Perspective: Zhuge Han
"It seems we've underestimated how deep the Zhuge siblings' connection truly runs…"
The voice came from behind — deep, measured, and dripping with authority and disdain.
When I turned, a new group emerged from the shadows of the road, and leading them was a tall man with dark hair and eyes sharp as polished steel.
Even before the Yuan He siblings spoke, I already knew who he was.
The way the air itself seemed to adjust around his presence was unmistakable.
He wasn't a subordinate, nor a mere elder.
He was someone accustomed to standing at the center — someone who needed no introduction to dominate a scene.
My suspicions were confirmed when Yuan He Ming and Yuan He Lian dismounted their horses and bowed deeply.
"Father," they said in unison.
Their voices carried something close to pride.
And in that instant, I understood — the game was over.
Or rather, I had become the prize.
The patriarch of the Yuan He Clan was here.
And from the cold expression on his face, he hadn't come to negotiate.
He walked a few paces forward, his boots sinking lightly into the soft earth.
His narrow eyes studied me with cruel composure, and a faint smile curved his lips.
"To send a Black Swan as escort for a mere prince…" he began, his tone blending surprise and mockery. "Who would have thought the carefree Emperor Zhuge capable of such paranoia?"
The remark came lightly, almost as a joke told beside a campfire.
But its subtext was venom.
Few would dare to mock Su Yeon openly.
Yet this man did so without hesitation — as though even the imperial shadows were beneath him.
Before I could reply, my sister's voice cut through the air — cold, clear, and lethal.
"Naturally, the Emperor can easily see through the crude schemes of lesser clans."
The wind itself seemed to stop.
The irony in her tone was like a blade sliding across the throat of someone who hadn't yet realized they were already dead.
Her aura burst forth.
It was dense and alive — the kind of spiritual pressure that made the ground quake and the Qi around us distort.
The air thickened, condensing into a dark radiance that pulsed like inverted flames, absorbing light instead of emitting it.
And in response, the patriarch of the Yuan He Clan raised his own energy.
The impact was immediate.
The earth trembled.
The wind roared.
Stones lifted off the ground and shattered midair, crushed beneath the sheer density of spiritual power.
My heart pounded.
I knew that feeling all too well — the unbearable weight of cultivators who had transcended mortality.
The Realm of Spiritual Condensation.
And to my shock, they were equals.
Both at the initial stage — yet their presences made the world itself seem smaller.
The patriarch frowned, clearly surprised by my sister's strength.
There was a flicker of irritation in his eyes.
"It seems the Empire's shadows are denser than we thought," he said, stepping back slightly.
My sister smiled — a small, precise smile, the kind that comes right before a sentence is passed.
"You can test that yourself," she said softly.
It wasn't an invitation.
It was a challenge.
And the patriarch accepted.
"An honor," he replied.
Before the last word left his lips, he was already in motion.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
The air detonated around him.
The man vanished — turning into a compressed surge of energy.
A heartbeat later, he was charging toward us.
The sound of his approach was like the roar of a storm — Qi and wind fusing into a single force, slicing the air with the violence of an invisible blade.
My hand clenched the spear by reflex, but my body didn't respond.
The sheer pressure was suffocating; even breathing felt impossible.
My sister, however, remained utterly calm.
She didn't flinch.
She simply watched his advance with the serenity of someone observing a sunset.
Then, she turned her face toward me.
Her gaze was steady.
So calm it unsettled me more than any scream could.
And before the patriarch reached striking distance, she spoke — one word, firm and clear:
"Run."
My sister had always been composed — but now, she was absolute.
No hesitation, no fear.
The moment she uttered that word — "Run" — she moved.
The ground beneath her feet splintered in silence, as if the earth itself refused to witness what was about to unfold.
Her movement was so fast my eyes struggled to follow.
A black streak cut across the field, leaving behind a ripple of condensed energy — a tear in the fabric of reality.
She didn't run.
She crossed space.
The patriarch of the Yuan He Clan, still advancing with devastating force, met her halfway.
The collision was cataclysmic.
A ring of spiritual energy exploded outward, sweeping away dust and tearing chunks of stone from the earth.
The air vibrated.
Qi burst into visible currents, and the sound of the impact rolled like thunder trapped between mountains.
The clash carved open a clearing between them.
And for a brief second, I saw what my mind refused to believe:
my sister hadn't just withstood his attack — she had blocked it.
The patriarch staggered half a step back, surprised.
She stood firm, the short blade in her right hand trembling with traces of black spiritual energy.
It was as if the very air around her obeyed her will.
But her victory was only partial — and she knew it.
While she held the patriarch, the others moved.
The warriors of the Yuan He Clan — the same ones who had surrounded me minutes earlier — advanced again, this time without hesitation or restraint.
Their orders were clear: she would face the leader, and the rest… would deal with me.
That was when I understood her plan completely.
Simple. Ruthless. Inevitable.
She had thrown herself at the strongest not out of pride, but calculation.
If she hadn't, he would have annihilated us both.
By holding him back, she gave me one thing — a chance.
The others — the survivors of the previous fight, now joined by the patriarch's personal guard — came for me.
Their shadows moved as one, each radiating its own spiritual signature.
Their Qi filled the field like hot, suffocating smoke.
My lungs burned.
Instinct screamed.
Reason calculated.
Then I heard it again — the echo of her last word.
Run…
And for the first time in a long time,
I obeyed without thinking.