The five beasts completed their crescent formation, a silent, moving barrier cutting off any straightforward retreat. The largest one hung back—its high-set black eyes fixed not on the prey, but on its pack. It was the director, not one of the instruments.

  “They’re probing,” Feiyun Xing said, his voice low and steady. His sword was drawn, held low. “They’ll find the weak point. That point is you. Stay inside my reach.”

  Ren Lin adjusted her grip on the spear, its point tracing a shallow, nervous arc between the two hounds on her flank.

  The pack began to rotate, a slow, clockwise drift that forced Ren and Feiyun to turn with them or risk exposure. The wind, previously a foe, was now their ally—the hounds kept it at their backs, giving their future moves a speed advantage and letting it push the falling stinging snow into the humans’ faces.

  Then, the two hounds on the right flank accelerated. It wasn’t a direct attack. One lunged to Ren Lin, forcing her to commit to a panicked thrust at empty space.

  The second hound on that flank exploited the opening instantly. It didn’t go for her. It darted low, aiming to slip past her extended spear and get between her and Feiyun Xing—to isolate them.

  It never made it.

  The moment it crossed into the prince's reach, its vision got assaulted with a bright blue light. Then it vanished entirely. Lightning charged from Feiyun Xing's blade in a blinding flash, and the hound was reduced to charred remains before it could even howl. The stench of fried flesh and burnt fur unfurled in the air.

  Still, they had found the weak point.

  Ren Lin.

  The pack leader gave a sharp, commanding signal. One hound surged straight for the prince. The remaining two broke toward Ren Lin.

  The briefest distraction was enough. The Glacier Hounds exploded into motion, essence flaring through their bodies, their speed multiplying in a violent blur.

  In an instance one was jumping at Ren Lin while the other aimed for her legs.

  Ren Lin squeezed her eyes shut and swung her spear with everything she had.

  When she opened them again, one hound lay motionless on the ice—split in two halves. Blood and guts spread around, as the spear was stuck in the ground. The other had clamped its jaws around her shin.

  For a heartbeat, she felt nothing.

  Then the pain hit.

  Her scream tore out of her as she let go of the spear. The hound worried her leg savagely, teeth grinding into bone as it dragged at her. Almost severing it.

  Ren Lin collapsed hard onto the frozen ground.

  She curled her fingers into a fist and with the other hand, she clawed.

  Her nails raked across the beast's face, digging deep. She found its eyes and tore.

  While it yelped she raised her fist and smashed down.

  BAM!

  BAM!

  BAM!

  Harder and harder.

  With each hit the skull deformed further.

  Soon the hound's bite loosened.

  Feiyun Xing kneeled down next to her and removed the head from her leg.

  The skull was cracked open revealing its brain. Frozen blood lingered at the hound’s teeth, nostrils, and ears. Even for a monster this looked like a terrible death.

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  “We need to work on your instinctive eye closing.” He held the healing jade on her wound.

  “It worked out at least.” Ren Lin breathed, eyes avoiding the corpse. “You already took care of the big one?”

  He nodded.

  The healing Core did its work, knitting flesh and sealing skin, but it could do nothing for the shuddering memory of teeth on bone or the phantom ache that haunted Ren Lin’s leg. She stood, testing her weight, feeling the strange, seamless strength of newly healed tissue. Her clothes too were fixed by the sparks of the jade.

  Honestly, the sight of all this was making it hard for her not to throw up. Her legs felt weak.

  Stretching out his hand the prince’s face wore his ever gentle expression.

  Ren Lin pulled herself up with his help.

  Pulling out the spear he then handed it back to her. “You need experience. I will let you fight and only interfere if you are going to die. Here you succeeded because they don’t know how to use their essence to defend themselves.”

  “Noted.”

  Crunch

  Snow compressed beneath her boot as she took the first step forward.

  Passing on, the wind grew harsher, cutting their faces like blades. At the same time, the number of beasts dropped sharply, until the land felt eerily empty. It was only them and the dark blizzard in those plains.

  Then the air itself began to thicken.

  Feiyun Xing slowed, his breathing turning shallow. An immense pressure bore down on him, as though the world were pressing inward. It was not physical force, but something far heavier—an overwhelming aura.

  Ren Lin, unable to sense essence, felt nothing beyond the cold.

  When the crunch of snow gave way to a hard, slippery surface beneath their feet, they knew they had arrived.

  White mist billowed from their mouths in dense clouds. Only then did they realize the truth—the wind had not grown stronger.

  It was breath.

  Aurora lights drifted across the sky, their colors dancing silently within the frozen sea.

  At the center of the frozen sea rose a colossal head, motionless yet terrifying. Around it, gills stretched out like massive fans. The head towered before them like a pyramid. While the rest of the Leviathan’s vast body slumbered beneath the ice, stretching far beyond sight.

  “Are you alright, Xing?” Ren Lin asked, seeing his pale face.

  He nodded, eyes fixed on the Leviathan.

  “It’s madness,” he said quietly. “Its aura is at least rank six.”

  “Then let’s gather the ice quickly.”

  When the prince knelt down to collect it—he saw his sister. Not just her. He was there too, laughing and bantering around.

  Feiyun Xing softly touched the ice. “Qingru…” he whispered with a knot in his throat.

  Ren Lin patted his shoulder. “It’s just a memory, Xing. Let’s collect it now.”

  After swallowing he nodded again. Breaking the ice and taking a few pieces with them.

  The moment the last shard of memory-ice was pulled free, something shifted.

  A deep crack echoed across the frozen expanse.

  Feiyun Xing’s head snapped up. “WE NEED TO MOVE!”

  The ice beneath the Leviathan fractured outward in concentric rings. Massive plates split apart and tilted, grinding against another as something impossibly large shifted below. The frozen sea could no longer contain it.

  With a sound like mountains breaking, the Leviathan rose.

  Its body unfolded from the depths, lifting itself upright. Entire sections of ice shattered and sank as its vast form displaced the sea beneath. Water surged and instantly refroze along its scales, clinging to it like armor. When it fully stood, its head was beyond their sight.

  Then its eyes opened.

  The pressure multiplied.

  Ren Lin staggered as the ground vibrated beneath her feet. “Xing—!”

  Feiyun Xing was already on one knee, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. “We’re done for…”

  The Leviathan drew in a breath so vast the air rushed toward it like a storm.

  And then it sang.

  The eerie melody was brutal. Each word felt like a shockwave. It didn’t lull anymore. It didn’t take memories. Why?

  Because they were far too close.

  Ren Lin gritted her teeth, clutching her head as pain exploded behind her eyes. The sound tore through her skull, vibrating through bone and blood. She fell to her knees, the world spinning violently.

  Feiyun Xing roared in pain, essence flaring instinctively around him as he vomited.

  But then—

  Absolute silence.

  Ren Lin’s mouth was open, yet no sound came out. She could see Feiyun Xing shouting her name, his face twisted in urgency—still she heard nothing. Not the wind. Not the cracking ice. Not even her own breath.

  Realization dawned instantly. Ren Lin turned deaf. And Feiyun Xing probably too.

  She still could feel her heartbeat pounding through her chest, the tremor in the ice beneath her knees.

  But most importantly was what happened to Feiyun Xing.

  Even without being able to sense it, Ren Lin could see it—his body trembling, veins standing out along his neck, his face drained of all color.

  He tried to withstand—still his legs gave out.

  Ren Lin lunged. She caught him inches before he hit the ice. His weight—once a concern—felt like nothing against her enhanced strength. She swung him over her shoulder in one fluid motion.

  Feiyun Xing’s eyes fluttered, unfocused. He mouthed something she couldn’t hear.

  ‘Sorry’, she guessed.

  The Leviathan continued its singing. The pressure continued.

  Turning her back to the sea, she began to move.

  Step by step, she carried him away from the frozen expanse. Each footfall slipped on the slick surface, her whole body still pulsing with shock as she forced onward.

  The farther they went, the more the tension eased.

  Before she knew it, they were already back in the snowy plains.

  Ren Lin adjusted her grip and kept walking.

  The world remained silent.

  Only the steady beat of her heart—proof that she was still here, even if the world had gone quiet.