Chapter 164: The Hollow Crown

Bai Yue realized it in the space between one heartbeat and the next, the way their ribs showed through their fur, the way their eyes were dull with exhaustion, the way they flinched when the cubs stumbled forward. These were not the mercenaries who had hunted them through the jungle. These were survivors. Shadows. Ghosts of the proud clan Tao Zi’s parents had once ruled.

“The mark on his tunic,” she whispered. “That is the crest of the Jade Jaguar royal line.”

“The cub—”

“—it can’t be—”

The old woman dropped to her knees in the mud. “Is that… the heir?”

“She called herself the Usurper King,” he said, his voice barely audible. “She said everyone was dead. She said my mother begged.”

“We thought you died in the fire,” she said. “We searched the nursery. Found nothing but ash.”

“Blessed be her name,” the old woman murmured. “Blessed be her memory.”

“The Usurper worked us to the bone,” a young male said, his voice hollow. “Those who refused were killed. Those who complied……we dug. We built. We buried our dead in unmarked graves.”

Bai Yue looked at their faces, gaunt, haunted, barely clinging to life, and felt her heart break for them. These weren’t enemies. These were victims. Just like Tao Zi. Just like her family.

The jaguars stared at her.

“Trapped in ice,” Bai Yue confirmed. Maybe not dead, but definitely frozen. “She won’t be hurting anyone ever again.”

The young dragon’s scales had gone from dull green to a sickly gray. Her breathing was labored, each inhale a struggle. The arrow wound in her wing had turned black at the edges, the poison spreading despite Yàn Shū’s desperate efforts.

“The Spirit Spring,” the old jaguar interrupted.

“Beneath the temple,” she continued, pushing herself to her feet. “The ancient jaguars built their sanctuary over it. The water has healing properties. The spring feeds the roots of the great tree. If we can get the dragon to the water…”

The old woman nodded. “Follow me.”

“The Usurper sealed this passage years ago,” the old woman said, lighting a torch. “But we’ve been digging. Slowly. In secret. We hoped……we never stopped hoping…”

And there, at its center, was the spring.

Mo Xiao carried Glimmer to the water’s edge and lowered her in.

The young dragon’s scales began to brighten. The black edges of her wound receded, replaced by fresh pink flesh. Her breathing steadied, deepened, and her eyes, her beautiful green eyes, fluttered open.

“Ow,” Glimmer croaked. “Everything hurts. Why does everything hurt?”

“That explains it.”

But there was no time to rest.

Left behind.

Bai Yue’s legs nearly gave out.

Zhāo Yàn caught her arm. His grip was tight, almost bruising. “We had no choice. The mercenaries—”

“He’s gone.”

Zhāo Yàn’s face was pale, his usual sharpness dulled to a wounded expression. “Bai Yue. He had no pulse. The poison—”

“His heart wasn’t beating.”

He pulled her against his chest. She fought him, shoved at his shoulders, clawed at his arms, but he didn’t let go. His nine tails wrapped around her, holding her together while she tried to fall apart.

The tears came then, hot and silent and endless. She pressed her face against Zhāo Yàn’s chest and wept for the husband who had thawed for her, who had learned to smile, who had built a cradle with his own hands and painted it with paw prints.

“We can’t stay here,” she said.

A distant sound echoed through the cavern. Oh no.

The mercenaries had found them.

Too late.

Bai Yue grabbed Tao Zi and pushed him behind her. “Stay down. Don’t move.”

“STAY.”

And then—

Not a jaguar. Not a bear.

The ceiling above them cracked. Sunlight poured through, blinding, golden. And through the gap, descending on wings of fire, came a shape Bai Yue knew better than her own reflection.

The Golden Prince of the Dragon Peaks landed in the center of the cavern, his scales blazing, his roar shaking stones loose from the walls. His molten gold eyes swept the chaos, found Bai Yue, found the cubs.

“Star-thief,” Cāng Jì said. “I believe I arrived just in time.”

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