Wu Xin did not hesitate.He did not think.He feared nothing—except losing her to the river.
He plunged after her, heart blazing, desperate to reach her.But the River of Oblivion did not welcome him.Not because of darkness in his soul—no.But because of what bled from his body.
The spirits gathered around him like starving wolves,tearing at his flesh with ravenous frenzy—more vicious than ever before.
His blood was not ordinary.The night before, he had been ambushed by the Shadow Demons.The wound was still open—and his blood called to them like a siren's song.The spirits drank it greedily, mercilessly.
Yet he did not care.He forced his limbs to move,swimming deeper, diving farther,searching for her…
And finally—he saw her.
Still.Seated upon the riverbed,wrapped in a thick, pulsing aura of death—a light so dreadful that even the spirits dared not draw near.
Where did she inherit such power? Or… from whom did she copy it?
Each step he took toward her made the spirits more feral,ripping into him, clawing for his soul.Among their whispers, he caught fragments:
"She carries the flame of the Furnace… She is not of our world!"
Then her eyes opened. Slowly.
She saw him—saw him fading before her.
She Did not weep. She didn't move... because the wound he'd scarred her palm with was enough to distort his image in her heart. And his choice of Mai before her had blinded her vision.
She only watched, cold and detached,as the spirits devoured the man who had dared to follow her—bite by bite, piece by piece—a feast of courage, perhaps of devotion.
Silently, she raised her diamond earringand fastened it back to her ear,as if returning herself to her rightful place in the world.
And in that instant—everything changed.
For he spoke—his voice trembling, broken,barely more than a breath:
"You're safe… my sweet one."
And he smiled.He smiled as though agony were meaningless—as though seeing her unharmedwas worth more than his life.
Only then did her heart tremble.She moved toward him,cradling his head in her lap.
Her gaze turned fierce, warning the circling spirits:
"Touch him again… and I will end this river. I will dry it to dust."
Then, with the innocence that never left her, she asked softly:
"Why didn't you come to me first?Why did you take so long?"
His voice was faint, but honest—utterly sincere:
"You're my courage.If I saved you first…I'd have none left to fall after you."
Then his eyes closed.
The spirits quieted.His blood cooled upon her lap.
She unfurled her small diamond wings,wrapping him gently in their glow.No pain. No sound.
Then she opened her great wings—wings of crystal flame—ready to rise from the depths.
But before she could ascend,a lone spirit drifted near—different from the rest.It had been watching all along.It did not wail or hunger.It hovered quietly,like a dying comet burning in silence.
It brushed against her robe.Huo Feng stopped.Her eyes narrowed in curiosity, confusion.
"Are you… truly hers?" she whispered.
The spirit gave no answer,only touched the edge of her cloak,pleading soundlessly.
Something inside Huo Feng softened.
"Very well," she said gently."I promise—I will find him. And I will protect him."
Ah, you have promised… Let us hope you will not regret it, nor break it.
The moment her words left her lips,seven more spirits emerged from the dark—drawn by an ancient call.
But these were no ordinary souls.They were the remnants of ancient lords—warriors, sorcerers,those condemned to annihilation,their sacred weapons cast into the Heavenly Furnaceto erase their names forever.
Yet their relics had not perished.They had resisted—hidden within the flames for ages,until Huo Feng came.And in her presence, they found refuge.
Unknowingly, she had absorbed their echoes—their powers imprinted upon her aura.So when the Seven Spirits felt that resonance,they drew close—not to attack,but to say farewell.
Those who had once lived within her now passed through her,as she once passed through others,melting into her light,leaving behind their final sorrow, their final wish.
As if those souls had found a new belonging in her...
except for one.
The first spirit.
It did not vanish. It did not fade.
It simply stared—as if it recognized her more deeply than she knew herself.
When she spread her wings to rise again,the spirit finally whispered:
"You will return to me…when your fire ripens—when the time of harvest comes.Then… you will know who I am."
And with that,it vanished into the dark.