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Chapter 7: FROM THE MIND
CHAPTER7FROM THE MINDJIEYUAN—∞—“Maeva,” Jieyuan said. He stared at her, tongue-tied. He’d known it’d work, but… She so looked real. Like she was really there.“It’s been a while, Amyas.” The sadness left Maeva’s face, but the smile remained, now bright and cheery. She stepped ...
Chapter 6: BE THE DARK
CHAPTER6BE THE DARKJIEYUAN—∞—By some unspoken agreement, neither Jieyuan nor Meiyao gave voice to what they were both clearly thinking.Briefly, Jieyuan considered telling her that the cost of a Command in terms of chroma was in part determined by its consequences. That Commanding someone at th...
Chapter 5: KILL YOURSELF
CHAPTER5KILL YOURSELFJIEYUAN—∞—“I came to check up on Daojue,” Yunzhu was saying. “Father told me what happened on the mission.”Yunzhu sounded normal enough, Jieyuan would give her that much. Lively, almost cheery. Though that in itself was rather odd. She was a Crystalsoul like all tr...
Chapter 4: IN THE GAZE
CHAPTER4IN THE GAZEJIEYUAN—∞—Meiyao stared up at Daojue. Daojue stared down back at her. Neither of them moved. Both looked impassive. They were on Daojue’s doorstep. Meiyao had finished giving Daojue the same explanation she’d given Jieyuan earlier and had then half-asked, half-demanded t...
Chapter 3: TO UNVEIL
CHAPTER3TO UNVEILJIEYUAN—∞—Murder, as it turned out, was mighty profitable. Assuming you could get away with it, of course. As the son of a merchant, Jieyuan had known as much since he was seven, when his father had sat him down to tell him when and how he should go about eliminating the compe...
Chapter 2: UNDERSTAND
CHAPTER2UNDERSTANDJIEYUAN—∞—Awareness came as gently as a sucker punch.Eyes flew open to a brightening sky and then shut themselves just as quickly. Jieyuan jerked up halfway into a sitting position before lying back down. His head throbbed as if a jagged blade had been repeatedly rammed into ...
Chapter 1: OVERWHELM
CHAPTER1OVERWHELMJIEYUAN—∞—About two hundred feet off the ground, Jieyuan sat perched on the tallest branch of a fatebloom tree, legs swinging lazily under him. From his vantage point, the crown of all the other fatebloom trees around him spread out like a sea of crimson streaked with green an...
Prologue: TO KNOW PAIN
PROLOGUETO KNOW PAINJIEYUAN—∞—The moment Jieyuan entered the room, his eyes fell on the pill. It drew his attention invariably and inevitably, surer than any magnet, and he came to a sudden stop one step past the doorsill.Pink and about the size of a thumbnail, the pill sat on the far right si...
