As Shuxiao and I rushed toward my mother, a soldier leapt into our path. Another swung her spear at my mother, slashing her arm. A deep gash split her skin, crimson blood oozing from it. My scream erupted just as Wugang shouted a furious reprimand. At once, the soldier lowered her weapon, seizing my mother’s arm. As she struggled, more blood spilled from her cut, scattering over the laurel’s undulating roots. A drawn-out sigh rustled from the tree, wistful and filled with longing—if such a thing were possible. The tree quivered, flinging its branches wide like a fan, its seeds showering upon the ground like rain.

I sucked in a ragged breath as I stared at them, nestled in the grass like luminous pearls of ice. Hundreds. Thousands, perhaps, yet countless more clung to the branches.

“Bind them,” Wugang barked at his soldiers, his eyes alight with sudden avarice.

Before I could move, glowing coils shot out from the Celestials’ palms, snaring my mother, Shuxiao, and me. They seared against my skin, biting deeper as I writhed against them, welts forming across my wrists. Fighting for calm, I channeled a burst of energy to break the restraints—yet more ropes whipped out, twining around my arms and legs.

My mother kicked out hard. Her head flew back, slamming into a soldier’s face. He swore but did not loosen his hold. I wrestled with the shimmering cords, a task made harder through my swelling panic. Sparks flared from Wugang’s hand, scattering over my mother. Her limbs went slack as her eyes rolled back, her body crumpling onto the ground, where her skirts pooled like water.

Terror jolted me at the sight of her so lifeless and limp. She’s alive, my mind cried, trying to rouse me from my stupor. She breathes; her aura shines.

Wugang crouched down beside her, his fingers clenching harder around his axe. As he raised it above her, fear shot through my veins, magic flaring from my skin, dissolving the cords that bound me. Rolling to my feet, I rushed toward Wugang—just as Ping’er threw herself forward, covering my mother’s body with her own. Wugang cursed, flinging a blazing bolt at Ping’er’s head—the force of his blow hurling her against a tree, osmanthus petals cascading over her like a shroud.

“No!”

My scream shattered the silence. I raced to Ping’er’s side, wrapping my arms around her, her body spasming in a broken rhythm like a puppet wielded by a novice. A warm wetness spilled over my palms, her blood streaming from the wound at the base of her head. At once I channeled my energy into it, sealing it as well as I could, though a thin trail of blood still trickled forth, her aura shuddering uncertainly.