"Master, I saw you in my dream again."
Wu Ling's voice was calm, but something behind her eyes looked… unsettled.
Jin Nian choked on his rice. "Was I at least wearing robes this time?"
She nodded. "Yes. But you were walking into fire."
He frowned. "That's not better."
They were sitting under the Moon-Silk Tree at the center of the sect, surrounded by quiet. After yesterday's strange phenomena — the ghost pigeons, the memory illusions, and the Observer's trace — the disciples had been ordered to rest. Yet no one felt rested.
Wu Ling played with the edge of her sleeve, her fingers twitching like she was trying to grasp something not quite there.
"You said something before disappearing," she murmured.
He looked at her, suddenly focused.
"What was it?"
She met his eyes. "You told me, 'Don't forget the feather.'"
---
> System Ping:
Hidden Memory Phrase Detected: 'Feather of the Forgotten One'
Quest Branch: Shadowroot Loreline Activated
Clue: Find the Feather, Unseal Memory Fragment 4
Jin Nian stared at the glowing words.
"The feather…" he whispered. "I… don't remember what that means. But if it's tied to the Shadowroot loreline… then it's not just any memory. It's something from before I even founded a sect in my past life."
Wu Ling tilted her head. "Why can I remember what you've forgotten?"
He didn't answer right away. Because the real truth was:
He was afraid of the answer.
---
Elsewhere in the sect, trouble was — as always — brewing.
Hong Yan had convinced three junior disciples to help him build a "Chicken Summoning Array," convinced it would defend against intruders. Unfortunately, all it summoned was one angry spirit chicken with control issues.
"Retreat!" he screamed, running through the gardens as the glowing chicken chased him, screeching in an unholy tone.
Mo Jing sighed, throwing a talisman that dispelled the beast midair.
"Another poultry disaster averted," she muttered.
One of the juniors saluted. "Sister Mo, you're like a librarian with a grenade."
"I get that a lot."
---
Back on the peak, Jin Nian and Wu Ling examined the Pavilion of Silent Leaves — an old ruined shrine at the mountain's base that had formed after the First Peak rose.
There, buried beneath a cracked altar, they found a single white feather.
Not ordinary white.
Ash-white. Faintly glowing. Soft yet cold.
The moment Wu Ling touched it, a strange energy surged out, and the shrine walls shimmered, revealing a mural hidden beneath centuries of grime.
It showed a winged figure kneeling, arms outstretched, stabbed through the heart by five black swords. Around it, other beings knelt — but with blindfolds and shackles.
Jin Nian stared at the image. "That… is the Forgotten One."
"You remember?"
He shook his head. "No. But I feel it."
> System Notification:
Memory Fragment 4 — Location Revealed: Inside the Feather.
Unlocking this fragment may alter reality perception of disciple Wu Ling.
Warning: Progressing without stabilizing her spiritual core may result in personality fusion.
Jin Nian's eyes narrowed. "Fusion? Like… merging with the memory?"
Wu Ling gently placed the feather into her robe. "I want to see what I've already seen. Clearly. No more dreams. No more half-memories. I want truth."
He touched her shoulder, softly.
"And if that truth hurts you?"
She didn't blink. "Then I'll know how to fight it."
---
> Quest Progress: Shadowroot Loreline 1/5 Completed.
New Effect Unlocked: Echo Resonance (Wu Ling)
— Wu Ling may now witness memories before they awaken.
— Can sense distortions in Jin Nian's past
— Bonded dialogue unlocked
---
That night, Jin Nian sat beneath the Moon-Silk Tree once more, drinking warm tea while flipping through a scroll of his old formation diagrams — some incomplete, some intentionally sealed.
He didn't notice Mo Jing approach until she sat beside him without a word.
"You're awfully quiet for someone who likes to interrogate the sky," he said.
She opened her notebook. A new drawing showed the mural from earlier, perfectly replicated. But behind the winged being… she had drawn a small shadow. Watching.
"There's something else in these memories," she said. "Something not part of your past. A... parasite."
Jin Nian's heart skipped.
"You mean the Observer?"
She shook her head. "No. The Observer is a hunter. This… is a sleeper."
"A what?"
Mo Jing looked up. "It's not trying to stop you. Not yet. It's waiting for you to awaken something so it can wake up too."
He stared at her.
Then at the feather now resting in Wu Ling's lap as she meditated.
---
> System Ping:
Memory Fragment 4 Assimilation in Progress…
20%... 40%... 70%... 90%...
ALERT: External Entity Stirring.
Suddenly, a burst of wind blew through the sect, and for a brief second, every torch and lantern snuffed out.
Even the stars seemed to blink.
Wu Ling's eyes shot open — glowing white.
And her voice came out layered, double-toned.
> "I… remember the fire… and the man who lit it was me…"
Then she collapsed.
Jin Nian caught her before she hit the ground.
Her body was cold.
But her heartbeat was steady.
She was dreaming — hard.
Inside that dream, a memory was playing. And she was living it.
---
> System Notification:
Memory Fragment 4 Assimilated.
Wu Ling now carries Echo of the Forgotten One.
Next clue will reveal itself when Wu Ling speaks the First Sorrow.
> Bonus Unlocked:
Sect Area Expanded +500 meters
Second Peak Unlock: Name Required
---
Jin Nian gently carried Wu Ling to a spiritual rest chamber. As he laid her down, he looked at her sleeping face.
So much responsibility on such a young soul.
He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, whispering:
"I'll remember the rest so you don't have to."
Then he turned to the rising formation light on the east hill.
A second peak was forming.
The journey was just beginning.
---
Reader Question:
What do you think the "First Sorrow" is? Is it Wu Ling's own hidden trauma, or something from Jin Nian's past she now carries? Drop your guesses below!
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