The scent of iron had vanished as abruptly as it had arrived, leaving behind a vacuum of silence that felt heavier than the noise. Liu Er stood alone in the center of the room. The golden beast that had once been Tie Dan had long since slipped into the shadows beneath the floorboards, leaving Liu Er with nothing but the cooling remains of a friendship and a shredded floor. He gripped the handle of his machete, his palm sweating against the rusted metal. He expected an attack—a physical, clawed surge from the darkness—api what came instead was far more surgical.
He bolted the door. He checked the window slats. Every physical entrance was sealed. Yet, as he turned back to the room, the air shifted. It wasn't a draft from a c***k in the wall; it was the distinct displacement of air that occu
