The square was silent. Hundreds of disciples stood in orderly rows, their faces pale beneath the looming stone arch that pulsed with black light. The Gate of Shadows towered above them, its surface carved with twisted runes that seemed to writhe when looked at too long.The sect master's voice cut through the silence. "Those who walk the labyrinth will face no enemy but themselves. What is hidden will be revealed. What is weak will be broken. What endures… shall be tempered into steel."The Gate groaned, shadows spilling like smoke across the ground. Cold seeped into Jiang Hao's bones as though invisible fingers brushed his skin."Step forward," the sect master commanded.One by one, disciples entered. Some held their heads high, others trembled, but all vanished into the black.When Jiang Hao's turn came, Yunxi's hand darted out, clutching his sleeve. "If it becomes too much… retreat." Her eyes wavered with worry.He gave her a small smile. "You'll scold me worse if I retreat."Mei Ling snorted, smacking his shoulder lightly. "Don't die. If you do, I'll find your grave and pour wine on it. Bad wine."Even Lin Xueyao, usually so composed, murmured low enough only he could hear: "Be careful. Shadows are patient. They bite when you think you've escaped."Jiang Hao inclined his head, then stepped into the gate.The world snapped.Darkness swallowed him whole. No sound, no air, no ground — only endless black. Then the floor appeared beneath his feet, jagged stone slick with moisture. Torches burned along the walls, their flames green, casting long, stretching shadows.A whisper echoed. Jiang Hao…He froze. The voice was his own.Ahead, the tunnel split in three directions, each path breathing with faint power. The left pulsed with heat, the right with cold, and the center with a heavy, suffocating stillness.The labyrinth wasn't just stone. It was alive.As he took his first step, the shadows clung to his legs like tar. Pain rippled from his chest, the seal thrumming violently in warning. His vision blurred for an instant — golden veins pulsed beneath his skin, fighting to break free."Not now," he hissed under his breath, forcing his body steady. "I can't afford it here."A laugh rolled from the walls, mocking and sharp. His laugh.Shapes peeled from the darkness, forming into silhouettes with his face. Dozens of them, each twisted differently — one sneering, one bleeding, one broken. All of them Jiang Hao, yet none of them real.You hide, one shadow hissed. You seal yourself, another echoed. What happens when the world rips your mask apart?Jiang Hao's fists clenched, his calm smile cracking into something harder. "What happens?" He stepped forward, golden light flickering faintly beneath his skin despite his will. His voice cut sharp through the whispers. "Then I endure."The shadows lunged.The shadows fell upon him in silence. Dozens of twisted Jiang Haos lunged from the walls, their bodies shaped like his but with eyes of black fire and mouths curled in mockery.The first swung a fist, mirroring the exact rhythm of his own stance. Jiang Hao blocked instinctively, but the impact rattled his bones — it was like striking his own strength.The second came low, a sweep at his legs. He leapt back, only to find another shadow waiting with a sword at his throat.They weren't clumsy illusions. They were him. His techniques, his movements, his weaknesses.You cannot hide from what you are, one sneered, its face cracking into a grin far crueler than Jiang Hao had ever worn.He breathed steady, fighting down the heat in his chest where the seal pulsed violently. Already it begged to be released, golden fire clawing at his veins. But not here. Not now. If he drew on it, the backlash would tear him apart inside this labyrinth.So he fought bare-handed, against himself.The shadows moved in unison, a storm of fists and kicks. Jiang Hao ducked, twisted, struck — every blow met with one of equal force. His knuckles split against his own mirrored jaw. His ribs ached where his own copied kick landed.Blood dripped into the stone beneath his feet. The whispers never ceased. Weak.Pretender.Seal-breaker.Coward.He spat iron, smirking through split lips. "If you're all me… then you should know. I'm stubborn as hell."With a roar, he shifted his stance, abandoning elegance for raw ferocity. His fist smashed into one shadow's chest, golden sparks flickering with the impact. It dissolved like smoke.The others snarled, swarming faster."Good," Jiang Hao muttered, lowering his stance. His eyes gleamed, not with despair but a flicker of dangerous amusement. "I was getting bored."The labyrinth trembled as he launched himself forward, every strike shattering a piece of himself, every impact echoing with the seal's suppressed rage.But in the deepest part of the darkness, unseen, something stirred — a whisper not of shadow, but of thunder.He dares defy the labyrinth's truth… let us see how long his mask holds.Far from Jiang Hao's battlefield, Mei Ling found herself standing in a courtyard that should not exist.The moon glowed above, wine jars stacked around her like a shrine to her favorite sin. But as she reached for one, the lid cracked open — not with sweet plum fragrance, but with the stench of blood.A voice drifted out from the jar. Why do you laugh so loudly? Why do you drink so much?Mei Ling froze, her smirk faltering.Another jar split. From it slithered shadowy arms, grasping, pulling. Because if you stop, you'll remember how alone you really are.Her throat tightened. The courtyard warped, the laughter she often forced upon others echoing mockingly through the air."Shut up." Her fists trembled, eyes burning. "Even if I laugh alone, it's still better than crying in silence."The jars shattered, and the courtyard fell into darkness.Elsewhere, Yunxi stood in what looked like the sect's infirmary. Beds lined the hall, disciples groaning in pain.She rushed forward instinctively — only to find her own patients rise, their eyes hollow, their bodies blackened with rot.You couldn't save us, they whispered, reaching out with skeletal hands. You think healing others will fix the cracks in your own heart?Yunxi's breath hitched. She saw their faces — the ones she had failed, long before Jiang Hao ever walked into her life.Her hands glowed with light, but the more she tried to heal them, the more their bodies withered.Tears blurred her vision. "I… I only wanted to—"The shadows cut her off with a chorus of cruel voices. You wanted to prove you weren't powerless. But you are.Her knees buckled, but even through the despair, her trembling hands clenched tighter."No… I refuse."Lin Xueyao walked through snow. Her footsteps crunched softly, but when she looked back, there were none.Before her, an endless frozen field stretched, empty. Alone. Always alone.A figure appeared ahead, cloaked in white. She hurried forward, heart pounding — but when the figure turned, it was her own face, blank and cold.Solitude is your destiny, the shadow whispered. You will stand above all, and in that height, none will walk beside you.Lin Xueyao's chest tightened, breath fogging in the frigid air. She had always been strong, distant, untouchable. But the labyrinth knew the truth — that strength had a cost."Better alone than chained," she muttered, frost clinging to her lashes. But the bitterness of her voice betrayed her.The shadow smirked, stepping closer. Then why do you linger near him? Why do your eyes follow his smile?Her heart jolted — and she drew her blade, slicing the snow itself. "Enough."The labyrinth twisted for each of them, not with swords or fire, but with truths sharpened into knives.And somewhere deeper, Jiang Hao's struggle echoed like thunder, each of them feeling its distant pulse, though none could see him.
