Chapter 36: Echoes and Embers
[Main Scene – Mei Xiao & Jing He]
The ancient tomb was sealed behind nine layers of talismans, each older than the empire itself. Mei Xiao squinted at the glowing runes now pulsing faintly — like something inside was breathing.
Jing He's expression was unreadable, but his aura was sharper than ever, like a blade ready to draw blood at a thought.
"The seal hasn't been broken," one of the elders said breathlessly. "But it's weakening."
Mei Xiao edged closer to the stone surface. "It's the same energy as the sigil on Yin Luo's wrist," she muttered. "But colder. And… angry."
Just as Jing He was about to speak, the stone beneath their feet trembled faintly.
From within the tomb, a low, guttural growl sounded—like metal grinding over bone. And then…
A laugh.
A dry, rasping laugh that echoed with a familiar tone.
"Jing He," Mei Xiao whispered, her eyes wide. "That voice… sounds like yours."
He didn't move.
Because he recognized it too.
[Parallel Scene – Yin Luo]
Far away, in the shadowed corners of the Southern Desert, Yin Luo stood before an altar of black crystal. The dreamwatcher's robes clung to her from sweat and sand, and her eyes glowed faintly from too many sleepless visions.
The fire in her veins burned hotter now. The fragment she carried pulsed like a second heart in her chest.
"You're close," she whispered to the desert wind. "I know you're watching me."
A shadow detached from the rocks.
It took the form of a man—no face, only flame in the shape of eyes.
"You carry what is mine," it hissed.
"No," Yin Luo replied, trembling but firm. "I carry what she left behind. And I will give it to her."
The shadow surged forward.
Yin Luo raised the shard—light flared violently, enough to make the demon hiss and vanish.
But as the winds howled around her, she looked to the stars and whispered:
"Mei Lin… please awaken before it's too late."
[Back at the Tomb]
"Stand back," Jing He ordered. "I'm going to strengthen the seal—"
But before he could move, a single rune in the center shattered with a scream.
Mei Xiao staggered back. "It's not just the tomb," she gasped. "It's… connected to the fragments. Something's aligning."
Then, as if answering her words, the sky above twisted—clouds spiraling into a flaming vortex.
And far off, Yin Luo's voice echoed faintly in Mei's head:
> "Seven fragments. Three have awakened. Four remain."