They didn't fall.
The world beneath them simply gave up on existing.
The In-Between Dimension collapsed with a soundless lurch,
like a giant inhaling sharply through broken lungs.
Yin Lie staggered as the last chain of light shattered,
its fragments disappearing into the void like dying stars.
Qin Mian reached for him instantly,
her voice trembling.
"Lie—Lie, are you okay?"
But the moment her fingers brushed his arm,
the ground beneath her folded sideways—
like a sheet of paper being crushed in a giant fist.
She slipped.
Gravity vanished.
Direction vanished.
Her scream tore through the collapsing space.
"Lie!!"
Yin Lie pushed off the splintering surface
and dove after her—
ignoring the pain exploding in his chest.
He caught her wrist mid-air—
if this place even had air—
and pulled her close.
"I've got you—
I've got you—"
His breath broke into gasps.
Qin Mian's eyes widened.
"Lie… you're shaking—no, you're—!"
Because she finally saw it:
His body was fracturing.
Not skin,
not bone—
Reality around him was breaking.
Ice crystals formed and evaporated in the same second.
Blue flames curled from his spine,
but didn't burn.
Keystone glyphs spun behind him like a broken halo.
Even his shadow split into three separate shapes
and blurred like unfinished sketches.
Qin Mian pressed a hand to his chest.
"Lie—your powers—they're fighting each other—are you in pain?"
He shook his head.
But his eyes told the truth.
"Mian… I broke the dimension's rules.
This isn't pain—
it's rejection."
The world reacted.
A ripple spread around them,
disturbing every shard floating in the white void.
Mirrors of half-formed memories drifted past:
A boy curled in snow—
Yin Lie's child-self, small and shaking,
his breath a thin cloud against moonlight.
A girl inside a glass chamber—
Qin Mian's younger self, crying silently,
her heartbeat echoing against the walls.
A man's soft humming—
Ge Ren leaning over her,
singing the lullaby that once kept her sane.
Qin Mian's breath caught.
"No… no, this place shouldn't be showing us this—"
"It's not," Yin Lie murmured weakly.
"It's taking from us.
Memories are cracks in the dimension.
Anything personal… becomes fuel."
Another shard floated past—
a memory she didn't want to see,
didn't want to remember.
Yin Lie lying unconscious on cold steel
after their first escape together.
His body covered in frost.
Blood on the floor.
Her terrified voice begging him to wake up.
Her hand covered her mouth.
"Lie…
I can't let this place eat you—"
He interrupted with a harsh exhale,
clutching her hand.
"We have to stay together.
If we separate here—even one meter—
we won't fall to the same world."
The desperation in his voice hurt her more than the collapsing dimension.
She pulled his arm over her shoulder,
forcing his weight onto her despite the void shifting around them.
"Then stay with me," she whispered.
"Don't drift away.
Don't fade."
His voice shook.
"I don't want to—
but everything is pulling me apart—"
She turned him toward her,
her hands cupping his face.
"Look at me."
His mismatched eyes flickered.
"Mian…"
"Look at ME," she repeated, firmer.
And something happened.
The void's gravity—or whatever passed for gravity—
centered around her voice.
Yin Lie's chaotic resonance,
the ice and fire and Keystone chaos,
paused for a single heartbeat.
Her presence—
her warmth—
her voice—
acted like a metronome,
a stabilizing point in the storm.
"Mian…" he whispered.
"You're anchoring me."
She swallowed hard.
"Then let me anchor you."
Her fingers slid from his jaw to his neck,
her body pressing closer to his as the void ripped itself apart.
"Lie, you stabilized me when I was falling.
Let me do the same."
He exhaled.
A single, trembling breath.
"You shouldn't have to save me."
"And you shouldn't die in my arms," she countered,
her forehead pressing to his.
Something inside him softened.
Then—
Everything exploded.
The Dimension Shatters
A fissure tore across the sky.
Not a crack.
Not a line.
A wound.
A black-red tear that pulsed like a heart.
The silhouettes—those hollow guardians—
jerked violently,
their faceless heads snapping toward Yin Lie and Qin Mian.
Qin Mian's pulse spiked.
"Lie—they're coming back! They're—"
But the silhouettes froze.
Because the dimension was beginning to fold inward.
Like a dying star collapsing into gravity.
"Mian—" Yin Lie's voice became strained.
"This whole place is starting a reset.
We have seconds."
She clutched his coat.
"Then we get out!"
"We can't," he whispered.
"Dimensional collapse isn't a door.
It's a downfall."
He pulled her close—
The ground beneath them warped into a whirlpool of light.
The dimension began to collapse not downwards—
but inwards, toward a singular point.
A core of nothingness.
A choke point.
The point where everything vanished.
Qin Mian's breath quickened.
"Lie, what do we do—?!"
His arms tightened around her waist.
"We fall together."
Her heart slammed painfully.
"Don't let go," she said.
His voice was low, steady.
"I won't."
Her Power Awakens
As the pull intensified,
Qin Mian's palms lit with faint blue glow—
dream-light trembling like soft flame.
Not a weapon.
Not a blast.
Stability.
It wrapped around Yin Lie's cracking aura,
slowing the fracturing of his body.
She gasped at the sensation.
"It's… it's reacting to you—
Lie, my power is responding to your imbalance!"
He coughed, blood staining his lip.
"You're… synchronizing…
with my resonance…"
Darkness spread along his arms,
the same void pattern as the collapsing dimension.
Qin Mian clung to him desperately.
"No—no, don't disappear—
Lie, stay with me—"
His arms wrapped around her midsection,
his cheek resting against her hair.
"I'm right here.
As long as I'm holding you—
this place can't take me."
The dimension screamed.
The silhouettes dissolved into dust.
The world crumpled into itself.
They were pulled toward the final convergence point—
a vortex of white and black spiraling endlessly.
Qin Mian's voice broke.
"Lie—please—don't—"
He lifted her chin.
His eyes softened.
Even with the void consuming him.
"Mian."
Her breath trembled.
"Yes?"
He held her tighter.
"We fall together."
And the world ended.
Chapter 106 End