—
The ground shuddered beneath them—soft at first, like a distant heartbeat.
Then, the rumble deepened.
Ling Xi stiffened.
"Mù Xuán… what was that?"
But she didn't answer.
Her head snapped toward the sky, eyes narrowing as though she were listening to something he could not hear—
"What time is it…?" she whispered, voice trembling.
Before he could ask another question, she moved—
—
A blur.
A streak of blue.
Lightning wrapped in silk.
Ling Xi blinked.
She was already halfway up the stone path leading to the lake.
"…What—?"
He had seen Lingxuan-ans run fast.
He had been the fastest among palace youths.
But this—
This speed—
Like lightning.
Had she always been this fast?
Her steps were light, nearly soundless.
—
He shook off the shock and sprinted after her, boots kicking up dirt and leaves.
The wind whistled past him, tugging at his hair—
—
By the time he reached the waterfall, Mù Xuán was standing completely still.
Perfectly still.
Head tilted up at the roaring water, her brows drawn tight.
He stepped beside her, chest rising with his breath.
"…What's going on?"
Still no answer.
Her lips parted, but only confusion spilled through her expression.
She murmured, barely audible over the water:
"Why is Zhù Yuan growling…? He never growls like this…"
The dragon?
—
She hesitated—only a heartbeat—then her gaze sharpened, cold enough to split stone.
Her irises ignited—
A blazing, unnatural blue.
The kind that belonged—
Ling Xi's fingers tightened around his sword hilt.
—
The waterfall shuddered.
Mù Xuán raised her hand slightly.
Her lips began forming words, but the language… Ling Xi had never heard it.
Each syllable vibrated in the air like frost weaving itself into sound.
The water began to glow—bright, silver, radiant.
And then it changed.
The roaring waterfall softened…
thinned…
and turned into a veil of shimmering mist.
It parted down the middle like two giant transparent curtains.
—
Ling Xi's breath hitched.
"Mù Xuán—!"
But she was already moving.
A streak of blue rushed into the glowing passage, vanishing into the heart of the mountain.
Ling Xi's body reacted before his mind.
He followed—leaping forward just as the water closed behind him with a deafening crash.
Darkness swallowed him for a breath.
Then—
Light.
He stumbled once, catching himself, eyes widening as the world around him shifted.
It looked like a cave but—
It was—
— carved from crystal.
— of blinding white stone.
—of glittering, living light.
The walls glowed with soft, shifting patterns.
Symbols—old, ancient, sacred—moved like drifting fireflies across the surface.
His breath hitched again.
"What… is this place…?"
But he didn't have time to admire it.
Because Mù Xuán was already far ahead of him—
her body a streak of blue again, disappearing around a corner.
He cursed under his breath and bolted after her.
His hair whipped into his face; he growled, shoving it back angrily, gripping his sword tighter.
He chased her across twisting stone bridges, through tunnels of shimmering light, down a slope carved into the mountain's heart.
Her speed only increased.
She wasn't running.
This woman was literally flying.
—
He turned a corner—
and froze so suddenly he nearly fell.
His breath died in his throat.
"What… is… that…"
Before him rose what looked like a mountain.
A colossal, gleaming, white mountain.
But then—
it moved.
The entire "mountain" exhaled.
The ground trembled.
Ling Xi's blood ran cold.
This was not a mountain.
This was—
A back.
A dragon's back.
The creature was so massive its spine formed ridges taller than palace walls.
He swallowed hard, boots sinking slightly into the shimmering ground.
His grip on his sword trembled despite himself.
"So this… this is the legendary last dragon…"
—
Ling Xi swallowed hard, his pulse thundering against his ribs as he stepped closer.
From up close, the "mountain" was even more overwhelming.
The dragon's scales were enormous—each one larger than a shield, shaped like perfect diamonds.
They gleamed with a pearly radiance, refracting light into soft halos that danced along its body.
—
He walked slowly, almost cautiously, boots echoing softly against the glowing ground as he circled the massive creature.
Its sides rose and fell with slow, thunderous breaths.
The air was warm with its exhale—unnaturally warm, like a dormant storm.
—
The dragon—Zhù Yuan—growled again.
A low, ancient sound that vibrated the bones in his body.
Ling Xi stiffened instantly.
—
Ahead of him, Mù Xuán stood—
—