CHAPTER 115: CHAPTER 115; YOU PROMISED...

He found himself standing in a vast, fog-covered field. The air was heavy with the scent of rain, yet the sky above was painfully clear, stars glimmering like scattered shards of glass.

A figure appeared in the mist ahead, Bai Zhi. She was dressed in white, her hair flowing down her back like a black river. Her face was pale but serene, her lips curving into the faintest smile.

"Shen Xiao..." Her voice was soft, almost weightless. "You promised you’d never leave me. You can’t."

Before he could move toward her, another figure emerged on his right, Yueyao. She was holding a small child in her arms, the child’s face hidden against her shoulder. Her eyes were steady, but there was a deep ache in them.

"You promised me, too," she said quietly. "You promised us a home."

The fog thickened, curling between them like a living thing. His chest tightened. He took a step toward Yueyao, and agony exploded in his body. It felt like invisible chains had hooked into his ribs and spine, yanking him back.

He looked down and saw it, a black cord, thin as thread, running from his chest straight into Bai Zhi’s hand. The moment he pulled away, blood welled at his mouth, the pain twisting deep into his bones.

"You can’t follow her," Bai Zhi whispered, her grip unyielding. "If I die, you die. That’s the bond you gave me. This is the fate we chose..."

Yueyao’s expression faltered, the pain in her eyes sharper than the wound in his chest. "Then I will go alone."

She turned, walking into the fog. The child in her arms clung tighter. With every step she took away from him, the cord burned hotter, but Bai Zhi’s hold only grew stronger.

He tried to call out, but his voice cracked. The stars above began to shatter, falling like glass rain.

When he looked again, Yueyao was gone. Only Bai Zhi remained, her presence suffocating, her fingers locked around his lifeline.

Shen Xiao woke with a start, his chest aching as if the cord had followed him into waking. The room was silent, but his pulse was loud in his ears.

No matter which direction he reached in that dream... he had lost.

— — — — — —

SHEN MANSION – NIGHT

The storm had quieted to a soft drizzle, but the air was thick, electric with tension.

Over the tree-covered hilltops, the massive Shen estate loomed like a sleeping beast. Its tall walls glistened with rainwater, and security lights cast weak, flickering halos over the stone perimeter.

A convoy of four black SUVs approached from the Southern service road, engines cut long before arrival.

Their headlights remained off. They moved like phantoms, silent and intentional, gliding through fog and brush.

They didn’t stop at the main gate.

TEAM ECHO split from the lead vehicle, dressed in matte black gear, faces obscured. One by one, they ascended the Eastern wall using grappling lines, hands moving with precise coordination. No sound but the soft metallic whisper of gear.

TEAM ALPHA took the western garden route, their leader slotting a silver keycard into the hidden bypass slot behind the garden wall vines. The green light blinked. The gate opened without so much as a creak.

Inside the lead SUV, the masked man leaned forward, his gloved fingers adjusting the tiny earpiece lodged in his ear. Beside him, curled beneath a grey coat, lay a small sleeping girl, around four years old. She was pale, quiet, and eerily familiar.

"She said she is in the East wing," he murmured.

There was a pause and then his close guard’s voice replied through static, Jin Zhou, "Copy that. We breach in thirty seconds. Master control has been looped."

The first operative of TEAM ECHO reached the rooftop ledge and flattened himself against the cold, rain-slick tiles.

His gloves made no sound as he gripped the edge, and his body moved like a shadow across the wet surface. Even with the rain tapering off, the roof was slippery, still, he didn’t hesitate. His breath came steadily through the mask, he was trained for this, conditioned to stay calm even when one wrong step could kill him.

He raised a clenched fist, holding it in the air without turning around, the signal for his team to stop and wait.

This was standard protocol. A raised fist meant freezing in place. No movement until he assessed the situation. He remained crouched on the rooftop, watching, and listening.

One by one, the other three members of TEAM ECHO climbed over the rooftop ledge after him.

Each moved with practiced ease, their black tactical suits absorbing the dim light. Their boots were specially designed to minimize sound, and their equipment barely rustled. They didn’t speak, not a word was needed. Each step was silent and deliberate.

Below them, on the ground level of the estate, two perimeter guards strolled beneath a path lined with lanterns.

The lanterns cast a soft golden glow across the trimmed hedges and polished stone walkway. The guards walked slowly, rifles slung across their backs, casual, relaxed. Their posture suggested boredom. After all, who would dare infiltrate the Shen estate?

The lead operative, Echo-1, retrieved a micro-drone from a pouch strapped to his belt.

It was no larger than a beetle, lightweight and matte black. With practiced fingers, he set it gently onto the roof tiles in front of him and tapped a button on the inside of his left wristband, a compact digital screen flickered to life above his glove.

The screen displayed a thermal scan as the drone activated and crawled into position.

The tiny machine transmitted a heat-mapping layout of the East wing below them. On the screen: it showed four heat signatures. Two weren’t moving, likely stationary guards or staff. Two others were mobile, pacing slowly along intersecting hallways.

Echo-1 glanced at the data, calculated the timing, then turned his head slightly to signal his team.

He used hand signals to silently communicate:

First signal: