Wei Chen's pride was a raw, festering wound. Humiliated and sidelined, he had spent the night patrolling the city's perimeter, his mind a venomous storm of suspicion and fury. Lan Yue's trust in those two mysterious strangers, her cold dismissal of him it was all proof that the demonic taint within her was deeper than he had ever feared. He stood on a high rooftop, staring at the moon, feeling utterly alone in his righteous crusade.
"A true warrior should not have to stand alone, Elder Wei."
The voice was calm, wise, and came from the shadows behind him. Wei Chen spun around, his sword half drawn, to find Elder Feng of the Golden Sun Pavilion standing there, his hands clasped behind his back, his expression one of serene sympathy.
"Elder Feng," Wei Chen said, offering a respectful but wary bow.
"I saw what transpired at the warehouse," Feng said, stepping beside him to look out at the city. "And I saw the confrontation at the inn. You were right to be suspicious. Saint Yue's judgment, I fear, has been clouded for a very long time."
Wei Chen's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Feng said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "that our own leadership has grown soft. Sect Leader Jian an, your own master, advocates for 'containment' and 'observation.' He is afraid to act decisively. There is a faction of us, Elder Wei, who believe in the old ways. We believe that this demonic taint must be burned out, root and stem, before it can spread further."
He let the words sink in, a poison perfectly tailored to Wei Chen's frustrations. "The creature you fought was a necessary evil," Feng lied smoothly, "a tool to expose the true extent of the demonic rot in this city a rot that has clearly led our beloved Saint Yue to trust strangers over her own comrades."
He placed a hand on Wei Chen's shoulder. "We need strong, decisive leaders like you. Men of action, not endless debate. Join us. Help us do what must be done. Help us create a crisis so severe that the other elders will have no choice but to sanction a full scale war. Help us, Wei Chen, to truly save Lan Yue by destroying the Empress to whom her soul is so inexplicably bound."
It was the validation, the call to action, the righteous purpose he had been craving. Wei Chen looked at the wise, determined face of Elder Feng and saw not a traitor, but a true believer. An ally.
"What must I do?" Wei Chen asked, his voice a low, fervent whisper.
The Undercity was a tomb. As Lan Yue, Jax, and Ren retreated through the dark, silent tunnels, the victory at the warehouse felt hollow. They had uncovered a conspiracy, but they were no closer to understanding its scope.
"This changes everything," Xue Lian's voice echoed in Lan Yue's mind through the Whispering Stone. "It's not a war; it's a purge. Feng is a radical, trying to ignite a conflict the other sects will be forced to finish. We need to find out what was in that scroll he gave the demon leader."
Their new objective was clear. They began to move again, back towards the demon sect's hidden base.
They found it in a state of bloody chaos.
They were ambushed not by demons, but by the Void creatures. More of them. They poured from side tunnels, their shadowy tendrils lashing out in the darkness. The battle was a desperate, claustrophobic affair. Jax was an immovable wall, his body taking blows that would have shattered a lesser warrior. Ren's illusions flickered, creating phantom copies that were instantly devoured, buying them precious seconds. Lan Yue was a whirlwind of silver light, her blade the only thing that could truly harm the creatures.
They fought their way through, but the creatures were endless. As they finally broke free, scrambling back to the surface world through a different exit, Ren stumbled, a dark, smoking wound on her arm where a tendril had grazed her. The Void's touch was poison.
They returned to Xue Lian's inn suite under the cover of darkness, battered, drained, and carrying the weight of their terrible new knowledge. Xue Lian took one look at Ren's wound and her face went pale. While Jax stood guard, she and Lan Yue worked together, Xue Lian using her demonic alchemy to draw out the poison while Lan Yue infused Ren's body with a healing, celestial light.
They saved the arm, but the reality of the situation crashed down upon Xue Lian with the force of a physical blow. Her commander had been wounded. Her lover was exhausted. And her daughter was sleeping just one room away. This city was not a source of intelligence. It was a deathtrap.
Her strategist's mind, her lover's heart they were all subsumed by the overwhelming, primal force of her maternal instinct. She stood up, her face a mask of pale, fierce determination.
"This ends now," she said, her voice tight with a fear she could no longer hide. "This was a mistake. I never should have brought her here." Her gaze was fixed on the door to her daughter's room. "This city is a nest of traitors and soul eaters. It is not safe. I have to go home. I have to get An to safety."
She turned to Lan Yue, her amber eyes full of a new, terrible resolve. "We leave tomorrow at dawn."
Lan Yue stared at her, her heart sinking. They had just found each other. They had just started to work together. "Home?" she repeated, the word feeling like a betrayal. "You're leaving? But what about the investigation? What about Elder Feng and his conspiracy?"
She took a step closer, her own fear a rising tide. "What about me?"
The question, so full of a decade of abandonment, hung in the air between them. Xue Lian looked from the face of the woman she loved to the door behind which their daughter slept. And in her eyes, Lan Yue could see the agonizing, impossible choice she was being forced to make all over again.