The morning mist clung to the edge of the Floating District like wet silk as Wei Chen leaned against a stone pillar, laughing at Lin Xue who stood ten feet away with her sword pointed accusingly at his throat. Her face was flushed pink despite the chill in the air, cheeks puffed out when she tried to maintain her stoic ice queen mask.
"Did you miss me that much?" Wei Chen teased, tapping the tip of his fan against her blade until it hummed a sharp note. "Or are you just angry because I didn't help you polish your armor last night?" Lin Xue's eyes narrowed, golden light flickering in them before she lowered her sword and stepped closer to him anyway, though not touching yet.
She grabbed the front of his robe suddenly, yanking him down until their noses brushed. "Stop talking," she whispered, breath hot against his chin despite her cold aura. He grinned wider as he slipped a hand into her sash to pull her hip flush with his own, ignoring how the air around them crackled like static when skin met skin. The friction sparked without sound; instead of power surging through their veins immediately, it was just heat and pressure that made Lin Xue's knees buckle slightly before she straightened again in annoyance.
"Good girl," Wei Chen murmured against her lips while flicking her nose with a finger to end the moment. "But now we have work." He turned on his heel as three Void Shadows burst through the training hall walls, their bodies made of solidified darkness rather than flesh or bone these days. They didn't attack him; they attacked Lin Xue's disciples who were practicing nearby in rows of wooden dummies.
Wei Chen spun a fan blade into existence mid-air while Su Mei and Cold Ice Saintess emerged from the shadows to flank his sides, their eyes glowing with focused intent rather than fear. He flicked his wrist and three coins flew out like golden bullets striking the first shadow's chest before shattering it instantly without leaving blood behind since there was none left inside these creatures anymore anyway now that they were just void energy given form for a time.
Wei Chen grabbed Lin Xue's waist to pull her back from harm while she blocked two smaller shadows with swift strikes of her sword. "Stay close," he ordered, voice low and rough like gravel grinding against stone before the fight erupted fully into chaos around them as disciples scattered toward safety near the market stalls where vendors were selling cheap pills wrapped in paper that glowed faintly under sunlight despite being sold for silver only instead of spirit stones because Wei Chen's team had bulk-bought them earlier at an auction.
One young woman from the group stumbled and fell but didn't cry out; she reached up to catch a falling coin that glowed with pure Yang energy dropped by one of the shadows before it shattered near her feet instead of hers which meant her core reacted faster than normal as if Wei Chen's presence had already primed her nerves for higher speeds.
Wei Chen pulled Lin Xue into his chest, pressing their foreheads together again to synchronize heartbeats so she could feel exactly when he struck next while Su Mei and Cold Ice Saintess fought alongside him without killing the shadows just yet because they wanted to study them first before destroying completely what came from the void gateway behind them which was now opening wider every time Wei Chen touched his soul key.
To be Continued
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