The child's pale eyes stared directly into Liu Shen's.
They weren't ordinary.
They weren't alive.
> They were remembering.
The crystal coffin cracked slightly at the seams. The divine-demonic chains pulsed, as if straining against some ancient law.
The child sat up slowly, without breathing, without blinking.
No qi fluctuations. No heartbeat.
Yet the very air began to tremble.
Rin instinctively raised a barrier of spiritual mist.
Yun Rou stepped in front of Jin Mu, blade drawn.
Even Liu Shen's fingers twitched near his hidden seals.
Then the child spoke.
> "What… year is this?"
Its voice was flat. Not cold, not warm. Just… absent.
---
A Vessel Awakened
Liu Shen answered cautiously, "It's the 376th year of the Scarlet Moon Era."
The child looked down at its own small, chained body, then murmured:
> "Then I have slept through six cycles… and the bloodline has changed hands twice."
It looked back at Liu Shen. "Who leads the sect now?"
"Pavilion Master Shen Tianshu," Rin answered quietly.
At that, something shifted in the child's gaze. A fragment of memory flickered behind its dead irises.
> "He was once… a student. Of the one who bound me."
The chains flared for a brief moment. The divine runes glowed blue. The demonic runes bled red.
Jin Mu stepped forward, voice trembling.
> "Who are you?"
---
The First Secret
"I am not a name," the child said.
"I am a Memory Core—a vessel into which they poured history that could not be written."
It pointed toward the ceiling, as if through the stone above.
> "The Crimson Demon War. The Bloodline Severing. The Founding Pact. They buried it all… inside me."
Yun Rou whispered, "Why seal such memories inside a child?"
The answer was quiet, but sharp:
> "Because children forget."
> "But I… was made never to forget."
---
The Forgotten Sin
A vision suddenly surged outward from the child's body.
Each of them saw it—forced into their minds:
A young sect master, cloaked in holy robes, forming a secret pact with demonic overlords to gain their arts in exchange for sacrificing his own bloodline for generations.
A pact that created the current Searing Cloud Sect.
The truth was clear:
> The sect was never pure.
It was born from both heaven and hell—a fusion sealed in secrecy, built atop betrayal, and chained by oaths never meant to be broken.
Liu Shen's eyes glinted coldly.
> "So they betrayed even their own to climb toward the heavens."
> History repeats. Always.
---
The Council's Shock
Jin Mu stepped back, pale.
"All the trials, the bloodlines the sect 'purified,' the forbidden techniques we're punished for—"
"They're not mistakes," Rin whispered. "They're… maintenance. They're preserving a lie."
Liu Shen turned toward the child.
> "Who built this chamber?"
The child looked up.
> "The founder. But… the final seal was added by one of the current elders."
A name surfaced in its mouth—one Liu Shen had not expected:
> "Elder Yan Wuheng."
Yun Rou's eyes widened. "He's head of the Scripture Division."
Jin Mu cursed under his breath. "He's the one who edits the sect's official records…"
---
A Flame Ignited
Liu Shen took one step forward and placed his hand upon the child's forehead.
"You've held the truth long enough," he whispered.
The child's body flared with energy—not life, but release.
The coffin crumbled into dust.
The child… did not fall.
It simply faded, piece by piece, like smoke returning to wind.
> "Thank you…" it whispered.
"…for letting me forget."
When the last trace vanished, only a single blood rune remained in the air.
Liu Shen caught it between two fingers and absorbed it.
> "We know the truth," he said.
> "Now let's burn the lies."