"Why are you helping me?" she had asked as they stood at the edge of the forest.
Fenghua didn't answer right away. His gaze drifted to the distant hills, where the morning light pierced through lingering fog.
"Because I believe you're more than what they made you into."
She scoffed. "Don't mistake me for something noble. I've killed. I've obeyed. I've betrayed."
"I don't need you to be noble," he said simply. "Only honest. With yourself."
That answer didn't satisfy her. But it didn't anger her either.
She had lived too long in a world of orders and punishments—his voice, calm and unforced, unsettled her in a different way. So she followed.
Not out of trust.Not yet.But because staying behind meant surrendering to a fate she had not chosen.
By noon, they reached the edge of a long-forgotten city.
The land dipped into an ancient crater, where ruined towers jutted from the cracked earth like bones. Ivy draped collapsed archways, and the air held a stillness not found in the living world.
"The City of Ashen Veins," Fenghua said, his voice hushed.
Yun Qianyu narrowed her eyes. "Cursed. Sealed by both realms after the Great War. I thought it was a myth."
"So did most. That's why it's perfect."
They entered through the shattered outer wall, stepping over timeworn relics—rusted celestial armor, cracked demon horns, prayer beads tangled in weeds.
"Why was this place destroyed?" she asked.
Fenghua didn't answer right away. He brushed ash from a scorched statue of a winged woman holding a sword and a scroll.
"Because someone tried to unite what should have never been divided."
Qianyu felt something strange in her chest. A pull. A memory? No—an echo.
They made camp in the remains of an old temple. There, Fenghua traced a shimmering sigil into the dust. It pulsed faintly, humming beneath the floor.
"What is this?" she asked, crouching beside him.
"A seal," he said. "Or rather, a lock. Something sleeps beneath this city. Something even heaven feared."
She gave him a wary glance. "And you want to keep it asleep?"
He nodded. "Others would wake it. And use it. You may think I'm a prince, but power isn't what I seek."
"Then what do you seek?"
He looked at her then—really looked.
"Freedom."
Before she could respond, the ground trembled slightly. From the mist beyond the temple, a cloaked figure stepped forth. He wore a bronze mask shaped like a serpent's face.
"So this is the girl," the man said. "The one both realms hunt."
Fenghua's expression darkened. "Warden Hai."
"You shouldn't have brought her here, Prince," Hai said, voice low. "You've awakened the city."
"Why are you here?"
Hai ignored him and turned to Qianyu.
"You don't remember me. But I remember the sky burning the night you fell. You were meant to die in the Divine Trial, not survive it."
Her heart skipped. "What are you saying?"
"You carry more than exile in your blood. You carry a name the heavens erased."
Qianyu's breath caught. Her knees trembled—but she stood her ground.
"What name?" she whispered.
But Hai was already fading into the fog. "When it comes back to you… you'll wish it hadn't."
Then he was gone.
Silence returned, heavier than before.
Fenghua walked over and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder—not forceful, not soft. Steady.
"Are you all right?"
She didn't look at him. Her voice was quiet. "You brought me here to hide me. But I think this place remembers me more than I do."
"Then stay," he said. "Not for me. For yourself."
She finally met his eyes. "I will. I want to remember. Even if it hurts."
In that moment, no warmth passed between them. No sweet words.But something shifted—an invisible thread pulled tighter.
Far beneath their feet, deep in the city's core, something ancient stirred.
And far away, two kingdoms felt it.