Chapter 5

I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing.

The morning light was harsh, filtering through the cracks in the wooden walls. Lang was still asleep, his arm thrown over his eyes, looking deceptively human.

I picked up the phone.

*Message from Elder Zhang.*

*Location confirmed. The disturbance at the landslide revealed the target's energy signature. Enforcer Squad Alpha is en route. We will cleanse the mountain at sundown. Burn the forest if necessary. No survivors.*

I dropped the phone.

*Cleanse the mountain.* That meant napalm. That meant spiritual fire. They wouldn't just kill Lang; they would destroy the village, the bamboo, everything. They considered the entire area corrupted.

Lang shifted. He opened one eye.

"You have that look again," he mumbled sleepily. "The funeral look."

"They're coming," I said, my voice hollow. "The Elders. They know you're here."

Lang sat up, the sheet falling to his waist. The sleep vanished from his eyes. "When?"

"Sundown. Tonight is the Ghost Festival. They will use the spiritual resonance to amplify the purge."

"Then we fight," Lang said, standing up and reaching for his pants.

"No," I said. "You can't fight them. There are too many. They will bring the Nine-Ring Staffs. They will bring the Fire Seals."

"So I run?" Lang scoffed. "This is my home, Wei. My ancestors are buried in that shrine. I am the guardian of this valley."

"If you stay, you die!" I shouted. "And everyone else dies with you!"

Lang went still. "What are you saying?"

I looked at him. I looked at the man I had slept with, the creature who had saved a bus full of strangers.

I knew the Order. They were absolute. If they found a live demon, they tortured it to extract the corruption. It could last for days. They would peel him apart layer by layer.

But if the demon was already dead... if the Executor on site had already performed the *Binding Exorcism*...

Then the mountain would be spared. The village would be spared.

And Lang... Lang would be spared the torture.

A cold, terrible logic settled over me. It was the logic of the Butcher.

"You have to run," I said weakly, knowing he wouldn't.

"I won't," Lang said. He walked over to me and kissed my forehead. "If your righteousness demands blood, Wei, make sure it’s yours, not theirs. But I won't give them mine willingly."

He grabbed his coat and walked out the door. "I'm going to the Ancestral Shrine. It's the strongest point of the Ley Lines. If they want me, they can come get me."

I watched him go.

I reached into my bag and pulled out my ceremonial robes. I took out the silver-tipped spear, the one reserved for High-Level threats.

I wept as I sharpened it.

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