ra Vance stood in the doorway, her small frame dwarfed by her nightgown, staring at me with an intensity that belied her young age. The cold energy I''d sensed earlier emanated from her like frost from an open freezer door.


    "Are you going to answer me?" she demanded, her voice unexpectedly sharp. "Are you dating Isabelle Ashworth?"


    William shot me an apologetic look. "ra, that''s not appropriate—"


    "It''s fine," I said, studying the girl carefully. "Yes, Miss Ashworth and I are together."


    ra''s lips twisted into a sneer. "She''s way prettier than you. I''ve seen her in magazines."


    "ra!" William''s face flushed with embarrassment.


    I couldn''t help but smile. "You''re absolutely right. She is much prettier than me."


    The girl seemed caught off guard by my agreement. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, her defensive posture not quite hiding how her legs trembled with fatigue.


    "ra, this is Mr. Knight. He''s here to help with your nightmares," William exined gently.


    "I don''t need help. I''m fine." She red at me. "What are you supposed to be, anyway? Some kind of doctor?"


    "Something like that," I replied, rising from my chair. "I specialize in problems that other doctors can''t solve."


    As I moved closer, the dark energy around her pulsed defensively. Interesting. Whatever was affecting her knew I was a threat.


    "May I?" I asked, extending my hand toward her forehead.


    ra jerked back. "No! Don''t touch me!"


    "I won''t hurt you," I promised, keeping my voice calm. "I just want to check something."


    William ced his hands on his daughter''s shoulders. "Please, ra. Let him help."


    "Fine," she huffed after a long pause. "But if you try anything weird, I''ll kick you."


    I suppressed another smile. "That''s fair." <cite ss="frag-00b32e">Text<i ss="node-sep"></i>acquired<i ss="node-sep"></i>from<i ss="node-sep"></i>M|V|LEMP&YR.</cite>


    When my fingers gently touched her forehead, I immediately felt it—a squirming, parasitic presence nestled deep within her. Something dark and ancient that didn''t belong. ra''s eyes widened, sensing my discovery.


    "What is it?" William asked anxiously.


    "Not an illness," I said, withdrawing my hand. "Something else is causing her nightmares."


    ra took another step back, suddenly looking frightened. "What do you mean ''something else''?"


    I crouched down to meet her eyes. "There''s a... let''s call it a filthy thing... that''s attached itself to you, ra. It''s feeding off your energy, causing your nightmares."


    William''s face paled. "What kind of thing? How is that possible?"


    "I''ll exinter," I said, not wanting to scare ra further. "First, I need to see her room."


    ra led us upstairs, her steps slow and hesitant. Her bedroom was painted pale blue with butterfly decals on the walls—a normal little girl''s room. But the moment I stepped inside, the dark energy became unmistakable, concentrated around her bed.


    "How long have you lived in this house?" I asked William.


    "About two years," he replied. "We moved here after..." He nced at ra, then lowered his voice. "After her mother passed away."


    ra climbed onto her bed, watching me warily. "Are you going to do some kind of exorcism? Because that''s stupid. Ghosts aren''t real."


    I smiled at her bravado. "Is that why you''re clutching your nket so tightly?"


    She immediately released her white-knuckled grip on theforter, scowling at me.


    "Mr. Vance, would you mind waiting outside?" I asked. "This will go more smoothly with fewer people in the room."


    William hesitated, clearly reluctant to leave his daughter.


    "Dad, I''ll be fine," ra said, putting on a brave face. "If he tries anything weird, I''ll scream really loud."


    After her father stepped out, I sat on the edge of the bed. "The nightmares—what do you see in them?"


    ra hugged her knees to her chest. "A shadow. It... it whispers things."


    "What kinds of things?"


    Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "That I should hurt myself. That it''s my fault mom died."


    My jaw tightened. Whatever this parasite was, it was cruel.


    "I''m going to remove it now," I said, standing up. "It might be scary, but I need you to stay absolutely still."


    "This is so stupid," ra muttered, but her trembling betrayed her fear.


    I centered myself, drawing on my qi. Golden light began to emanate from my palms as I held them over ra''s head. Her eyes widened in shock.


    "How are you doing that?" she gasped.


    "Less talking, more staying still," I reminded her.


    I focused my energy, probing deeper into her spiritual core. There—a dark blot amongst her life energy, like an ink stain on silk. I directed my qi to encircle it, creating a golden cage around the parasite.


    "This might hurt a bit," I warned.


    With a sharp tug of my qi, I began to extract the entity. ra gasped, her back arching slightly as a dark shadow began to emerge from her forehead. It resembled smoke at first, then coalesced into something more solid—a writhing, amorphous darkness.


    As thest tendril pulled free from ra''s skin, the shadow emitted a high-pitched, inhuman shriek that made her cover her ears in terror.


    "What is that thing?" she cried.


    The door burst open as William rushed in. "ra!"


    "Stay back!" Imanded, maintaining my focus on the struggling shadow trapped in my qi-formed hand.


    The creature thrashed violently, its form shifting between vague shapes—sometimes appearing almost human, other times like a twisted animal. I prepared to crush it, gathering destructive energy in my palm.


    But something stopped me.


    The shadow pulsed with pure dark energy—different from my cultivation but somehow...plementary. My Chaotic Body seemed to resonate with it, almost hungrily.


    In that split-second of hesitation, I made an impulsive decision.


    Instead of destroying it, I drew the shadow toward my chest. William shouted something in rm, but I barely heard him. The dark energy rushed into me, merging with my own power in a surge that sent electric thrills through every nerve.


    Power. Raw, untamed power flooded my system. My golden qi turned momentarily ck, then shifted to a shimmering bronze as the energies merged and stabilized within me.


    "What did you just do?" William''s horrified voice broke through my euphoria.


    ra stared at me, wide-eyed. "Did you... eat it?"


    The energy surge subsided, leaving me feeling stronger than before. But as the power settled within me, something solid materialized in my palm—two small, ck, beetle-like creatures, nowpletely inert.


    "No," I answered, extending my hand to show them the parasites. "I absorbed the dark energy, but these are what was causing your nightmares."


    ra leaned forward, disgust and fascination warring on her face. "What are they?"


    "Parasites from the southwest," I said, cing the dead creatures in her small palm. "They attach themselves to people''s spiritual energy and feed on negative emotions."


    The girl stared down at the tiny corpses, her face a mixture of revulsion and relief. "They were... inside me?"


    William looked equally disturbed. "How did they get into her?"


    I considered the question, still processing the strange power surge I''d experienced. Something had changed within me—a new avenue of cultivation had opened up, dark and enticing.


    "That''s what we need to figure out," I said, meeting William''s concerned gaze. "Because something—or someone—put them there on purpose."


    ra''s fingers closed around the dead parasites, her young face hardening with the realization that her suffering had been intentional. "Who would do that to me?"


    I ced my hand on her shoulder, feeling the absence of the cold energy that had surrounded her earlier. "I don''t know yet. But I promise you, we''re going to find out."


    The dark energy still swirled within me, intoxicating and dangerous—a forbidden power I shouldn''t have taken, but couldn''t bring myself to regret absorbing. Something told me I would need every advantage in theing days, no matter how questionable its source.