Chapter Three: The Darkness
When Xiao Chen lost consciousness, he did not fall into ordinary sleep.
There was no sensation of falling, no feeling of time passing.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange place.
There was nothing.
Absolutely nothing—except darkness.
Yet strangely, the darkness did not blind him.
He could see clearly.
The space around him was endless and silent, like a void without beginning or end. There was no ground beneath his feet, no sky above his head, no wind, no sound. Xiao Chen lowered his head instinctively and froze.
He was floating.
There was nothing below him.
No earth. No stone. No floor.
His heart tightened.
Before he could panic, something changed.
A sharp, tearing sound echoed through the void.
In front of him, the darkness split apart.
It was as if space itself had been ripped open, like cloth torn by an invisible hand. From within that裂缝—a tear in space—someone stepped out.
Xiao Chen's eyes widened.
The figure was tall and imposing, clad in battle armor that looked ancient yet terrifyingly real. The armor was dark and heavy, etched with patterns Xiao Chen could not understand, yet the mere sight of them made his heart tremble.
In the man's hand was a halberd.
Its blade was enormous, its shaft thick and ancient, as though it had split countless heavens and worlds. The weapon gave off an oppressive presence that made Xiao Chen feel small—so small that he did not even dare to breathe.
The man stood there silently, as if he alone was enough to suppress the entire void.
Then he spoke.
His voice was calm, deep, and cold.
"Come out."
The words echoed endlessly through the darkness.
The moment his voice fell, the void reacted.
Space twisted violently.
The darkness churned, folding in on itself, and from that distortion, another figure emerged.
Calling it a man felt wrong.
Its body was pitch-black—darker than the void itself. No face could be seen. No features could be distinguished. It was as if a hole in reality had taken form.
Xiao Chen could not see its eyes.
Yet he knew—
It was looking at him.
The black figure raised one hand.
At the same time, the armored man lifted his halberd.
The instant the two moved—
The world shattered.
Space bent like fragile paper. The void rippled violently, collapsing and reforming in impossible ways. Xiao Chen felt as though his soul was being torn apart just by witnessing it.
He could not understand the attack.
He could not even comprehend it.
It was beyond him.
Beyond everything.
Then—
Everything vanished.
The darkness collapsed inward.
The void shattered.
Xiao Chen felt himself being violently pulled away—
And the next moment—
He sat up.
"—Hah!"
Xiao Chen gasped sharply, his chest heaving as he sucked in air. Cold sweat drenched his body, his heart pounding so violently it felt like it might burst from his chest.
He was back.
Back in the servant quarters.
The broken wooden walls. The cold floor beneath his palms. The faint moonlight seeping through the cracks.
It was real.
He pressed a hand to his chest, trying to steady his breathing.
His mind was in chaos.
That dream—
No.
It did not feel like a dream.
It felt too real.
Like he had been watching something unfold, fully conscious, able to think, able to feel fear. Not like a vague nightmare, but like standing in front of an actual scene.
His head throbbed.
He tried to remember.
The armored man.
The black figure.
Their names—
The moment he tried to recall them, his mind went blank.
It was as if something erased the names the instant he touched them.
Xiao Chen frowned.
At the same time—
Somewhere far away.
In a place where there was nothing but nothing.
A man sat cross-legged in endless emptiness.
No land. No sky.
Just silence.
Around his neck floated a faint silver ring of light, slowly revolving, illuminating his calm face. He had been sitting there unmoving for a very long time.
Then—
His eyes opened.
They gleamed sharply.
He stood up slowly, a smile spreading across his face.
"I finally sensed it…"
A low laugh escaped his lips.
"Thirty-five thousand years."
His laughter echoed through the void.
"For thirty-five thousand years, I searched for your trace."
He raised his head slightly, as though looking through endless space.
"I finally caught a whiff of your aura."
The smile on his face deepened, but his eyes remained cold.
"Not clear yet… but enough."
He closed his eyes again.
The silver ring dimmed.
And the void returned to silence.
Back in the servant quarters, Xiao Chen sat silently.
He wiped the sweat from his face and exhaled slowly.
Was it a dream?
He did not know.
But something about it felt wrong.
Too vivid.
Too complete.
His gaze lowered unconsciously.
The image of the armored man lingered in his mind.
Familiar.
Painfully familiar.
As if he had seen him before… or known him… even though he was certain he hadn't.
And that attack—
Just recalling it made his scalp tingle.
Space itself had felt fragile, like paper that could be torn apart at will.
Xiao Chen swallowed.
Then his thoughts shifted.
Before that dream—
He remembered.
He had been in pain.
Unbearable pain.
He had fainted because he could no longer endure it.
And what caused that pain?
His expression darkened.
Qi.
Something had been absorbing his qi.
Every time.
For five years.
Just before he lost consciousness, he had seen it.
That white light.
Bright.
Blinding.
Familiar.
His fingers clenched.
"…That thing."
Wasn't that the same light he saw when he was nine years old?
At the junkyard.
The thing everyone thought was a falling star.
But it wasn't a star.
Stars were far bigger.
That thing—
It had been massive.
As large as a mountain.
His breathing grew heavier.
All this time, he had believed the man from the sect saved him before it struck.
But—
What if that wasn't the truth?
What if…
The white light had already entered his body?
His chest tightened.
Anger surged unexpectedly.
So it was this thing.
This thing that had been stealing his qi for five years.
This thing that had turned him into a useless servant.
This thing that caused him unbearable pain.
And now—
It tortured him again.
His body trembled slightly as he remembered the agony.
Cold sweat formed on his back.
Then his thoughts returned to the dream.
Was it connected?
Was that strange scene caused by this white thing?
His eyes darkened.
"What… are you?"
The room remained silent.
No answer came.