The white mist of the alchemical miasma filled the narrow subterranean corridor, turning the sanctuary's entrance into a ghostly deathtrap. Screams of agony—sharp, wet, and decidedly unhuman—tore through the thick air. This was the "dramatic opening" necessary to maintain the high-stakes momentum of a long-form serial.
Inside the room, Lin Xiyao pressed the damp silk cloth against her face, her eyes stinging as she watched the silhouettes beyond the stone door buckle and collapse. Her "Heavenly Forensic" System pulsed with a cold, blue light, calculating the fallout of her creation.
[Substance Deployment Successful] Casualty Report: 3 Jinyiwei Traitors neutralized (Severe pulmonary mercury poisoning). Alert: 1 target remains standing. High resistance to alchemical vapours detected.
From the swirling fog, a figure emerged. It wasn't a wolf, but a man—the Eunuch Assassin. He wore a mask of treated leather, and his eyes were cold, hollow pits. He stepped over the twitching bodies of his subordinates, his long, curved blade reflecting the dim glow of Xiyao's TCM decoction.
"Physician Lin," the eunuch rasped, his voice muffled by the mask. "You have played your part. Now, give me the Commander, and perhaps I will let you die by a needle rather than the flame."
Above them, the smell of burning wood grew stronger. The stables had been set ablaze, exactly as the "Eunuch's threat" had promised. The heat was beginning to seep through the ceiling, a "time-limited crisis" designed to build reader anticipation.
"Lu Yan," Xiyao whispered, ignoring the assassin. She turned to the Commander, who was trembling with the effort to remain seated. The violet light in his veins was fading into a sickly, necrotic gray. "Drink this. Now."
She held the porcelain bowl to his lips. The prototype 'Lunar Suppression' tonic was a dark, viscous liquid, smelling of bitter earth and the metallic tang of extracted wolf-blood. This was the "inciting incident" for the next phase of his character arc—the transition from being a victim of the curse to a master of it.
"If it... fails?" Lu Yan managed to ask, his teeth gritted.
"Then we die together in the smoke," Xiyao replied, her "sub-personality of responsibility" showing through her fear.
Lu Yan swallowed the bitter brew in a single, desperate gulp.
[Prototype Tonic Administered] Reaction: 15%... 50%... 85%... Analysis: Suppressing alchemical mutation. Realigning human neural pathways. Side Effect: Temporary 'Berserk' adrenaline surge.
The transformation was instantaneous. Lu Yan didn't grow larger; instead, his body seemed to condense, his muscles tightening like steel cables. The amber fire in his eyes stabilized into a sharp, focused gold. He rose from the chair, the "stiff and unnatural" weakness of the previous hour vanishing into a display of "overpowered" grace.
The Eunuch Assassin lunged. He was fast, his blade a silver arc aimed at Lu Yan's throat. But Lu Yan was faster. He didn't use a sword; he caught the blade with his bare, claw-tipped hand. The sound of metal snapping echoed in the small room.
With a single, fluid strike, Lu Yan drove his palm into the assassin's chest. The force sent the man flying back into the mist, his leather mask shattering.
"The fire is spreading," Lu Yan said, his voice now a perfect, chilling hybrid of human command and beastial power. He grabbed Xiyao's medical chest with one hand and her waist with the other. "We leave. Now."
"The front is blocked by the fire," Xiyao said, her system mapping the structural integrity of the stables above.
[Environment Scan: High Heat] Structural Failure: 4 minutes. Alternative Path: Stable's ventilation shaft.
"Then we go up," Lu Yan said. He looked at her, the "emotional connection" between them deepening as he tightened his grip, ensuring her safety above all else.
He leaped toward the ceiling, his claws digging into the stone rafters. As they ascended toward the heat and the roaring flames of the burning stables, Xiyao knew that "getting a book signed is just the beginning". The true battle for the Ming Dynasty had only just been sparked.