Bei Xiwen's fist slammed into the jade altar at the heart of her hidden temple, the impact cracking a rune-etched slab like brittle ice. The chamber—buried beneath Shanghai's glittering Pudong district, cloaked by spells older than the city's skyscrapers—quaked with her fury. Candle flames danced wildly, casting shadows of fox tails across walls carved with Bei clan sigils. Jingran, that vermin, had dodged her constructs again—first at HuoTech's ruins, now primed to ruin her Bund trap at midnight. The jade seal, her family's lost key, was in Jingran's grubby hands, and Xiwen's perfect plan—control Shanghai's ley lines, bind its tech to her will—was fraying.
"She's a cockroach!" Xiwen snarled, her white gown—still faintly stained from Jingran's gala wine—sweeping the stone floor. "I crush her, and she scurries back, stronger!"
A soft tsk came from the altar's edge, where Lu Mingxu slouched, his hoodie a stark contrast to the temple's ancient grandeur. His glasses caught the candlelight, hiding his eyes, but his smirk was clear—too bold for Xiwen's liking. "Told you, Xiwen," he said, tapping his tablet. "Jingran's not just lucky. That pendant's alive, and she's learning fast."
Xiwen's amber eyes blazed, fox-like, pinning him. "You failed at the ruins, Mingxu. You had her—her, Teng, that hacker rat—and you let them walk."
Mingxu shrugged, unfazed, his fingers dancing over the tablet's runes. "Not a failure—strategy. I spooked her to the Bund. Your constructs are there, right? Let them finish it."
Her lips curled, venomous, but she didn't strike. Mingxu's tech-sorcery hybrid was her edge—hacking ley lines, weaving spells into drones—and she needed him. For now. Jingran's gala stunt—calling her out, splashing wine—had dented Xiwen's saintly image, and Huo Meilin's X posts weren't helping, stirring doubts among Shanghai's elite. The Bund trap was her counter: kill Jingran, claim the seal, and spin it as a heroic save. But Jingran kept living.
"You underestimate her," Xiwen said, pacing to a jade mirror, its surface rippling with visions—Jingran at HuoTech, runes flaring, defiant. "That pendant's waking the Jade Protocol. If she finds the Core tonight, my ritual's done."
Mingxu's smirk faded, just a fraction. "Core's buried deep—Bund's ley lines are a maze. She'd need a miracle."
Xiwen laughed, sharp and cold. "Miracles are her specialty. Why else is Teng Haoran trailing her like a dog?"
She waved a hand, and the mirror shifted—Haoran's car, trashed at the ruins, then Jingran on a scooter, bloodied but grinning. Xiwen's nails dug into her palm. Haoran, Shanghai's untouchable CEO, was a wildcard, his motives murkier than the Huangpu River. Her spies caught his lab's defenses—tech rivaling her sorcery. If he backed Jingran fully, her plans could collapse.
Mingxu glanced at the vision, curious. "Haoran's playing his own game. Want me to hack his servers? Could dig up dirt."
"No," Xiwen snapped, too quick. Haoran's secrets were a trap—she'd learned that years ago, crossing him at a tech summit. "Focus on Jingran. The Bund's set—constructs, wards, my best spell. She won't leave alive."
Mingxu nodded, but his fingers paused, a flicker of doubt crossing his face—gone before Xiwen caught it. "Your call, boss. Constructs are live—three, fastest yet. Seal's the target, right?"
"And her head," Xiwen said, smiling cruelly. She knelt at the altar, chanting low. Runes glowed, summoning a spectral fox—sleek, amber-eyed, its tails curling like smoke. It bowed, linked to the Bund's constructs, her eyes in the fog. "Go," she whispered, and it vanished, leaving a chill.
The temple's air thickened, ley lines humming beneath. Xiwen's ritual—tying Shanghai's tech grid to her clan's sorcery—needed the seal and Core. The Bei had built HuoTech with the Huos, a pact sealed in blood, until Guangli's greed hid the seal, sparking their feud. Jingran's pendant, a forgotten prototype, was the wildcard, and Xiwen cursed her ancestors for letting it slip.
"She's a pawn," Xiwen muttered, rising. "A glitch in my story."
Mingxu's tablet pinged, pulling her glare. "What now?"
He frowned, scrolling. "X post—Huo Meilin's stirring again. Posted a video: Jingran fighting at the ruins. Caption's… messy. 'Sorcery or insanity?' It's trending."
Xiwen's blood boiled. Meilin, that spoiled brat, was useful but reckless, leaking just enough to hurt Jingran but risking Xiwen's cover. Zhao Wenxu's involvement—her new Suzhou ally—complicated things. His call earlier had been vague: Meilin's mine. Jingran's yours. Xiwen didn't trust him, but his clan's resources were tempting.
"Tell Zhao to leash her," Xiwen ordered. "Meilin's posts can't trace to me—not yet."
Mingxu typed, then paused. "Speaking of Zhao… he's sniffing around the Protocol. If he knows about the Core—"
"He doesn't," Xiwen cut in, voice ice. "And you won't tell him."
Mingxu raised his hands, mock surrender. "Loyal as ever, Xiwen."
Her eyes narrowed, but the altar pulsed, runes flaring—her Bund constructs engaging. The mirror showed fog, fox eyes, and Jingran's silhouette, seal glowing. Xiwen's grin was feral. "Run, Huo. It's your last night."
She turned to Mingxu, voice low. "Get to the Bund. If the constructs fail, you finish her. No mistakes."
He saluted, lazy but sharp, and slipped out, leaving Xiwen alone. The temple's silence pressed in, broken only by the altar's hum. She touched the cracked slab, whispering, "You're mine, Jingran. Shanghai's mine."
A shadow flickered—not a fox, not a spell. Her mirror dimmed, and a text buzzed her burner phone, no sender: Careful, Bei. Thorns grow roots. No emoji, just menace.
Xiwen's smile froze, her grip tightening. "Who dares?" she hissed, but the mirror stayed dark.
The Bund's fog swallowed Huo Jingran as she faced three fox constructs, their claws glinting under the Pearl Tower's pink glow. Her leg throbbed, blood sticky from the ruins fight, but the jade seal in her clutch burned bright, runes sparking like a gamer's last stand. Teng Haoran flanked her, his proto-gun humming, while Shao Lanyi crouched behind a bench, laptop open, hacking for a signal. Xiwen's voice—Time's up, Huo—still rang, and midnight's chime was seconds away.
"Three foxes?" Jingran quipped, raising the seal. "Xiwen's overcompensating. Again."
Haoran's smirk was faint, his aim steady. "Save the sass, Jingran. Aim for their cores."
Lanyi muttered, fingers flying, "No signal yet—Xiwen's got this place locked like a VPN."
Jingran's pendant blazed, its voice urgent: Jade Whisper alert: Task—Secure Jade Protocol Core. Constructs are decoys—Core beneath Bund. Success chance: 61%.
"Sixty-one?" Jingran groaned, dodging a claw. "My loot drops are trash tonight!"
Focus, Host. Seal's runes can disrupt constructs. Core access requires ley line surge.
Jingran threw a blade rune, nicking a fox's core. It staggered, but the others pounced, forcing her back. Haoran fired, blue pulses scattering one, but the third slashed his arm, drawing blood. He grunted, not slowing.
"Hey!" Jingran yelled, shield rune flaring. "No scratching my CEO!"
Pain spiked her skull—mana drain, brutal—but she held the shield, covering Haoran. Lanyi's laptop pinged, a faint signal breaking through. "Got something!" she called. "Ley line map—Core's under the riverbank!"
Jingran's eyes locked on the Huangpu, fog parting to reveal a glowing rune—hidden, pulsing. The Core. Her seal burned hotter, syncing with it. "Bingo," she whispered.
The constructs regrouped, Xiwen's voice snarling: "You're too late, Huo."
Jingran grinned, fierce. "Late? I'm the main event, witch."
She dove for the riverbank, runes blazing, but a new shadow moved—human, hooded. Mingxu? Her pendant screamed: New threat—Ambush.