Traveling at the speed of a divine legend has its drawbacks. For one, the scenery becomes a blur of nauseating colors. For another, your face feels like it is trying to migrate to the back of your head.
The Sun-God's Chariot tore through the sky above the Central Plains, leaving a trail of sonic booms and shattered cloud formations in its wake. Inside the open cockpit, Su Ye and his disciples were holding on for dear life.
"Slow down!" Gao Ming screamed, his cheeks flapping in the wind like a bulldog's. "My cape is strangling me!"
"We can't!" Su Ye yelled back, gripping the dashboard with white knuckles. "The brakes are in Ancient Elvish or something!
Moonbell! Do you see a pedal that says 'Stop'?"
"I see a rune that says 'Incinerate'," Moonbell hissed, her paws glowing as she wrestled with the yoke. "And another that says 'Ascend to Godhood'. This vehicle was not designed for traffic!"
"Where is the Shadow?" Su Ye squinted against the wind.
Lin Fan, whose power armor was the only thing keeping his skeleton intact, checked the scanner. "Target is twelve miles ahead! It's moving along the ground, merging with the shadows of the terrain. But it's fast. It's heading straight for the Golden Dragon City."
"The Capital," Luo Bing whispered, her face pale. She crouched low in the chariot. "Master, we cannot go there. I am a fugitive. If the Imperial Guard sees me..."
"If we don't catch that Shadow," Su Ye gritted his teeth, "it's going to wear my face and do something terrible. Like raise taxes. Or cancel the circus."
"Master!" Lin Fan pointed. "Visual on the target!"
Below them, racing across the Imperial Highway, was the Reflection. It didn't run like a human. It poured itself forward, a tidal wave of ink that periodically formed into the shape of Su Ye to leap over obstacles. It was heading toward the massive, glittering walls of the Imperial Capital on the horizon.
"It's going for the main gate!" Su Ye yelled. "Cut it off!"
"We are coming in too hot!" Moonbell warned. "The Capital has a Dragon-Scale Barrier. If we hit it at this speed, we will be flattened like a pancake."
"Zhu Zhu!" Su Ye looked at the pig, who was currently stuck to the back of the seat by g-force, his tongue lolling out. "Do you like spicy food?"
Squeal? (Always.)
"The barrier is made of pure Dragon Qi. It's the spiciest thing in the world."
Zhu Zhu's eyes lit up. He peeled himself off the seat.
"Ramming speed!" Su Ye ordered.
The Sun-God's Chariot streaked over the city walls. Ahead of them, the massive golden dome of the Dragon-Scale Barrier shimmered into existence—an impenetrable force field designed to stop armies.
The Shadow slipped under the gate just before it closed. It looked back up at the Chariot and waved mockingly.
"It's taunting us!" Gao Ming gasped.
"Not for long," Su Ye grabbed the chicken plugged into the dashboard. "Little Sun! Maximum Overdrive!"
Little Sun flared. The Chariot turned into a comet.
They hit the barrier.
CRASH.
It should have been fatal. But just before impact, Zhu Zhu leaped onto the hood of the chariot. He opened his mouth.
The Dragon-Scale Barrier was pure energy. Zhu Zhu was pure hunger.
CRUNCH.
Zhu Zhu bit a hole in the invincible shield. It tasted like ozone and authority. He chewed rapidly, eating a tunnel through the force field just wide enough for the Chariot to pass.
"Through the breach!"
The Chariot shot through the hole in the shield, scraping the edges with sparks of gold and violet. They entered the airspace of the Capital.
"Brakes! Brakes!" Su Ye screamed.
Moonbell slammed her paws on every rune she could see.
The Chariot shuddered. The engines reversed. Flames shot out of the front. They decelerated from Mach 2 to zero in three seconds.
They dropped out of the sky.
THUD.
The Chariot crashed into the middle of a busy market square, crushing a stall selling 'Lucky Dragon Charms'. Steam hissed from the golden hull. The team groaned, checking their limbs.
"Is everyone alive?" Su Ye asked, unpeeling his face from the dashboard.
"Physically, yes," Gao Ming checked his mirror suit. "Emotionally, I am shattered. My hair is ruined."
"We're in the Capital," Luo Bing whispered, pulling her hood down tight. "We need to move. The City Guard will be here in seconds."
"Where did the Shadow go?" Su Ye jumped out of the wreckage.
Lin Fan scanned the area. "It headed north. Toward the Forbidden City. The Palace."
"It's going to the Emperor?" Su Ye frowned. "Why?"
Before they could move, the sound of marching boots echoed on the cobblestones.
"Halt! By order of the Imperial Guard!"
A squad of soldiers in gold-trimmed armor surrounded the crash site. They held halberds tipped with lightning crystals. The Captain stepped forward, eyeing the wrecked fruit stall and the glowing golden spaceship.
"You have violated the airspace, destroyed property, and scared the royal pigeons," the Captain barked. "Identify yourselves!"
Su Ye dusted off his clothes. He looked at the guards. He looked at his team of fugitives.
"We are..." Su Ye stalled, his brain working fast. "We are the Royal Pizza Delivery."
"Pizza?" The Captain blinked.
"It's a new dish from the West," Su Ye said earnestly. "Very hot. Very fast. That's why we crashed. The cheese was unstable."
"Arrest them," the Captain sighed. "And seize the vehicle."
"Wait!"
A voice cut through the tension. It wasn't Su Ye. It was Luo Bing.
She stepped forward, pulling down her hood. Her silver hair cascaded down, and her eyes flashed with a cold, regal authority that stopped the guards in their tracks.
"You will not arrest us, Captain Zhang," Luo Bing said, her voice icy. "Do you not recognize your Princess?"
The Captain froze. He looked at her face. His eyes went wide. He dropped his halberd.
"Fourth Princess?" The Captain fell to his knees. "Your Highness! We... we thought you were dead! The reports said you were eaten by a Void Beast!"
"I was not eaten," Luo Bing said, stepping over the broken fruit. "I was... studying abroad. Under the tutelage of this Grandmaster."
She pointed at Su Ye.
Su Ye straightened his back and tried to look like a Grandmaster and not a guy who just invented pizza as a legal defense.
"Grandmaster... Shovel?" The Captain looked confused.
"Grandmaster Su," Luo Bing corrected. "We have urgent intelligence for the Emperor. The security of the realm is at risk. Take us to the Palace immediately."
The Captain hesitated. "Your Highness... the Palace is on lockdown. The Grand Eunuch Wei has ordered that no one enters. Not even family. He says the Emperor is... indisposed."
"Indisposed?" Su Ye stepped in. "Does 'indisposed' mean 'sick', or does it mean 'being controlled by a Shadow Monster'?"
"I... I cannot say," the Captain whispered, looking around nervously. "But strange things are happening in the Forbidden City. Shadows moving on their own. Advisors disappearing."
"The corruption is already inside," Su Ye realized. "The Shadow wasn't invading. It was reporting for duty."
He looked at the Captain.
"Captain Zhang. You swore an oath to the Emperor, not the Eunuch, right?"
"Yes, of course."
"Then get us inside," Su Ye said. "Or the next time the pizza comes, it will be delivered by a flying mountain."
The Captain looked at the determined Princess, the strange Grandmaster, and the pig eating the remains of the fruit stall. He made a choice.
"Follow me," the Captain whispered. "I know a service entrance. It's where they bring in the laundry."
"Laundry," Gao Ming sighed. "From a Sun-Chariot to a laundry chute. My biography will be a tragedy."
They left the wrecked Chariot (guarded by confused soldiers) and followed Captain Zhang through the winding back alleys of the Capital. The city was beautiful, built of white stone and gold, but there was a heaviness in the air. The citizens looked fearful. The shadows seemed to stretch longer than they should.
They reached the massive red walls of the Forbidden City. Captain Zhang led them to a small, iron-reinforced door hidden behind a statue of a crying dragon.
"This leads to the servants' quarters," Zhang said. "From there, you can reach the Throne Room. But be careful. The Imperial Shadow Guard patrols these halls. They answer only to Eunuch Wei."
"Thanks, Captain," Su Ye patted him on the shoulder. "If we survive, I'll give you a discount on the pizza."
They slipped inside. The corridors were vast, lined with silk tapestries and ancient vases.
"We need to find the Shadow," Su Ye whispered. "Lin Fan, track it."
"The signal is mixed," Lin Fan tapped his gauntlet. "There is Void energy everywhere in this palace. It's like the entire building is radioactive."
"Then we go to the source," Luo Bing said, her hand trembling slightly on her sword hilt. "The Throne Room. That's where my father is."
They moved deeper into the palace. They evaded patrols of silent, masked guards who moved with jerky, puppet-like motions.
"Those aren't humans," Moonbell hissed. "They have no scent. They are hollow."
"Shadow Puppets," Su Ye nodded. "Wei has replaced the staff."
They reached the massive double doors of the Hall of Supreme Harmony—the Throne Room. The doors were slightly ajar.
Voices drifted out.
"The vessel is prepared, Eunuch," a voice hissed. It sounded like Su Ye, but distorted—the voice of the Shadow.
"Excellent," another voice replied. High-pitched, oily, and terrifying. Grand Eunuch Wei. "The Emperor is weak. His mind is fractured. Once you merge with him... the Empire will belong to the Void."
"And the Warden?" the Shadow asked.
"Let him come," Wei laughed. "We have prepared a welcome gift. The Imperial Guardian Beast is hungry."
Outside the door, Su Ye signaled his team to stop.
"Okay," Su Ye whispered. "Good news: We found the Shadow. Bad news: It's trying to possess the Emperor. Worse news: There's a Guardian Beast."
"What is the Guardian Beast?" Gao Ming asked. "A lion? A dragon?"
Luo Bing swallowed hard. "No. It's the Heavenly Kirin. A beast of pure judgment. It only obeys the rightful ruler."
"If Wei controls it," Su Ye grimaced, "then the definition of 'rightful' has been hacked."
He gripped his shovel.
"Zhu Zhu. You ate a singularity yesterday. Do you have room for a Kirin?"
Zhu Zhu burped. Squeal. (Maybe just a leg.)
"Good enough."
Su Ye kicked the doors open.
"Room service!" Su Ye shouted, striding into the Throne Room. "We heard someone ordered a revolution!"
The scene inside was a nightmare.
The Emperor sat on the Golden Dragon Throne, slumped over, his eyes glazed white. Standing over him was the Shadow-Su Ye, its hand reaching out to touch the Emperor's forehead.
And standing next to the throne was Eunuch Wei, a tall man in purple robes holding a fan made of black feathers.
"You," Wei sneered, not looking surprised. "The stable boy. You are persistent."
"And you are ugly," Su Ye retorted. "Get away from the Emperor.
"
"Kill them," Wei flicked his fan.
From behind the throne, a massive shape emerged. It was majestic and terrifying. A creature with the body of a deer, the tail of an ox, hooves of a horse, and scales of a dragon. It was covered in golden fire.
The Heavenly Kirin. Tier-7 Divine Beast.
But its eyes... its eyes were bandaged with black cloth covered in Void runes.
"It's blinded," Moonbell gasped. "They blinded it so it wouldn't judge them!"
The Kirin roared, a sound like a choir of bells turning into a scream. It charged.
"Defend the Princess!" Su Ye shouted. "Zhu Zhu! Tank!"
The Shadow-Su Ye smiled at the real Su Ye. It didn't fight. It turned back to the Emperor and placed its hand on the monarch's head.
MERGE.
The Shadow dissolved, flowing into the Emperor's eyes.
The Emperor gasped. His white eyes turned pitch black. He stood up. The pressure in the room skyrocketed.
"Too late," the Emperor spoke, but it was Su Ye's voice coming from his mouth. "I have the throne."
Su Ye froze.
"Well," Su Ye muttered, watching the possessed Emperor draw the Imperial Sword. "That's a plot twist."