Xinyuan closed the distance instantly, his large arms wrapping around Wenzhi’s unsteady body. "Let’s go."

"Mmmh," Wenzhi let his head slump heavily against Xinyuan’s chest, his shoulder rolling into the Esper’s frame.

Between the lingering weight of Doctor Bai Qinian’s sedatives, the severe dehydration, and the ache of having a massive chunk of his guiding energy forcefully siphoned out, he was completely running on empty.

Before his feet could even slide across the metal floor, the pitch-black mist exploded from Xinyuan’s body. The shadows coiled around them both, yanking them completely out of the cell.

When the darkness snapped back into Xinyuan’s skin, they were standing on the high, rocky outskirts overlooking a sprawling metropolis. It was a sleek, aggressively advanced city with military jets and massive airships hovering and drifting through the sky, moving through towering, illuminated skyscrapers.

The skyline cut sharply into the night, brightened beneath a crescent moon hanging low among endless stars.

Cold wind brushed against Wenzhi’s skin.

Autumn....

He could smell it.

If he weren’t half-dead, he might have appreciated the view.

Wenzhi’s vision blurred heavily against the sudden wind, his knees buckling. Xinyuan caught him effortlessly, his grip tightening. "Can you move?"

"Not really," Wenzhi rasped, the words catching in his dry throat.

Without a word, Xinyuan scooped Wenzhi up into his arms, carrying him effortlessly across the rocky terrain toward a massive, heavily armored vehicle, fitted with oversized terrain tires designed to tear through raw rift zones.

Wenzhi’s exhausted brain could barely process the movements. He could only track the click of a heavy door opening, the gentle dip as Xinyuan slid him onto the leather backseat, and the immediate shielding of the vehicle’s heavily tinted windows.

Xinyuan climbed in right after him, pulling a thick, heavy coat over Wenzhi’s frame before letting out a long, heavy breath that sounded like a sigh of pure relief.

"You were... already this close?" Wenzhi mumbled, his eyelids fluttering shut as he leaned back against the seat.

Xinyuan didn’t answer immediately. He hovered over him, his face pale with worry as he carefully pressed the back of his hand against Wenzhi’s forehead to gauge his temperature.

Wenzhi weakly lifted a hand to push Xinyuan’s arm away, but the gesture was entirely devoid of any real strength. It was more of a reflex, and Xinyuan didn’t move an inch.

"The car seems nice," Wenzhi murmured, forcing his grey eyes open just an inch to look at the custom interior.

Xinyuan’s jaw clenched, a pained look crossing his features. The physical toll of Wenzhi’s captivity was glaringly obvious. His skin was far too pale, his lips were chapped, and his pulse was unsteady.

Xinyuan immediately reached for the vehicle’s storage compartment to snatch a bottle of clean water. Twisting the cap off, he carefully slid an arm behind Wenzhi’s shoulders, lifting his upper body into a semi-upright position. He pressed the rim of the bottle to Wenzhi’s lips, tilting it slowly so his Guide wouldn’t choke.

Wenzhi drank greedily but deliberately, taking small swallows to let his starved body adjust to the fluid.

Watching him drink made Xinyuan’s heart clench with a terrifying, suffocating wave of rage. The glowing red chain markings down his arm pulsed.

If Wenzhi hadn’t dimmed his temper inside the mindspace, Xinyuan knew exactly what he would have done. He would have broken through the front gates of that facility like a hurricane, completely blind to the trap his father and Bai Qinian had laid out for him.

He would have been captured, and Wenzhi would have been executed by Wu Youran while he watched.

No.

The thought made Xinyuan swallow hard, a cold sweat breaking out across his neck as the reality of how close they had come to total annihilation settled in.

As Wenzhi finished the last drop of water and let his head rest back against the leather, Xinyuan carefully set the empty bottle aside.

"I’m going to take you straight to Doctor Ruixin, Freckles," Xinyuan’s voice was soft as he reached out, his thumb gently brushing a few stray strands of dark hair away from Wenzhi’s face.

Wenzhi’s freckled nose creased at the touch, his heavy grey eyes cracking open once more. "Mmmh."

That was all the energy he could muster. Xinyuan opened his mouth, a desperate apology hanging on the tip of his tongue but he knew an emotional spiral would only irritate his Guide right now. He clamped his mouth shut, preparing to slip into the driver’s seat to get them out of here.

But before he could pull away, Wenzhi’s fingers shot out from beneath the heavy coat. His grip was weak, but his fingers clamped firmly around Xinyuan’s forearm, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Careful," Wenzhi murmured. "Don’t blow us up."

Xinyuan glanced at him. "That’s why I got the car."

"When I’m fine..." Wenzhi drawled, trying to keep his eyes open. "I will guide you properly. So you can stop suppressing corruption."

Xinyuan nodded. "Okay, baby. Just sleep."

His fingers brushed Wenzhi’s hair back. "I’ll take care of everything."

Hearing that, Wenzhi finally let his eyes close, his fingers slowly releasing their loose grip on Xinyuan’s arm.

Xinyuan waited until his Guide’s breathing turned rhythmic before he carefully moved through the cabin, slipping into the driver’s seat and firing up the engine.

Before shifting into drive, Xinyuan adjusted his heavy jacket, pulling it tight to hide the black chain markings that had wrapped aggressively around his torso and arms. His left eye flared a brilliant crimson as he slammed his foot onto the accelerator, sending the armored vehicle tearing down the rough road.

Once they hit a straight stretch, he reached down, snatched a comm-phone, and dialed Chenxi’s direct line.

The call connected almost instantly, but the audio was flooded with a chaotic symphony of roaring wind, heavy explosions, and the distinct, high-pitched shriek of rift monsters.

"Finally, you are calling after your dramatic exit," Chenxi’s voice barked over the static. He let out a sharp grunt as a shockwave rattled his speaker. "Hold on, a small rift just opened right on our way to the Old Blood."

"Is Doctor Ruixin with you?" Xinyuan asked immediately.

"Did you get him?" Chenxi countered immediately.

"Yeah. He’s here. Is the doctor..."

"I honestly expected you to level the whole damned city." Chenxi interrupted, followed by the sound of a roaring fire incinerating a monster.

Xinyuan’s jaw tightened. Frankly, he had expected that of himself, too. "He’s in bad shape. I need the doctor."

"She’s safe with me, Luhan, and Zhaohe," Chenxi said.

Xinyuan’s grip on the steering wheel tightened so harshly the leather began to groan. He had to force his muscles to relax to keep from snapping it entirely. "Is Zhaohe close to you right now?"

"Not anymore. What happened?"

"It’s a trust thing," Xinyuan breathed. "I need you to find a way to separate from her. Let’s meet up at the safehouse in Sector 18. Do not tell her I called. Please, Chenxi."

There was a brief, heavy pause on the other end of the line. The background noise of crackling flames seemed to dim as Chenxi immediately caught the gravity of the request. It was entirely unnatural for Xinyuan to exclude Zhaohe, given how fiercely tight their circle usually was.

"Got it," Chenxi said. "I’ll text you when we clear the sector."

The call was cut off.

SCREECH—!!!

A brutal, deafening grinding sound came from the roof of the vehicle. Before Xinyuan could even glance at the rearview mirror, a massive impact slammed directly into the front hood, shattering the engine and sending a blinding explosion of sparks and lashing grey mist straight through the windshield.

Xinyuan recognized the pressure instantly, but there was more. The car was violently rammed from the rear and the left side simultaneously, the force lifting the multi-ton armored truck entirely off its tires.

Xinyuan dove straight into the backseat toward Wenzhi, who was completely passed out and unresponsive to the chaos.

SLASH.

An invisible, compressed blade of energy tore horizontally through the center of the truck with terrifying speed.

Xinyuan was faster. He scooped Wenzhi’s limp body entirely into his arms, crushing the Guide tightly against his chest to shield him from the chaos. He twisted his own body, slamming his back against the opposite, intact side of the passenger frame just as the car was cleanly sheared completely in two.

BOOM.

As the fragments of the vehicle rolled across the rocky terrain, Xinyuan unleashed his dark mist. The shadows erupted in a dense, protective sphere around him and Wenzhi, absorbing the blunt force of the crash and holding his boots firmly into the dirt.

The heavy cloud of dust, smoke, and burning oil slowly began to clear in the cold autumn night.

Stepping through the wreckage with a slow stride was Wu Youran. Her hands were casually tucked into her pockets, her signature grey mist swirling lazily around her ankles like a predator.

But she wasn’t alone.

Behind her in a perfect, oppressive semi-circle were five other individuals. The crushing gravity radiating from their bodies made the air heavy.

They were all Disaster-Class Espers.

Each of them wore distinctive, mocking expressions of supreme confidence, their combat stances perfectly locked, entirely ready and eager to challenge the original Disaster Class Esper.

"I am really starting to see why you two are so compatible now," Wu Youran said, her voice dripping with smooth, venomous amusement as her eyes flicked from Xinyuan’s glowing red eye down to the unconscious Guide cradled securely in his arms.