THE REAL PROTEGE

All six chains of talisman struck Enchanted Dale full force.

His aura combusted.

The altar cracked in seven places.

He dropped to his knees, weeping blood, aura flickering.

Ling Li turned without speaking further.

Enchanted Dale collapsed — not dead, but nullified. His spiritual thread severed, his corrupted rites dissolved.

Back at the Li Estate, the twins awoke from sleep, both feeling it.

Kim Kim whispered, "Mom was loud in the stars tonight."

Chin Chin nodded, tracing a wind glyph in the air.

Pharsa smiled and said, "Good."

Ling Li and Yue Qiren: The Mirror of Blood and Wind

That night, long after the twin dragons had gone to sleep beneath the veiled moon, Ling Li stepped into the ancestral shrine. No guards. No fanfare. Only the muted echo of silk brushing stone and a bowl of candlelight cradled in jade.

Before her hung a suspended mirror, its glass not made of silver but spirit quartz — a relic only accessible to immortals trained in lineage communion. Ling Li lit three sticks of incense, pressed her palm to the frame, and murmured her ancestor's name:

"Yue Qiren... Mother of the Whispered Seal, I call upon your echo."

The mirror shimmered.

A soft breeze swept through the chamber, though no window stood open.

Then, Yue Qiren appeared.

Not in complete form, but as a silhouette stitched from cloud and lightning, her face veiled, her voice like rustling pages.

"Descendant," the echo said, eyes reflecting infinite memory.

Ling Li knelt without hesitation.

"They touched our blood and tried to bind you through me."

Yue Qiren's spirit swayed, shimmering faintly.

"But I was never asleep," she whispered. "You carry what they could never reach. And now… so do your daughters."

Ling Li's throat tightened.

"Are they ready?"

A pause. The echo leaned closer, pressing translucent fingers to the mirror's edge.

"No. But they're listening. And when the world demands roar… they will answer."

The mirror faded.

Ling Li bowed once more, her heart steady.

Twin Awakening: The First Gift

At sunrise, Kim Kim and Chin Chin were summoned to the grove again.

This time, the circle was woven in golden fire salt and blue leaf strands, symbols of convergence and duality. They held hands as they stood in the center, watched by Pharsa, Four Eyes, and Shinsei, with Madam Li and Old Master Li observing from behind a prayer tree — nervously clutching prayer beads, eyes misty.

Ling Li raised her hands.

"Repeat your names. Not as daughters, but as defenders."

Kim Kim stood tall.

"I am the First Storm."

Chin Chin followed.

"I am the Second Flame."

The orb between them pulsed.

And split.

Two streaks of light spiraled upward — one silver, one gold — and fused into a shimmering crest that hovered above their heads.

A dragon sigil, formed from wind and fire, etched itself in mid-air and branded the grove wall behind them. Their legacy had now become visible.

Everyone gasped.

Ling Li whispered, almost inaudible:

"The seal of twin guardians."

The Journey Back to Russia: Reunion in the North

Three days later, Ling Li's family stepped aboard the elegant silk-cloaked aircraft, its glossy exterior glinting in the sunlight as it prepared to whisk them back to Russia. They had originally anticipated a brief visit, a mere pause in their busy lives for the traditional tea ceremony. Yet, much to their surprise, their time in Naga had unfurled into an unexpected incident, one that extended far beyond their initial plans.

As the aircraft touched down, shimmering with runic light, the doors opened, revealing Ling Li, gracefully descending first — followed by Four Eyes, Pharsa, Chatty, and the twins with Mushu, who were already squabbling over whose dragon sigil glowed brighter.

Shi Min laughed and pulled Ling Li into an embrace.

Ren and Shun offered a quiet bow to Four Eyes, whose aura was now stabilized but more intense, almost regal from all the practices he had with Shinsei.

Lily pulled Chin Chin into a spin.

"You smell like spells and sass."

Shi Min stepped forward with a scroll.

"We received new intelligence. Enchanted Dale wasn't acting alone. His tether reached into the Volkov Sect. They've moved east."

Ling Li exhaled deeply.

"Then we move quickly. The twins must not just train now — they must prepare to lead."

Kim Kim clutched her slingshot tighter.

"I'm ready. For Russia. For ghosts. And for soup."

Chin Chin nodded.

"Also for witches. Maybe sword witches."

Everyone laughed.

Ling Li's lips twitched as she asked in silence, 'Where did these twins get their idea to fight ghosts and witches?' She couldn't help but shake her head and wonder.

But the wind whispered between the trees.

The next storm wasn't far.

The Trial of the Frost Sigils

Within the secluded grounds of the Russian estate, a grove stretched into a snow-draped forest where time felt suspended and the trees whispered in old dialects.

Shi Min, dressed in white combat robes stitched with moonstone beads, led Kim Kim and Chin Chin through a labyrinth of frozen pathways — no map, no guardians, just the biting wind and the weight of expectation.

The girls followed in matching cloaks, their dragon sigils hidden beneath layers of wool, their faces silent with excitement.

"This is not a game," Shi Min said, halting before a frozen altar marked with five fractured emblems. "This grove was once used to test the children of the Celestial Sect — those who bore elemental gifts but had not yet forged resolve."

He brushed aside snow to reveal the first challenge — a set of puzzle stones inscribed with shifting runes.

"These sigils change based on the emotion of the solver. The wrong combination triggers a cold trap that turns confusion into frost."

Kim Kim cracked her tiny knuckles.

Chin Chin narrowed her eyes.

"What kind of frost?"

Shi Min smirked.

"The biting kind. The kind that makes fear permanent."

Ling Li and Four Eyes, and even Fatty in a wheelchair, watched from a distance, perched atop snowy stones with warm thermoses and worried brows. Pharsa stood in silence, her gaze focused and protective, Chatty beside her with his hand already wrapped around a flask of warm rice milk.

Kim Kim stepped forward.

She touched the first stone.

It hissed.

Then shifted, revealing a riddle carved in glowing blue:

"What stands still but moves all things — and breaks without a sound?"

Kim Kim frowned.

"A little dramatic."

Chin Chin whispered, "Time?"

The stone glowed.

Then cracked open, revealing a glowing orb encased in ice.

Shi Min grinned.

"One correct. Four to go."