Huo Meilin's phone shattered against the Huo estate's marble fireplace, its screen—still glowing with Jingran's latest X-trending escape at the Bund—splintering into a web of cracks. The Jiading mansion's drawing room, a shrine of silk tapestries and jade ornaments, felt like a cage tonight, its opulence no match for Meilin's boiling rage. Jingran, that leech of an adopted sister, had dodged Xiwen's constructs, claimed a piece of some mystical Core, and turned Meilin's viral video—Jingran's sorcery exposed—into a rallying cry for her fans. #HuoLegacy was slipping from Meilin's grasp, and the Huo name was bleeding.
"She's mocking me!" Meilin screamed, her silk robe fluttering as she swept a crystal decanter to the floor, liquor splashing like blood. "A nobody, stealing my spotlight!"
Footsteps echoed, heavy and deliberate, and Huo Guangli's growl filled the room. "Enough, Meilin! You're ruining our home worse than she did!"
Meilin spun, facing her father—his suit rumpled, his face a storm of fury and exhaustion. Huo Qiongyu stood behind him, her qipao pristine but her eyes colder than the jade she wore. The estate's scars—claw marks, broken chandeliers from Jingran's fox fight—mirrored their disdain, but Meilin saw weakness. They'd disowned Jingran publicly, yet her survival kept them on edge, their precious HuoTech legacy tainted by her defiance.
"Don't defend her!" Meilin snapped, pointing at Guangli. "Jingran's a sorceress—X proves it! Why aren't you crushing her?"
Qiongyu's voice was ice, cutting through. "Because you're making it worse, Meilin. Your videos feed her fame. You're reckless."
Meilin's laugh was sharp, bitter. "Reckless? I'm saving us! She stole the seal—your secret, Mother—and now she's chasing some 'Core' to ruin HuoTech for good!"
Guangli's eyes narrowed, catching the accusation. "Seal? What do you know, Meilin?"
She froze, her tongue tripping over the truth—she'd snooped in Qiongyu's safe, found files tying HuoTech to Bei sorcery, and fed them to Zhao Wenxu. Her deal with the Suzhou heir was her trump card, but Guangli's temper was a minefield. "I… heard rumors," she lied, tossing her hair. "Jingran's dangerous. I'm exposing her."
Qiongyu stepped closer, her gaze dissecting. "Rumors don't shatter phones, Meilin. You're hiding something."
Meilin's pulse raced, but a soft knock saved her—a maid, trembling, holding a tablet. "Miss Meilin, a message… urgent."
Meilin snatched it, dismissing the maid with a glare. The screen glowed with Zhao Wenxu's encrypted text: Jingran's at HuoTech vault—Pudong. Xiwen's hitting her now. Post the new video. Bury her. A file attached: Jingran's Bund fight, edited to look demonic, runes twisted to scream madness.
Her grin was feral, venom spiking her veins. "Bury her? Oh, I'll cremate her."
Guangli loomed, voice low. "What's that, Meilin?"
She clutched the tablet, improvising. "Proof—Jingran's sorcery, caught on X. I'm saving our name, Father, while you two sulk."
Qiongyu's lips thinned, but Guangli hesitated—his greed for HuoTech's revival warring with shame. Meilin seized the gap, uploading the video to X: Jingran Huo's true face—danger, not daughter. #HuoLegacy. She hit send, watching likes flood—Shanghai's elite, her followers, eating her poison.
The room's air shifted, heavy, like a storm brewing. Meilin's tablet pinged again, no sender: Puppets dance, Huo. Strings snap. No emoji, just a chill that clawed her spine.
She gasped, dropping the tablet. "Not again," she whispered, eyes darting to the shadows. The estate's lights flickered, and a low hum—magic?—brushed her skin. Guangli and Qiongyu didn't notice, arguing over HuoTech's stock, but Meilin's gut screamed: someone was watching, closer than Zhao, crueler than Xiwen.
"Who's there?" she hissed, stepping back. A jade statue—a dragon, her mother's favorite—seemed to shift, eyes glinting. She blinked, and it was still, but her phone buzzed, another text: Truth burns, Meilin.
Her scream choked off as Guangli grabbed her arm. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing!" she lied, yanking free. "I'm handling Jingran—unlike you!"
Qiongyu's voice was a blade. "Handle it quietly, Meilin, or you'll regret it."
Meilin stormed out, heart pounding, clutching the tablet. Zhao's video was spiking—#TrashHeiress trending again—but the texts weren't his style. Xiwen? No, she was busy. Someone new, tied to the seal, the Core, HuoTech's sins. Meilin's deal with Zhao was slipping, her control fraying, but she'd crush Jingran first.
In her room, she opened a hidden drawer, pulling out the HuoTech files—proof of Guangli's sorcery pact with Bei, before Jingran's time. "You're not the only one with weapons, sister," she whispered, drafting another X post: Huo secrets end tonight. #NotMySister.
Her finger hovered, the mystery texts echoing—Strings snap. She posted anyway, defiance burning. Jingran would fall, and Meilin would rise.
Pudong's HuoTech vault pulsed with ley line energy as Huo Jingran faced Xiwen's massive five-tailed fox construct, its roar shaking the bunker's steel walls. Her jade seal blazed, runes sparking, but her leg bled, back screamed, and mana drain clawed her brain like a laggy server crash. Teng Haoran fired his proto-gun, blue pulses grazing the fox, while Shao Lanyi hacked a terminal, her laptop tethered to the vault's dead servers, chasing the Jade Protocol Core's heart.
"Deluxe model, huh?" Jingran yelled, dodging a claw that shredded a console. "Xiwen's got no chill!"
Haoran's voice was tight, blood dripping from his arm. "Focus, Jingran—Core's here, not the fox!"
Lanyi shouted, fingers flying, "Servers are live—ley lines spiking! Core's in the mainframe!"
Jingran's pendant blared: Jade Whisper alert: Task—Access Core's heart. Construct is Bei sorcery apex—seal critical. Success chance: 56%.
"Fifty-six?" Jingran groaned, throwing a shield rune. "My luck's stuck in tutorial mode!"
Focus, Host. Seal's runes can destabilize construct. Core heart requires direct sync.
The fox lunged, tails whipping, and Jingran dove, seal burning her palm. She hit the mainframe, runes linking to its rune-etched core—a pulsing jade orb, the Protocol's heart. Light surged, data flooding: HuoTech's ley line grid, Bei's sabotage, her family's betrayal. Pain stabbed her skull, mana drain dropping her to one knee.
Haoran tackled the fox, pinning a tail with a broken pipe. "Jingran—now!"
She focused, seal syncing with the Core. The system chimed: Access granted—Core heart partial. Ley line control expanded.
The construct roared, faltering, but Xiwen's voice echoed: "You're mine, Huo."
Jingran grinned, fierce, despite the pain. "Yours? I'm my own DLC, witch!"
Lanyi's laptop pinged, pulling her glare. "X's blowing up—Meilin's new video. You're 'Shanghai's danger,' boss. It's bad."
Jingran's gut twisted, Meilin's post—NotMySister—cutting deep. Her family's scorn, Guangli's blame, Qiongyu's silence, fueled it. "Meilin's got issues," she muttered, standing shakily.
Haoran yanked her back as the fox broke free, claws grazing her arm. Blood welled, but she held the seal, runes flaring. "Lanyi, lock the Core!" she yelled.
Lanyi nodded, hacking faster. "Got it—Core's ours, partial. Ley lines are stable!"
The construct flickered, Xiwen's spell weakening. Jingran threw a blade rune, hitting its core—sparks erupted, and it dissolved, leaving scorched steel. Xiwen's laugh faded: "Enjoy your scrap, Huo."
Jingran slumped, panting. "Scrap? I'm collecting the whole set, witch."
Haoran's hand steadied her, his touch warm despite the blood. "You're reckless," he said, almost soft.
"Trademark," she quipped, but her grin faltered as Lanyi's phone buzzed—an anonymous text: Vault's not safe, Huo. Run.
Jingran's pendant hummed, Mingxu's warning echoing—Trap's bigger. The Core pulsed, whispering a new lead—Xiwen's temple, Pudong's depths. Her phone buzzed again, no sender: I see you, Jingran.
She gripped the seal, runes glinting. "Someone's got my number," she said, voice fierce. "Let's call back."