The market's western edge was dim, its stalls shrouded in frost and shadow, the air thick with the scent of iron and ice. Qin Mo, Yi, and Ren approached a stall marked by a single ice lantern, its flame flickering with bell-shaped runes. The FFD System hummed, the shard in Qin Mo's chest pulsing, drawn to a Silent Tax relic hidden within.
[FFD System: Frostflame Balance: Heat 38% / Cold 62%. Scan: Silent Tax relic, stall interior, threat level: Critical.]
Ren's eyes narrowed, daggers ready. "My family's relics had runes like these. Stolen by the sect."
Yi's threads hovered, sensing the air. "It's a trap. The bells are watching."
The stall's curtain parted, revealing a figure in gray robes, face hidden by a hood, holding a staff etched with frost runes. "Shard-bearer," it hissed, voice like cracking ice. "The Silent Tax claims its due."
Before Qin Mo could respond, the staff struck the ground, summoning a frost array. Ice carved puppets rose, their bodies shimmering with runes, eyes glowing blue. The lead puppet's fist swung, cracking the stall's frame. Qin Mo dodged, Flame Step scorching the ground, but the puppets' frost siphoned his heat.
[FFD System: Frost puppet array active. Heat loss: 20%. Balance: Heat 36% / Cold 64%.]
Yi's threads lashed out, binding a puppet's arm, but the ice hardened, snapping her threads. Ren's daggers struck another's joints, cracking ice, but the puppets reformed, relentless. Qin Mo unleashed Frost Howl, a chilling roar that shattered a puppet's core, ice scattering like glass.
[FFD System: Puppet essence detected. Devour progress: 15%. Balance: Heat 35% / Cold 65%.]
The robed figure chanted, the array tightening, pulling at Qin Mo's shard. The bells in his pouch chimed, syncing with the runes, a leash tightening. Qin Mo activated Ice Veil, frost shielding him from a puppet's strike, his blade slashing its core.
Yi's threads regrouped, binding the figure's staff, slowing its chant. Ren's daggers struck the hood, revealing a face marked with bell runes—another Silent Tax enforcer. Qin Mo's Frost Charge closed the gap, blade piercing the figure's chest, the shard devouring a bell fragment.
[FFD System: Bell fragment acquired. Silent Tax chain: 6/9. Binding risk: 48%.]
Ren knelt by the stall, finding a rune-carved box—his family's relic, stolen by the sect. "They died for this," he said, voice low.
Yi's threads trembled. "My village, too. All for the Tax."
Qin Mo gripped the fragment, the bells' chime louder. "We end it here."
The FFD System chimed, warning of eyes in the market's shadows.
[FFD System: Silent Tax resonance: 50%. Next trace: Market's edge.]
The group slipped away, the frost heavier, the stall's runes fading but watching.