The artifact's light was starting to fade as its Qi storage ran dry. As that happened, Lin Shu kept his grip on her throat, sometimes slamming his fist into her face. Even with all his strength, she refused to die—too many life-saving methods at her disposal. But those required Qi, and hers was already gone. The only defenses she could still use were the ones that had their own internal Qi reserves, the kind that only needed to be recharged later and didn't draw directly from her. Unfortunately for Han Yi, those artifacts were only useful as long as their Qi storage lasted, and as the light faded, that storage was now empty.
Ren Hao limped toward her, pulling a dagger with the intent of slitting her throat. Yan Qing moved in as well, joining Lin Shu in beating her down while the two of them pinned her hands.
"You should've used your brain and let us go when we told you to," Ren Hao said, his voice cold with contempt. "But no—you just had to play the righteous hero, hellbent on killing us. Well, now what? I'll make sure whoever finds your corpse learns a good lesson about minding his fucking business."
He looked down at her with open disdain. What was she even trying to prove? That she could win? That she was stronger? That she could handle this alone? All she'd managed was to force them into wasting techniques and risking their lives, only to end up as nothing more than a bloodied, helpless punching bag.
Lin Shu had her pinned, muscles straining as he and Yan Qing held her down. Ren Hao stepped forward, dagger glinting red from the dying light above. Han Yi's eyes widened in terror, her breath ragged. Seeing death loom so close, her voice cracked, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"M–mother… Uncle Lu… Han Lei… please… anyone… help me…" she sobbed.
Ren Hao laughed sharply, the sound cruel and cutting through the cold air. "Oh, now you want help? Now you're crying? A few minutes ago you were all ice, trying to kill us without a shred of hesitation. Did you see us cry then? No—you didn't give a damn."
Yan Qing sneered, his tone dripping with contempt. "What do you expect from someone like her? Born with a silver spoon, handed everything on a platter. First time she's forced to pay for her own foolish choices, and what's the first thing she does? Cry for the people who've always been there to clean up her mess."
Lin Shu's voice cut in, low and impatient. "Just kill her already. We need to leave… I'm starting to lose my strength."
Ren Hao grunted. "Then hold her better."
He clamped a rough hand over her mouth as she thrashed beneath them, muffled screams tearing at her throat. The dagger slid across her skin, and blood poured in thick, hot streams, mixing with the tears running down her face. Her breath hitched, her eyes clouded—
Finally, Lin Shu thought.
But then the sky tore open.
A storm descended—not rain, not wind, but raw, crackling power. Before Lin Shu could react, something struck his side with the force of a battering ram. Pain exploded through his ribs as he was hurled across the forest floor, crashing through trees until his body skidded into a barren patch of earth. The cliff's jagged edge loomed not far away.
Yan Qing and Ren Hao didn't fare better. Blinding flashes of movement struck their legs—bones shattered instantly. Their screams cut through the roaring thunder.
"Damnit… what now?" Lin Shu spat, staggering to his feet, only the Berserker's Brand pill keeping his body upright.
And then he saw her.
She stood like an unshakable pillar against the raging storm, her hair a long, black waterfall whipping in the wind. Her robe was silver, glinting like moonlight over ice. In her presence, the world seemed to bend away, as if afraid to touch her.
Without hesitation, she knelt beside Han Yi. Hands that trembled only slightly began working with desperate precision—pouring elixirs, shoving pills past bloodied lips, pressing strange artifacts to stem the bleeding. A faint light formed under her palms, seeping into Han Yi's chest.
For a heartbeat, her beauty was almost ethereal. Then her expression shifted. The softness in her features was replaced with a mask of rage so deep it seemed carved from stone. Hatred burned in her eyes, but something else was there too—regret, fear, grief so raw it nearly tore her apart.
She glanced at the three boys. Just quick, lethal flickers of her gaze—yet in those moments, Lin Shu, Ren Hao, and Yan Qing all felt it. They weren't prey to be chased. They weren't obstacles to be cleared. They were already dead in her mind.
A Rank 2 Low Stage cultivator stood before them.
"Damnit… damnit… DAMNIIIIT!" Ren Hao's voice broke, panic in every syllable.
"What the hell do we do?!" Yan Qing rasped, clutching his mangled leg. "I can't even stand!"
Lin Shu's instinct screamed at him to run. But then the weight of the oath chained him in place—he couldn't abandon them.
If I knew this would happen, I would've run the second I had the chance…
Grinding his teeth, he slung one man over each shoulder and bolted toward the treeline. But lightning split the earth in front of him, searing the air with burning ozone. Another bolt tore through the space where he'd been a heartbeat ago—he'd only avoided it because the woman's eyes kept darting back to the girl in her lap, her focus split between vengeance and saving her child.
The bleeding stopped—barely—but Han Yi was still in critical condition. The woman's voice came then, low and dripping with venom:
"Do not… even think about moving from that spot." Her gaze bored into them like a blade through bone. "Your punishment will be served slowly, after I'm done."
She looked down at the girl in her arms, her expression softening into something so fragile it didn't seem to belong to the same person.
"…my daughter."
Her name was Xue Lian, and she was Han Yi's mother.
She had been on her way to the mines after receiving a message from Lu Zhenhai, but the distance was too great for her to arrive alongside him. When she got closer, a signal flared—a signal only one person in the world could send her. It came from a Heartlink Jade, an ancient pair of crystals bound to each other. When one piece shattered, the other burned in the holder's palm, marking the sender's location and screaming their distress into the recipient's very soul.
When that jade flared in her grasp, Xue Lian didn't think—she moved. Every step was a blur, every breath a blade in her lungs. She was already bracing for the worst, but nothing could have prepared her for what she found.
Her daughter—her only child—pinned to the ground, throat being slit by boys barely older than she was.
The sight punched the breath from her chest. For a split second, everything was frozen—her mind, her heart, even the storm around her. And then came the surge: rage so consuming it blurred her vision, terror so sharp it felt like her soul was being torn apart.
She wanted to kill them all, right there, in one motion. But she didn't. Because one wrong move, one ounce of power misdirected, could take her daughter from her forever.
Her hands had steadied a thousand times in battle—but never had she needed them to be steadier than now.
Not my child. Not today. Not ever.
Every movement, every breath she took, was to keep her daughter alive. And when Han Yi's breathing steadied, when the bleeding stopped just enough for a sliver of hope to return—only then did Xue Lian's attention truly shift back to the ones who had done this.
And when it did… the storm itself seemed to recoil.
The three of them stood frozen, Lin Shu gripping Ren Hao and Yan Qing as if his fingers were carved into steel. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't run—Xue Lian was here—and attacking was suicide. His teeth ground together.
"Damnit, can you two useless idiots come up with a plan for once?"
Ren Hao stayed silent, deep in thought. Yan Qing's voice cut through the tension.
"Does any of you have an item that can slow down a fall?"
Lin Shu blinked. "Wait… you don't mean that we should—"
"What choice do we have?" Yan Qing said. "Didn't we already do something like this before?"
"Yeah," Lin Shu snapped, "and you used me as a shield, in case you forgot."
Yan Qing smirked, trying to steer the conversation back, but Lin Shu's cold glare didn't fade. He didn't forget, and he didn't forgive—he fully intended to kill Yan Qing for that little stunt, even if it had been months ago.
Ren Hao finally spoke. "I have something like that… why?"
"We're jumping," Lin Shu said sharply. "Get ready. I'm starting to replenish my Qi—I'll make us a shield before we hit the bottom."
Their decision was set. They began edging toward the cliff, their movements slow and measured, not daring to make their intentions obvious. But Xue Lian's gaze shifted. She was kneeling beside Han Yi, her hand glowing faintly as wounds sealed beneath her touch. Then her eyes locked on them.
Her hand rose.
Lin Shu bolted, the air tearing around him as he sprinted for the cliffside. But this wasn't a straight dash—if they ran directly, she'd know instantly. No, they needed her to push them there.
The ground behind them cracked with a deafening snap—lightning screamed toward them, blinding white arcs cutting the air apart. Lin Shu weaved through, Qi surging in his legs, each step a blur. Sparks grazed his shoulder, the air reeking of ozone. Yan Qing ducked low, Ren Hao clinging to Lin Shu's shoulder.
Another strike tore past, forcing them left, then another from the opposite side, herding them exactly where they wanted to go.
Ren Hao's lips curled into a cruel smile. "I enjoyed your daughter's cries," he said, his voice carrying over the roar of the storm. "Been wanting to do that to her ever since I saw her. I've always hated spoiled brats. Don't worry… I'll be back for her later."
Xue Lian's eyes widened—fury carved into her face. Qi exploded from her palm as she unleashed a Peak Rank 1 technique. The sky lit up in a searing, thunderous arc that could split stone.
But they were already gone.
Her attack shattered the cliffside as their bodies vanished over the edge, swallowed by the dark abyss below.
The last thing she saw before they disappeared was Lin Shu's face twisted in rage, Yan Qing's eyes burning with hate, and Ren Hao's sadistic grin—a smile that told her he had enjoyed every moment of torturing her daughter.
And then, there was only the echo of their fall.