The alarm blared for only a second before Su Yuyan moved. Her hands wove seals—basement runes flaring to life, a cerulean dome encapsulating them.
*"Ten minutes."* She tossed Chu Yang a shortsword from a hidden compartment. *"Can you use this?"*
The blade's engravings hummed against his palm. *"Not even slightly."*
*"Then stay behind me."* A brick depressed under her fingers—the wall slid open, revealing an escape tunnel.
The house shuddered above them. Dust rained from the ceiling.
*"Demolition runes."* Su Yuyan's braid whipped as she sprinted. *"Zhao Wuji brought siege-grade talismans."*
The tunnel terminated at a steel door. Beyond it—a moonlit slope drenched in crimson.
*"Three kilometers east—forestry station. We can—"*
A blood-colored streak split the night.
Chu Yang barely registered being shoved aside before the door behind them *melted*.
*"RUN!"*
---
Zhao Wuji's laughter pursued them down the mountainside. *"Flee all you like, insects."*
The Bloodsword Sect leader floated above the treeline, his two lieutenants flanking him—a masked man whispering incantations, a woman twirling crimson daggers.
A blade grazed Chu Yang's cheek. Hot blood trickled.
*"Split up!"* Su Yuyan pivoted toward a boulder. *"I'll draw them—get to the station!"*
Ice shards erupted from her palms—a miniature blizzard engulfing their pursuers.
Chu Yang ran.
Then—
A sickening *crunch*.
Su Yuyan sprawled in the brush, Zhao's palm strike having shattered her defensive aura.
*Idiot!* Chu Yang reversed course.
The jade slip seared against his thigh—projecting fragmented sword forms: *"Tai Xu Blade Arts: Fragmentary Stances."*
Muscle memory took over.
His slash released a golden arc—shearing through Zhao's shoulder!
*"Tai Xu techniques?!"* The cult leader staggered, black blood oozing. *"Where did you—?"*
Through his qi-enhanced vision, Chu Yang spotted three luminous nodes in Zhao's body—dantian, heart, brow.
*Weak points.*
The dagger-thrower giggled. *"Pretty boy should've been a blood puppet~"*
Time dilated.
He parried each projectile with preternatural precision, reading their rotational trajectories like lines of code.
The masked man's chant summoned inky tendrils from the earth. One snared Chu Yang's ankle—numbing cold creeping upward.
Su Yuyan's palms slammed the ground. *"Permafrost!"*
The tendrils shattered under glacial onslaught—but she collapsed, qi-depleted.
Zhao raised his dripping sword. *"Finishing stroke."*
Chu Yang's dantian *detonated*.
The ice-core at his center unleashed a tsunami of power—propelling him shieldward in a blur. Steel met cursed blade with a deafening *clang!*
*"Resonance?!"* Zhao's eyes widened. *"You two have... No matter!"*
The bloodsword disgorged tormented spirits.
Pressure mounted—Chu Yang's knees buckling—
Then—
A cold hand grasped his.
Su Yuyan's whisper: *"Together."*
The second resonance hit like a whiteout blizzard.
Their joined energies crystallized into a glacial greatsword—one downward cleave—
*SNAP!*
The infamous Soul-Devouring Blade *shattered*.
Zhao's scream pierced the night as his lieutenants dragged him back. Black mist swallowed the trio whole.
---
Chu Yang stumbled through the woods, Su Yuyan's limp form on his back. Each step drained the dregs of his qi. The ice-core had shrunk to half its size.
*"Leave me..."* Her breath fogged weakly against his neck.
*"Shut up."* He gripped her thighs tighter. *"Allies... remember?"*
The forestry cabin materialized through the trees. An old man's chuckle greeted their collapse:
*"Tch. Kids these day—playing with forces beyond 'em."*
Darkness swallowed Chu Yang mid-retort.
---
Woodsmoke. Herbal pungency.
Consciousness returned to the crackle of a hearth.
*"Awake, eh?"* The white-bearded caretaker stirred a cauldron. *"Girl's tougher'n you. Already up and meditatin'."*
Across the room, Su Yuyan sat cross-legged on a cot, pallid but alert.
Old Zhou—self-proclaimed "mountain keeper"—blew a smoke ring. *"Bloodsword Sect's been restless. Heard they're huntin' some 'Key of Revelation'."*
Chu Yang's pulse jumped. *The jade slip's message about the seal...*
*"Five bodies last night,"* Zhou continued. *"Pentagram pattern. Cops think it's serial killings—pfah!"*
The implication hung between them: Darkmoon's ritual was complete.
Su Yuyan gripped the quilt. *"Can you contact Ma Tiansheng?"*
Zhou produced a radio-turned-satphone. *"Who d'ya think maintains his mountain wards?"*
Ma's voice crackled through two hours later: *"Location?"*
The helicopter arrived precisely on schedule.
As the rotors whipped the trees, Zhou pressed a pouch into Chu Yang's hand. *"Earth-Skip Talismans. For true emergencies."*
Su Yuyan's fingers interlaced with his during ascent. Their qi entwined gently this time—no explosion, just quiet synchrony.
Through the cabin window, the city skyline loomed. Somewhere below, a storm was gathering.
And at its eye—Ma Tiansheng, his artifacts, and the truth behind the Dharma's End.