Mei Mei ripped through the shadowy strands. Riiipp! Mouthful after mouthful, they thinned.
From their pitch-black color, they slowly turned gray, lightening into a pathetic sphere.
She licked her lips after swallowing the last edible strand.
Flutter! RUFLLL!!
An imprisoned demon bird flapped its wings in desperation.
Sink…
Mei Mei lowered herself to the ground.
Her chest sank into the floor first, then her head followed. Her arms were second-to-last before her tail disappeared beneath the surface.
The bird struggled faster as she vanished.
In the tunnel passage, silence was what the bound creatures feared most.
Before it knew it, a long shadow spiraled around it. Its eyes darted wildly as the slithering shape circled it, casting beneath the bird without any visible light source.
Thump! Thump!
Its heart pounded violently against its ribcage.
Wrrrr… Wrrrr…
A black, shawl-covered silhouette began to reemerge—
Mei Mei unclenched her jaw like a shark sensing blood in the ocean. Her crowned maw pulled back, revealing rows of teeth from her full wyrm form.
She attacked, devouring it whole.
It didn't get a chance to resist as she sank back into the shadows, its body and soul torn into her stomach.
It was shredded inside her as she minced its organs, teeth, and feathers—
stripping it down to its Taijitu pieces.
Ripple. Ripple.
Her shadow contracted, rippling for several breaths.
I'm starting to feel stronger already, she thought, emerging from the ground.
Her hanfu swayed as she moved her arm, fixing her hair.
Jingle. Jingle.
Mei Mei stretched her neck, revealing the feather necklace—strung together with skin and tendons—linking a pattern of feathers and her consumed Taijitu pieces into a demonic charm.
She touched her necklace, marking the beginning of her quest. It held four Taijitu pieces.
Those four came from what she had previously swallowed, but her necklace did not include the two from the bird.
Those weren't deemed suitable and had been discarded—dropped near her tail and from her other hand—while the ones she considered worthy hung on display.
Mei Mei smiled, one step closer to her father.
"Now I'm starting to look like a proper demoness," she purred, turning toward the other frightened creatures. "I wonder if any of them have a soul that can nurture yours."
…
As the lone spirit's eyes glinted with unwavering resolve, the stolen authority she had unknowingly passed on to Qiren awakened beyond the veil of the Abyss.
He stretched out his arm and forcibly seized the security guard's arm—
acting as the trigger that allowed him to awaken.
The contract between the two men released the power of time—plucked from a fiend, traveling past the burning infernos of the woods and through the Void-Plane between realities, covered in endless amethyst sandstorms.
Crossing the desert that led to worlds beyond.
N@m#: D#vy Row_n
Ae_g: 5#
Remaining Time:
24 years, 43 days, 4 hours, and 12 seconds
The words burned into Qiren's vision for the very first time—and with them came a memory formed from space and time.
From one user to the next—
"Mei—"
His phone buzzed violently beneath his robes, floating within his chest cavity, its light shining where there should have been none.
It began to break apart—its frame unscrewing.
Thus, fortune blessed the man who cast away bad luck…
—
USA, Bellmori — 1987
1:45 PM, Sunday, April 5th
—
A series of vehicles cut through the outskirts of the city.
"I know it's a little late to ask… is the new look permanent?" a black-haired jester doll spoke. "That's what my Missy would ask right about now. So what's wrong? Is it the rats? It's the rats I'm holding, isn't it?"
Qiren lowered his hand puppet.
Turning his attention to the driver beside him, Missy Stormhill blinked.
"What do you think?" she asked with a raised scowl.
She couldn't look away from the modified red pickup truck in front of them, driven by one of his imps.
"That's it?" he smiled. "Here I thought you were having moral issues with what we did to the workers."
His puppet morphed into a scrapyard worker.
It jerked as if being hit by invisible bullets.
Missy let out a small chuckle.
"I'm probably going to have nightmares about that," she said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Well, I had to be traumatized at some point."
"That's what I get for working with a demon for excitement," she purred, overtaking her own truck.
"What I'm mad about is you letting that blood-soaked imp sit on my suede upholstery."
"By the way…" she added, a little more hesitant. "How important was that thing you gave me at the yard?"
He frowned.
"What thing?" he asked.
Then realization struck.
"Oh… that thing."
His puppet shifted into a rabbit.
"No, it's not that important," it said. "I just wanted to keep it since it fit my theme."
The rabbit puppet floated around in diced up pieces.
"Not that important as in you wouldn't mind if I lost it?"
That made him pause.
"Hm. It'd just be a minor shame."
"If you lost it, that's fine…"
Missy let out a sigh of relief.
Qiren stroked the small rodents sat on his lap, looking out the window.
"I'm sure we can find more where we're going."
His eyes lit with red Roman numerals.
Time froze.
As she stared into the forest, he saw an old brown bear streaked with gray fur. Its five heads snarled, frozen mid-charge as it chased a deer out of the forest.
The scene unfolded directly in front of them.
He smiled, taking the dantian resting on his lap.
"No… let's be patient."
He leaned back, letting time return to normal.
The car's engine roared as they passed the two apparitions without the driver noticing.
I'm sure the campsite will have more to work with.
His eyes narrowed as he felt the dantian channel Qi through Yoyo's bodies scattered across the floor and back seat.
Twitch. Twitch.
"I got it!!!"
"They can talk!!"
Missy swerved in shock.
Her eyes snapped down to his lap.
The rat's voice caught her completely off guard.
Qiren looked down at the speaking rat.
"Really? I'm impressed. I thought you'd take longer," he said honestly. "But just in case, do you want me to repeat the riddle?"
"Yes, please," it nodded.
"Well then, here you go."
He cleared his throat. His eyes flicked to Missy—wordlessly telling her he'd explain later—then returned to Yoyo.
"I live only when the sun stays long and the nights hum with crickets.
By day, I echo with splashes and shouted dares; by night, I glow with firelight and whispered secrets.
Strangers arrive with packed bags and guarded hearts, but leave with smoke in their clothes and memories stitched into them.
What am I?"
She snickered triumphantly before even answering.
"A music festival."
She lifted her chin, staring proudly up at the man in white.
His lips curled into a sinister grin, erasing her confidence instantly.
To add insult to injury, he lifted her closer.
Her head tilted back, her legs scrambling against his palm.
"You're… wrong~"
The world lurched for Yoyo. Her confidence turned to ash.
"Eh… eh…"