Chapter 81
The hall hummed with leftover foxfire when Caelan finally set Lysandra down and ran a hand through his soaked hair.
“In all my years…” he said flatly. “What in the nine realms was that?”
Minghua grinned. “A Tuesday.”
Caelan stared at her. “A Tuesday?”
Lysandra sat upright on her cot like a possessed puppet and declared, “That was epic! Nine-tailed Fox Daddy exploded the dog! Ten out of ten!”
Mingzhao, readjusting his sleeve, asked, “Fox Daddy?”
Xu Yunlian made a choking sound.
Caelan pointed wildly. “Your family is… intense.”
Minghua beamed. “Thank you!”
“That was not a compliment.”
A healer approached Mingxi cautiously. “You shouldn’t be standing. Your qi—”
“Unstable,” Mingjun finished. “You nearly fell when the Yaoguai-Lang screamed.”
Mingxi opened his mouth to argue.
Poppy touched his hand. “Sit.”
He sat instantly.
Caelan blinked. “Wow.”
Minghua elbowed him. “She has that effect on him.”
Across the room, Lysandra popped a raisin into her mouth and pointed dramatically at Mingxi.
“You should have seven tails—not six—because you two are so stupidly, obviously in love.”
Mingxi made a strangled noise.
Poppy covered her face.
Minghua shrieked.
Mingzhao rubbed his temples.
Caelan whispered, “I hate it here.”
Lysandra flopped backward and then said, “Someone bring me snacks. Preferably ones that don’t make me see the future.”
“You’re not supposed to see the future,” Caelan muttered.
“Tell that to my magical trauma!”
Poppy looked around the hall—the clan bustling, healers murmuring, foxfire lanterns glowing, Mingxi beside her—and felt something warm bloom inside her chest.
Family.
Chaos.
Safety.
All tangled together.
Mingxi squeezed her hand, sensing her emotion. “You’re safe,” he murmured.
She squeezed back. “For the first time,” she whispered, “I think I truly am.”
The Yaoguai-Lang’s ash had barely cooled when Shen Mingzhao called the Council.
Mats lay in a wide circle inside the Ancestral Hall.
Foxfire lanterns floated overhead, dimmed to a solemn glow.
Elders arrived in their formal robes, whispering urgently to one another.
Warriors lined the walls in unison, their expressions tight.
Poppy sat beside Mingxi on a cushioned bench near the center. She kept her hands folded in her lap, fighting the instinct to make herself small. But Mingxi’s tails remained looped protectively around her ankles—quiet reassurance.
Minghua sprawled on a pillow between them, kicking her legs back and forth like she was at a sleepover. Lysandra sat cross-legged on her own cushion, humming in two different keys, and Caelan hovered behind her like a frustrated babysitter.
When the last elder arrived, Shen Mingzhao raised a hand. “Begin.”
The room fell silent.
Mingxi stood to speak, but his father motioned for him to conserve his strength.
Mingzhao summarized the events in his calm, calculated cadence: the moonwell corrupted, the entity attempted to manifest, the Grimoire shattered, a Shadowling formed and pursued them, and the Yaoguai-Lang arrived in Huǒyáo Jìng—targeting Mingxi specifically.
The hall pulsed with unease.
Elder Han rose. “You say the creature sought him. Not the oracle girl. Not the moon-touched human.”
“Correct,” Mingzhao said. “Why?”
Mingxi’s jaw clenched, and Poppy felt the tremor run through him.
Xu Yunlian answered softly, “Because his qi has changed. Sharpened. And because he carries moonlight residue.”
Poppy’s heart squeezed. She remembered him nearly collapsing after the Shadowling fight. He hadn’t gained tails for power. He’d gained them because he’d nearly broken saving her. The elders exchanged anxious glances.
Mingzhao continued, “We must alert the Western Council. This cannot be ignored.”
Voices overlapped immediately:
“Should we raise the boundary wards?”
“Summon the allied clans?”
“Seal the gorge?”
“What if more Yaoguai-Lang follow?”
Minghua, hand over her mouth, blew into a tiny wooden fox whistle and cut through the noise.
“Okay,” she said brightly. “Everyone breathe deeply and calm down.”
Mingjun sighed. “Minghua, do not whistle during council.”
“I whistle when needed.” She blew again for emphasis.
Caelan whispered to Poppy, “Is she always like this?”
Poppy whispered back, “In my experience, yes.”
Mingzhao pinched the bridge of his nose. “If no one is going to be rational, I will appoint someone who is.” His gaze landed on Caelan. “You will deliver the report.”
Caelan straightened. “Me?”
“You are neutral. Trained. Known to the Council.” Mingzhao’s voice brooked no negotiation. “And you are the only one here not currently unstable.”
Lysandra gasped. “Rude.”
“That was directed at him,” Caelan muttered, gesturing to Mingxi.
Mingxi glared. “My qi is fine.”
“It is so not fine,” Minghua stage-whispered.
Mingzhao produced a lacquered scroll case.
Caelan accepted it with a respectful bow. “I’ll leave as soon as we are done here.”
Poppy’s stomach flipped. “Be careful. Please.”
He gave her a small smile. “I’ll send word.”
Lysandra waved dramatically, tearful. “Think of me while you travel.”
He rolled his eyes. “I won’t.”
“Heartless.”
The elders began discussing reinforcement strategies, but their voices blurred into background murmurs. When Mingxi leaned closer, Poppy sensed his exhaustion and continued hurting, but he was still radiating warmth.
“You must stay close to me,” he murmured.
She lifted her eyes. “I wasn’t planning on leaving.”
His throat bobbed. “Good.”
As the meeting wound down, elders filed out. Warriors began reinforcing the outer wards. The hall slowly emptied until only the immediate family remained.
Lysandra gnawed on Caelan’s sleeve.
“Stop that,” he said, yanking his arm back.
“Mmm, no.”
“Lysandra!”
“I’m stressed!”
Poppy exhaled a shaky breath. The adrenaline that had been propping her up for hours finally began to drain.
Mingxi placed a warm hand on her back. “You should rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“No,” he said gently, “you’re very much not fine.”
She cracked the smallest smile. “You’re sweet.”
Minghua gasped. “He is not sweet; he is tortured and broody—”
Mingxi shot her a murderous look.
“See,” she said, pointing at his facial expression. “Not sweet.”
Xu Yunlian cupped Poppy’s face. “You’re safe here, darling. We’ll take care of you.”
Poppy’s throat tightened. She nodded.
Lysandra suddenly sat bolt upright like a puppet on crackling strings. “Oh. Oh. Something’s bubbling.”
Caelan groaned. “Ancestors, please no—”
Her voice deepened. “The moon’s shadow stretches. The path is chosen. The bond—”
Mingxi froze.
Lysandra blinked and then said cheerfully, “Never mind! False alarm. I was just hungry.”
Caelan covered his face.
Mingzhao muttered, “I hate prophecy.”