Loss.
Yan Wuhen had never learned how to endure it. He had grown up with everything. Power. Status. Devotion.
A twin sister at his side. A father proud of his strength. A mother who adored him. A clan that feared and respected him in equal measure.
From the moment he could walk, he had already begun carving his name into the world.
He did not lack. He took. And the world gave.
The first time that certainty fractured… was Ningyan.
When he disappeared back at the academy. When he had gone to Lan Meishan to repair his core.
Wuhen had nearly torn the academy apart that night and would have reduced it to ash if not for Rong Yue holding him back.
That was the first time he felt it.
Fear.
It was raw and unfamiliar. It burned through him like poison.
But even that was nothing like this.
This time… time was running out.
The screams around him blurred into noise.
Pleas. Apologies. Denials.
They meant nothing.
Steel flashed.
A body split cleanly in two.
