Kaelen grabbed Lin Yu's arm. "Run. Now."
They ran.
The tunnel twisted and turned. Lin Yu lost track of direction, trusting Wei to lead them somewhere, anywhere safe.
His legs ached. This was nothing like writing action scenes where characters conveniently had endless stamina.
The tunnel suddenly opened into a massive underground cavern. Water trickled down one wall, feeding a stream that disappeared into darkness. And on the far side—
Daylight.
"The exit!" Wei gasped. "It leads to the forest outside the clan territories!"
They ran toward the light. Behind them, the howling was joined by shouts. The guards had caught up.
When they saw the sunlight.and Lin Yu had never been so happy to see trees and sky and—
A ring of armed beastmen surrounding the tunnel exit.
Not phoenix guards.
Wolves. Tigers. Bears. A mixed group, all wearing the insignia of the Spring Auction House.
And standing at the center, looking tired and irritated, was Slate—the wolf guard from the auction.
"Well," Slate said. "This is awkward."
Lin Yu, Wei, and Kaelen stood frozen at the tunnel mouth, trapped between the guards ahead and the pursuers behind.
"Any more bright ideas?" Lin Yu asked Wei weakly.
"I'm fresh out," Wei admitted.
Kaelen moved in front of Lin Yu, protective. "You'll have to go through me."
"That can be arranged," Slate said. "But it would be a waste. The General, the breeding male, and—" His eyes narrowed at Wei. "Who are you, exactly?"
"No one," Wei said. "Literally. Just a guy"
"Hmm." Slate didn't look convinced, but he turned his attention back to Lin Yu. "The Spring Auction House is prepared to make a deal. Come back peacefully, and we'll pretend this whole escape incident never happened. You'll be treated well, sold to a good master, and—"
"No," Lin Yu said.
"No?"
"No. I'm not merchandise. I'm not going back to that cage. And I'm definitely not being sold."
Slate sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that." He gestured, and the guards began to close in.
Kaelen's body tensed, ready to fight. Wei pulled out a knife from somewhere—when had he gotten a knife?—and Lin Yu desperately tried to remember if he'd written any convenient escape mechanisms into this part of the world.
The guards were three steps away when the ground shook.
Everyone froze.
The shaking intensified. Trees swayed. The guards stumbled, looking around in confusion.
"Earthquake?" one of them said.
"There are no earthquakes in the beast world," another replied nervously.
A crack appeared in the ground between the guards and Lin Yu's group. It spread, from the crack came light—brilliant, unnatural light that hurt to look at.
"Reality glitch!" Wei shouted. "Everyone get back!"
But it was too late.
The ground split open.
Not something. Someone.
A young man, beautiful and ethereal, with white hair and eyes that swirled with colors.
The newcomer looked around the clearing, at the frozen guards, at Wei's shocked expression, at Kaelen's protective stance.
And then his eyes landed on Lin Yu.
"There you are," the stranger said, his voice echoing strangely. "I've been looking everywhere for you, Author."
Lin Yu's world narrowed to that single word.
Author.
"Who—" he started.
"My name is Shen Yue," the stranger said with a smile that was beautiful and terrible. "And we need to talk about what you've done to my story."
Lin Yu had imagined meeting his protagonist many times while writing "Savage Hearts, Tender Claws." In his mind, Shen Yue was supposed to be ethereal, graceful, maybe a little naive—the perfect innocent character who would grow through trials and tribulations into a strong, beloved figure surrounded by his destined mates.
The person standing before him, having literally torn reality apart to arrive, looked like someone's fever dream of an avenging angel.
"You're Shen Yue," Lin Yu said stupidly.
"And you're Lin Yu. The Author." Shen Yue took a step forward, and the guards unconsciously backed away.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"I—" Lin Yu's mind raced. "I wrote a story?"
"You wrote an INCOMPLETE story," Shen Yue corrected "You created an entire world, filled it with people, gave them lives and loves and purposes, and then you just... stopped. At Chapter 47. Right in the middle of the Spring Auction scene."
"I had writer's block!"
"YOU HAD WRITER'S BLOCK?!" Shen Yue's voice rose,
"Do you know what happens to a story world when the Author stops writing? It doesn't pause. It doesn't wait patiently. It starts to collapse. People start glitching. Locations disappear"
"I noticed," Wei muttered.
Shen Yue's attention snapped to him. "Ah. The unwritten one. The error." His expression softened slightly. "You've suffered because of his negligence too, haven't you?"
"Hey," Lin Yu protested. "I didn't mean to create a sentient world! I thought I was just writing a webnovel!"
"And yet here we are." Shen Yue gestured broadly at the clearing, the frozen guards, the crack in reality still glowing behind him. "I've spent the last six months watching my world fall apart. Watching people I care about flicker in and out of existence. Watching my own memories contradict themselves because the story keeps rewriting." He took another step toward Lin Yu. "And then you show up. The Author. The one person who can fix this."
"Everyone keeps saying that," Lin Yu said. "But I don't know HOW."
"You finish the story." Shen Yue said it like it was obvious. "You write the ending. You complete the narrative."
"I can't just write from inside the story! That's not how—"
"Then you LIVE it," Shen Yue interrupted. "You made me the protagonist? Fine. But you don't get to abandon that role to me anymore. We do this together, or we all cease to exist."
Slate, who had been watching this exchange with growing confusion, finally spoke up: "What in the name of the Moon Goddess is happening?"
"Reality breaking," Wei supplied helpfully. "The usual Monday stuff."
"This is NOT usual!"
Shen Yue waved a hand dismissively, and suddenly all the guards froze—literally frozen, mid-movement, like someone had pressed pause on them. "There. Now we can talk without interruptions."
"How did you—" Lin Yu stared at the frozen guards.
"I'm the protagonist," Shen Yue said. "And the world is breaking. That gives me certain... privileges. I exist outside the normal rules now." He turned his unsettling gaze on Lin Yu. "Just like you do. We're both anomalies. You because you're the Author, me because I became aware of what I am."
"When did you become aware?" Wei asked, fascinated despite the situation.
"Six months ago. Right around the time you appeared." Shen Yue nodded at Wei. "I started having dreams of a world called Earth. Started remembering plot points that hadn't happened yet. Started seeing the seams in reality." His voice turned bitter. "Started realizing that my entire existence was someone's creative writing project."
Lin Yu felt guilt twist in his stomach. "I'm sorry. I didn't know—"
"Of course you didn't know. How could you?" Shen Yue's anger seemed to deflate slightly. "You were just writing a story. But stories have consequences when they become real." He looked at Kaelen. "Like him. The Exiled General. Supposed to die in Chapter 60 protecting me from an ambush."
"That's not happening," Kaelen said firmly, hand tightening on Lin Yu's arm.
"No," Shen Yue agreed. "It's not. Because the Author is here, and his presence changes everything. The story is rewriting itself around him." He stepped closer to Lin Yu. "That's why I need you. The world is trying to accommodate you, trying to fit you into the narrative. But without the complete story, it's just creating chaos."
"So what do you want me to do?" Lin Yu asked.
"Come with me." Shen Yue extended a hand. "We go to the locations where major plot points were supposed to happen. We complete the arcs. We introduce the characters. We live the story properly so the world can stabilize."
"That's your plan?" Wei said skeptically. "Just... act out the plot?"
"Better than watching reality crumble," Shen Yue shot back. "Do YOU have a better idea?"
"Actually, yes." Wei crossed his arms. "What if instead of following the plot, we CHANGE it? Deliberately. Create a new story that works better, without all the tragic deaths and suffering."
"That's not how stories work—"
"Why not?" Wei challenged. "The world is already changing. It's already accommodating the Author's presence. Why not lean into that? Write a better ending?"
Shen Yue looked uncertain for the first time. "Because changing too much might make things worse. The world has rules, narrative structure. If we break that—"
"The world is already breaking!" Wei gestured at the crack in reality, still glowing behind Shen Yue. "We can't make it worse. We can only try to save it."
"He has a point," Lin Yu said slowly. An idea was forming. "My original story had a lot of tragedy. A lot of pain. I was going for drama and angst because I thought that's what readers wanted. But what if—" He looked at Kaelen, at Wei, at Shen Yue. "What if we write something better? Something where people don't have to die for the plot to work?"
"You want to rewrite reality," Shen Yue said flatly.
"I want to finish it properly," Lin Yu corrected. "Not following my old outline. Making something new. Better."
Shen Yue stared at him for a long moment.
"There's a problem," Shen Yue finally said. "A big one."
"Just one?" Lin Yu laughed weakly.
"The Dragon Lord is awake."