“Tell me… if I use this busted crystal to announce you’ll die here soon, will that sea‑lurking monster come ashore for her child?”

“She won’t!”

Tangxue said it like a stone tossed in a pond, but her eyes rippled with the truth.

Compared to everyone here, Tangxue was still a child in age and mind, even if her winters had stretched unnaturally long.

Still, she carried one rule like a blade in her sleeve: repay warmth with warmth; if anyone tries to harm her… hurt her kin, then…

“You want to destroy that crystal?!” Fan Chen stared at the rhombic shard, trembling like a trapped bird.

“Give—it—back!!!”

Power burst from Tangxue like a storm breaking ridgelines. Even Qing Feng Yuelian’s cage faltered for a breath. The girl’s hoarse roar rode the surge as she tore the crystal from Fan Chen’s hand. Glass screamed and shattered all around. The cage that hung midair crashed to the ground.

She clutched the crystal tight, curling around it like a kitten around a coal, terrified it would slip from her again.

‘If… Shenshen’s life is threatened, I’ll do anything. Anything, you hear?’

Qingyu Mengyin had said that to her before she left.

Maybe this world held no blade or beast that could kill her.

But who knows what Dreamsound calls a ‘threat’ to life?

If she learned her daughter was treated like this… would this city still be standing by dawn?

Qingsheng Tangxue had lived with Qingyu Mengyin nearly a decade and a half. She knew her possessiveness like a tide, her sickly fierce protectiveness like frost. She knew that bottomless power better than anyone. If she truly raged, no one in this world… no one could stop her.

This city held little warmth for Tangxue. But it was where Xuewei lived, where she paced and waited for her for ten‑plus years. Maybe… there are things here Xuewei cares about. Tangxue didn’t want to see them shattered.

So, none of this can reach Dreamsound’s ears.

Tangxue would handle it herself.

She had few artifacts left. If she detonated one, she could probably rip open this hateful cage. But then that woman, Qing Feng Yuelian, would come back and grab her. Hm… if only Frostwhisper were here…

If Frostwhisper stood at her side, those buzzing flies outside wouldn’t be her match. Even against Qing Feng Yuelian, she’d dare to press back.

But… she could feel Frostwhisper’s presence. Then why… why won’t she answer me?

“Give me the crystal!” Fan Chen saw Tangxue hugging it to her chest and snarled, then kicked the cage.

The impact slammed Tangxue and the cage backward. They smashed into a house not far away.

“Keep… dreaming…!”

“Damn thing, hand over the crystal!” Fan Chen lunged and grabbed the shard poking out. His grip dragged her to the cage’s edge with brutal force.

“Let go of me, you disgusting scum! I’ll… bite you to death!!”

Her tiny tiger fangs looked cute, but they were knives. She barely bit down, and Fan Chen’s arm split open.

“Ahhh—ahhh! You little cur! Let go, ahhh!” He whipped his arm, trying to smash off the thing clinging there.

The girl in the cage didn’t spare him a glance. Bright blood ran down his arm and pattered onto the floor.

“…Die.”

A clear female voice, edged with anger, dropped from above his head. Then Linyue Yao, drenched in blood and wreathed in flame, brought a sword down toward him.

That strike was everything Linyue Yao had.

This distance—too late. If that blade lands… No. I can’t die here. Not yet!

Flame‑wrapped Linyue Yao burned in Fan Chen’s pupils like a comet. Resolve hardened on his face.

Thunder gathered like a forest. Tree‑thick bolts braided into a dragon of lightning before him, then hurled themselves at her descending strike.

Lightning dragon met blade. The collision bloomed into a thunderous blast. Fan Chen didn’t hesitate—he tore off his right hand where teeth held him, and sprinted out of the explosion’s core.

Linyue Yao… tanked the rolling shockwaves and forced herself to Tangxue’s side.

Blood‑soaked, Linyue Yao managed a smile. “Look at you… all grown and pretty. Why didn’t you visit me these years? Han… should I call you Tangxue now? Cough…”

“Don’t… talk, Mom Linyue… I’m sorry. It’s my fault. Because of me, you’re hurt this badly, I—”

“Don’t cry, silly. I’m not that fragile. Most of this blood isn’t mine, you know? It’s just… the backlash’s a bit heavy.”

Suddenly, Linyue Yao’s gaze snapped to a red stain in the sky. She planted herself before the cage like a shield.

“Don’t block me. You’re my target,” Edgar’s cold voice washed over the street. “I’ll make that little beast watch her dearest die in front of her.”

“You think trading wound for wound matters? The injuries you bled yourself to inflict on me have already healed. You’re just wasting effort. Hmph.”

“Now… go to hell!”

“Mom Linyue… hide behind the cage,” Tangxue whispered.

“Alright!”

Linyue Yao’s trust in Tangxue was absolute. She believed this little one’s judgment. So she hauled the cage up and set it before them.

Edgar’s rare, high‑powered ranged strike splashed against it without leaving a scratch. The cage even drank the energy in.

“This thing…” Edgar’s mouth twitched.

“Mom Linyue, I need your help. I… have a way to break this cage.” Tangxue hesitated, then pressed on. “Can you buy me some time?”

“Really?” Linyue Yao’s voice lifted with hope. “Perfect. Dabai’s here too. As soon as we crack this cage, we’re out of this damned place!”

“Mm… so Dabai came as well. Then I have to try even harder.”

Qing Feng Yuelian! Watch closely. I can beat you by myself!

…

Through the smoke, Fan Chen stepped out, clutching his stump. His face was calm, as if nothing had happened. But fines of black‑violet lightning coiled around him like thorns.

“Lord Edgar, to avoid the night growing long and strange, shall we go together?”

“Fine.”

“Dishonorable or not… die, Linyue Yao!”