Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 319; Lu Yuze & Shuyin 8

One of the creatures whipped forward, its body extending like a lash toward a cluster of servants. They screamed, scrambling backward. Another launched itself at the children’s corner where Yuyan was shielding little Chen Xiao, her arms wrapped protectively around the terrified boy.

Shuyin thrust her hand forward, calling on reserves she didn’t have. Silver light flickered weakly from her palm, barely enough to create a barrier that deflected the creature. It shrieked in frustration and coiled back, but two more were already moving to flank.

"Shuyin, we’re surrounded!" Lu Yuze smashed his candlestick into a creature that got too close, but his breathing was already labored. The earlier gas exposure was affecting him; his movements were slower and less precise.

She could see it clearly now: they were being overwhelmed. The creatures’ pack tactics were too coordinated, their numbers too great. Every second they stayed here was another second closer to death.

Shuyin made a decision.

"The windows!" she commanded. "Everyone to the garden side windows, now!"

Servants rushed to comply, herding the terrified children across the room. But the creatures sensed the movement, surging forward to cut off the escape route. Their bodies created a writhing wall of translucent flesh between the group and freedom.

And then they released the gas.

Greenish-black vapor poured from the gills along dozens of creatures simultaneously, flooding the room with terrifying speed. The miasmic cloud spread like a living thing, curling around furniture, seeping into lungs.

The hallucinations hit immediately.

Servants cried out, seeing things that weren’t there. Chen Xiao’s small voice rose in a terrified wail, and Yuyan clutched him tighter, trying to be brave even as tears streamed down her face. Lu Yuze staggered, his vision doubling, but he kept his grip on the candlestick, swinging blindly at shapes that moved in the toxic haze.

Shuyin felt the gas trying to pull her under, visions of drowning, of Kailani and Shuyin’s souls tearing apart, of the celestial realm collapsing. But she bit down hard on her tongue, using pain to anchor herself.

She couldn’t fight them all. Not in her current state.

But she could get her people out.

"Lu Yuze!" She grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the nearest window even as creatures lunged at them from the gas. One whipped around her ankle and she blasted it with what little magic she had left, not enough to destroy it but enough to make it release her.

"What are you....." Lu Yuze’s protest was cut off as Shuyin literally picked him up.

His eyes widened in shock. Despite his height and build, she lifted him as if he weighed nothing, supernatural strength fueled by desperate determination.

"Shuyin, wait....."

She didn’t wait. She ran straight at the window, threw up a weak shield with her free hand to protect them from the glass, and crashed through.

They hit the garden in a controlled fall, Shuyin twisting to take the impact on her shoulder while keeping Lu Yuze safe. They rolled across the manicured lawn, coming to a stop near the hedge maze.

Lu Yuze scrambled to his feet immediately. "What are you doing?! The others, Yuyan and Chen Xiao...."

"I’m going back for them." Shuyin was already turning back toward the mansion. Through the broken window, she could see the chaos inside, the gas, the creatures, the people trapped. "You stay here."

"Like hell....."

She grabbed his face, forcing him to meet her eyes. "Listen to me. The gas has already weakened you. If you go back in there, you’ll collapse, and then I’ll have to choose between saving you and saving them. Don’t make me choose."

"Shuyin...."

"Trust me." She pressed a quick, hard kiss to his lips. "I will get them out. All of them. I promise."

Before he could protest further, she was running back toward the mansion, her burned ankle screaming with every step but her determination unwavering.

Behind her, Lu Yuze shouted her name, but she didn’t turn back.

Shuyin leaped, caught the window ledge, and pulled herself back into the gas-filled hell of the east wing.

The miasma was thicker now, making it nearly impossible to see. Creatures writhed everywhere, their bioluminescent bodies creating nauseating patterns in the haze. The ultrasonic shrieking was deafening, disorienting.

But Shuyin had spent a lifetime navigating hostile corporate boardrooms. This was just another battlefield.

"Yuyan!" she called out, her voice cutting through the chaos with absolute authority. "Where are you?!"

"Here! Mama!" Yuyan’s voice came from near the far wall, strained with the effort of staying calm. "Chen Xiao won’t stop crying, the monsters....."

Chen Xiao’s terrified sobs punctuated her words, the little boy’s fear palpable even through the toxic haze.

Shuyin blasted a path through the creatures with silver light, her magic flickering dangerously. She was running on pure will now, every spell costing her. She found them huddled in a corner, Yuyan with her arms wrapped around Chen Xiao, the little boy’s face buried in her shoulder as he shook with fear.

"I’ve got you," Shuyin said, scooping Chen Xiao up with one arm while keeping Yuyan close with the other. The boy immediately clung to her, his small hands fisting in her shirt. "You’re safe now. Both of you."

"The servants...." Yuyan started.

"Li Feng is handling the evacuation," Shuyin said, trusting that Lu Yuze’s right-hand man would have mobilized the moment the attack started. "We need to move. Now."

A creature whipped at them from the side. Shuyin twisted, taking the strike on her shoulder blade. The acidic mucus burned through her clothes, but she didn’t let go of the children.

"Close your eyes," she commanded. Both children obeyed instantly.

She ran for the broken window, creatures surging after her. One wrapped around her leg, trying to drag her down. She channeled what little magic she had left into a concentrated burst, severing the thing’s body.

"Hold on tight!" she warned, and then she was diving through the window.

They hit the garden hard. Shuyin rolled, absorbing the impact while keeping the children protected. Chen Xiao was crying harder now, but he was alive. They were alive.