Inside the laboratory.

Papers lay scattered across the desk, like autumn leaves whipped by a cold wind. Chairs lay overturned, like broken reeds after a river surge. It felt like a crowd had just fled, like footprints vanishing in rain. But that wasn’t the heart of it, like a drumbeat buried under thunder.

In the center, on a bed, the blonde girl Lin Fan dreamed of lay silent, like a fallen star. Her golden hair, clotted with blood, tangled like withered straw. Her clothes hung in tatters, like torn banners after war. Between the rips, wounds and streaked blood glared, like red lacquer on cracked porcelain. It wasn’t hard to imagine what Xiao Qianxue endured here, like a path of thorns.

“Xiaoxue... Xiaoxue!” Lin Fan bolted to her side, like a storm breaking its leash. His hands trembled, like leaves in winter wind, as he reached for her flawless face. “I’m sorry. I’m late...” The skin he dared not touch, a porcelain doll, was bruised like ink stains. He looked up, and saw the devices, like spider webs strung for prey. “This is the Ouyang Clan’s tool...” He recognized their brainwashing kit, like a brand burned into rumor. As a top heir of the Three Clans, he knew a piece of everything, like a hawk reading the earth.

“Those Ouyang dogs!” His curse snapped like a whip.

“Hmph. Right on time.” The doctor in the corner pressed a button, like dropping a stone into a still pond.

Back before the escape, the air smelled like metal rain.

“Doctor, what’s your plan?” Researchers asked, voices like needles under cloth.

“Her enhancement serum isn’t flawless.” The doctor tapped a file, like a judge tapping wood. “Even polished, it came from me. Finding cracks isn’t hard,” his tone cool as glass.

“You mean the berserk aftereffect?” Curiosity flickered like moths at a lamp.

“Exactly.” He nodded, like a metronome ticking. “I’ll trigger the condition, then watch tigers fight from the mountain.”

“If so, won’t the blood sample we take be flawed?” Doubt rose like fog at dawn.

“Still better than the original serum.” His certainty sat like granite. “Without deliberate bait, aftereffects rarely bite.”

“During brainwashing I also fished up this memory.” His finger hit the switch, like a hook set deep. Otherwise I couldn’t lure her, like a hunter without bait. The machine booted to its preset program, like gears waking under oil.

“Aaah!” Xiao Qianxue, quiet as a lake before, screamed like a knife on glass.

“Xiaoxue, what’s wrong?!” Panic hit Lin Fan like a drumbeat. He had already called brain-and-nerve doctors and related espers, like a flare sent skyward. Her surface wounds had healed under his power, like frost melting at sunrise.

Bang! A pressure wave burst from Xiaoxue, like a volcano’s first roar.

“Ah!” Lin Fan flew into the wall, like a kite cut loose. Qing Xing and Tang Shaoyu braced and barely held, like trees bent under gale.

“Why? Why did you take my mom and dad!” A heavy blood mist wrapped the blonde, lifted her slow into the air, like a ghost on tide.

“System malfunction! Warning! System malfunction!” The machine shrieked, like metal birds caught in wire.

“Why!” The fog exploded, like a grenade of scarlet. The girl inside wasn’t the broken body on the bed, but a storm-borne queen.

Black-red wings beat behind her, slow and deliberate, like crows over dusk. Feathers looked sharper than blades, each quill a sliver of night. Her hair had shed its gold and burned blood-red, like maple at first frost. Her pretty pupils held no spirit, only endless crimson, like a sea at sunset that never ends.

Rags had become gray-white bandages, binding her tight like a ritual charm. A few straps crossed belly and thighs, sultry as silk over steel. Eyes opened on the bandages, blinking now and then, like fish under ice, making skin crawl. Her right hand had become the familiar Bloodgod Claw, a talon of scarlet thunder. They’d seen it used before, so no one was surprised, like veterans hearing old drums. Her left hand, once plain, now carried pinpricks of violet flame, whispering mystery like foxfire.

“Whoa, Lin Fan, your girlfriend’s crazy cool!” Tang Shaoyu pulled off his helmet, laughter ringing like chimes.

Qing Xing’s brows knit. Danger flowed off the girl, like a blade’s cold breath. She raised Ghost Dance in guard, the edge humming like a cicada.

Lin Fan climbed up, disbelief spilling first like rain, then words. “Xiaoxue, how did you become like this...”

He remembered the cave, their first meeting, shy as a fawn, cheeks flushing like cherry petals. That shy warmth clamped onto his heart, like ivy on stone. On the island, their moods opened, like sails catching wind. He even confessed, courage trembling like a candle. She didn’t accept then, but he felt she wouldn’t refuse, like a door already ajar.

“Xiaoxue...” Now she felt nothing like that cute, sprightly Xiao Qianxue, like spring turned to iron winter.

“Die.” Her wings snapped once, and she lunged for the nearest—Tang Shaoyu—like an arrow off the string.

“Hey, why pick me first!” Tang Shaoyu’s suit popped weapons out, firing at her charge, like fireworks barraging a comet.

“Bloodcrystal Arrow—Pierce!” Her bloodcrystal shield ate the fire, like sand swallowing rain. Smoke cleared. Red crystals swarmed him, like piranhas in a river, ready to sieve him.

“Energy Shield!” He threw up his suit’s shield, a bubble of light like glass. Under the crystal storm, his energy drained fast, like water from a cracked jar.

“You think you can run?” The Bloodgod Claw followed, tearing the shield like plastic film in cruel hands.

“Physical hits don’t touch me.” He grinned at the next strike, like a gambler showing cards. “It’s phase-shift armor. You can’t break it.”

Xiao Qianxue feinted, then drove her left hand for his heart, like lightning changing lanes. The armor met the violet flame and melted inward, like wax under a blue torch.

“Damn!” With death at his throat, Tang Shaoyu shouted, “Ice Barrier!” Ice swallowed him whole, like winter closing a river.

“Ant.” She moved to melt the block, but her flame guttered out, like a candle in wind.

“Annoying.” She turned to a new target. A blade flash screamed in, like a shooting star. “Jieyun Blade Art—Backflow Slash!”

“...” The Bloodgod Claw met Ghost Dance, impact hard as anvils. Clang. The ring ran through the room, like a bell in a storm.

They locked together, faces close enough to feel breath, like dueling hawks mid-air. “Give me back my mom and dad.” Beauty without warmth, only ice and ruthlessness, like a statue under snow. Her crimson eyes pinned Qing Xing’s black slit pupils, like needles set against onyx. Her wings beat. Her strength pressed in, like tide swallowing shore, and began to overwhelm Qing Xing.

“Stop keeping your parents on your tongue! You think you’re the only one!” Qing Xing’s anger erupted, like thunder off a cliff.

“You. Made me angry.” Her silver hair lifted in air, like silk in a gale. White vapor rolled off her skin, like morning mist breaking.

“Is Qing Xing going to use that state?” Lin Fan’s voice shook, like a plucked string. One is the girl he loves. The other he raised. Must they bleed each other dry, like twin blades crossing?

“Berserk!” Qing Xing roared. The white aura burst, like a blizzard cracking the sky. Xiao Qianxue felt the surge. Holding the clash grew hard, like wrists under a waterfall.

“Die!” “Jieyun Blade Art—Sakura Air Blade Slash!” The shout cut the air like petals turned steel.