He turned his steps toward a hidden path that cut deep into the western crags, his tall figure disappearing into the thick white mist, leaving the golden lights of the palace far behind them in the dark.

The cave was small, damp, and buried deep beneath a thick layer of twisting black vines.

Wei Xiang moved carefully through the narrow opening, keeping his upper body bent low to avoid striking his head against the sharp stone ceiling.

He carried Lin Wan tightly in his arms, his large boots making no sound as he stepped onto the cold, sandy floor of the cavern. He walked toward the furthest corner, away from the freezing mountain draft, and gently lowered her onto a thick pile of dried ferns and soft green moss he had prepared earlier.

Lin Wan let out a faint, weary groan as her back touched the soft moss. The cool energy from the hidden-soul talisman on her forehead was still humming through her veins, but it could not completely erase the profound exhaustion that had taken over her physical limbs. Her eyes were half-closed, her pale face smudged with black dirt and dry tears.

"Stay still, little moon," Wei Xiang whispered, his voice a gentle, steady presence in the dark.

He knelt beside her, his large hands moving with absolute care as he reached down to slide the ruined cloth shoes off her feet. The thin fabric was completely soaked with dark blood and mud, sticking to her torn heels. Lin Wan flinched, her fingers digging into the moss as a sharp sting ran up her legs.

"I know it hurts," Wei Xiang murmured, his jaw clenching slightly with a deep, protective sorrow as he saw the raw, red cuts along her soles. "I am going to clean the wounds now. Hold on to my shoulder if the pain gets too sharp."

He pulled a small ceramic flask of clean spring water and a clean white cloth from his leather belt. He poured the water over her feet drop by drop, using the cloth to gently wipe away the grit and dried blood.

He did not use any grand, flashing spiritual spells; instead, he worked slowly, his touch as light as a feather, ensuring he did not cause her any unnecessary discomfort.

Lin Wan looked up at the low stone ceiling, her breathing shallow and ragged. The smell of pine needles and clean earth coming from Wei Xiang was a comforting shield, but deep within her chest, a lingering sense of dread remained.

"Wei Xiang," she spoke softly, her voice echoing faintly against the damp stone walls, with so many things happening, Lin wan spilled everything out to Wei Xiang "My guardian is completely quiet. I can’t feel Weiwei at all. My storage space won’t open, and my energy core feels like a cold, empty well. Why is this happening? We are far away from the palace walls now."

Wei Xiang paused his movements, his thumb gently smoothing over her clean ankle bone.he froze for just a millisecond and looked at her with a heavy, serious expression in his amber eyes.

"The isolation array back at the citadel was only part of the problem, Lin Wan," he explained quietly. "The real anchor is the royal mark below your collarbone. Cassian did not just stain your skin; he wove his personal spirit frequency directly into your soul meridians. It acts like a heavy iron weight, constant and unyielding. When you ran across the palace boundary, your own energy clashed with his lingering aura, causing a severe internal shock. Your guardian must have entered a deep dormancy to protect your consciousness from breaking."

Lin Wan’s hand crept up to her neck, her fingers touching the dark lines of the manticore crest beneath her dress. It was cold now, suppressed by Wei Xiang’s paper talisman, but she could still feel its presence—a deep, permanent anchor that tied her to the king.

"I can’t stay in this place," she whispered, her eyes filling with a sudden, fresh wave of desperation. "If his mark is woven into my soul, he will always find me. No matter how far we run, he will just stretch his hand out and drag me back to that jade room."

Wei Xiang set the cloth down, his large palms coming up to wrap securely around her cold, trembling hands. He squeezed them gently, his warmth seeping into her skin. "I am already looking for a way to break the anchor, Lin Wan. There are ancient hermit clans in the southern valleys who know the secrets of the beast bloodlines. I will take you to them. We will find a way to wash his stain from your soul, even if I have to challenge the heavens themselves to do it. You just need to trust me."

Lin Wan looked into his honest, steady eyes, and the tight knot of panic in her chest loosened just a fraction. "I trust you," she murmured, her head dropping back onto the moss.

Meanwhile, high above the clouds, the grand citadel was engulfed in a terrifying, freezing silence.

*Click.*

The heavy ironwood doors of the royal bedchamber swung open, bouncing hard against the stone wall with a loud, echoey crash.

Cassian stepped into the room, his towering figure cutting a sharp, dark silhouette against the golden light of the corridor.

He had just returned from the lower rings, his long black hair slightly damp from the night mist, his thin black silk tunic carrying the faint scent of fresh copper and smoke from the rebels he had just crushed.

He stopped right in the center of the room, his slitted golden eyes instantly scanning the space.

The large bed was empty, the crimson silk blankets tossed aside in a chaotic pile. On the white fur carpet near the bedside table, the silk pouch sat open, several high-grade spirit stones spilled across the floor, glowing with a faint, cold light.

The female was gone.

The air inside the room instantly froze, the temperature dropping so rapidly that thick white frost began to crawl up the jade walls, cracking the fine porcelain jars sitting on the tables.

A raw, world-crushing spiritual pressure exploded from Cassian’s body, slamming against the crystal glass wall behind the bed until the thick glass groaned and fractured into a thousand tiny spiderweb lines.

*Crack!*

Cassian did not roar. He did not shout in anger. The fury of a supreme predator was not loud; it was a dead, suffocating vacuum that swallowed all the air in the corridor outside. He lowered his tall head, his chest heaving with a slow, heavy breath as he inhaled the empty air of the room.

The sweet, delicate scent of jasmine was fading, replaced by the bitter, lingering smell of an external spiritual energy—the distinct signature of a high-tier command token.

Cassian turned around, his long silk cape swaying like a dark shadow behind his legs as he stepped back out into the corridor.

Standing in perfect rows along the jade hallway were fifty vanguard warriors, their faces hidden behind their iron visors, their massive bodies trembling violently under the weight of their king’s raw fury.

None of them dared to lift their eyes. They knelt in the frost, their hands gripping their swords to keep their knees from shaking.

At the front of the line, Captain Jarek stood perfectly upright, his large black-and-silver armor plates covered in a thin layer of white ice. His amber eyes were calm, fixed on the stone floor boards ahead of him. He knew exactly what was coming. He had known the moment he turned the key at midnight.

Cassian walked slowly down the corridor, stopping just two paces away from the gray-furred wolf warrior. The sovereign pressure radiating from the king was so dense that Jarek’s chest plate began to creak under the invisible weight.

"Where is she, Jarek?" Cassian whispered, his voice a low, raspy growl that carried the absolute promise of death.

Jarek did not flinch. He slowly lifted his head, meeting the molten golden suns of his king with a steady, unyielding look. "The little female does not belong in this palace, Your Majesty. She belongs out there. I escorted her to the path."

The moment the words left Jarek’s mouth, the air in the corridor completely shattered.

Cassian moved with a speed that defied the laws of nature. His large, clawed hand reached out like a flash of lightning, his long fingers wrapping effortlessly around Jarek’s thick steel gorget.

With a single, casual lift of his arm, he hoisted the seven-foot-tall wolf warrior completely off the floor, pinning him against the jade wall with enough force to crack the stone behind his back.

*Bang!*

"You dare betray me?" Cassian murmured, his golden eyes narrowing into dangerous, thin lines, his long black hair falling over his face like a dark curtain. "I gave you the command of my vanguard. I trusted you with the security of my inner court. And you use my token to steal the only treasure I have ever claimed?"