They needed six men to hold me.
Not because I was winning—because I would not stop.
I bit one of them when they tried to bind my wrists. Felt his skin tear between my teeth. The taste of blood grounded me in a way pain no longer could. Another drove a pommel into my ribs; I laughed and tried to rise anyway. They kicked my legs out from under me and I clawed at stone until my nails split.
The Presence inside me did not surge.
It watched.
That was worse.
They dragged me through corridors that no longer pretended to be neutral. The walls leaned inward, inscriptions dim and obedient again. I left a trail behind me—blood, spit, laughter that sounded wrong even to my own ears.
By the time the cell door slammed shut, I was hoarse from snarling.
The chains were old. Not decorative. Not ceremonial. Iron etched with sutras worn smooth by generations of use. They burned—not with heat, but with denial. I strained against them anyway, muscles screaming, breath tearing in and out of my chest.
I did not scream.
I wanted them to know I was still here.
Somewhere above me, beyond stone and distance, voices argued.
Wu Jin's voice came first—tight, controlled, brittle with effort."He's gone," he said. "You saw what he did. What he's become."
The Lord Protector answered calmly, as if discussing logistics."I saw what he endured. There's a difference."
"He executed loyal men," Wu Jin snapped. "He turned the Black Tigers into a threat the city now fears."
"A necessary acceleration," the Lord Protector replied. "You don't break an old order gently."
"You used him," Wu Jin said. "And now he's a liability."
There was a pause.
"A tool," the Lord Protector corrected. "A damaged one. Still useful."
Wu Jin's breath hitched. "You want to keep him alive."
"Yes."
"For what?" Wu Jin demanded. "To parade him? To unleash him again when it suits you?"
"To anchor what comes next," the Lord Protector said softly. "The Presence still orbits him. Kill him, and you risk… drift."
Wu Jin was silent for a long moment.
Then, colder: "We planned this. Shen Yue and I. He cannot be allowed to survive what he's become."
The Lord Protector's voice sharpened slightly. "Careful, boy. Plans that end in blood often spill further than intended."
"I am the Emperor," Wu Jin said. "And I will not rule over a city that fears a monster we refuse to put down."
The word monster sank into me like a hook.
I laughed again, low and broken, the sound scraping my throat raw. The chains rattled as I strained against them, not to escape—just to remind the world I was still dangerous.
Footsteps approached.
Measured. Familiar.
The door opened.
Shen Yue stepped inside.
She dismissed the guards with a glance. They hesitated, then obeyed. The door shut behind her, sealing us into a silence so thick it pressed against my ears.
She stood there for a long moment, just looking at me.
I was kneeling, chains pulled tight, shoulders hunched, blood drying dark on my skin. My hair hung in my eyes. I knew I looked feral.
I did not care.
"So," I said hoarsely. "You came to finish it yourself?"
She flinched—just once.
"No," she said quietly. "I came to see if there was anything left to save."
I bared my teeth in something like a smile. "You should have come sooner."
She stepped closer, boots echoing softly on stone. I could smell her—iron, ash, lotus oil. The smell of home.
It made something inside my chest twist violently.
"You fought them even after you were beaten," she said. "They told me."
"They didn't tell you I would have kept going," I replied. "They had to stop me from biting out another throat."
Her hands curled at her sides.
"This isn't you," she said.
"It is now."
She knelt in front of me, careful to stay just out of reach.
"Listen to me," she whispered. "Wu Jin wants you dead. He thinks it's mercy."
"And you?" I asked.
Her eyes searched my face, desperate, calculating.
"I think," she said slowly, "that killing you might be the last mistake we ever get to make."
I leaned forward until the chains snapped tight, metal groaning.
"You already chose," I said. "You stood there and ordered my arrest."
Her voice shook. "I stood there to keep you alive."
"Liar."
The word came out softer than I meant it to.
She swallowed. "If I hadn't… the Lord Protector would have crushed you in the courtyard. Zhou would have written you into history as a lesson. The South would have sanctified your corpse."
"And now?" I demanded.
"Now," she said, "you're still breathing."
I laughed again—this time it broke halfway through and turned into a rasping cough.
"Congratulations," I said. "You caged the monster."
She reached out, then stopped herself, hand hovering inches from my cheek.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Something inside me finally gave.
Not rage.
Hope.
The Presence stirred faintly—not approving, not resisting—simply present, like a shadow that had learned patience from watching me fail.
"Get out," I said.
Her eyes widened.
"Go," I repeated. "Before I start believing you."
She rose slowly.
At the door, she paused. "Whatever they decide," she said, "I won't let you die alone."
The door closed.
I sagged against the chains, breath ragged, laughter finally gone.
Above me, Wu Jin and the Lord Protector continued to argue over my usefulness.
Beyond the walls, Zhou waited.
The Southern Kingdom advanced.
And in the dark of my cell, I understood the cruel symmetry of it all:
I had become exactly what they needed me to be—
dangerous enough to fear,broken enough to cage,and valuable enoughthat no one could yet decidewhether to kill me.