“It’s daytime—shadows everywhere…”

Tangxue’s face tightened, stormclouds behind her eyes. She tugged Qianyue into an open patch with no houses, a bare shore of light.

Space-teleport needs chanting time; the spell is a spun thread. If it snaps, everything falls.

Tangxue lifted her hands to weave the spell, but Qianyue suddenly hugged her from behind, and the two of them floated up like startled cranes.

“Qianyue! What are you doing?!”

Panic prickled first; Tangxue struggled next. Qianyue’s strength was iron under silk. Tangxue couldn’t break free.

“Stop! I’ve got a way. If you keep this up, the sun will skin us.”

“Big sis… if we fly, they can’t hit us, right? Heh…” Qianyue’s face was pale as moonmilk; her smile was thin as paper.

“Put me down!” Urgency bit like frost. Tangxue felt sunlight creeping toward their skin, a knife of warmth.

Another heartbeat and even the parasol would fail, the thin film of shade torn like old cloth.

A golden figure burst from their shadow below, an arrow of light stabbing up at them.

That’s the bastard who ambushed me.

Killing intent rose first, cold as a tide; her grip followed, sure as steel.

No more holding back…

Frost winked in her palm, and Frostwhisper flashed. One stroke, and the golden phantom split like a ribbon cut midair.

“It fled… only an afterimage.”

Tangxue clicked her tongue, tasting iron in her right hand. She hadn’t expected that speed, a falcon against a field mouse.

Must be the sleepless night making me slow.

“Big sis… I can’t hold on…”

“Huh?” Tangxue glanced up. Qianyue’s eyes had gone feral red, bloodlust rising like a red moon.

The madness rippled outward. Vampires around them swayed into the same hunger, a pack with wet jaws. Tangxue felt like a fat sheep tossed into a wolf den.

Qianyue’s strength buckled, and they dropped like stones.

“Ugh—!”

Her right hand had knitted back, but the fall smacked her tailbone, pain splintering like cracked ice. Tears stung; she bit them back.

“I didn’t want to do this… You really pissed me off.”

Frostwhisper slid into her hand again, but this time its light was different, moon-bright and winter-cold.

“Don’t think your shadows make you safe.”

Void Pierce!

An invisible blade flared, a wind with edges. Every shadow around them sliced apart like ink split by rain. The blade was quicker than breath; most Vampires didn’t even flinch before their chests were punched through.

For Vampires, a hole in the heart isn’t always death. But under a noon sun, hesitation is a grave.

“I don’t buy it. How many dodges do you have left?”

This time Tangxue saw him. A golden‑haired Vampire lunged at her, speed like lightning skimming water. No wonder she’d missed him at first.

“Die!”

His red eyes were pits with no bottom; even a self‑proclaimed demon like Tangxue felt a chill. Claws and fangs gleamed, ready to tear her into red confetti.

Blade‑light ripped a circle around Tangxue. Space shivered; even the shadows split like torn silk. The golden silhouette couldn’t slip away. The poor Vampire nearly got cut in half.

“Ahhhhh!” Blood poured, and the golden one snapped, mind breaking like glass. He charged at Qingsheng Tangxue, fangs doubling like knives, seeing her as a walking treasury of blood.

Disgust hit first, a wave of bile; her move followed, clean as a bell strike.

“You want it? Then have it.”

Tangxue bit her index finger. One drop of strange blood flicked to his brow, a red star.

Time froze around him like winter air. In the next instant, he iced over into a sculpture and crashed to the ground.

When the last Vampire fell quiet, Tangxue dragged them out from the scraps of shadow and laid them in the sun, like fish set out to dry. Among them, a familiar shape caught her eye.

“You?” Tangxue stared, surprised as a thunderclap. The guide this time was the man she’d saved before.

“Big sis…” Qianyue also looked stunned at the same uncle from before, a wilted willow of a man.

Bai Er was in terrible shape. A frozen crack split his chest; without that ice, he’d be dead. He saw Tangxue and Qianyue and shook like a leaf, begging forgiveness with a dry tongue.

“Qianyue… you decide.” Tangxue glanced at him, then turned to leave, her shadow long as a blade.

Without help, they’re done. No—Blood Clan with thin bloodlines won’t die under sun. They’ll just turn into jerky and plump back in days.

Qianyue said nothing. Her eyes dimmed like a clouded lake. When Tangxue walked, she followed, silent as a ghost.

Tangxue checked the pattern she’d carved yesterday on the ground. The lines were blurred, streaked.

Someone licked this.

She’d etched it with her own blood. Now the marks were faint, tongue‑washed. The thought felt absurd, a joke with teeth.

What kind of people live in the Dark Abyss Zone…

She looked at the golden‑haired Vampire, thoughts cold as sleet. If she was right, he’d licked her blood and borrowed her shadow‑shuttle.

If I gave Qianyue a drop…

“Qianyue! Are you okay?”

Tangxue remembered the sun kissing Qianyue’s skin and worry pricked like nettles.

“Big sis… I’m fine. The parasol’s fine too, see?”

“The parasol doesn’t matter… Old Granny Meng gave it to me. It’s solid.”

“Old… granny?” Qianyue blinked, the word fresh as a new leaf. In the Blood Clan, no one called elders that.

“Uh… a blue‑haired hag who’s past a hundred. I got used to calling her that.” Tangxue turned her head, a little sheepish.

“Is she your family?” Interest sparked in Qianyue’s eyes; she leaned closer like a moth to a lantern.

“Why would you think that?”

“Because you’ve got blue hair too.”

“…”

Tangxue stared at her long hair, helpless. The color crept back whenever she let her guard down, tide to shore.

“As you can see, Qianyue, I’m a mermaid. That old… granny is my mother. I just don’t like calling her that. I came here for a reason, and I should tell you. I want—”

“Big sis doesn’t need to tell me. Even if you say it, I won’t get it…”

Tangxue saw that guileless face and hesitated, a feather caught in a draft. Then resolve settled like frost.

No more hiding. I’ve pretty much confirmed who she is.

“Qianyue, can you see the imperial district from here? There’s a tomb there, sealed in ice. It’s where the City of Woe first broke.”

“Big sis…” Qianyue grabbed Tangxue’s collar, fear rising like cold water.

“I was the Frost Valor. I look like this because someone cursed me to be what I hate most.” She laughed lightly, but the sound rang hollow. “To spite her, I loved bragging about killing the Vampire King. Proof the curse was useless.”

“Remember I said we’d ‘explore’ there? I lied. That’s the entrance to the Vampire King’s tomb.” Tangxue kept talking, even as Qianyue’s face said stop. “I’ve only got one reason to go. The Blood Clan owns a divine execution sword. The Vampire King told me. I used that sword to end her.”

“I don’t know why she did what she did. So after I killed her, I took her blood core and sealed the entrance with Unmelting Ice. It’s been years. Qianyue… I want to see it again. Will you come with me?”

Qianyue went pale, her gaze sinking into dark water, caught in a net of old memories.

“I think I know who you are…” Tangxue smiled and patted her head, gentle as snow. “But I still want to take you there. About your blood core… I’m sorry.”

“Maybe I misunderstood back then. I don’t regret what I did. When we get there, will you tell me? Qianyue…”

“Don’t…”

Fear showed first, stark as winter; the word followed, raw as a cut.

“If one day—”

“No!” Qianyue shoved Tangxue away, a sudden gale scattering ash.