Pov Anna
The air smelled like iron.
My eyes widened the moment I stepped into the hall. Blood—fresh, dark, and far too much—stained the white stone floor. The men who had come to perform the sacred Ceremony were lying lifeless, their faces crushed beyond recognition.
My breath hitched.
And then I saw him.
Shou Feng stood in the center of the carnage, his boots soaked in blood. Red smeared across his cheek like war paint. Even his hair was different—shorter. Before, it reached his waist; now it barely touched the middle of his back, messy and wild, like he'd cut it with a sword mid-battle.
No one dared to move.
No one dared to speak.
From the throne, Lord Kazan's eyes narrowed, cold and calculating. The entire hall was swallowed by fear—except Shou Feng, who turned slowly… and looked straight at me.
His eyes softened for one heartbeat.
Just one.
Then they hardened—sharp, dangerous, unreadable.
Kiyoshi finally stepped forward, voice steady but tense. "Clear the bodies," he commanded. He leaned in close to Shou Feng, whispering something I couldn't hear. But Shou Feng's eyes—those damn eyes—never left me.
He nodded once and walked out.
Before I could blink, Kiyoshi grabbed my wrist. "Come. Now."
We got into a chamber it was a very big white With alot of open area .
Silence. Thick and suffocating.
Shou Feng sat on the couch, cleaning the blood from his hands like this was… normal. Like he'd just come back from a morning walk.
I stared at him. Hard.
He didn't look up.
Finally, without emotion, he said, "You have something to say?"
"Yes, I have something to say!" I exploded. "I am damn frustrated because of you! Can't anything—anything—just go normally when you're around? Like, can a day pass where nobody dies?"
He looked up dead serious.
"No."
Kiyoshi choked on his own breath. "A-Alright, let's just… get past this moment and—"
"What the fuck, Kiyoshi?!" I snapped. "He killed people. Killed. How are you so calm?"
Shou Feng's voice dropped dangerously. "Such language is unbecoming for a girl—"
"No. Nope. Don't teach me what to say," I cut him off. "I am more educated than you are. In my world, you'd be in jail by now. A heartless murderer."
Silence crashed into the room.
Kiyoshi stared at me like I had just signed my own death warrant.
But Shou Feng just… stared back. No anger. No rage. Just this unreadable, unsettling expression—as if I had become an interesting new problem for him to solve.
Yuvan quickly cleared his throat, desperate to break the tension.
"So! We—uh—we have a mission."
Thank the gods.
"It's a book," he continued. "We need to retrieve it."
Plans were discussed. A route. A guardian spirit. A hidden temple. All serious.
Then Kiyoshi hesitated—bad sign.
"Anna… Shou Feng will be going with you."
"What? NO."
"I agree," Yuvan said. "Having him increases the success rate."
"I don't care if it increases the success rate or the grocery list!" I yelled. "I'm not going with—"
"Anna." Kiyoshi pulled me aside and whispered, "The book holds the ritual to send you home."
Oh.
…Damn it.
"Fine," I muttered.
Across the room, Shou Feng sighed, long and dramatic, like I was the problem. I shot him the bitchiest glare known to mankind.
He looked at me like: Is her face stuck like that?
I looked at him like: I hope you trip.
It was mutual disrespect. Beautiful.
"So… how exactly are we going?" I asked.
No one answered.
Suddenly—
CRACK!
A thunderbolt exploded outside. The castle trembled, dust shaking from the ceiling. People in the council gasped. Students ran out into the courtyard.
A giant shadow swallowed the sunlight.
We stepped outside.
And my jaw dropped.
A massive dragon—scales shimmering like molten silver and midnight—landed with a roar that rattled the sky. Its wings stretched wide, each flap sending wind strong enough to push guards off-balance.
"The legendary Ryūjin-Shade Dragon…" Yuvan whispered.
I stared.
Then slowly… very slowly… I turned to Shou Feng.
"No," I said. "Nope. Absolutely not. I'm not riding that. That thing could blink and I'd die."
Shou Feng: "You won't die."
Me: "YOUR definition of not dying is different from normal people!"
The dragon lowered its head in front of me, smoke curling from its nostrils.
"I don't wanna get eaten!" I protested.
"You won't get eaten," he repeated, sounding tired.
"What if I fall?"
"Then you'll die," he said bluntly.
"YOU ARE NOT HELPING!"
Kiyoshi covered his face, Yuvan was trying not to laugh, and the dragon looked personally offended by my existence.
Finally… I gave up.
"Fine. But if I die, I'm haunting all of you."
Shou Feng stepped forward, grabbed my waist, and lifted me up as if I weighed nothing, placing me onto the dragon's head.
I screamed.
He didn't even blink.
The dragon purred—PURRED—like a cat with murder issues.
This was going to be the worst mission of my life.
End of the chapter