8. The Girl in Chains

Three Days Later – The Forest Edge

The woods were still damp with blood from the last assassin raid.

Li Shen walked alone beneath the canopy, using Premonition Pulse to sweep for movement. He'd sensed a presence circling the village for days now.

Tonight, it stepped forward.

She emerged like smoke from the trees—barefoot, wearing shackles on her wrists and ankles, their chains long since broken. Her robes were tattered but fine, dyed with old sect colors: Crimson Moon.

Li Shen raised his hand, threads flaring faintly.

"Speak."

She looked up, and her eyes were violet. Not purple—violet, like fractured amethyst.

"My name is Jinhai," she said softly. "I ran from them. I want sanctuary."

Eyes That Lied Too Well

Back in the temple hall, the elders whispered behind closed doors. Yanmei paced, fingers twitching near her bow.

"I don't like it," she muttered. "Crimson Moon doesn't let people go."

Li Shen watched Jinhai as she sat cross-legged near the fire, not flinching at the flickering light.

"Her qi's suppressed. She's not lying."

"She wants something. Everyone does."

Li Shen didn't deny it. But when he looked at Jinhai, he didn't see a spy.

He saw someone like him.

Buried. Bound. Burning.

[New Entity Detected: Jinhai (Status: Soul-Suppressed / Curse-Bound)]

[Compatibility Check: Unknown]

[Warning: Curse Fragment Present – Origin: Crimson Moon Sect]

[Quest Triggered: Break the Chains – Discover the truth of Jinhai's bindings. Optional Outcome: Release, Purge, or Absorb]

[Time Limit: 5 Days]

Midnight Conversations

On the second night, Jinhai joined Li Shen at the river.

"You speak little," she said.

He shrugged. "Words don't survive fire."

She smiled, hollow. "Neither do people."

Silence.

Then: "They called me a Seer. I was born with the ability to thread glimpses of possible futures. The Sect took me when I was five. Bound me with golden chains that fed on my sight."

She lifted her wrists. The flesh was burned with sigil scars.

"I warned them about you," she whispered. "I saw you… standing over their temple's ashes."

Li Shen's breath hitched.

"You saw me?"

Her eyes flared.

"I still do."

The Bonding Stone

On the third day, the Ashbond Ritual Stone pulsed from within Li Shen's robes. He'd almost forgotten it.

[Artifact Bond Triggered – Potential Link Candidates Detected]

► Ashheart Core► Soul-Weave Threads (Innate)► Jinhai (Living Bond – Unstable)

[Warning: Choosing a Living Bond will create a permanent fate-thread between souls. Irreversible. Potential Mutations: High.]

He hesitated.

Jinhai stood in the doorway, watching him without expression.

"You don't have to choose me," she said. "But if you do… I'll never betray you."

He didn't answer.

Not yet.

Unshackling the Curse

Li Shen worked for hours with Elder Hui, drawing sigil arrays and feeding them with his evolving Root-thread qi.

When he touched Jinhai's scars, they burned violet.

And then—they screamed.

Not her.

The chains themselves.

They resisted. Fought. Tried to claw their way into his spirit.

[Warning: Curse Fragment Attempting Infection]

[Soul Adaptation Triggered – Absorbing curse pattern… Success]

[New Skill Acquired: Curse Brand (Rank 1) – Imprint or disrupt soul-binding seals]

[Root Unseal: 68% → 74%]

[Memory Fragment Restored: The Hall of Chains – You remember standing in a circular chamber, watching dozens of children chained, including yourself. You screamed—but no one came.]

When he opened his eyes, the chains were gone.

Jinhai collapsed into his arms.

"You saw it," she whispered.

"Yes."

"Then you know why I can't go back."

"I wasn't going to send you."

A Choice Sealed in Flame

That night, Li Shen stood before the fire.

He held the Ashbond Ritual Stone in one hand and placed the other on Jinhai's chest.

"I don't know what's coming," he said. "But I want to face it with someone who's seen the same darkness."

She took his hand.

"I'm with you."

The stone flared.

[Ashbond Formed: Li Shen + Jinhai]

[Shared Traits: Curse Resistance (Passive), Soul Sync (Low), Dual Focus Meditation]

[New Combined Ability: Shadowflame Thread (Rank 1) – A spectral qi-thread forged from both fire and foresight. It can be used to disrupt enemy movements or seal wounds.]

[Root Unseal: 74% → 78%]

[Title Earned: Flamebearer of the Bound]

Elsewhere – Crimson Moon

Grandmistress Lian Yue stood alone beneath a thousand hanging chains.

"She bonded with him," she said.

An old voice rasped from the shadows. "We expected this."

Lian Yue smiled darkly.

"And now, when the curse awakens fully, she'll break him from within."

Her eyes glowed with bloodlight.

"Or he'll devour her, and become something worse."