Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“Never!”
“Good. I was hoping you’d say that,” Yichen growled. He jumped in to fight alongside Xiao Dan.
The battle ranged all over the orchard, various members of the clan leaping in to join the fight when one had to retreat. They attempted to herd Jiang Chong toward the sunlight. If they could injure him, they might create an opening to end his life once and for all. It was amazing that he wasn’t disappearing into the dead realm to escape them.
Of course, if he ran now, he had to know he’d never be able to reclaim control of the clan. His cowardice would undermine his every order from this day forward.
To Junjie, it didn’t matter if he ran or died here. This was a turning point. Jiang Chong had pushed them too far for too long. They would reclaim their freedom from him or die in the attempt, but there was no going back to being his tormented “student.”
Chen sent spikes of ice hurtling through the air, but Jiang Chong darted away at the last second to miss being impaled. Ming Yu and Mei Lian stepped up to drive him into the fray. When he found himself overwhelmed yet again, Jiang Chong sliced a hole between the dead and living realms and slipped away.
“Be careful! Protect each other!” Xiao Dan shouted. As he spoke, he waved his hand across the surrounding orchard. For a moment, the world seemed to waver and shimmer as Shixiong’s2 glamour washed over everything. He’d placed a forest scene on top of the orchard but kept the time of day the same, so they knew where the sunlight and shadows fell.
“Where is he?” Mei Lian demanded. She clenched a spear in both hands while pressing her shoulders against Ming Yu’s.
“Stay calm. He’ll reveal himself, eventually. There’s no way he’d leave without killing one of us.”
“He’s not leaving here at all,” Xiang snarled.
Junjie tried to calm his racing heart and slow his breathing. Desperation and fear would hinder his reactions and weaken him as a fighter. He had to be at his best for the sake of his clan mates and for the honor of his clan.
A slight ripple in a deep shadow beside Chen caught Junjie’s attention. He palmed a throwing knife and sent it flying past Chen’s cheek. It narrowly missed Chen and disappeared into the opening Jiang Chong had created. A soft grunt slipped from the opening before it closed.
“You couldn’t have just said, ‘Move’?” Chen asked, though it came with a smirk.
“It was faster to throw a knife.”
Jiang Chong continued this frustrating game of hide-and-seek until he found a weakness to exploit. A snap of a branch from a powerful gust of wind drew too much of their attention. Jiang Chong surged through a black doorway to strike at Yichen. Chen barely pulled their shidi3 away as the monster’s blade kissed Yichen’s arm.
Junjie threw himself at Jiang Chong. Their blades clashed again and again as Junjie went through the same moves that had been drilled into his head for decades. And as he expected, Jiang Chong deflected every one of them. Junjie grew tired, and Jiang Chong knocked Junjie’s sword out of his hand. A gasp left Junjie. Pain surged through his gut as Jiang Chong shoved his sword deep. At the same time, Junjie plunged a dagger he’d kept hidden through bone and muscle in the center of Jiang Chong’s chest.
The monster tumbled back on a shout, and Junjie went with him. He pulled the knife from Jiang Chong and slammed his free hand into the opening. His fingers brushed what felt like a frozen stone that faintly pulsed.
Jiang Chong’s heart.
He wrapped his fingers around the organ and attempted to pull it from the monster even as Jiang Chong twisted the sword in Junjie’s stomach. A scream erupted from Junjie’s lips, but he kept digging and pulling at the heart. Nothing was going to stop him.
“I may die, but I’m taking you with me,” Jiang Chong threatened through clenched teeth.
“I’m happy to die for my clan.”
The words had barely left his tongue when he noticed the darkness falling over them. Jiang Chong had pierced the veil between worlds, opening a doorway around them. He planned to trap Junjie there with his corpse.
Should Junjie release Jiang Chong and save himself?
Or stay and finish him?
Stay. End this. Save his clan.
The thought had formed in his mind as two sets of hands grabbed his legs and pulled. The unexpected sensation jolted him into loosening his hold on Jiang Chong’s heart. As the monster’s sword slid free of his stomach and his grip on Jiang Chong faltered, Junjie took a final swipe at his creator with the blade in his left hand, cutting him across the throat.
Those black eyes—filled with icy hatred—held Junjie’s as the doorway between the living and dead realms closed. Should he survive his injuries, the unspoken promise of torment and death rested in Jiang Chong’s cold stare.