Night settled over Sky-Moon Sect, but no one slept.
Not after an outsider from a dead dimension shattered their courtyard.
Not after hearing that a boy among them might tear reality apart by simply awakening.
Disciples whispered nervously in the distance.
Elders reinforced protective formations.
The sky itself remained strangely dim, as though still remembering the distortion that occurred earlier.
Inside Elder Yun's residence—
Wuya sat on the wooden platform, legs crossed, breathing slowly.
Xueyi sat right beside him, knees drawn up to her chest, chin resting on them, her eyes locked on his face as though afraid he would vanish if she blinked.
Elder Yun prepared herbs quietly.
Lady Linghai stood near the window, watching the sky for omens.
Wuya exhaled softly.
"…You should rest, Xueyi."
"No."
"You haven't slept since yesterday."
"No."
"You're trembling."
"NO!!" she shouted, then covered her face.
"But also yes…"
Wuya lowered his hand to her head gently.
"…I'm not going anywhere."
"You WILL go somewhere," she sniffed. "The Whispering Tombs!! The one place NO ONE should ever visit!! And if you do something dangerous at night I won't be there to stop it—"
Wuya blinked.
"…I don't do dangerous things at night."
"YOU DO!! You breathe!! You exist!! Your bloodline BEHAVES however it wants!! That's dangerous!!"
Elder Yun coughed lightly.
"That is… not entirely wrong."
Wuya sighed.
---
ELDER YUN CHECKS HIS INTERNAL STRUCTURE AGAIN
Elder Yun approached.
"Wuya. Give me your wrist."
He extended it.
She pressed two fingers to his pulse.
Her eyes widened immediately.
"Your… your rhythm is changing again."
Xueyi screamed softly.
"NOT AGAIN—!!"
Wuya frowned slightly.
"…How is it changing?"
Elder Yun pressed harder, then moved to another pulse point.
"There is a new fluctuation.
A dormant rhythm beneath the triple layer.
Not active…
but clearly forming."
Lady Linghai stepped closer.
"Show me."
She placed her fingertip near Wuya's chest and released a thin thread of golden light.
A translucent projection of Wuya's internal energy appeared briefly—
meridians faintly glowing,
breath swirling like void threads,
and deep inside—
A faint ring forming.
Lady Linghai's expression darkened.
"…Another bloodline ring."
Xueyi grabbed Wuya's robe.
"No.
No. No. No.
NO MORE RINGS."
Wuya placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It is still dormant."
Lady Linghai shook her head.
"Dormant or not…
You cannot awaken it here.
It must be stabilized in a place where dimensional pressure will not crush the sect."
Xueyi glared at her.
"I KNOW THAT—!!
But don't talk about his rings like they're some ticking bomb—!! He's not a threat—!!"
Linghai's gaze softened a little.
"I never said he is.
I said his bloodline is."
Xueyi didn't like the distinction, but she stopped shouting.
---
WUYA HEARS HIS FATHER AGAIN
A faint tremor rolled through Wuya's chest.
Then—
A whisper brushed his ears.
Faint.
Cracked.
Barely audible.
"…Wuya…"
He stiffened.
Xueyi noticed immediately.
"Wuya?? What? What is it??"
He closed his eyes.
"…He spoke again."
Elder Yun's eyes widened.
"Your father?"
Wuya nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Lady Linghai stepped forward.
"What did he say?"
Wuya strained his mind.
The whisper came again—
weak, distant, distorted by space itself.
"…Do not… go… alone…"
Xueyi burst into tears instantly.
"SEE?!
SEE?!?!
Even your father says not to leave me behind!!
I TOLD you!!
I TOLD YOUUU!!!"
Wuya blinked.
"…I didn't say I was leaving you behind."
"YES YOU DID!!"
Elder Yun rubbed her forehead.
"He did not."
Xueyi pointed dramatically.
"His silence IMPLIED it!!"
Wuya sighed.
"…Xueyi."
She grabbed his sleeve.
"You go somewhere without me, and I swear I will break through a realm using my tears and punch a hole in the sky."
The room went silent.
Elder Yun: "…"
Lady Linghai: "…"
Wuya: "…"
"…Understood."
Xueyi nodded proudly.
"Good."
---
LADY LINGHAI REVEALS THE FIRST SECRET OF THE WHISPERING TOMBS
Linghai turned toward the window.
"The Whispering Tombs are not simply graves.
They are a boundary."
"A boundary?" Wuya asked.
"Yes."
She turned back to him.
"A boundary between worlds that died and worlds that still live."
Wuya's expression darkened.
"…The stranger mentioned something similar."
Linghai nodded.
"The Silent King is the last remnant of a dimension that collapsed.
The tombs are built around the fracture where that dimension touched ours."
Xueyi shivered.
"So it's… like that rotten place tried to enter our world?"
"Yes."
"And failed?"
"No."
Xueyi froze.
"…no?"
Linghai's eyes narrowed.
"It did enter.
And the heavens erased it.
Everything."
A cold wind swept through the room.
Elder Yun tightened her fists.
Xueyi moved closer to Wuya and hugged him again for comfort.
Wuya inhaled slowly.
"…And now I must enter that place."
Linghai nodded.
"Yes.
Because your bloodline is connected to that dead dimension."
Wuya closed his eyes.
"…I understand."
"And," Linghai added quietly, "because your father may have left something there."
Wuya froze.
Xueyi's chest tightened.
"…Something…?" Wuya whispered.
Linghai nodded.
"Yes.
A message.
A protection.
A clue.
We don't know."
"But," Elder Yun added, "we will go with you.
You will not face this alone."
Xueyi clung tighter.
"NEVER alone."
---
THE SECT MASTER PREPARES THE DEPARTURE
Before dawn, the Sect Master arrived.
He was dressed in traveling robes this time, not ceremonial ones.
"Wuya.
Xueyi.
Elder Yun.
Lady Linghai."
He looked at each of them calmly.
"We leave before sunrise."
Xueyi nodded fiercely.
"I have my bag.
And extra food for Wuya.
And talismans.
And rope.
And a broom in case someone tries to kidnap him."
"A… broom?" Elder Yun asked.
Xueyi nodded confidently.
"Yes. I will hit them very hard."
Lady Linghai sighed.
"…At least she is prepared."
Wuya blinked.
"…Thank you."
Xueyi's ears turned red.
"W-what for…?"
"For worrying about me."
She turned bright crimson.
"D-don't say it like that—
I'm not worried—
I'm VERY worried—
but also angry—
but also scared—
but also!!—"
She threw her hands up.
"I don't know what I am!!"
Wuya gave a tiny smile.
"…You're Xueyi."
She froze.
Her cheeks turned even redder.
"I… that…
you can't just say that…"
---
HAO TIANHAI BEGINS TO MOVE
Far away, in the mortal city—
Hao Tianhai wrapped a thick cloak around his body.
He placed a sealing formation on the house, leaving behind faint traces of his presence to not worry the neighbors.
He looked toward the distant mountains.
"…My son…"
A cold wind swept by.
His mortal veil cracked again.
His true aura leaked out—
for just a second—
but the sky dimmed in response.
He covered his chest and grit his teeth.
"Not yet…
Not yet…
I must not reveal myself…
not unless he is in true danger…"
He stepped onto the road.
The earth beneath him…
quietly bent.
---
DAWN APPROACHES
As the first light touched the mountains—
The group gathered at the sect gate:
Wuya
Xueyi (standing glued to his arm)
Elder Yun
Lady Linghai
The Sect Master
Disciples bowed deeply as they passed.
Some looked with fear.
Some with curiosity.
Some with awe.
But no one spoke.
Not after yesterday.
The Sect Master raised a hand.
"Formations opened."
The gate glowed and parted.
A cold dawn wind swept through.
Xueyi trembled but held onto Wuya tighter.
"You ready…?" she whispered.
Wuya nodded.
"…Yes."
Lady Linghai looked at the sky.
"The Whispering Tombs lie two days east.
We travel swiftly.
Do not stray."
Elder Yun touched Wuya's shoulder one last time.
"Your father's whisper…
listen carefully for it."
Wuya nodded.
"…I will."
The Sect Master stepped forward.
"Let us go."
Together—
they stepped beyond the gate.
Toward a boundary that should not exist.
Toward a tomb that even Heaven fears.
Toward the next piece of Wuya's truth.