*Chapter 21: The Cipher in the Grass*
Moonlight painted the ancient statue garden in silver, casting long shadows over the mysterious glowing glyph etched into the grass. It pulsed with a haunting blue light, humming softly—a living riddle daring anyone to solve it before dawn. Li Wei and his friends moved in a silent, practiced circle around the symbol, each feeling the urgency that the echoes of midnight bells always brought.
Chen Xiulan knelt close, her breath fogging the air as she traced the glowing runes. "There's a pattern, but it's not like any curse we've seen," she whispered. Mei Fen projected floating mirrors and illusionary runes above the symbol, turning, twisting, searching for clues in impossible angles. Rui sent his squirrel to chase the shimmer around the edges, searching for anything hidden near the old tree roots. Jin Ming, forced into rare silence by the tension, paced back and forth with his fists clenched, his usual jokes replaced with sharp observation.
Bao Yu, sensitive to the tug of natural magic, dug gently at the symbol's heart. He found a small, rune-etched box thrumming with that gentle chiming. "It's… singing?" he said in disbelief, holding it up so it cast weird, dancing shadows across their faces. The song inside seemed to echo memories—the faint sound of a lullaby, a half-remembered lesson from childhood, the words of elders long gone.
The group spent hours unpacking the song's magic, huddled under lanterns as their classmates dreamed unaware. Chen Xiulan and Li Wei worked side by side, their shoulders almost touching, sharing whispered theories in the dark. Every time their fingers brushed over a rune, Li Wei's pulse raced. Even in this moment of tension, a new tenderness bloomed between them—unspoken, but present in every small glance and shared smile.
Piece by piece, with Mei Fen's illusions mirroring ancient texts, Bao Yu's knowledge of living spells, Rui's quick observations, Jin Ming's stubborn energy, and Li Wei and Xiulan's discoveries, the riddle came together. The key was not just in magic, but in trust and unity—five hands pressed together on the box, chanting a charm in harmony. The rune flared with blinding silver, and suddenly the ward was restored, stronger than before.
A soft voice whispered across the grass, carried on the wind: *You are seen. You are not alone. More trials, more eyes—be ready.* For a moment, the group stood frozen, caught between fear and wonder.
As dawn broke, painting the world in gold, the friends slumped against each other, exhausted by the mystery and their own swirling thoughts. Jin Ming finally managed a joke about "magical alarm clocks," snapping the group out of their daze and sending them into fits of relieved laughter. Xiulan, without thinking, slipped her arm through Li Wei's—a silent promise she'd stand by him, no matter what shadows crept from the edges of the Academy.
Back in their dorm, the group shared hot tea and sunrise, hearts lighter. No one outside their little circle knew what had happened… but everyone sensed something had shifted in the air.