The road stretched endlessly before them, winding through dense forests and forgotten ruins. Jiang Feng led the way, his sword always within reach, while Li Xue and the elder monk followed closely behind.
After the attack in the forest, they had traveled in silence, each of them deep in thought. The weight of what had happened—the shadowy creatures, Li Xue's unstable awakening, the unknown forces hunting them—lingered in the air.
By nightfall, they reached a small city nestled between the mountains.
Jiang Feng frowned as they entered the gates. The streets were empty.
Not a single merchant, guard, or villager in sight. The houses stood in eerie silence, their lanterns unlit, their doors slightly ajar as if abandoned in haste.
"This isn't right," Jiang Feng muttered.
Li Xue shivered slightly, hugging herself. "There's something… watching us."
The elder monk nodded grimly. "This place has been touched by something unnatural."
Jiang Feng reached for his sword. "Stay close."
—
A City Without People
They moved cautiously through the empty streets, their footsteps echoing through the silence.
Jiang Feng knocked on the door of a nearby inn. It creaked open at his touch, revealing a table still set with half-eaten meals, untouched for days.
The food had not rotted. The air was not stale.
It was as if time had simply stopped in this place.
Li Xue hesitated. "This doesn't feel like an attack. It feels like…"
"A curse," the elder finished.
Jiang Feng exhaled sharply. "Wonderful."
They moved deeper into the city, passing a marketplace frozen in time—stalls still displaying goods, but not a single soul in sight.
Then, as they neared the town square, they finally saw them.
The people.
They stood motionless, scattered throughout the streets, their eyes open, faces frozen in expressions of surprise, fear, or confusion. Not dead. Not alive. Just… stopped.
Li Xue inhaled sharply. "They're still breathing."
Jiang Feng's grip on his sword tightened.
"What could have done this?"
The elder's expression darkened. "Something ancient. Something powerful."
A gust of wind blew through the city, and for the first time, Jiang Feng noticed the faint symbols carved into the walls and streets, glowing with a pale, eerie light.
"These aren't ordinary formations," he muttered.
The elder monk knelt, running his fingers over the markings. "It's a seal."
Jiang Feng narrowed his eyes. "A seal for what?"
Before the elder could answer, a sound echoed through the city—
A low, whispering laughter.
—
The Voice in the Shadows
Jiang Feng's body tensed. The laughter came from all around them, shifting in the air like a shadow given form.
Li Xue clutched his sleeve, her fingers cold. "We need to leave."
Too late.
The ground shook, and the air itself seemed to darken. The buildings blurred, and the sky above twisted unnaturally.
A figure stepped out from the shadows.
It was a man—or at least, it wore the shape of one. Dressed in elegant, flowing robes, his face was obscured by a mask of bone, and his eyes glowed with a cold, silver light.
"You have entered my domain," the figure said, his voice smooth, almost amused. "And yet, you still walk freely. Fascinating."
Jiang Feng raised his sword. "Who are you?"
The masked man tilted his head. "Who I am does not matter. What matters is that you leave."
Jiang Feng scoffed. "Not happening."
The masked man chuckled. "Ah. A fool, then."
Without warning, the air itself turned against them.
The shadows stretched, twisting into tendrils that lashed out like whips.
Jiang Feng reacted instantly, slicing through them with his sword. Li Xue raised her hand, her divine energy flaring, and the tendrils recoiled from her presence.
But the masked man remained untouched, his cold silver eyes watching them with curiosity.
"You are different," he murmured, looking at Li Xue. "You are not meant to exist in this form."
Jiang Feng stepped in front of her, his killing intent surging. "Stay away from her."
The masked man ignored him. "You walk a path that was never meant to be walked, Celestial Maiden."
Li Xue trembled. "What do you mean?"
The man raised a hand. "Shall I show you?"
Before Jiang Feng could react, darkness swallowed them whole.
—
The Lost Memory
The world shifted.
Jiang Feng felt as if he had been pulled through time itself.
When his vision cleared, he was no longer in the city. He stood in an endless sky of swirling light, and in front of him…
Li Xue.
But not the Li Xue he knew.
She floated in the air, dressed in flowing robes of pure celestial gold, her forehead adorned with a lotus that shone like a star. Her presence was overwhelming—divine, untouchable, beyond mortal comprehension.
She looked different.
More than that—she felt different.
She turned to him, her eyes filled with a deep sorrow. "Jiang Feng…"
His breath caught in his throat.
"What… is this?"
The masked man's voice whispered in the wind.
"A memory. A forgotten truth."
Li Xue lifted her hand, and images flooded Jiang Feng's mind.
An endless war. A collapsing world. A woman standing alone against the heavens themselves.
And then—her fall.
Jiang Feng gasped as the vision ended. He staggered back, his mind reeling.
This wasn't just a memory.
It was her past.
Li Xue was more than just the celestial maiden.
She was once something far greater.
The masked man's voice echoed once more.
"She was never meant to return."
The world shattered around them—
And they were back in the city.
Jiang Feng's breathing was ragged. Li Xue looked shaken, gripping her arms.
The masked man sighed. "You should not have seen that."
Jiang Feng's eyes burned with fury. "What the hell was that?"
The man simply smiled beneath his mask.
"A warning."
The shadows surged once more, and before Jiang Feng could strike, the masked figure vanished into the night.
Silence returned to the empty city.
Li Xue trembled, her hands clenched. "I don't… remember any of that."
Jiang Feng looked at her, at the lingering glow of the lotus mark on her forehead.
She wasn't just awakening her power.
She was awakening something else entirely.
And whatever it was—it terrified even the forgotten gods.