes unreadable, before finishing his own opponent with a brutal twist of its neck.
Silence fell.
Li Wei stood there, panting, the golden light fading from his arm. "What… what the hell was that?"
The beginning, Longyuan whispered. Now they will smell you from farther away.
---
They dragged the bodies to a corner, where Huang — who had apparently followed at his own pace — was waiting with a cigarette between his fingers.
"Messy," Huang said, looking at the scene. "But alive. That's what counts."
Li Wei swallowed hard. "So this is… normal for you people?"
Huang's gaze was steady. "Normal is a luxury. This is survival."
And for the first time, Li Wei realized — there was no going back.