Her Twelve Branches

In the ancient Heavenly Court, the Twelve Flower Immortals bestowed floral marks on twelve women in the mortal world, choosing them to protect humanity for generations against the encroaching "horde."

They were known as the Twelve Glories.

Lin Banxia never imagined she would be one of them.

She was the most ordinary female student at Haicheng University, majoring in classical literature, a subject no one else chose. Her biggest worry was finishing her midterm paper. Then her mother, Mu Shaoyao, died under mysterious circumstances, and a stranger appeared at the funeral: Shen Tan, head of Shen Technologies and Haicheng's youngest female billionaire. A white camellia was pinned to her chest. She smiled with a poise that kept everyone at a distance and told Lin Banxia, "Your mother passed away peacefully."

Lin Banxia knew she was lying.

She had seen her mother covered in rotting flowers in her final moments.

A few days later, another woman barged into her life.

Luo Mei, twenty-six, bearer of the red plum blossom mark and leader of the Twelve Glories' Winter Palace. Black leather jacket, short hair streaked dark red, and a plum blossom mark glowing faintly on the inside of her left wrist. She spoke as if issuing orders, walked as if going to war, and smiled... No, she never smiled.

"Your power has only awakened halfway," Luo Mei said. "Shen Tan has been fused with the Insect Queen for ten years. I'll help you make up for the half you're missing."

From that day on, Lin Banxia's world was changed forever.

She began to see things no one else could: gray dust floating in the air, the light hollowed out of passersby's eyes, and the darkness spreading beneath the city. Shen Tan had built a massive hive beneath Haicheng, and Lin Banxia was the final target it wanted to devour.