Lin Yuehua POV
The golden light wouldn't stop.
I sat in Shen's office, staring at my hands while power leaked from my skin like I was a broken lantern. Every few seconds, another burst of energy would pulse outward, making the furniture shake.
Three days until I exploded and killed everyone.
"Stop looking at me like that," I snapped at Xu Tian, who hovered near the door.
"Like what?" he asked.
"Like I'm already dead."
He had the decency to look embarrassed. "I'm just worried. We all are."
"Worrying won't help." I tried to pull the power back inside, the way I'd done before. It didn't work. The seal fought me now, pushing outward, wanting to be free. "Where's Shen?"
"Talking to the town council. They want to evacuate everyone, but there's nowhere to run. A hundred miles in every direction gets caught in the blast." Xu Tian shifted uncomfortably. "Some people are saying we should... you know."
"Kill me?" I finished. "Yeah. I heard Old Man Chen suggest it. Three hours ago I was protecting me from cultivators. Now they want my head on a spike."
"That's not fair."
"It's survival." I laughed bitterly. "Can't blame them. I'd probably suggest the same thing if someone else was the walking bomb."
The office door burst open. Shen rushed in, his robes still torn and bloody from the fight. He looked exhausted, but his eyes were focused.
"I found something," he said breathlessly. "In my master's old journals. There might be a way to stop the seal."
Hope flared in my chest. "Really?"
"Maybe." He pulled out an ancient book, pages yellow with age. "Master wrote about the Demon Emperor's Seal. It was created as a weapon, yes, but it has a failsafe. If the host can achieve spiritual harmony—balance the demon essence with their own soul—the seal stabilizes."
"Spiritual harmony?" I repeated. "I've been a cultivator for three hours. How am I supposed to achieve spiritual anything?"
"Most cultivators train for years," Shen admitted. "But you're different. The seal already bonded with you. Your father's bloodline, your righteous spirit—you have everything you need. You just need to learn control."
"In three days."
"In three days," he agreed. "Starting now."
Xu Tian cleared his throat. "Should I leave you two alone, or—"
"Stay," Shen said. "If this doesn't work, you'll need to help evacuate the town."
The unspoken words hung in the air: before she explodes.
Shen guided me to the center of the room. "Sit. Close your eyes. Focus on the power inside you."
I did. The seal's energy swirled in my chest like an angry storm. Every time I tried to touch it, it lashed back, burning.
"It hurts," I gasped.
"That's because you're fighting it. Stop resisting. Accept that the power is part of you now."
"Easy for you to say. You're not a bomb."
"Actually," Shen said quietly, "I am. The Demon King put demon essence in me twenty years ago. Every day, I balance human and demon. If I lose control for even a moment, I become the monster that destroyed my village."
I opened my eyes, staring at him. "You live with that fear every day?"
"Every moment." His smile was sad. "So believe me when I say you can learn to control this. If I can live with demon essence, you can master a seal."
His words steadied me. Shen understood. He knew what it felt like to be dangerous, to be feared, to carry something terrible inside.
I wasn't alone in this.
I closed my eyes again and reached for the power. This time, instead of pulling or pushing, I just... accepted. Let it flow through me without fighting.
The burning sensation faded. The power still moved, but gentler now. Like a river instead of a flood.
"Good," Shen said. "Now try to shape it. Imagine the power forming a barrier around your hand."
I focused. The golden light gathered around my right palm, forming a glowing shield. It wasn't perfect—the edges flickered—but it was there.
"I did it!" I opened my eyes excitedly.
The shield exploded.
The blast threw all three of us backward. I crashed into Shen's desk, splintering wood. Xu Tian hit the wall hard enough to crack it.
Shen rolled to his feet, summoning a fire barrier just as another pulse of energy burst from my body.
"Can't... stop it..." I gasped. The seal was going wild, responding to my loss of concentration. Power erupted in waves, each one stronger than the last.
"Yuehua, listen to me!" Shen's voice cut through my panic. "You broke concentration. You need to calm down!"
"How?" Everything was shaking. The walls cracked. The ceiling rained dust. "I can't control it!"
Shen did something crazy.
He dropped his fire barrier and walked straight toward me, through the explosive bursts of seal energy. Each pulse hit him like a hammer blow. Blood streamed from his nose. His skin burned where the power touched.
But he kept walking.
"Stop!" I screamed. "You'll die!"
"Then we die together!" He grabbed my hands, and his spiritual energy flowed into me—calm, steady, controlled. "Feel my cultivation. Match your breathing to mine. In. Out. Slow."
I tried. His energy was like an anchor in the storm, something solid to hold onto.
The seal's power gradually calmed. The explosions stopped. My breathing synced with Shen's, and the golden light faded to a gentle glow.
We stood there, hands clasped, both of us shaking.
"You almost died," I whispered.
"But I didn't." He squeezed my hands gently. "And neither did you. That's what matters."
Xu Tian groaned from the floor. "Can we not do that again? My ribs can't take it."
Despite everything, I laughed. Then I noticed something strange.
Where Shen's hands touched mine, his spiritual energy mixed with the seal's power. Gold and red swirling together. And for just a moment, I felt something impossible—I could sense his emotions. His fear for me. His determination to save me. His guilt over being part demon.
His love.
I jerked my hands back, startled. "Did you feel that?"
"Feel what?" Shen asked, but his face said he knew exactly what.
"Your emotions. I could sense them. How is that possible?"
"The seal creates bonds," he said carefully. "When two spiritual energies mix intimately, sometimes a connection forms. It's rare. Usually only happens between—" He stopped.
"Between what?" I demanded.
"Between cultivators who are spiritually compatible. Like... cultivation partners."
The words hung between us. Cultivation partners. That meant—
A massive explosion rocked the building.
We all stumbled. Dust fell from the ceiling. Shouts echoed from outside.
Shen ran to the window. "No. No, no, no."
I looked over his shoulder and my blood turned to ice.
The western part of Willow Creek was on fire. But not normal fire—black flames that ate through buildings like they were paper. Screams filled the air.
And in the middle of the destruction stood a figure I recognized from Shen's descriptions.
Lan Meiying. But she looked different—her eyes glowed red instead of blue, and dark energy poured from her body.
"She's possessed," Shen breathed. "The Demon King possessed her."
Xu Tian cursed. "Why would he do that?"
"To speed up the seal's detonation." Shen's face went pale. "Demon energy near the seal creates resonance. It forces the countdown to accelerate."
"How much time do we have?" I asked, dreading the answer.
Shen closed his eyes, sensing the seal's energy. When he opened them again, they were filled with horror.
"Not three days. Three hours. The seal will detonate at midnight."
My heart stopped. "That's impossible. The sun just set. There's no time to—"
"I know." Shen grabbed his sword. "Xu Tian, start evacuating everyone you can. Get them past the southern bridge. Yuehua and I will deal with Lan Meiying."
"Deal with her how?" I demanded. "I can barely control this power, and she's possessed by a Demon King!"
"We don't have a choice." Shen looked at me with desperate determination. "Either we stop her and buy more time, or everyone dies in three hours when you explode."
He ran out the door. I followed, because what else could I do?
The possessed Lan Meiying turned to face us as we approached. When she spoke, it was the Demon King's voice coming from her mouth.
"Hello, little student. Surprised? I told you—I always win." Her sword ignited with black flames. "Now, shall we discuss your surrender? Or should I just kill everyone while you watch?"
Behind her, more buildings exploded. More people screamed.
Shen raised his fire sword. "Third option. I stop you."
The Demon King laughed through Lan Meiying's voice. "Stop me? You can't even stop yourself. Look."
He gestured at Shen's hands.
I looked, and my stomach dropped.
Dark energy was leaking from Shen's skin. The same shadow power the Demon King used.
"What's happening to you?" I whispered.
Shen stared at his hands in horror. "The demon essence. It's reacting to his presence. It's... waking up."
"That's right," the Demon King said cheerfully. "Your demon half recognizes its master. Fight me, and it'll take over completely. You'll become the very monster you've spent twenty years hiding from."
Shen looked at me, then at the burning town, then at his corrupting hands.
"Choose, little student," the Demon King commanded. "Surrender your humanity and serve me. Or watch everything you love burn while you're powerless to stop it."
Shen's hands shook. Dark energy spread up his arms. His eyes flickered between human and demon red.
He was transforming right in front of me.
And I had three hours before I exploded and killed us all anyway.