[Host! Stay perfectly still!] Weiwei’s voice screamed inside her head, full of genuine panic. [Do not breathe! If your pheromones leak even a single drop right now, that crystal will flash red, and they will pin you to the floor within a millisecond! I am forcing a temporary stealth barrier over your cloak right now! Hold your breath!]

Lin Wan immediately clamped her mouth shut. She pinched her nose tightly under her cloak, her face turning red as she stopped breathing completely.

Her eyes stared wide in the darkness of her hood as the heavy black iron boots stopped right in front of her table.

The shadow scout stood there for three agonizing seconds. He raised the purple crystal, pointing it directly at her lowered head.

The crystal flickered, turning a faint shade of pink, but Weiwei’s stealth barrier buzzed heavily, forcing the color back to a dull gray.

The scout let out a low, dissatisfied grunt. He turned around, his heavy cape brushing against Lin Wan’s table as he walked back toward the front door.

"She is not here," the scout barked to his partner. "Move to the next building. Scan every corner of this wretched valley. She cannot have gone far."

*Whoosh.*

The two black armored soldiers stepped out of the tavern, leaping into the sky and disappearing into the dark fog.

The moment they were gone, Lin Wan let go of her nose.

*Gasp!*

She took a massive, desperate gulp of air, her chest heaving violently as she trembled from head to toe. Cold sweat was pouring down her face like rain. She had escaped by a hair.

[Host, we cannot stay here!] Weiwei yelled, her digital voice shaking. [The stealth barrier took too much system power. Their crystals are too advanced. Follow the back exit through the kitchen right now! We need to find a completely isolated area where no one can see us, or those scouts will find your trail in the next five minutes! Run!]

Lin Wan scrambled out of her chair, her legs shaking so badly she almost fell. She didn’t look at the terrified mercenaries around her.

She slipped through the dark kitchen door, running past the shocked cooks, and escaped into the deep, rocky ravines behind the tavern, plunging back into the dangerous, tracking-filled night.

The rocky ravine behind the tavern was pitch-black and incredibly steep. Lin Wan stumbled through the jagged stones, her hands scraping against the rough walls of the canyon as she moved deeper into the dark.

The cold wind howled through the narrow space, ripping at the edges of her dark cloak.

*Gasp.*

*Gasp.*

She could barely breathe. The burning sensation below her collarbone was growing sharper with every passing second.

The black manticore crest felt like a branding iron pressed hard against her skin, pulsing with a wicked, heavy heat that throbbed in sync with her frantic heartbeat.

"Weiwei," Lin Wan panted, her bare feet slipping on a loose stone. She barely caught herself before sliding down a sharp drop. "Please tell me the system is ready. I can’t keep running like this. My body hurts so much."

[Diagnostic at ninety-nine percent, host!] Weiwei’s voice was tense, buzzing loudly inside her brain. [Look ahead! There is an isolated cavern hidden behind those thick vines. Step inside quickly! The thick stone walls will help block the external spiritual noise. I will lock down the spatial coordinates and trigger the teleportation bridge the moment you are inside!]

Lin Wan lifted her tired eyes. Through the thick, gray fog, she saw a small, dark opening in the cliffside. It was completely covered by heavy, dead vines.

She scrambled forward on her hands and knees, tearing at the rough wood until her fingers bled. She squeezed her small body through the tight gap, tumbling onto the hard, freezing dirt floor of the cave.

The cavern was completely silent. The loud howling of the wind outside was instantly cut off.

*Inhale.*

*Inhale.*

Lin Wan lay on her side, taking long, desperate gulps of air. The air inside the cave was musty and cold, but she didn’t care.

She felt a small wave of relief wash over her. She was finally hidden from the world.

"Weiwei, now!" Lin Wan cried out in her mind. "Do it now!"

[Initiating spatial bridge now! Hold on tight, host!]

*Hummmm.*

A beautiful, bright blue light suddenly burst from the center of Lin Wan’s chest. The glowing particles rose into the air, spinning around her body like a small, swirling whirlpool. The spatial lines of the universe began to bend, wrapping around her cloak.

Lin Wan closed her eyes, a bright smile finally touching her lips. She was going home. She was going to see her quiet house, her warm bed, and escape this nightmare.

But just as the blue light reached its peak, a sudden, terrifying change occurred in the sky above the mountain.

*BOOM!*

A massive, deafening explosion rocked the entire canyon. The heavy stone roof of the cavern cracked violently, dropping large chunks of rock and thick dust onto the floor.

Through the shattered roof of the cave, a giant, blinding spear of solid golden energy pierced straight down from the clouds. It did not hit Lin Wan, but it slammed directly into the center of the swirling blue spatial whirlpool.

*CRACK!*

The sound was like breaking glass. The beautiful blue light shattered into a million dull pieces, dissolving into the cold air like smoke.

The heavy, protective spatial bridge was completely destroyed within a single fraction of a second.

"Ah!" Lin Wan let out a sharp cry of pain as the sudden spiritual backlash slammed into her chest.

She was thrown backward, her body rolling across the hard dirt floor until she hit the back wall of the cave.

The bright blue light was completely gone. In its place, a thick, heavy, pitch-black smoke began to ooze from the cracks in the floorboards of the cave. The air became so thick and suffocating that Lin Wan couldn’t even lift her head.

[WARNING! SPATIAL BRIDGE FORCEFULLY SHATTERED BY OVERWHELMING EXTERNAL FORCE!] Weiwei’s voice screamed, her digital tone filled with absolute horror. [Host! His energy... his real energy has arrived! He broke my lock! I cannot open the system space anymore! Look out!]

Lin Wan trembled violently, her dark eyes wide with terror as she stared at the center of the cave.

The thick black smoke began to twist and turn, gathering together until it formed a massive, towering projection. It was a perfect, glowing image of a man.

It was Cassian.

He was not physically standing in the cave, but his spiritual presence was so incredibly dense and powerful that it felt completely real.

He was dressed in magnificent, gold-embroidered imperial robes that showed his supreme royal status. His long, dark hair flowed perfectly around his aristocratic face.

But it was his slitted golden eyes that frozen Lin Wan’s blood. They were burning with a dark, wicked amusement as they stared straight down at her small, shivering form.

"Did you really think a common little space array could hide you from me, my little buyer?" Cassian’s voice echoed through the cavern.

It was an incredibly addictive, deep, and smooth sound, but it carried a terrifyingly heavy pressure that made Lin Wan’s ears bleed slightly. The sound seemed to vibrate directly inside her bones.

Lin Wan clenched her fists in the dirt, her anger suddenly flaring through her deep terror. She bit her lower lip hard, refusing to let him see her beg.

She raised her head, staring back into his burning golden eyes.

"I bought you fairly!" Lin Wan shouted, her voice cracking with emotion. "I paid three thousand high grade spirit stones to that trader! I unlocked your cage! I saved your life! If anyone is a thief here, it is you! You marked me without my permission!"

Hearing her fierce words, Cassian did not get angry at all. Instead, a slow, deeply cruel smile spread across his breathtakingly handsome face. He let out a soft, low chuckle that sounded like a purring predator.

"You bought my body, yes," Cassian murmured, his eyes narrowing as he traced her delicate features with his gaze. "And you used it thoroughly for an entire night, little female. You absorbed my royal essence to soothe your little cycle, and then you ran away like a thief before the sun could even rise. Do you think three thousand spirit stones can buy the first time of an imperial prince?"

Lin Wan’s face flushed a deep crimson red. "That... that was an accident! My cycle was disrupted! I didn’t mean to—"

"An accident?" Cassian interrupted, his voice dropping into a dangerous, dark whisper that made the walls of the cave vibrate. "There are no accidents with a Manticore. The moment your sweet pheromones touched my skin, you became mine. You broke my seals, and now you want to run back to your little world?"

"How could it be that easy. Mmm."