110: Chapter 110 Even if I forget who you are, I will still take back my life.

The soles of Chen Fan's shoes scraped against the bluestone slabs, kicking up sparks.

He could hear the friction of metal joints approaching from behind, like a pack of hungry wolves gnawing at the night.

The Edict Worm core in his arms was so hot it made his collarbone ache, yet that temperature couldn't compare to the hollow in his chest—he clearly remembered he needed to save someone, but that face was shrouded in mist, its very outline impossible to grasp.

"Brother!"

A sweet call wrapped in the scent of osmanthus crashed into his ears.

Chen Fan's footsteps paused. In the moonlight at the end of the dark passage, a Little Girl with her hair in twin buns was holding up a lantern. The two words "frost moon" swayed in the warm light, making one's heart tremble.

As he rushed over, he brought a gust of wind that made the lantern paper rustle loudly, but Little Candle held the base steadily. When she looked up, his reddened eyes were reflected in hers.

"Your eyes are as empty as if your soul has been gouged out." Little Candle stood on her tiptoes and pulled a crescent-shaped ear bone piece from her hair.

The moment the bone piece touched Chen Fan's forehead, a chill rose from the back of his neck. A blue flame surged along the patterns of the bone piece. "Silent Eye said that the kindling can awaken deleted memories."

Memory fragments suddenly came crashing down.

White mist rose from the spout of a celadon teapot; a snow-white wrist hung above a teacup, the fingertips stained with the warmth of tea foam.

When that person looked down, her eyelashes cast shadows like small fans under her eyes, and the silver ornaments in her hair chimed softly as she turned—it was the Teahouse, the fragrance of tea, a certain morning where he sat on the threshold watching her brew tea.

But no matter what, he opened his mouth, and only broken syllables rolled out of his throat.

"She is Su Shuang!" Little Candle grabbed his sleeve in a panic. "You said you would take her to see the sunrise over the sea, that her fox tail would turn golden-red in the sunlight!"

Chen Fan's knuckles turned white from clenching. The core in his palm suddenly burned with pain, searing a blue mark into his palm lines.

He abruptly grabbed Little Candle's wrist: "Right... I have to save her." Before his voice could fade, the sound of shattering bricks came from behind—the bronze mask of the Gray-Faced Judge squeezed out of the dark passage, drops of blood from the cracks dripping onto the ground, blooming into dark red flowers.

"Go!" Little Candle pulled him and ran in the opposite direction, the lantern swaying between them, stretching their shadows long.

The back door of the Frost Moon Teahouse was left ajar.

The moment Chen Fan burst through the door, the smell of blood wrapped in the bitterness of tea stains flooded his nasal cavity.

He saw Su Shuang leaning halfway against a pomegranate tree. Her wrists, which were originally like snow-white silk, were covered in metal patterns. Those silver-white threads were burrowing toward her heart along her blood vessels. Her eyelashes were trembling, but she didn't even have the strength to open her eyes.

"Fan-zi..."

A voice exploded from above.

Chen Fan looked up. The Gray-Faced Judge was hanging from the roof beam. From the gap in the cracked mask, a smile exactly like Su Shuang's was pulled: "You've forgotten even who she is, yet you're still trying to save someone?"

Chen Fan's temples throbbed.

He could hear the critical hit system whispering in his head like rusty gears starting to turn: [Can initiate one more Leap, but will forget the memory of the 'first meeting'.] Memory?

Right now, even Su Shuang's name was something Little Candle had forced into him. What could be more important than this?

Three seconds.

Chen Fan bit down hard on his back molars, a low roar rolling from his throat: "Activate."

The next second, his figure exploded from its spot.

Just as the Gray-Faced Judge was about to flip over, an afterimage tore through the air, a fist wrapped in the sound of wind smashing into his chest—the entire courtyard wall collapsed with a boom, broken bricks raining down. The Gray-Faced Judge's bronze mask split in two, revealing a squirming, faceless entity beneath.

"Little Candle!" Chen Fan turned and lunged toward Su Shuang. Just as his fingertips touched her cold back of the hand, he was pulled back by Little Candle: "Suppress the insect swarm first!" She bit her fingertip and drew a blood talisman on Su Shuang's heart. The rune glowed with purple light, and those metal patterns immediately shrank back like a scalded snake.

Chen Fan tremblingly pulled out the Edict Worm core.

The moment the core touched Su Shuang's heart, blue light surged into her blood vessels like a living thing. The metal patterns began to recede, but he could feel the core turning cold, like a piece of ice held for too long.

"Brother."

A thin, tearful voice came from the eaves.

The Blood Pact Child was squatting on the roof tile, her calves swinging back and forth, her eyes glowing with blue light: "Law Enforcers going berserk... three minutes left." Just as she finished speaking, the ground suddenly vibrated, and the sound of metal tearing came from outside the Teahouse.

Chen Fan looked up. Iron Penance was standing on the opposite roof, a single arm raised high, his breastplate glinting coldly in the moonlight.

He tapped his breastplate. After three muffled thuds, a crack opened in the ground, and a mechanical arm rose up carrying Brother Dao's mangled remains—the parts Chen Fan had smashed were reassembled, the Edict Worm flickering in the eye socket, and the word "Obey" was crookedly carved onto the mechanical arm.

"You destroyed my masterpiece, so I shall let you witness it with your own eyes," Iron Penance's voice mixed with electronic static, "how a true Law Enforcer purifies the lost."

Brother Dao's mangled remains slowly raised the mechanical arm.

Chen Fan stared at his left eye. It should have been a dead blue, but at this moment, a flash of red appeared—it was the Kindling Code he had buried in the Edict Worm core!

"Instructor..." Brother Dao's throat made a raspy grinding sound, and he forcibly snapped the "Obey" on his mechanical arm, "This time... I do not obey."

The explosion came without warning.

Blue light wrapped in a heatwave flipped the roof. Chen Fan instinctively shielded Su Shuang. Shrapnel grazed the back of his neck, stinging with burning pain.

When the smoke cleared, the Decree Chains had been shattered to pieces. Iron Penance's figure swayed in the firelight, clearly injured as well.

"Go!" Little Candle pulled him toward the secret chamber, the Blood Pact Child following behind holding the lantern.

Chen Fan held Su Shuang in his arms, feeling her body temperature dropping like a piece of melting ice.

The spot where the core touched her heart was no longer hot; instead, it exuded a ghostly chill.

The stone door of the secret chamber closed behind them.

Chen Fan placed Su Shuang on a straw mat. By the light of a fire starter, he saw water droplets hanging from her eyelashes—were they splashed on during the explosion, or were they her own tears?

He reached out to wipe them away. As his fingertips touched her cold cheek, he suddenly heard the voice of the critical hit system, lighter than ever before: [You... remember the heartbeat.]

He froze.

He looked down at his own chest—it was rising and falling in time with Su Shuang's breathing, one, two, as if pulled by an invisible thread.

Iron Penance's roar came from outside the secret chamber, along with the sound of more metal joints approaching.

Chen Fan felt the bronze coin in his pocket. The three words "rejector" had become clear again at some point, burning his chest with pain.

He tore off a piece of his clothing and gently covered Su Shuang. His gaze swept over the lingering metal patterns on her wrist, and his knuckles slowly tightened.

Twelve double-hours.

That was enough for him to seize her life back once more.