CHAPTER 47: SUMMONED.

No amount of bad dreams and nightmares can prepare you for the reality of living through one.

Do you know what’s worse - when your entire life is a nightmare. You never seem to wake up. You never see the light, just an endless void of darkness. That’s where I am right now - in an endless void. Everything looks worse by the second.

Even as abstract as hope is, it is non-existent. No form of escape is available. Even insanity eludes me. That is what my hell looks like.

I lie on the floor with my eyes wide open. Something about me feels different.

I don’t know how long I’ve been out, but if anything, the pain I feel is much worse. It feels like something is constantly stabbing at me.

I need water. Any kind of fluid. If only I could call out to anyone to help me.

I blink in reaction to the blinding white light in the room. This is worse than torture - the inability to help myself.

A sense of unease washes over me. The dragon mark on my neck starts to burn. I stop writhing and become rigid. Is Fang in some kind of danger? Is she looking for me? Why is the mark burning all of a sudden?

An unfamiliar sensation courses through me - the need to protect her.

I ball my fists in frustration at my inability to control my actions. She has bound me to herself against my will.

The system appears and deposits 150 coins in my account. 150? My usual is 30 coins. Why had the System taken so long to deposit my coins? This must be what Xian Xi had been trying to explain. I must have earned extra points for using my powers.

---

I fumble in the System’s inventory and purchase a white lotus. The glow of the flower blooms into existence in my hand, its petals shimmering like moonlight on still water. For a moment, I just stare. It looks impossibly delicate - pure, pristine, almost too holy for my bloodied hands. Its faint fragrance drifts up, cool and sweet, tinged with something sharp, like winter air laced with iron.

My stomach twists painfully, but my mouth waters in anticipation. I bring the lotus closer, the petals trembling slightly as though they know their fate. The first bite is soft, velvety, dissolving instantly on my tongue. The taste is unlike anything earthly - it’s both bitter and sweet, a strange harmony of nectar and ash. The bitterness stings at first, making me want to spit it out, but then sweetness floods in, smooth and honey-like, soothing the rawness in my throat.

Warmth trickles down my chest as if liquid fire were spreading through my veins. The stabbing pain in my body begins to ebb, first as a dull throb, then melting into nothingness. My torn muscles knit together with slow, deliberate precision, each fiber stitching itself back into place. The jagged gash along my side tingles as flesh seals, leaving only smooth skin where the wound had been.

I close my eyes, and the world around me seems to breathe differently. The stale metallic air of the Blink’s prison feels sharper, clearer, as though the lotus has cleansed it. My body, moments ago heavy as stone, feels lighter, almost unshackled. Even my mind, fogged with agony and exhaustion, gains clarity, as though a window has been flung open.

By the time I swallow the last petal, the memory of pain feels like a distant nightmare. My breath steadies, my hands no longer tremble. The white lotus did more than heal - it left a lingering hum beneath my skin, an almost divine vibration, like a reminder that I am not yet broken.

I rise to my feet, my torn clothes hanging loose around a body that no longer hurts. Darkness swallows the room - which is strange, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t need light. I never have.

---

I can tell it is a massive blackout because there are hurried footsteps and shouts coming from outside. An uproar might start - could this be good?

I open the door of my vault and step into the hallway cautiously.

Many people are crowded in the hallway, probably thinking that their chance for escape has come. The smell of leather and dry blood fills the air. I can hear the thundering footsteps of the Demon Enforcers. Some people might get beaten up if they don’t comply and return to their rooms. I walk through the cluster like a haze of smoke - visible but intangible.

What even brought about the blackout? The Blink has been running perfectly for several centuries, from what I have heard. Why is it experiencing glitches now?

I squeeze through the cluster of confused people and reach the Commoner’s cafeteria - as Xian Xi had called it.

The mark on my neck is still burning. My movement is no longer my own. My feet are dragging me to a destination unknown to me.

I walk down the aisle of metal tables and chairs in the cafeteria. The room smells stale from all the food that has been eaten in it. It almost makes me feels nauseaus. Where are the Peace Corps right now? I look back, forcing my neck to do my bidding. Demon Enforcers have arrived. They are herding the people back to their vaults, with brutal force - if necessary. They will probably lock everyone up to prevent movement until the blackout and whatever caused it is fixed.

My neck snaps forward and I keep moving.

The pull is too strong for me to fight it. I reach the wall at the end of the cafeteria. Instead of stopping, I keep walking forward, into the wall. I try to stop myself, but my feet just keeps moving. I brace for the painful impact.

I walk through the wall, to my amazement. I keep walking along a gloomy tunnel. At the other end, I see a well furnished lounge. I am in the Diamond Rank’s lounge. The velvety cushions and mahogany tables are all too familiar.

My feet take me to where the bedchambers are located. All around me is exotic furniture and decorations. Everything smells ancient and expensive in a concealed kind of way.

I arrive at Xian Xi’s room and my feet stop urging me further.

I look around the unlit room. The entire room is in shambles. Something terrible has happened here. The wall has a hole at one of its corners. I step over the rubble and walk through the hole cautiously.

I see Xian Xi sprawled on the floor, unconscious. The part of his right arm that is exposed is black. Has he been poisoned?

I squat beside him and check for his pulse. I hold my breath when I don’t feel any pulse at first, then I hear it - slow and faint.

His skin is cold and damp underneath my fingers. He has been like this for a while.

I hear a soft grunt from the other end of the dark room.

I see the silhouette of a frail woman curled against the reading desk at the corner of the room. Is that Fang?

I inch closer, cautiously and guardedly.

She reaches out and grips my arm firmly before I can even sense her movement.

Her talons curve around my arm and every fibre of my being goes rigid with fear.

Her skin feels very cold, chilly. I begin to shiver slightly.

Her breath is cool against my skin. She drags me forward until I am kneeling in front of her curled up frame.

I am so damn confused. What happened between her and Xian Xi?

I have never seen her weak before. It never crossed my mind that Fang could ever be weak.

Then, she opens her eyes and looks at me. Her red eyes are glowing like hot molten lava, but a darker shade.

The wickedness in her gaze is still there.

I try to rip my arm out of her grasp, but it is just too strong.

Her lips start curving slowly into a wicked grin. No words are exchanged. The only audible sounds are my accelerated breathing and thundering heartbeat.

Just looking into her eyes can strike fear into your very soul.

What is she getting at?

She pulls me closer, tightening her grip on my arm. Her tangled white hair seems to frame her madness perfectly. She does not do anything else. She just stares at me with her unnerving eyes. I can’t bring myself to look away. My limbs feel weak. I feel completely helpless and at her mercy.

An involuntary thread of worry for her courses through me. Even my emotions are betraying me.

I try to resist, but she isn’t pulling me with her strength, she is pulling me with the control she has over my mind.

I cast a quick glance at where Xian Xi lies on the marble floor.

"You came!" She says in an excited voice.

Blood drains out of my face.