*Blood dripped from Li Shen's fingers.**
The last Black Viper disciple twitched at his feet, hands clutching the ruin of his own slit throat—a wound too wide, too *savage* to have come from the rusted sword Li Shen wielded. The man's eyes bulged, lips frothing pink as he choked on his final breath.
*"Too slow,"* Li Shen snarled, not to the dying man, but to his own traitorous body. His muscles screamed, tendons fraying like overstrung bows. This flesh was *weak*. This *Wu Kai* had been a cripple, a wretch—
The jade shard *moved* beneath his skin.
A searing agony ripped through his chest as the relic *burrowed deeper*, tendrils of emerald light spiderwebbing across his ribs. The voice in his mind purred, *"Shall I fix you?"*
Before he could refuse, the jade *acted*.
**—SNAP—**
Li Shen's spine arched as his bones *reknit*, cartilage reforming with wet, popping sounds. His lungs expanded, gulping air like a drowning man, and for one blinding second—
**He saw through the dead man's eyes.**
—*A Viper elder, gaunt as a corpse, hissing orders in a smoke-choked hall.*
—*A name carved into flesh: "Yan Luo."*
—*A dagger, slick with poison, pressed into Wu Kai's palm—*
Then the vision shattered.
The corpse's eyes had *melted*, viscous fluid running down its cheeks. The jade had *scorched* the memories from the dead man's mind, leaving only hollow sockets in its wake.
*"What the hell are you?"* Li Shen rasped.
The jade laughed. *"Hungry."*
A twig snapped. Then another.
Five more Viper disciples emerged from the treeline, their blades already drawn. But these were no lackeys—their robes were edged in silver, their auras thick with killing intent.
The lead fighter, a woman with a scarred lip, froze at the sight of the mutilated corpses. Then she smiled.
"Wu Kai," she sneered. "The Master said you'd come back *wrong*."
Li Shen flexed his fingers. The jade's power thrummed under his skin, *itching* for release.
*"Let me show you wrong,"* he whispered.
And then—
**He moved.**
Faster than his body should allow. Faster than *human*.
The jade's energy *detonated* through him, twisting his skeleton, reshaping his flesh into something sharper, hungrier. His fingers *lengthened*, nails blackening into claws.
The woman's head hit the dirt before her body realized it was dead.
The remaining four attacked as one—blades flashing, qi roaring—but Li Shen was *already among them*.
**He tore them apart.**
Not with skill. Not with technique.
But with *teeth*, with *claws*, with a laughter that wasn't entirely his own.
When it was over, the clearing was painted red.
The jade sighed, satisfied.
*"Now,"* it murmured, *"we hunt."*