He exhaled, long and tense. “I don’t know. But the corruption we destroyed… it wasn’t the whole of it. It never was.”
The trees rustled, though there was no breeze. A cluster of foxfire motes drifted past, dimmer than usual. Something deep in the realm shifted again, faint but undeniable.
A stirring.
A searching.
A hunger half awake.
Mingxi closed his hand around hers, steady but wary. “Whatever this is,” he said softly, “it began today.”
She looked up at him. “After the tea ceremony?”
He met her gaze with quiet dread. “After the vows,” he corrected. “After our bond was sealed.”
The lanterns flickered one last time—a shiver of light like a warning.
Somewhere far beneath the stones of Huoyáo Jìng, hidden in roots and shadow, something listened. Something remembered, and something began to wake.
Chapter 95
The summons came just as the last lantern flickered to life for evening.
A warrior approached at a brisk pace, bowed deeply, and said, “Shen Mingxi. Lady Poppy. The Council requests your presence immediately.”
Mingxi tensed beside Poppy.
“Because of the lanterns?” she asked.
“And the leyline tremor,” the warrior replied. “Several elders felt it. They believe it concerns the moonwell.”
Poppy felt that soft pull in her chest again—faint but unmistakable.
“I’ll go,” she said.
Mingxi’s hand found hers.We’ll go, that touch said.Together.The hall was quiet when they arrived. Not still—quiet in the way people grow quiet before a storm. Foxfire hovered above the elder table, burning low and tense, and Mingzhao sat at its center with Xu Yunlian beside him.
Elder Suyin and Elder Qiao were in their appointed places. Mingjun and Minghua stood along the wall, both alert. All eyes turned to Poppy and Mingxi as they entered.
Elder Suyin spoke first. “We felt a disturbance in the leyline.”
Mingxi bowed. “As did we.”
Poppy nodded. “I felt… pulled. Like something reached toward me.”
The elders murmured, shifting uneasily.
“Describe it,” Elder Qiao said.
Poppy placed a hand over her chest. “It wasn’t painful. It was… aware. Like something was sensing me through the earth. Through qi.”
Xu Yunlian’s face tightened with maternal worry.
“And the lanterns?” Mingzhao asked.
“They flickered twice in succession. Not a drift. A pulse,” Mingxi answered.
“Foxfire does not pulse without cause,” Elder Suyin murmured. “Not since the time of the Devouring One.”
