Save Her

The association had already set up three cordons around the perimeter, with uniformed supernaturals stationed at various points, their expressions taut.

Yin Tianzheng pushed open the car door and stepped out; the night wind poured into the compartment.

A mid-level association cadre hurried over, about to start his report, when Yin Tianzheng spoke just one sentence.

“Step aside.”

The man glanced at An Changqing following behind Yin Tianzheng, then at the other young people, and moved aside to clear the path.

The group crossed the cordon and entered the tower’s ground-floor lobby.

The elevator doors were already open, the metal cabin’s light a stark, pallid white.

Everyone squeezed inside, and Yin Tianzheng pressed the button for the top floor.

The elevator began to ascend, the pressure change making their ears feel slightly stuffed.

“Once we get there, listen well.”

Yin Tianzheng faced the elevator doors with his back to the others.

“I’ll handle the talk with Guan Jinyue. The sealing plan proceeds as arranged.”

“But if anything goes wrong—”

The old man paused.

“Take A-Chen and run. Don’t look back.”

The elevator slowed, the numbers ticking up to the top floor.

The doors opened.

High-altitude wind, mixed with ice crystals, blasted in. Everyone’s gaze fixed simultaneously on the platform.

There were no signs of a struggle, no tense standoff.

On one side of the platform, Yin Chen sat on the ground, leaning against the Frostbone Wolf, the giant beast blocking most of the wind with its body. His expression didn’t look like that of a kidnapped hostage.

On the other side, Guan Jinyue stood at the very edge of the platform, her silver hair rising and falling in the wind.

Yin Chen was the first to spot Yin Tianzheng.

He pressed his lips into a line, his brows furrowed. His eye sockets were red but not wet, and the corners of his mouth pulled downward slightly.

Guan Jinyue’s gaze swept past An Changqing, past Long Ao and Hong Yuan, past Su Yuehe and Chen Guan, landing directly on Yin Tianzheng, who was the last to step out of the elevator.

The wind howled between them.

She spoke, her voice carried to everyone’s ears by the wind, clear without a trace of distortion.

“You’re here.”

Yin Tianzheng stood at the elevator entrance, looking at this silver-haired young woman. His lips moved.

“I’m here.”

The moment Yin Tianzheng stepped out of the elevator, his eyes first fell on Yin Chen.

The old man’s steps faltered for half a beat, his lips pursed tightly.

Yin Chen wasn’t injured. In fact, his mental state was much better than Yin Tianzheng had imagined. He sat on the ground against the icy-blue giant wolf, his collar flapping in the wind, but he was completely intact.

Long Ao was the first to rush over. Guan Jinyue didn’t stop him as he crouched down, giving Yin Chen a thorough once-over.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

Yin Chen patted Long Ao’s outstretched hand and stood up from beside the Frostbone Wolf.

Hong Yuan followed closely, her battle axe planted on the ground, her eyes darting back and forth between Yin Chen and Guan Jinyue.

“She didn’t do anything to you?”

“No.”

Yin Chen shook his head, his tone very calm—too calm for someone who had just been kidnapped.

“She unblocked my meridians. We talked for a while.”

Long Ao’s expression froze.

Hong Yuan’s mouth opened, then closed again.

Talked for a while?

Wait, weren’t you the hostage and she the kidnapper? How did you end up having a cozy chat?

Yin Chen saw their confusion and, before they could press him, clarified the situation.

“It wasn’t her forcing me to stay. It was my own decision.”

Yin Chen’s eyes swept over everyone present, finally resting on Yin Tianzheng.

“I negotiated a condition with her. She closed most of the rifts in the city and stopped harming civilians. I stayed here to wait for Grandpa to come.”

Long Ao was stunned for several seconds.

“You negotiated a condition? You, the hostage, negotiated terms with the kidnapper?”

“I wasn’t a hostage.”

Yin Chen corrected him, very seriously.

“My Grandpa did something wrong to her. I’m a member of the Yin family. I chose to stay here to wait for him to give an account.”

Hong Yuan looked down, skeptical. “You trust her?”

Yin Chen smiled faintly. “The sins my Grandpa sowed—a grandson inherits the ancestral debt.”

Those words made Yin Tianzheng’s body stiffen.

That was a jab at him.

An Changqing stepped forward, positioned himself between Yin Chen and Guan Jinyue, his right hand resting on his sword hilt though he didn’t draw it.

He didn’t look at Yin Chen; his gaze was directly on Guan Jinyue at the edge of the platform.

“Guan Jinyue, Chen Guan has a plan that can save your sister’s soul without destroying the demon city.”

Guan Jinyue turned around.

Her silver hair scattered and gathered in the wind. Her gaze shifted from An Changqing to Chen Guan at the back.

You… want to give me a surprise?

An Changqing briefly outlined Chen Guan’s plan. Guan Jinyue’s expression remained indifferent, impossible to read.

Finally, An Changqing added, “So, what’s your stance?”

“Fine.”

Guan Jinyue raised her finger, pointing toward Chen Guan.

“He uses the divine fragment to distract the remnant corpse, creating a window. Yin Tianzheng has five seconds to peel my sister’s soul out.”

She paused.

“But if it fails, or if any of you try anything tricky, I’ll make everyone on this tower disappear—physically.”

Yin Chen opened his mouth to speak, but An Changqing stopped him with a look.

“There won’t be any tricks.”

An Changqing’s tone was steady.

“Once your sister comes out, all spatial rifts must be completely closed. You take her and leave. Tonight’s matter ends here.”

Guan Jinyue looked at him, nodding. “Fine.”

As for the Bear King, what did she care? The Bear King’s physical body was preserved by Baal. Even if she turned her back, who would dare touch the ice coffin?

Baal’s fragments were scattered across the world, but once they were reassembled into the great Baal, none could contend.

It didn’t matter—she’d leave the Northern Frontier and drift across the world.

It meant nothing. She had long since lost her home.

Only then did Yin Tianzheng walk over from the elevator entrance, each step heavier than the last. He stopped at the center of the platform.

He lowered his head, looking at the metal plating beneath his feet. Pressing his hand against it, he sensed it briefly before saying, “The core of the seal is exactly three hundred meters directly below.”

“The ley-line connection runs through the tower’s structural components, extending from the base all the way to my feet right here.”

He released his hand and straightened up.

“I’ll channel the earth’s pulse here, temporarily tearing a gap in the seal, letting the remnant corpse’s force surge up through this opening.”

“Its power will travel along the ley-lines to the tower’s top. I can control the flow and seal the gap back in time if things go out of control.”

He pointed two fingers at the cracked metal plates beneath him.

“But the price is that once this power reaches the top, it won’t diminish in the slightest.”

An Changqing picked up the thread.

“So what Chen Guan has to face head-on is the full-force mental erosion of a divine remnant corpse.”

Yin Tianzheng didn’t deny it.

Chen Guan walked out from the back of the group. As he passed Yin Chen, he patted his shoulder.

Yin Chen grabbed his wrist.

“Chen Guan.”