Zixin chased after it.
He didn't care that the building was collapsing around him or that his body was already being pushed far beyond what it could handle.
The creature tore through the corridor ahead, its long limbs smashing through doors and walls as it desperately tried to escape, but Zixin stayed right behind it, electricity bursting from his body with every step.
His eyes were completely bloodshot, his hair stood up from the static surrounding him, and blood continued dripping from his nose, yet none of it made him slow down.
"Run, you fucking coward!" he screamed as the creature disappeared around another corner. "You were so brave when you were eating my brother!"
The monster slammed through another wall, sending bricks and furniture flying across the hallway. he raised his arm and a concentrated bolt of electricity shot from his palm, striking the creature directly in the back.
Its entire body jerked violently as the current tore through it, but instead of falling, it let out a distorted roar and continued running.
He laughed.
It wasn't a happy laugh. There was something completely wrong with the sound, something wild and unrestrained that made even Bao, who had seen him fight before, stare at him in alarm.
"Scared now?!" Zixin shouted, chasing it through the dust. "Good. Then keep running. Run as far as you fucking can because I'm going to catch you and tear you apart!"
The creature suddenly turned around.
Its enormous jaws opened and it lunged straight at him.
He didn't retreat. instead he charged toward it
At the last moment, he ducked beneath its snapping jaws, grabbed one of its elongated arms with both hands, and released every bit of electricity he had gathered.
The monster convulsed violently.
The jade bracelet.
It was still wrapped around the creature's wrist, half-buried beneath the swollen flesh and dark veins that had spread across its arm.
For a moment, something inside his chest twisted painfully.
Then the creature raised that same hand and lunged at him.
Blue-white energy exploded across its body, forcing its limbs to lock up as smoke poured from its skin. Zixin held on even as the creature thrashed wildly, its claws scraping across his clothes and tearing deep lines through his arms.
"Give me him!?" Zixin screamed directly into its face. "Give me my brother!"
The creature couldn't answer.
It only roared.
Zixin's expression twisted with rage.
"You don't know?"
He slammed his electrified fist into its face.
The monster's head snapped sideways.
"Then I'll make you remember!"
He struck it again.
And again.
Each punch released another violent burst of electricity that scorched its flesh. The creature staggered backward, but he followed without giving it the slightest opportunity to recover. He grabbed its long neck, forced its head down, and drove his knee into its chest before throwing it through the remains of a wall.
The monster crashed into the next room.
Zixin immediately charged after it.
Bao followed from a distance, his little body tense as he watched Zixin completely abandon any concern for his own safety.
"Zixin! Your stop it! you're wrecking your body!!"
"I don't care!"
The monster struggled to rise.
Zixin was already on top of it.
He grabbed one of its arms and slammed it into the floor.
BOOM.
The concrete cracked beneath its body.
The creature swung its other claw toward him.
Zixin caught the wrist.
Electricity surged between them.
The claw trembled in his grip before he twisted it violently to the side and drove his elbow into the creature's throat.
A wet choking sound came from its mouth.
He drove another electrified punch into its jaw, then grabbed its head and slammed it against the floor again and again until the concrete beneath its skull shattered.
Blood and dark fluid splattered across the ground.
The creature tried to crawl away.
Zixin caught its ankle.
"You think you're getting away?"
He dragged it back across the floor and jumped onto it.
Chest heaving violently, he stared down at the ruined body. His hands were shaking so badly that he could barely keep them clenched, but then his eyes dropped to the creature's stomach.
Lin Jing.
He had to be there.
Without thinking, Zixin grabbed the monster's abdomen with both hands and tore into it. The thick flesh split beneath his fingers, and he pulled harder, ripping through the stomach until his hands disappeared into the warm, blood-soaked mess inside.
"Jing..."
His voice cracked.
He searched desperately, pushing aside torn flesh and blood until his fingers finally touched something soft.
A small arm.
Zixin froze.
"No..."
He grabbed Lin Jing and pulled him out as carefully as his trembling hands allowed. The little boy's body came free, covered in blood and stomach fluids, his clothes torn and his face frighteningly pale.
"Jing!"
Zixin immediately pulled him against his chest.
For one second, he simply stared at his brother's face.
Lin Jing looked as if he were sleeping.
That thought gave Zixin the smallest, most desperate piece of hope.
"Come on, Ge got you out," he whispered, his voice shaking violently. "You're okay now. You're okay. I got you out."
He laid Lin Jing flat on the ground and immediately began CPR. His hands pressed against the boy's chest, his movements frantic and uneven from panic.
"Come on. Breathe…Please."
Zixin bent down and breathed into his mouth before pressing his hands against his chest again. His arms were already burning from exhaustion, but he kept going, counting under his breath while tears blurred his vision.
"One, two, three..."
He pushed harder.
"Come on."
He gave him another breath.
"Jing, open your eyes."
Minutes passed, but he refused to stop. His palms shook as he pressed against the boy's chest again and again, and every time Lin Jing's body failed to respond, Zixin's desperation grew worse.
"You're not dead."
His voice was barely audible now.
"No. You're not."
He rubbed Lin Jing's cold hands between his own before placing them back down.
"You were talking to me a little while ago. You were scared, remember? You were holding onto me."
His breathing became ragged.
"So stop doing this."
He pressed down again.
"Wake up."
"Please… wake up."
Time blurred around him.
Zixin did not know how long he had been doing it anymore. Ten minutes. Twenty. Half an hour. He only knew that his arms hurt so badly that they were beginning to feel numb, yet he continued forcing them downward.
By then, his hands were trembling uncontrollably, and the boy's small ribs had begun to crack beneath the repeated pressure of the CPR.
The sound made him flinch, but he refused to stop. He adjusted his hands and continued, sobbing so hard that he could barely breathe himself.
"Just one breath..."
"Please..."
His movements slowly became weaker.
The hope in his eyes began to disappear.
Zixin stared at Lin Jing's face, waiting for his chest to rise.
It didn't.
The little boy remained completely still.
Zixin's hands remained pressed against his cold chest.
For a long moment, he could not accept it.
Then his fingers slowly curled against the boy's shirt, and his head lowered until his forehead rested against Lin Jing's.
"Ge came too late..."
His voice broke completely.
"I'm sorry, Jing."
He held the boy tightly against himself, his shoulders shaking as the realization finally settled over him.
The village was silent around them.
The creature that had once been his mother lay dead only a few meters away, its broken jade bracelet scattered among the blood.
And in Zixin's arms, the little brother he had promised to protect was already gone.