Jealousy, irritation, suspicion.
Perfect ingredients for harvesting… and perfect conditions for making enemies.
That afternoon, as Han Yu returned to his courtyard, he found a note pinned to his door.
"We don't know how you're still alive, but don't think we'll let you dance for long.
–M.X."
Han Yu raised an eyebrow.
"M.X.? Murong Xie and his minions, right? Looks like the real fun's about to start."
He burned the note in the flame of a nearby lamp and smiled.
"Let them come. The more emotion they throw at me… the stronger I get."
Han Yu didn't have to wait long.
The very next morning, as he was lounging on the edge of a koi pond near the herb gardens—having just "accidentally" replaced the fish food with spicy powdered pills to watch the koi leap out in confusion—he felt it.
A surge of hostility.
SHUA
A slow coil of red energy drifted into his soul sea.
He looked up.
