Changling leaped without thinking. The tension coiled tight in her chest sharpened her senses past reason. The moment she cleared the ridge, the two soldiers below caught a flash of white against the black sky — a figure rising, then gone. Nothing left but wind. Above the dome, dead trees broke through ice fields in every direction. The wind moved through them like something alive. It was exactly the kind of night people warned their children about. The two soldiers looked at each other. Their faces had gone the color of old grass. "Ghost——" They ran. Fell. Kept running. Deep in the jungle, the ghost in question was hanging from a treetop by her hands. Her arms gave out. She dropped straight down and hit the ground hard, knees first. She pressed her palms against them and breathed through clenched teeth. Tangtangyue's second daughter — a name that carried real weight in the right circles — had just faceplanted on a mountainside to avoid two low-ranking soldiers. I...
The last project had wrapped, and the next one hadn't taken shape yet. For once, Zhong Qing didn't have to burn the midnight oil. She caught the Friday evening bus straight from the office, packed in so tight her feet barely touched the floor, riding it all the way out to the suburbs. By the time she reached the courtyard, the sky had faded from pale grey to deep dusk. She assumed Yi Chengcheng would have already eaten. She assumed wrong. Yi Chengcheng was sitting perfectly still at the dining table, chopsticks untouched, ignoring every gentle coax from Aunt Liu. The moment Zhong Qing stepped through the door, Aunt Liu let out a relieved breath. "Thank goodness you're back. This child knew you were coming today and refused to eat a single bite. Just sat there waiting." Yi Chengcheng's face lit up. She crossed the room and wrapped both hands around Zhong Qing's arm without a word. Zhong Qing changed out of her work clothes and transferred Aunt Liu...