"Yue'er!" Liu Jin choked, his voice raw, a sound torn from a throat that had long forgotten such primal agony. His body, still reeling from the vision, was a battlefield of warring energies. The wild ice Qi outside, sensing his momentary lapse, surged with renewed fury against the small house. The very walls shrieked, threatening to implode. The fire in the hearth, having died moments before, left the room in frigid darkness, illuminated only by the faint, eerie glow of Liu Jin's uncontrolled aura.
A loud crack reverberated through the room, followed by a series of groans, not from the house, but from the very ground beneath them. A section of the floor, near the back wall, suddenly frosted over. The ice spread rapidly, forming intricate patterns, then buckled inward with another sharp CR
