The warm, peaceful afterglow of their family day was the first casualty of the night. Back in the quiet of their inn suite, with Xue An sleeping soundly, Xue Lian and Lan Yue stood over a map of Luyan, their brief respite over. The two queens were at work.
"The Void signature is strongest here," Xue Lian pointed to the old warehouse district. "It's stagnant, forgotten. The perfect nest."
"And the rogue demons are consolidating power here," Lan Yue added, indicating the eastern quarter. "Recruiting, seizing resources."
Before they could theorize a connection, the city erupted. A distant roar from the east, followed by the chaotic bloom of demonic energy and the panicked shouts of the city guard, confirmed that the rogue faction was making its move. As they watched from the window, a second force of brilliant, righteous sword qi clashed with the first.
"Wei Chen," Lan Yue said, her voice tight with frustration. "He's acting rashly. Mortals will be caught in the crossfire."
Xue Lian's gaze was fixed not on the battle, but on the western quarter, where the city's lanterns had begun to flicker ominously. A wave of profound, unnatural silence began to roll through the streets, extinguishing sound and light as it came.
"The chaos isn't the plan," she said, her voice a low, urgent whisper. "It's the dinner bell."
Lan Yue's eyes widened in horror. "The Void. It's using the battle as a cover to feed." She turned, her duty warring with a decade of carefully cultivated detachment. "I have to go."
"You can't go alone," Xue Lian stated, her mind racing. She could not reveal herself, but she would not let Lan Yue face that abomination by herself. She turned to her two commanders, who stood like silent shadows by the door. "Jax. Ren. You will go with her."
Jax's brow furrowed. "But Your Majesty, our duty is to you and the princess."
"Your duty is to follow my orders," Xue Lian's voice was iron. "You are no longer my commanders. You are unaffiliated 'immortal masters' who happened upon a crisis. You will offer your aid to the esteemed 'Saint Yue' of the Azure Cloud Sect. Your true objective," she looked them both in the eye, "is to ensure she returns alive. Do you understand?"
They both gave a sharp, silent nod, their glamours holding perfectly.
"Be careful," Xue Lian whispered to Lan Yue, a universe of fear and love in the two simple words.
Lan Yue met her gaze, gave a single, firm nod in return, and was gone, a grey streak leaping from the balcony into the night. Her two mysterious new "allies" followed a moment later.
The scene at the warehouse was a nightmare. A sphere of absolute darkness pulsed in the center of the vast building, its shadowy tendrils draining the life from the bodies of demons and cultivators caught in its initial wave.
Lan Yue arrived first, Nightfall Crescent already in her hand, glowing with a pure, celestial light. Jax and Ren landed silently on either side of her, forming a defensive line.
Just as they prepared to attack, Wei Chen arrived, his face grim, having abandoned the lesser threat for the greater one. He saw Lan Yue, but he also saw the two powerful, unknown figures flanking her, their auras strange and ancient.
"Yue!" he shouted, his suspicion immediately piqued. "Who are these people?"
"There's no time, Wei Chen!" she called back, her focus entirely on the Void creature. "They are unaffiliated masters who offered their aid! The creature is the only thing that matters now!"
The battle was joined. Lan Yue was the spearhead, her divine energy the only thing that seemed to truly harm the creature, her silver sword carving arcs of light into the oppressive darkness. But it was her unknown allies who turned the tide. Jax was a living bastion, his raw physical power and masked demonic fortitude allowing him to physically intercept the shadowy tendrils that would have overwhelmed Wei Chen. Ren was a ghost, her illusions creating phantom copies of them, misdirecting the creature's attacks and exposing fleeting weaknesses in its form.
Wei Chen fought with the fury of a righteous elder, but he was relegated to a supporting role. He watched, stunned and increasingly resentful, as Lan Yue fought in perfect, unspoken sync with these two strangers. They moved around her, predicted her attacks, and shielded her with a fierce loyalty that spoke of a deep, established bond he had never been able to forge with her.
Finally, following a feint created by Ren, Lan Yue shot forward like a silver comet, plunging Nightfall Crescent deep into the Void's pulsating core. The creature imploded, vanishing with a silent shockwave of despair.
In the ringing silence that followed, Wei Chen immediately turned on the two strangers, his sword still raised. "Now. Explain yourselves. Who are you, and what is your interest in Saint Yue?"
Jax and Ren remained silent, their faces impassive, and looked to Lan Yue.
Lan Yue stepped between them, her own expression unreadable. "They saved our lives, Elder Wei. That is all the explanation you require for now." She bent down and picked up the strange, bone like talisman left behind where the creature had vanished. "Our mission was to investigate. We have found our first clue. We are done here."
She turned and walked out of the ruined warehouse. Her two mysterious guardians fell into step silently behind her, leaving a fuming, deeply suspicious, and utterly sidelined Wei Chen standing alone in the darkness.
From a high rooftop leagues away, Xue Lian watched the scene through a scrying mirror, her hand clutching the Whispering Stone. Her gambit had worked. Lan Yue was safe. But she had created a new problem. She had just shown her hand, revealing that Lan Yue had powerful, unknown allies, and in doing so, had deepened Wei Chen's dangerous obsession even further.