A sea of fire churned across the sky, and hot wind lashed her face, carrying the heavy stench of blood.
In the clearing, Thorn's corpse was chained to a tree trunk.
Li Xiang knelt amid the blood-soaked ground.
She stayed there in a daze, her mind completely blank.
Several seconds passed before her delayed senses slowly returned.
She lowered her head, her gaze sweeping over her body, only now realizing what she looked like.
Her dress was in tatters, torn from her waist down to her thighs. Shredded fabric hung from her body, coated in congealed black blood, fresh red blood, and thick dust.
The claw wounds on her thighs gaped savagely, deep enough to expose bone, and blood soaked the strips of cloth. Her palms were scraped raw, the chains had cut deep bloody marks into her wrists, and the internal injuries from the impact to her back throbbed faintly. Not one part of her was unhurt.
She was an utter wreck.
Did I kill someone? I really killed someone.
The violent psychological shock broke her tightly strung nerves.
It was simply stimulation of the hypothalamus, working with the rest of her body to release a flood of adrenaline.
Her heart raced, her ears rang, and she could even hear her pulse deep inside her chest. She gasped in rapid, heaving breaths, her chest rising and falling violently.
Her legs began to tremble uncontrollably, her muscles cramping and going numb.
Her stomach and intestines spasmed wildly, her insides twisting together as an intense, foul nausea surged into her throat.
Li Xiang braced herself against the ground, doubled over, and vomited violently.
Her stomach was empty, with no food left in it. All she could do was retch again and again, bringing up sour yellow stomach fluid.
Stomach acid burned