Chapter 65: Divine Intervention
Su Yao’s feet touched the uneven ground at the bottom of the sinkhole. The air was cool and damp enough to prickle her skin, carrying a smell that told her the ruins had been sealed for far longer than they should have been.
Before she could take more than a few steps into the dimly lit ruins, a familiar voice called out from behind her.
“Well, if it isn't the Jade Purity Maiden herself. Fancy meeting you here.”
She turned to see Li Xue leaning casually against a collapsed stone archway. His hands were in the pockets of his designer jeans. He looked utterly out of place amidst the rubble, like a model who had wandered onto the wrong set.
Su Yao’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here, Li Xue?”
He offered a relaxed shrug. A faint smile played on his lips. “Just passing by. Heard there was some excitement downtown, and I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about. You know how it is, curiosity and all that.”
“Passing by?” Su Yao repeated. Her tone dripped with skepticism. “This is a collapsed financial district. You expect me to believe you just stumbled into a dragon’s lair for a stroll?”
Li Xue chuckled, pushing off from the archway. “Let’s call it a family interest. The Li name has ties to this city’s history, after all. When I saw you heading down here, I thought I'd offer my assistance. You seem like you could use a guide.”
“I need no guide,” Su Yao snapped, turning back to the dark tunnel ahead. “And your ‘assistance’ is as welcome as a headache. Leave before you get yourself killed.”
“But where’s the fun in that?” Li Xue said, falling into step beside her. “Besides, I've always been good at finding things. Maybe I can help you locate whatever treasure you're after.”
Su Yao stopped dead. Her gaze was sharp enough to cut diamond. “If you value your life, you will turn around now. This isn’t a game.”
Li Xue’s smile remained. “Oh, I never said it was. But sometimes, the most interesting stories happen when you're just passing by.”
Su Yao shot a sidelong glance at Li Xue, who was peering at a moss-covered wall with the casual curiosity of a tourist. How, exactly, am I supposed to protect this fool if he’s the one actively chasing after danger? she thought. Irritation simmered. Li Xuan’s last request is becoming increasingly inconvenient.
“Your ‘family interest’ will get you digested,” she stated flatly without breaking her stride down the damp, crumbling corridor. “That dragon could return at any moment.”
“But you're here,” Li Xue replied, easily keeping pace. “From what I've seen, you're remarkably good at not being digested. I'll consider it a calculated risk.”
“A calculated risk requires calculation,” Su Yao retorted. “You appear to be operating on blind luck and a startling lack of self-preservation.”
Before he could offer another glib reply, a low rumble echoed through the tunnel. The ground trembled faintly beneath their feet. Li Xue stumbled, grabbing a protruding rock for balance.
“See? The local wildlife is agreeing with me.”
“Point taken,” Li Xue admitted. His smile finally wavered. “But if I turn back now, I might miss something important. I have a feeling you're about to find exactly what you're looking for.”
Su Yao was already focusing ahead, her senses stretching into the darkness. That fool was a liability, but he was also, annoyingly, right. The spiritual resonance was growing stronger. If he got himself killed, she'd never hear the end of it from Li Xuan’s ghost.
She pushed forward through the damp, narrow passage. The air grew thicker with the scent of age. Li Xue kept pace beside her. His casual demeanor was at odds with the crumbling, ancient surroundings.
Maybe what Li Xuan meant by ‘protect my descendants’ was to protect them from their own breathtaking stupidity, she thought, casting a sidelong glance at him. This one seems determined to walk into a dragon’s mouth without even a weapon.
“You know,” Li Xue said, breaking the silence, “if you're looking for treasure, I heard the old port masters used to hide their best goods in the lowest levels. Something about being closer to the sea gods.”
“Your historical anecdotes are as reliable as your sense of self-preservation,” Su Yao retorted, but she noted the direction he indicated. The spiritual resonance was indeed stronger that way.
Suddenly, a section of the wall ahead collapsed, revealing a wider chamber lit by a faint, bluish glow. Three cultivators in mismatched robes emerged from the shadows. Their eyes gleamed with greed.
“Look! The Jade Purity Maiden!” one of them exclaimed, pointing at Su Yao. “She’s leading us to the hoard!”
Su Yao sighed internally. Not this again. Before she could respond, Li Xue stepped forward, raising his hands in a placating gesture.
“Friends, I think there’s been a misunderstanding—”
“Stay out of this, mortal!” another cultivator snarled, brandishing a talisman. “The Maiden will guide us to the dragon’s treasure, and we'll be rewarded!”
Su Yao’s patience snapped. “I am not your maiden,” she said. Her voice was cold as steel. “If you value your lives, you will leave. Now.”
The lead cultivator laughed. “We're not afraid of you! We know the legends. You're kind and merciful!”
In one fluid motion, Su Yao flicked her wrist. A wave of force sent the cultivators flying back into the rubble, where they lay groaning. “The legends,” she said, stepping over them, “are outdated.”
Li Xue watched with wide eyes. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
“Then stop following me,” Su Yao said without slowing down. The chamber ahead pulsed with energy. She could feel the dragon’s presence nearby. Li Xue, for all his foolishness, might have been right about one thing: they were close to something significant.
The tunnel opened into a vast, circular chamber. Jagged crystalline formations that pulsed with a soft, inner light lined the walls. In the center of the chamber, atop a raised dais of carved black stone, lay scattered heaps of treasure. Glistening pearls, tarnished gold bars, and corroded swords, all bathed in an eerie, aquatic glow.
“Don't touch anything,” Su Yao commanded. Her voice cut through the heavy silence. Her gaze swept the room, assessing threats and values. “Many of these items are likely warded or cursed. Your mortal hands would trigger something unpleasant.”
Li Xue, who had been reaching toward a beautifully carved jade hairpin, jerked his hand back as if burned. “Right, no touching. Got it.”
Su Yao’s attention, however, was drawn to a large, disc-shaped object leaning against the far wall. It was a massive stone calendar, intricately carved with strange, coiling patterns that depicted tidal cycles and constellations unique to the southern coast. The stone was dark and non-reflective, absorbing the chamber’s light rather than reflecting it.
She moved toward it. Her steps were silent on the damp stone. “This is older than Han Dynasty,” she murmured, more to herself than to Li Xue. “Much older. The craftsmanship is Baiyue.”
Her fingers hovered just above the carved surface, feeling the thrum of ancient, terrestrial magic. “A lunisolar calendar used for navigation and harvest, but also for ritual. To track the movements of something.”
Li Xue peered from a safe distance. “Is it valuable?”
“It’s a historical record,” Su Yao said. Her voice was low and focused. “One that predates the dragon’s claim. If the dragon collected this, it means the beast recognizes power beyond mere gold.” Her eyes narrowed. “If others find it, they might try to use it. This maps spiritual ley lines from an era before Duwang even existed.”
A low, guttural growl echoed from a deeper tunnel entrance across the chamber, followed by the sound of shifting scales and falling rock. The dragon was returning.
“Speaking of the dragon,” Li Xue whispered. His earlier bravado finally faded into genuine alarm.
“Move,” Su Yao snapped, yanking her phone from her pocket. Without waiting for Li Xue to respond, quickly activating the camera and snapping several high-resolution photos of the stone calendar. She make sured she captured the intricate carvings from multiple angles. The low growl from the tunnel deepened, echoing off the chamber walls.
“That thing is coming back!” Li Xue hissed, backing toward the exit. “Are we really taking souvenirs right now?”
“Evidence,” Su Yao corrected, shoving the phone back into her pocket. “We can't haul a several-ton rock with us. Now, run unless you want to become part of the dragon’s collection.”
She grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the passage they'd entered from. The sound of scales scraping against stone grew louder, accompanied by a hot, humid breath that reeked of salt and decay.
They burst back into the narrow tunnel, just as a massive, serpentine head thrust into the chamber behind them. Its eyes glowed with fury.
“Faster,” Su Yao commanded, shoving Li Xue ahead of her. “And don't look back.”
They sprinted down the narrow tunnel. The dragon’s enraged roars echoed behind them. As they rounded a corner, Su Yao skidded to a halt. Her eyes narrowed.
Lining the walls of this new section were dozens of figures slumped against the stone dressed in a chaotic mix of historical attire from Tang dynasty robes to Ming official hats. They looked like they were in a deep sleep, covered in dust and cobwebs.
As Su Yao took a step forward, the nearest one, a woman in a faded Qing dynasty dress, stirred. Her head jerked up. Eyes glowed with a faint, sickly green light. Then, one by one, all the figures began to twitch and rise. Their movements were stiff and unnatural, like puppets on strings.
“Great,” Su Yao muttered. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Zombies.”
Li Xue stared, his face pale. “Are those the original inhabitants?”
“Does it matter?” Su Yao snapped, already summoning a wisp of foxfire to her palm. “They're in our way.”
The zombies shambled forward, arms outstretched. Their mouths gaped open in silent screams. Su Yao unleashed a wave of spiritual energy that blasted the first row back, but more kept coming, filling the tunnel.
“We can't go back, the dragon is there!” Li Xue yelled, ducking as a zombie in a scholar’s robe lunged at him.
“Then we go through them,” Su Yao said, her eyes glowing with crimson light. She formed a seal with her hands. A barrier of shimmering energy erupted around them, pushing the zombies back temporarily. “We need to move fast. This won't hold long.”
Li Xue grabbed a loose piece of rubble, brandishing it like a club. “I'll help!”
“You can help by staying close,” Su Yao ordered, charging forward. She moved like a whirlwind, striking with precise blows that disintegrated the zombies on contact. For every one she destroyed, two more seemed to take its place. “They're being animated by residual energy from the dragon’s hoard as a defense mechanism.”
As they fought their way through the horde, Su Yao noticed the zombies were herding them toward a side passage. “They're trying to corner us,” she realized. “Li Xue, that way! Now!”
She pointed to a smaller tunnel on the left, barely visible behind a group of zombies in military uniforms from the 1940s. With a forceful shove, she cleared a path, dragging Li Xue along as they plunged into the new tunnel. The undead were close behind.
What was the British and Imperial Japanese Army doing down here?
They stumbled into the narrower tunnel, the damp walls closing in around them. The groans and shuffling of the zombies echoed behind, but Su Yao suddenly froze. Her eyes locked onto Li Xue with an intensity that made him flinch.
“Did you take something from the chamber?” she demanded. Her voice was low and dangerous.
Li Xue’s eyes widened, and he shifted uncomfortably. “What? No, I—”
“Don't lie to me,” Su Yao snapped, cutting him off. “I saw you reaching for that jade hairpin. Drop it. Whatever you picked up, drop it now. That’s what’s drawing them.”
Li Xue hesitated, then reluctantly pulled a small, glowing jade hairpin from his inner pocket. “It was just lying there, and it looked, important.”
“You idiot!” Su Yao snatched the hairpin from his hand. “This is a spiritual beacon that is calling every guardian in this ruin straight to us.” She hurled it back down the tunnel they had just left, where it clattered against the stone floor.
Almost instantly, the sounds of the zombies shifted. Their moans turned toward the discarded hairpin as they swarmed it, giving Su Yao and Li Xue a precious moment to breathe.
“Now, move,” Su Yao ordered, shoving Li Xue deeper into the tunnel. “If you touch anything else, I'll leave you for the dragon.”
They scrambled up the final stretch of the tunnel. Loose rocks skittered under their feet as they burst out into the open. The sudden glare of daylight made them both flinch and the roar of the ocean filled their ears. They stood on a jagged cliffside overlooking the windswept coastline. The city’s skyline was visible in the distance behind them.
“I don’t think we are in the financial district anymore,” Li Xue said, stating the obvious as he brushed dirt from his clothes. “Where are we?”
“The old port,” Su Yao replied. Her eyes scanned the choppy waters. “The tunnels must have connected to the coastal caves.” Her senses prickled. The spiritual energy here was thick with the residue of the Deep Ones’ invasion and the dragon’s presence.
Before she could say more, a massive, serpentine form broke the surface of the water. The Jiao Long rose. Seawater streamed from its scales. Its eyes burned with renewed fury as it fixed its gaze on the shore and on them.
Li Xue took a step back. “It’s coming this way!”
“Of course it is,” Su Yao said. Her voice was flat. “You probably still have some trinket on you that’s drawing it.”
“I didn't take anything else!” Li Xue protested, patting his pockets frantically.
The dragon let out a deafening roar and began surging toward the coast. Its wake churned the sea into a frenzy. Su Yao’s mind raced. They were exposed, with no easy escape route. “We need to move, now.”
“But where?” Li Xue asked. His voice was tight with panic.
“Anywhere but here,” Su Yao snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward a path that led down the cliff to the beach. “If you slow me down, I'm using you as a distraction.”
Li Xue stumbled. A single item tumbled from his pocket, landing on a flat stone with a soft clink. It was a gold pearl necklace. The pearls were luminescent with a faint, familiar spiritual sheen.
Su Yao froze. Her eyes locked on the necklace. That used to be mine, she thought. A jolt of recognition struck her with physical force. From the Eternal Banquet. I lost it centuries ago.
Li Xue scooped it up, clutching it defensively. “This belongs to the Jade Purity Maiden,” he declared. A strange mix of reverence and defiance was in his voice. “As her descendant, I have a claim to it.”
Su Yao stared at him. The chaos of the dragon and the crashing waves faded into background noise. “Wait, what?”
The words were sharp, utterly incredulous. The Li family descended from the Maiden? But the Jade Purity Maiden was me. She was a legend built around my occasional, amused interventions. Her mind raced, piecing together the impossible timeline. And I definitely died. I didn't leave behind a bloodline.
A cold, logical conclusion formed. It must have been another. Someone else assumed the Maiden’s identity after my death, using the legend to keep fighting evil. They're the ones who built the Li family.
“The Maiden’s virtue flows through our bloodline,” Li Xue continued, mistaking her stunned silence for doubt. “This necklace is an evidence to her grace.”
A bitter, humorless laugh almost escaped her. The irony was intense enough to be physically painful. Before she could dismantle his entire worldview, the Jiao Long let out an earth-shaking bellow, now terrifyingly close to the shore.
“Your ancestral grace is about to get us both drowned,” Su Yao snapped, snatching the necklace from his hand. It hummed against her palm. A ghost of her own power echoed back at her. “We'll discuss your dubious lineage after we survive. Now, run.”
She shoved him forward. Her mind was reeling. The Li family, the descendants of Li Xuan, were now claiming heritage from her fabricated legend. The layers of historical insult were piling up, and she was, once again, stuck protecting a fool who was banking on a ghost’s credit.
Just as the Jiao Long reared up, its massive shadow swallowing the cliffside, the air above the churning sea split with a sound like a thousand bells ringing at once. A single, brilliant golden sword materialized high above the waves.
Is that a divine weapon? What is it doing here?
Then it duplicated. One became ten, ten becoming fifty, fifty multiplying until two hundred and fifty identical blades hung in the sky. Their points were aimed downward, gleaming with devastating divine power. With a silent, collective command, they fell.
The blades mercilessly rained down upon the dragon’s massive form with the cold, systematic precision of a machine. They punched through scales, pinning the colossal serpent to the coastline. Its world-shattering roar of rage cut short into a gurgled shriek of agony. The ground shook with the force of the impact.
No way! That’s Demonic Sunshower! A Blood Demon Art! What just happened?
Standing gracefully on the surface of the water, her high-end business suit immaculate despite the spiritual typhoon, was Suzuka Gozen. She lowered her hand. The golden light faded from her fingertips.
“My apologies for the intervention,” she said. Her voice carried perfectly over the suddenly quieted waves. “But this particular asset was causing significant collateral damage to regional stability. My shareholders were getting anxious.”
Su Yao stared. The stolen necklace was still clenched in her fist. Suzuka’s sheer, overwhelming power was one thing. The clinical, corporate efficiency of it was something else entirely.