The western slope of Mount Fengxi was a place of quiet valleys and silver streams—until the night ripped open with fire and with screams.
Yu Meixing crouched behind a jagged outcrop, her eyes tracking the two Envoys cutting through the air toward the valley pass. Their wings of divine flame illuminated the trees in shifting gold.
"They're almost in range," Lei Qing whispered beside her, fingers dancing over the etched formation discs laid into the soil. "Three more steps."
The Envoys didn't bother masking their presence—they were hunters certain of their prey. The first one, taller and leaner, carried a spear that shimmered like glass under moonlight. The second's wings were tipped with silver light, his armor carved in the likeness of a phoenix in mid-cry.
Yu Meixing let the seconds stretch, her breath steady. She wasn't just waiting for Lei Qing's signal—she was feeling the rhythm of their flight, the heartbeat hidden in their movement.
Now.
She raised her hand. The air around her cracked as threads of shadow flared from her palm, vanishing into the ground.
Lei Qing slammed his hand onto the central disc. "Featherfall Formation—lock!"
The earth screamed.
Pillars of black stone burst upward, twisting with chains of crimson light that snapped around the Envoys' wings. Both shouted in surprise, momentum breaking as they were yanked from the air.
The lean one spun his spear, cutting three chains before he hit the ground. The phoenix-armored one tried to ignite his flames hotter, but the formation drank in the divine fire, feeding it into the runes pulsing under the soil.
Yu Meixing stepped into the open, the moonlight painting her silver hair in ghostly light. "Envoys of the Ninth Heaven," she said softly, "you chose the wrong hunt."
The lean Envoy snarled, lunging with his spear—only for Lei Qing's blade to intercept, sparks flying.
The phoenix-armored one wrenched at the chains, his voice low and venomous. "You think this will hold us?"
Yu Meixing's smile was cold. "It doesn't need to. It just needs to last until he is done."
Somewhere to the east, a roar like a collapsing sky echoed—Liu Shen's battle tearing the mountain apart.