The hall trembled beneath the weight of battle, threads retreating like crimson tide only to rise anew.
Shui Lin exhaled. The illusion around Yue Chányīn had been broken, but two more comrades remained bound in the clutch of dreams. Every breath counted.
He turned to the next.
Feng Ruo.
Her body was rigid, drenched in cold sweat. Threads pulsed along her limbs like parasites feeding on guilt. Shui Lin pressed his palm to her forehead, diving into the torrent of her mind.
Her dream burned.
Flames roared through the ruined halls of her old academy.
Screams echoed. The air was thick with smoke and shame.
She stood in the center—arms alight in violet fire—her expression hollow. Around her lay bodies… friends, teachers… all reduced to ash.
Her own hands shook.
"No… not again…"
"Monster," a voice whispered. "You burn everything."
She collapsed to her knees.
Her lover stood before her—face pale, eyes empty.
"You were never meant to cultivate."
"Stop," she cried. "I can control it!"
Behind her, more shadows whispered, curled in flames that had no source.
"Can you?"
She screamed—and the fire surged.
But then—
A wind cut through the illusion.
Gentle. Calm.
A single thread of light descended. Shui Lin stepped through, eyes unwavering.
"This isn't your fault," he said.
Feng Ruo raised her tear-streaked face. "They died because of me."
"No. They died in chaos. But you've chosen to fight it."
Her flame surged again—uncontrolled.
He knelt beside her.
"You are not your fear."
His hand touched hers—and her fire didn't burn.
It softened.
Turned to embers.
And from the ashes… a lotus bloomed.
The shadows dissolved.
And she woke.
Feng Ruo gasped, the lotus symbol from her dream flickering briefly on her palm.
"Shui Lin…"
He smiled. "Welcome back."
But he didn't pause.
He turned to the last.
Huo Shan.
The burly cultivator lay sprawled in a half-snore, despite the crimson threads bound around his chest.
Lin pressed his palm to Huo Shan's forehead.
And found…
A beach.
Endless. Deserted. Sun burning overhead.
Huo Shan crawled through sand, tongue hanging out.
"I just want dumplings," he whimpered. "Please…"
From behind a rock, a massive, cartoonishly large crab demon appeared.
It growled.
He squealed and ran.
"Why is the seafood fighting back?!"
He tripped. Fell.
And then—a child's voice echoed.
"Alone again?"
Huo Shan's surroundings turned cold. The beach faded.
He stood in an empty field. No wind. No warmth.
Just silence.
He looked around, genuinely confused. "Huh?"
That's when the ground cracked beneath him.
A mirror below reflected a version of himself… empty-eyed, alone.
"You are the one always behind."
"You laugh, but no one listens."
"You protect, but they forget."
Shui Lin stepped into the field, light radiating from his chest.
"Not true."
He reached out.
Huo Shan blinked.
"Lin?"
"Get up, idiot."
"…You brought snacks?"
"Reality, maybe."
Huo Shan grinned.
The dream shattered.
Back in the hall, Huo Shan sat up gasping, covered in sweat and glory.
"Remind me to never nap again."
"Noted," Lin said.
They rose.
All five were awake now.
But there was no rest.
Laughter rang across the hall.
Sultry. Melodic. Cold.
From the center of the dais, Mèi Xuán raised her hand—and crimson fire bled from her fingertips.
In a whisper, she said, "好一个复苏." (How entertaining… you awaken fast.)
She turned to Xuanye, watching him intently.
Her voice was smooth, but laced with mockery.
"你身上的一招…像极了我在远古经文中读到的剑式." (That sword move of yours... resembles one I once read in an ancient scripture.)
Xuanye narrowed his gaze.
"She's watching."
"And she's playing," Feilí said grimly.
Without a command, the Empress swept her sleeve—and dozens of twisted, red-scaled demons surged from the cracks in the altar.
Their bodies were warped, skeletal, and filled with burning thread-like veins. Fangs long as daggers, claws like black hooks.
They charged.
Xuanye stepped forward, golden blade glowing.
"Let's hold them here."
Feilí stood beside him, her flames coiling again. "No mercy."
The first demon leapt.
Xuanye vanished—appearing behind it in a single blink.
"断灵闪 · Severing Spirit Step."
One cut. Clean. The demon dissolved in gold ash.
Feilí spun her hand forward, her flame forming into a crimson ribbon.
"赤焰缚心丝 · Heartbind Flame Thread!"
It snapped like a whip, latching to a demon's chest and ripping its core apart in a burst of smoke.
But for every one they felled, more surged.
Huo Shan roared from behind.
"Leave some for me!"
He crashed forward, arms erupting in bronze light.
"山脉崩拳 · Mountain-Breaking Fist!"
The floor cracked beneath the weight of his punch, taking three demons with it.
Feng Ruo's fire lit the sky.
Shui Lin summoned illusions to confuse the enemy, while Yue Chányīn's sword carved a dance of icy arcs.
But Mèi Xuán did not move.
She sat on her throne of blood mist, watching.
Smiling.
"Interesting…"
Her voice drifted across the battlefield like a lullaby.
She wasn't fighting.
She was observing.
And perhaps…
Remembering.
To be continued...