Episode 62 – Echoes Beyond the South Road
Recap
With the Demon Seed shattered and the Demon General slain, the cursed quarry was finally cleansed. The stolen souls returned to their owners, and the surviving villagers were freed from the brink of death. Yet victory revealed a deeper truth — the shard left behind by the Demon Seed still pulsed with dark intent, hinting that the South Road was only a small part of a far greater demonic scheme. Carrying both the wounded and the sealed shard, Faizi Tian stepped forward, knowing that the echoes of this battle would not fade so easily.
Episode 62 – Echoes Beyond the South Road
Dawn broke slowly as Faizi Tian led the villagers out of the quarry. Pale sunlight filtered through the trees, washing over the bloodstained earth and broken stone. Where corruption once clung to the air, there was now only silence — heavy, uneasy silence.
Several villagers collapsed the moment they reached open ground. Faizi Tian knelt beside them, sending gentle streams of Qi into their bodies. His power flowed calmly, carefully repairing damaged meridians and stabilizing shattered spirits. He did not rush. Lives were not things to be handled carelessly.
"Thank you…" an elderly man whispered, tears streaking down his dirt-covered face.
Faizi Tian simply nodded. Words felt unnecessary.
As the villagers rested, Faizi Tian moved a short distance away and opened the cloth-wrapped shard. The crystal was no larger than his palm, dark and translucent, with faint shadows twisting inside like trapped smoke. The moment his Qi brushed against it, a sharp chill crept up his arm.
This was not ordinary demonic residue.
Within the shard, Faizi sensed distant signals — fragmented impressions of other nests, other Demon Seeds, scattered far beyond the South Road. They were connected. Not by location, but by command.
Faizi Tian's expression darkened.
"So this was just one branch," he muttered.
A sudden pain pierced his mind.
For an instant, the forest vanished.
He saw a vision — towering black spires rising from crimson land, endless demon armies kneeling before an unseen throne. At the center, a pair of cold eyes opened, filled with ancient malice.
Faizi Tian staggered back, forcibly cutting off his Qi. The vision shattered like broken glass, leaving his heart pounding.
Someone had noticed.
Far away, something powerful had felt the destruction of the Demon Seed.
Faizi Tian clenched the shard tightly and sealed it again, layering multiple restrictions around it. Whatever lay behind this network of demons was not an enemy he could confront yet — but he had just stepped onto its path.
By noon, the villagers were able to walk. Faizi Tian escorted them toward the nearest town, keeping his senses spread wide. Along the road, signs of corruption appeared again — scorched soil, twisted plants, lingering demonic Qi. The South Road was healing, but scars remained.
As the town gates came into view, a group of cultivators rushed out to meet them. Their robes bore the emblem of a local sect, their faces tense as they took in the scene.
"You're the one who destroyed the nest," one of them said, staring at Faizi Tian with disbelief and caution.
Faizi Tian met his gaze calmly. "It won't be the last."
The cultivators exchanged uneasy glances.
"Then you should know," the man continued, lowering his voice, "demonic activity has been rising across the southern territories. Entire patrols have gone missing. The sects are calling for an emergency gathering."
Faizi Tian's eyes sharpened.
An emergency gathering meant one thing — war was approaching.
He looked back down the road he had come from, then toward the vast lands stretching beyond the town. His journey was no longer his alone. The choices he made from this point forward would affect far more than a single road or village.
"I'll attend," he said finally.
As the sun climbed higher, Faizi Tian stepped through the town gates, carrying with him the weight of coming storms — and the quiet certainty that the path ahead would be drenched in blood, fire, and fate.
To be continued in Episode 63 – Gathering of the Southern Sects