The wind howled across the open cliff edge, ripping at the edges of Lin Wan’s wet cloak. Small pebbles danced near her broken cloth shoes, slipping over the brink into the dark, silent abyss below.

She kept her spine pressed tightly against the cold stone wall, her small hands flat against the rock behind her.

"I am not going back," she screamed into the mist, her voice trembling but full of fierce, desperate resolve. "Step back, Cassian! I mean it!"

The dark silhouette inside the thick fog did not stop. It took another step forward, the heavy boots making a soft crunching sound against the loose gravel. But as the figure moved closer, the suffocating, burning weight that usually accompanied the Sovereign did not crush her lungs.

The air did not turn to winter frost and dark ozone. Instead, a strange, gentle warmth began to cut through the freezing mountain air.

The thick white mist parted slowly, like a curtain being pulled away by an invisible hand.

The figure that emerged from the shadows was tall and broad-shouldered, but he did not wear the black silk robes or the heavy iron armor of the palace.

He wore a simple, travel-worn tunic of deep green, wrapped in a thick leather belt that held several wooden talisman cases. His face was sharp, his jaw strong, and his eyes were not slitted golden pools of danger.

They were deep, familiar, and incredibly warm.

"Lin Wan," a voice called out to her. It wasn’t Cassian’s deep, raspy purr. It was a smooth, steady voice that she had heard in her dreams during her darkest nights in the

cage.

Lin Wan’s breath caught sharply in her throat. Her eyes went wide, staring at the male standing just a few feet away from her. The frantic panic that had been driving her legs for hours suddenly froze, replacing the terror with a deep, blinding shock.

"Wei... Wei Xiang?" she whispered, her voice barely louder than the rustle of the wind.

The male stopped right at the edge of the path, looking at her with an expression of pure, raw emotion. His chest was heaving as if he had been running across the mountains for days without rest.

His dark hair was damp from the fog, sticking to his forehead, and his hands were scratched and covered in dry dirt.

"It’s me," Wei Xiang said softly, taking a half-step forward, his hands raised openly to show he carried no weapons. "I found you. Lin Wan, it’s really you."

The moment his name left her lips, the thin wall of strength holding Lin Wan together completely shattered. The realization that she wasn’t facing her captor, that the heavy shadow behind her was actually a friend who had crossed worlds to find her, broke her defenses down to the ground.

Her knees buckled beneath her weight. She slid down the cold rock face, collapsing onto the damp dirt, her small frame shaking violently as a flood of hot, heavy tears broke free from her eyes.

"Wei Xiang..." she sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

Wei Xiang didn’t hesitate. He moved with a swift, gentle speed, crossing the remaining distance between them in a single stride. He dropped to his knees in the mud right in front of her, his large, warm hands instantly reaching out to gather her shivering form into his arms.

He pulled her tight against his broad chest, burying his face into her damp, chopped hair. He held her with a fierce, protective strength, as if he was trying to shield her from the entire universe with his own body.

"I’ve got you," Wei Xiang murmured against her ear, his voice thick with a deep, shaky emotion. "You’re safe now. I am right here. I will not let anyone hurt you again."

Lin Wan clung to him like a drowning person catching a lifeline in a stormy sea. Her small fingers dug deep into the rough fabric of his green tunic, her face buried in the crook of his neck.

His skin was so warm, smelling of pine needles, clean earth, and familiar spiritual herbs. It was the exact opposite of the cold, metallic luxury of the palace. It smelled like home.

"He locked me away," she wept into his shoulder, her words coming out in ragged, broken gasps. "He built a room with jade walls... and I couldn’t breathe, Wei Xiang. I couldn’t see the sky. Weiwei is gone... the system shut down, and I couldn’t find my way out of the dark. I thought you were him. I thought he was going to throw me back in the cage."

"Shh, do not cry, little moon," Wei Xiang whispered, his large hand gently stroking the back of her head, his long fingers soothing the tight tension in her neck. "I know. I know everything. I have been tracking your energy frequency since the moment you were dragged into the Upper World. I saw the palace arrays flare when you entered. I have been hiding in the lower valleys, waiting for even a single crack in his security to come get you."

He pulled back just an inch, his warm hands cupping either side of her pale, dirty face. He used his thumbs to gently wipe away the thick tears running down her cheeks, his expression full of a deep, aching tenderness.

"Look at you," he said, his voice cracking slightly as he saw her chopped hair and the thin, ragged dress she was still wearing.

"Look what he did to you. He treated you like a prisoner."

"I wouldn’t touch his clothes," Lin Wan sniffled, her chest still hitching with soft sobs as she looked into his warm eyes. "I wouldn’t eat his food unless he forced me. I hated every single second there, Wei Xiang. But my body... my body is so weak. I can’t find my energy core. It feels like something is constantly draining my strength from the inside."

Wei Xiang’s eyes darkened with a cold, protective anger for a brief moment before he softened his gaze again. He reached into his leather belt and pulled out a small, pale blue paper talisman covered in fine silver runes.

He tapped the paper against her forehead, and a gentle, cool wave of spiritual energy rippled through her skin, instantly clearing the heavy dizziness in her head.

"This is a hidden-soul talisman," Wei Xiang explained quietly, his voice calm and reassuring. "It will temporarily mask your biological scent and suppress the leaking energy from that royal mark on your collarbone. It won’t cure your exhaustion, but it will blind Cassian’s hounds for a few hours.

We need to move away from this cliff face right now. The palace guards will be searching the lower tracks soon."

Lin Wan tried to stand up, but the moment she put weight on her feet, a sharp, white-hot pain shot through her torn heels, making her let out a small cry of pain. She began to fall backward toward the edge again.

"Careful!" Wei Xiang caught her securely around her waist, his strong arm lifting her off the ground before her feet could touch the dirt again.

He looked down at her feet and noticed for the first time the ruined cloth shoes, the fabric soaked through with blood and black mud. His jaw clenched tightly, a look of profound guilt and sorrow passing through his eyes.

"I am sorry," he whispered, his voice full of a deep, heavy weight. "I should have found you sooner. I shouldn’t have let you walk down these sharp rocks alone."

"It’s not your fault," Lin Wan said, her fingers tightening around his shoulders as he shifted his weight. "You came for me. That is all that matters."

Without another word, Wei Xiang turned her slightly and lifted her into his arms, carrying her in a secure, steady hold against his chest. He turned away from the sheer drop of the abyss, heading back into the narrow path through the swirling fog.

Lin Wan rested her weary head against his solid shoulder, closing her eyes as the steady, rhythmic movement of his stride began to lull her exhausted mind.

For weeks, she had been forced to stand on guard, watching every word she spoke, fighting against the crushing will of Cassian.

But now, held in the arms of the male who had always protected her without asking for anything in return, she finally felt the heavy iron band around her chest loosen.

"Wei Xiang," she murmured softly, her eyelids growing heavier by the second as the hidden-soul talisman continued to soothe her frayed nerves.

"I am here," he replied, his voice a low, comforting rumble beneath her ear.

"Don’t let him take me back."

Wei Xiang stopped walking for a split second, his grip tightening around her small frame until she could feel the steady, powerful thud of his own heart beating against her ribs. He looked down at her pale, resting face, his amber eyes filling with an absolute, unyielding vow.

"Never," Wei Xiang whispered into the cold night air. "Even if I have to burn this entire world to ash, I will never let him put his chains on you again."