Chapter 33: The Tower

Bai Yanci chased after her at once: “Can’t even stuff your mouth shut!”
They ran in the snow a long while and ended back at the little park.
Snow still falling—an idea struck: “Sister, let’s build a snowman.”
“A snowman?”
“Yes, a snowman!” She packed a ball and rolled it bigger on the ground. “Student Bai, Teacher Yi will demonstrate first.”
She rolled two large balls and stacked the snowman. Bai Yanci frowned: “Where’s his nose?”
She pulled two carrots from her pocket like magic, gave Bai Yanci one, and stuck the other on the snowman. “Can’t forget. I brought your favorite carrots on purpose.”
“Boring.” Bai Yanci’s verdict.
“Try it—it’s fun. Human kids love this.” She handed Bai Yanci a snowball. “Kids in the south who’ve never seen snow dream of snowball fights.”
Bai Yanci rolled her eyes—but under her expectant gaze she copied her anyway and gave in.
First time building a snowman, yet hers looked better than Yi Ke’s.
This wasn’t a snowman. Without proper tools you’d call it a snow sculpture.
Bai Yanci was skilled with her hands. Soon she was done.
But staring at the lone carrot on the ground, after thought she still set it on the snowman’s nose.
“Finished.”
“Why the carrot?” Yi Ke asked. “You already carved a nose—finer than a carrot.”
Bai Yanci said nothing. She stepped forward, cast immortal art, and set an ice-crystal crown on Yi Ke’s snowman. She took off her scarf and wrapped it around.
Two snowmen stood side by side—one elaborate, one simple—ridiculous and sweet.
Snow eased. Wind softened.
“So they’d be a pair—with yours.” Bai Yanci drew her into her arms, gentle. “Ke-ke, it’s late. Let’s go home.”
She looked back into Bai Yanci’s eyes. The cool immortal’s gaze was bright, full of love for her.
Since meeting Bai Yanci, everything after felt like a dream. Bitterness too—but more sweetness, sweetness too unreal to trust.
She wasn’t one to drown in false things willingly. But if this were a beautiful dream, she hoped to wake later.
She smiled. “All right. Let’s go home.”
She’d planned to stay home the next day and work on the Sun-Moon Cup finals design. Jiang Ran’s predawn call shattered that: “Team leader—someone’s missing.”
When she woke Bai Yanci was gone again. She went to the SI team alone.
When she arrived Jiang Ran handed her a file: “This case wasn’t supposed to come to us. The bureau sent people first—they suspect another spiritual-flame case.”
She opened it. The missing child was last night’s girl.
Her name was Zhen Yao, second grade at Jintian Elementary.
Only hours since she and Bai Yanci had taken Zhen Yao home. How could she vanish?
Far too soon for a formal missing-person case—only the strangeness had made the police take it despite procedure.
“The bureau found a button at the ‘scene.’” Jiang Ran gave her a clear bag.
She recognized it at once—the button Zhen Yao had clutched in the snow last night.
“Scene?” She was puzzled. “A missing-person case has no scene.”
She didn’t handle non-SI cases, but she knew: you only had last known location.
Jiang Ran played surveillance. Zhen Yao went out alone at night, returned to the park—and vanished between frames.
The timestamp was after they’d brought her home.
She watched the video again and again. “If the police handed this to SI, why did the bureau investigate first? Who sent them?”
Jiang Ran shook her head.
The bureau took ability-related cases. SI took spiritual-flame cases.
By rights this had nothing to do with flame—the police should have given it straight to the bureau.
But the bureau had judged it a spiritual-flame case.
Hearing “Ability Bureau” gave her a headache.
Still—the case was too odd. Now that she knew someone was missing, she couldn’t walk away.
“Oh, Jiang-jie—after the transfer, did bureau people come to SI?”
“No. Why? Does this case need them?”
“No, just asking.” She took the materials. “If bureau people come—especially Director Mu’s—tell me.”
She headed to the so-called scene first.
Spiritual-flame cases rated highest risk—the park was cordoned by SI.
The lead brought her to the spot: “Team Leader Yi—here.”
She looked up. The snowmen she and Bai Yanci had built were gone.
“Did it snow again after it stopped last night?”
“It didn’t.”
That was the strangeness. No new snow—not just missing snowmen but no trace of rolled balls either.
Gone with them—Zhen Yao.
She sent spiritual flame to probe. Strong ability residue filled the area.
Someone had interfered here—illusion art.
When Zhen Yao came back to the park a transport array had taken her elsewhere—that was what the cameras showed.
She stepped forward. “Hold this line. No one gets close.”
The moment she crossed the tape she was transported elsewhere.
Around her—a tower. Barrier arts everywhere, strong—Jade Dust’s work. No wonder SI hadn’t found Zhen Yao.
She lit the building with a gesture, searched many rooms, and found her at last.
Zhen Yao had been injected with sedative—lying in bed, gray-faced, unconscious.
Her spiritual flame was safe. Qixie hadn’t moved on the child yet.
Children usually wanted little—nothing like the flames Jade Dust sought.
Did Jade Dust want Zhen Yao—or had Zhen Yao simply fallen into the trap?
Footsteps behind. No time to hide with Zhen Yao. She turned—Bai Yanci.
Seeing her, the knot in her chest loosened a little.
“Sister?” She was puzzled. “Why are you here too?”
“I sensed moon-palace aura—likely Jade Dust—and followed her trail.” Bai Yanci answered. “This is a tower in downtown Jintian. What you see isn’t real—it’s a phantom from twisted time and space.”
“Phantom?”
“This site is really a mall. Jade Dust forced time and space and kept the tower as an illusion.”
“Somewhat like the disordered space.” She asked. “Keeping a twisted space needs a guardian artifact. Find it and we can leave?”
“Exactly.” Bai Yanci smiled. “That’s my girl.”
She still couldn’t read Jade Dust’s aim. This time the missing child, the huge flaw left on purpose—like bait to draw her in.
She’d probed—besides the three of them, no one else here.
First—get out of this hellhole.
She slung unconscious Zhen Yao on her back and raced toward where immortal power pooled—the top floor.
On the roof, the moment her eyes touched the guardian artifact, Bai Yanci said: “That’s… a phantom of the Spirit Tide jade pendant.”
The pendant was a divine artifact. Even a fake phantom had enough power to guard phantom space.
She moved to take it. Bai Yanci stopped her. “Don’t rush. Taking it rashly will backlash.”
Before she could step forward the phantom pendant lit and resonated with the Spirit Tide Pearl in her body.
Mighty force struck her mind. Sealed memory stirred awake.
That day in the disordered space only she and Bai Yanci had left.
Jade Dust had said opening the gate needed two things—a fallen god and a large enough ability surge. Same for entry and exit.
When she fell into the space again her power was eaten, divided.
Without the pearl guarding, the space grew unstable—soon it would collapse.
When she found Bai Yanci at last her last strength was gone—no power left to open the gate again.
As consciousness sank, something sealed for endless ages—absolute power—invaded her mind.
After that, only fragments in memory.
She remembered summoning Qiyang Sword and pointing it at her lover—then turning the blade on everyone else, losing control, killing on instinct until rivers of blood.
She seemed to see Bai Yanci trying to stop her, hear pleas—no one could.
That day she killed everyone except Bai Yanci.
And the blood on her when she first left the disordered space days ago—that was from killing bureau people.
Her consciousness had sunk; in that space she’d gone fully out of control.
She remembered an experimenter screaming in terror: “SSS subject out of control—execute destruction protocol now!”
Someone produced precision instruments—the same as in Mu’s lab—meant to kill her.
They’d underestimated her. In her hands they were mayflies.
They gave everything and only brushed her clothes.
Until the last bureau man stopped fighting, dropped to his knees, kowtowed, begged: “Team Leader Yi, spare me! Mercy!”
Facing the plea she didn’t stop. Qiyang Sword—one strike—ended him.
Everyone present—dead.