"Ling Yue, now!" Jing Hua shouted, her twin blades already drawn, her voice sharp with urgency.
Ling Yue's pale eyes burned with resolve. She spread her arms, and a glowing ember bloomed in her palm, taking the shape of a crimson petal. The mountain air trembled. Then, with a piercing scream, she sent it flying toward the earthbound drake.
The petal flared, brighter and brighter, until it struck the beast's obsidian-scaled chest.
Boom.
A torrent of flame erupted, devouring the night. The shockwave forced both women to retreat, their skin stung by the heat, their clothes whipped back as trees ignited and crumbled into ash. Grass, flowers, and even stone blackened in the explosion's wake.
The mountain groaned, rocks tumbling from its cliffside as if in awe of Ling Yue's strike.
But when the smoke parted, dread seized their hearts.
The drake still stood. Not a scale was cracked, not a single vein dimmed. Its molten golden eyes burned brighter than before, watching them with a cruel arrogance, as if to mock their efforts.
Ling Yue's chest heaved. Sweat slid down her temple. "Nothing… not even a scratch."
Jing Hua's lips curled in fury, her grip tightening around her twin blades until her knuckles whitened. "Damn our luck. Of all the beasts on this mountain, it had to be this monster." She looked sideways at Ling Yue, voice sharp but steady. "Listen. Distract it. Just long enough. If I can reach its eyes, maybe.. just maybe. I can hurt it."
Ling Yue swallowed hard. It was a desperate plan, a gamble against certain death. But it was all they had. "Then I'll buy you that opening."
She braced herself to move, but before her feet could carry her forward, the ground convulsed beneath them.
"Move!" Jing Hua barked.
Both leapt aside an instant before the earth split open. From the fissures, jagged stone spears shot upward like fangs, razor-sharp and glistening in the moonlight. Where they had just stood, a cluster of deadly spikes pierced the air, skewering nothing but night.
And it did not stop.
Around the drake, more spikes erupted, one after another, encircling it in a forest of stone. The ground writhed and grew until the beast stood protected, a colossal predator nesting inside a cocoon of blades.
Jing Hua and Ling Yue regrouped at a safer distance, their eyes scanning the towering cage of stone. The flames of Ling Yue's earlier attack still licked the edges of the spikes but quickly died under the oppressive aura of the drake.
Ling Yue's voice cracked. "How in the heavens are we supposed to reach its eyes now? It's making a fortress for itself!"
Jing Hua bit her lip, searching for a strategy, but before she could answer, the drake moved.
Its colossal head turned. Not toward them, but toward the distant slope of the mountain.. towards Jian Feng and the noblewoman fleeing in his arms.
The molten veins across its body pulsed, glowing hotter and hotter.
"No…" Ling Yue's heart sank, her pale face twisting in horror. "It's aiming at them."
Panic clawed at Jing Hua's chest. She felt the pressure of death, not on her, but on her companions fleeing far away. Her body moved before her mind caught up. She sprinted straight at the drake, ignoring the spikes tearing her skin, ignoring the rocks that slashed her arms and ripped her clothes.
Her twin blades burned with a furious red light. Fire gathered along their edges, condensing into the shape of a small dragon coiling around her strike. She roared, thrusting both swords directly toward the drake's glowing eyes.
Her blades struck true.
Boom.
The impact rang across the mountainside. A shockwave of condensed power rippled around the drake's massive head. The stone spikes shuddered under the force, their tips cracking and raining debris.
Jing Hua staggered back, her body trembling, blood dripping down her arm. Every breath was agony, her knees barely steady as she forced herself to remain standing. She had thrown everything she had into that strike.
Surely...surely this time!
The smoke cleared.
The drake's eyes glowed, golden and molten, completely unharmed. Not a blemish marred its gaze. It hadn't even blinked.
Jing Hua's heart froze. Her last thread of hope snapped.
The drake opened its massive jaws. The sound of boiling magma churned within its throat, a deep, resounding growl that vibrated through the air. With a hiss that seemed to sear the sky itself, it unleashed its power.
A beam of molten fire, liquid and alive, erupted forth like a river of annihilation.
The mountain lit up as if a second sun had risen. Trees vaporized in an instant. Rocks melted. The fiery torrent tore across the slopes, racing mercilessly toward Jian Feng and the woman in his arms.
Ling Yue's scream joined Jing Hua's curses as the two watched helplessly, their souls chilled by the sight of unstoppable destruction rushing forth.
The night had become an inferno.
And the drake roared, its molten eyes gleaming with the certainty of a predator that had already won.
_________________________
One thought consumed Jian Feng's mind: run.
His arms strained as he carried the trembling young miss close to his chest, his legs hammering against the forest floor with desperate force. Branches whipped his face, roots clawed at his boots, but he did not falter. He had to find safety. He had to protect her. And if fate willed it, he had to find help for Jing Hua and Ling Yue.
Through the endless trees, a faint glow caught his eye. Lanterns.
A siheyuan-style house stood nestled in the mountain's heart, its tiled roof glimmering faintly under the moonlight. Light spilled from the lanterns hanging around its courtyards, warm and steady, as if inviting weary travelers to its gates.
Jian Feng's heart surged with hope. "There! People live there! We might be saved!" His voice cracked from exhaustion, but his pace quickened, cutting through the undergrowth like an arrow.
Yet before he could reach the safety of its gates, dread stabbed into his spine.
A violent heat erupted at his back. His instincts screamed, and he twisted mid-stride.
Through the trees came a torrent of molten light, the drake's volcanic breath carving a line of obliteration across the mountain. Everything in its path, trees, stone, earth, melted like wax under a smith's forge.
Jian Feng cursed under his breath, clutching the young miss tighter. He leapt to the side, rolling across the charred earth as the beam scorched past. Even at the edge of its fury, the heat was unbearable, blistering the air and burning his skin. He shielded the young miss with his own body, gritting his teeth against the searing pain.
But horror dawned on him as his eyes followed the beam's trajectory.
The siheyuan house.
The drake's attack was headed directly for it.
Jian Feng's chest clenched. "Heavens forgive me… If anyone lives there, forgive me. I swear on my name, if you survive this, I will compensate you with all that I have." His words were rushed, guilt heavy in his voice, but there was no time for more.
The beam struck.
Boom.
The mountain quaked as if a volcano had erupted. The forest vanished in an instant, reduced to ash and molten slag. The sky itself seemed to catch fire, and the blast rolled outward in a wave of heat so fierce that even from afar, Jian Feng staggered. He hunched over the young miss, his own qi struggling to shield her delicate skin from the blaze.
At the heart of it all, the drake lifted its massive head, molten eyes glowing with smug satisfaction. The destruction was complete, and in its arrogance it turned its attention back toward the two women who had dared resist it.
But then its body froze.
A chill unlike any it had known spread through its veins. The beast's molten eyes widened as dread flooded its scales. Its instincts screamed louder than when it faced other apex predators. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
The drake whipped its gaze back toward the destroyed edge of his blast. Using its advanced sight, it pierced the haze of smoke and drifting embers.
And it froze in terror.
A house was still there.
Untouched.
No cracks marred its walls. No scorch blackened its roof. Where kingdoms' fortresses and sects' barrier arrays would have crumbled, this unimpressive courtyard house stood as if nothing had happened.
Jian Feng, panting heavily, lifted his head. The guilt in his heart twisted into disbelief, then into fear. "This… this is impossible. That blast could shatter a city wall. Yet…" His lips trembled, words caught in his throat.
Then it happened.
The dragon design carved into the red wooden gate glowed faintly. First its scales shimmered, then its eyes flared like stars, burning with an ancient, suffocating light.
Jian Feng's breath caught. The young miss buried her face against his chest, too terrified to look at what was happening.
The carved dragon moved.
Its head shifted ever so slightly, and its gaze locked onto the drake.
"By the mystery of the worlds…" Jian Feng whispered, his body trembling. "It… it's alive?"
From the dragon's glowing eyes, twin beams of pure energy shot forth. Unlike the drake's volcanic breath, there was no roaring eruption, no chaos of fire and stone. The beams moved in utter silence, swift as wind, bright as moonlight.
The drake shrieked. Terror overwhelmed its arrogance as it clawed at the earth, raising walls of stone in frantic defense. One after another, massive barriers sprouted before it. It opened its jaws, spewing its molten breath in a desperate counterattack.
The two forces met.
The volcanic torrent clashed with the dragon's gaze. Stone walls shattered one after another. The air trembled under the collision of energies. Yet the silent beams did not waver, slicing through the chaos like inevitability itself.
And then, they struck.
The last thing reflected in the drake's molten eyes was its own fear. In an instant, its body was consumed, scales, flesh, and bones disintegrating into nothingness. The beast that had terrorized the mountains for centuries was gone, erased without a trace.
Far away, Jing Hua and Ling Yue, still running through the woods, heard the rumbling destruction but dared not look back. They assumed it was simply the drake venting its rage and only pushed themselves harder to reunite with their companions to see if they were safe.
Back at the mountain slope, Jian Feng stood frozen. His legs shook as he stared at the siheyuan's gate, where the dragon had already stilled. Its eyes dimmed, the glow receding until it was nothing more than carved wood once again.
The courtyard looked ordinary once more.
But Jian Feng's blood ran cold. He swallowed hard, his voice hoarse and unsteady.
"That dragon… it looked at him… and destroyed him like nothing. What… what kind of house is this?"
The young miss in his arms clung to him tighter, her tears wetting his robe. Jian Feng did not move. He could not. His entire body was gripped by the terror of realizing that the siheyuan before him was no simple home, but something that dwarfed even his imagination.
And for the first time in his life, Jian Feng truly feared a house.