Xu Yang reacted instinctively, turning halfway while Chen Yu immediately shifted into a guarded stance, eyes narrowing as he assessed the direction of the sound. Liu Hao, in contrast, did not move quickly at all his gaze only shifted slightly, as if he was observing not a threat, but a result finally arriving at a known point.
From the edge of the path, two figures emerged through the uneven light between trees. One walked with sharp, impatient energy, as if every step was holding back frustration. The other followed a half-step behind, calmer, but clearly not unaffected.
Xu Yang froze the moment he recognized them. " Yan Luo?" he said first, disbelief softening his voice.
The taller man exhaled sharply, like he had been holding his breath for far too long. His expression carried relief, but it was buried under irritation and exhaustion. "You actually remember my name," Yan Luo said flatly. "That's surprising considering how good you are at disappearing." Before Xu Yang could respond, the second figure stepped forward faster Qing Li. His eyes locked onto Xu Yang immediately, and the frustration that had clearly been building for a long time finally surfaced. " Do you have any idea," Qing Li said, voice tight, "how exhausting it is to track someone who acts like they don't want to exist?" Xu Yang blinked once, slightly overwhelmed. " I didn't mean to..." "You always 'don't mean to'," Qing Li interrupted instantly. "And yet somehow I'm always the one running across half the region because of it."
Chen Yu shifted his stance slightly, watching the exchange carefully, not lowering his guard. " Friends of yours?" he asked Xu Yang quietly. Xu Yang hesitated for a second, then nodded. " Yes." Liu Hao's gaze moved slowly between the two newcomers, analyzing without interruption. Yan Luo finally stepped closer, his tone noticeably calmer than Qing Li's, though there was still concern in it.
" Are you hurt?" he asked simply, eyes scanning Xu Yang for injuries. Xu Yang waved a hand slightly. "I'm fine," he said. "Just…complicated few days."
Qing Li let out a short laugh, though it didn't sound amused. "Complicated," he repeated. "That's what you call it?" Chen Yu, still observant, narrowed his eyes slightly.
" They're not normal," he said under his breath, more to Liu Hao than anyone else.
Liu Hao didn't respond immediately, but his expression suggested he had already reached a conclusion he hadn't spoken aloud yet. Yan Luo turned his attention briefly toward Chen Yu and Liu Hao. "And you two are?" he asked. Xu Yang raised a hand slightly before tension could rise. "They're with me," he said quickly. "It's fine." Qing Li immediately reacted. "It doesn't look fine," he muttered. "It looks like you picked up two strangers in the middle of everything collapsing." Chen Yu gave him a flat look.
" I could say the same about you."
Qing Li stared at him for a second, then scoffed lightly. "Fair." Liu Hao finally spoke, his voice steady. "You've been searching for him," he said, looking at Yan Luo and Qing Li directly. Yan Luo didn't deny it. " Yes," he answered simply. Qing Li crossed his arms.
"And it wasn't easy," he added. "If you think we just walked in here casually, you're wrong." Xu Yang sighed faintly. " I didn't ask you to come this far." Qing Li immediately pointed at him. "That's the problem," he said. "You never ask anyone anything."
Chen Yu observed all of this quietly, then glanced at Xu Yang. " They care about you," he said bluntly. Xu Yang looked at him.
" I noticed." That answer made Qing Li pause for a fraction of a second, as if he wasn't expecting it to be acknowledged so easily.
Yan Luo, however, didn't react much he just exhaled slightly, like he was used to this kind of situation for a moment, no one spoke then Xu Yang took a small step back and lowered his voice slightly, addressing Chen Yu and Liu Hao. " There's something you should know," he said. Both of them focused immediately.
Qing Li frowned. "What now?" Xu Yang hesitated briefly, then continued.
"They're not just my companions," he said. "They're… like me."
For a moment, neither Chen Yu nor Liu Hao reacted. Then Qing Li gave a short, awkward laugh. "Of course we're the same," he said, folding his arms like confidence alone might fix what Xu Yang had just implied. "Everyone's the same, aren't they? People are people. Travelers, survivors, emotionally unstable groups in dangerous villages completely ordinary similarities."
Yan Luo's head turned sharply toward him.
" You cannot possibly think that helped."
Qing Li frowned. " I was trying to sound natural." "You failed." A brief silence followed. Then Qing Li's expression shifted.
His eyes narrowed slightly as realization finally caught up. He slowly looked back at Xu Yang. " Wait." Xu Yang already looked tired. Qing Li straightened immediately. " Don't tell me you already exposed your identity." Liu hao's gaze sharpened. "Exposed what identity?" Qing Li visibly regretted speaking. " I would like to withdraw my previous sentence." "You cannot withdraw spoken words," Yan Luo said flatly.
Chen yu, who had been silently observing every reaction, narrowed his eyes further.
" Xu Yang." His tone was calm.
"You told me before," Chen Yu said slowly, each word sharper than the last, " that you weren't hiding anything else." Xu Yang's expression tightened slightly. Chen Yu took a step closer. " Now I'm standing here listening to whatever this is " he gestured sharply between Xu Yang, Qing Li, and Yan Luo, " and somehow I'm the only one who doesn't understand the conversation." His voice dropped lower. " So tell me honestly." Another step. " What exactly are they talking about?"
Qing Li visibly looked away. Chen Yu's gaze sharpened immediately. " No." His eyes locked back onto Xu Yang. " Don't do that."
Xu Yang exhaled quietly. "Chen Yu "
"No," Chen Yu cut in, firmer this time. "Because right now, I'd really like to know whether what I'm thinking is completely ridiculous " A dangerous pause. " Or exactly what's happening." Silence.
Even Yan Luo didn't interrupt.
Chen Yu's jaw tightened. " You already told me you were a demon," he said sharply, his gaze locked onto Xu Yang. "Fine. I accepted that." Liu Hao froze. " Wait." His composure visibly cracked. " Demon?" His eyes shifted sharply toward Xu Yang. " Xu Yang is a demon?" No one answered.Qing Li blinked rapidly, then looked directly at Xu Yang.
"You really told him?" Xu Yang said nothing.
Qing Li's eyes widened. " You actually exposed your identity." A beat. Then, with genuine disbelief " You really do trust anyone." Yan Luo immediately frowned.
" That is not what happened." Qing Li looked at him. " It absolutely feels like what happened."
Chen Yu's expression darkened further.
" Can we focus?" His gaze returned to Xu Yang. " You said they're 'like you.'" He repeated the words carefully, slower this time. " What exactly does that mean?"
A dangerous pause. " Because right now, that sentence feels significantly worse than when you first said it." Xu Yang exhaled Quietly. Before he could say something.
Liu hao's patience finally snapped.
" Can all of you stop speaking like half this conversation happened before we arrived?" he said sharply. "What exactly are you trying to say?" A heavier silence settled then.
Even Qing Li, for once, didn't interrupt immediately. Xu Yang exhaled slowly, as though this moment had been inevitable from the beginning.
Xu Yang exhaled. " They're demons too."
The silence that followed was immediate.
Chen Yu didn't speak at first. His gaze slowly shifted to Yan Luo and Qing Li again, reassessing everything he had just heard.
Liu Hao's reaction, however, was different. He didn't seem shocked. If anything, his expression sharpened with interest, as if another layer of the situation had just aligned into place. " That explains the pressure I felt earlier," Liu Hao said quietly. Qing Li raised an eyebrow. "The pressure?" he repeated. "You felt something?" Liu Hao looked at him calmly. "I notice demon auro." he replied. "Even ones people try to hide." Yan Luo glanced at Xu Yang briefly. " You told them everything?" he asked. Xu Yang shook his head. "Not everything," he admitted. "Just enough." Qing Li sighed. " That's never enough with you."
Chen Yu finally spoke again, voice measured.
"So," he said, "demons, threads, unknown interference, and whatever that forest incident was…" He paused slightly.
" This is your normal life?" Xu Yang looked at him for a second, then gave a faint, tired smile. " Unfortunately, yes."
Qing Li immediately added: "And somehow he drags everyone into it." Yan Luo lightly tapped Qing Li's shoulder. " You're already in it," he reminded him. Qing Li clicked his tongue. " I know."
Chen Yu stared at the three of them for a long moment. Then "…Alright." His eyes landed on Xu Yang first. " You." A brief pause.
" Cat demon." Xu Yang's expression immediately changed. " Can you stop calling me that?" Chen Yu ignored him completely.
Then he looked at Qing Li. " What about you?" Qing Li blinked. " Excuse me?"
Chen Yu crossed his arms.
"If Xu Yang is apparently a cat demon "
" I regret everything," Xu Yang muttered.
" then what exactly are you?"
Qing Li looked deeply offended for absolutely no reason. " First of all, rude."
" That was a direct question."
"Second," Qing Li continued, pointing at himself dramatically, " I have range."
Yan Luo visibly regretted being present.
Chen Yu frowned. " That did not answer anything." Qing Li gave him a grin.
"Exactly." " You are exhausting," Chen Yu said flatly. " I've been told I'm memorable."
Then Chen Yu's gaze shifted toward Yan Luo.
" And you?"
Yan Luo was silent for a moment.Then, with the same calm expression he used for nearly everything. " Flame wolf." Silence.
Chen Yu blinked once.
" You're serious."
Chen Yu stared. Then slowly looked him up and down again." That," he admitted after a pause, " actually explains a lot." Qing Li immediately pointed at Yan Luo. "See? He gets a cool title." Then, without hesitation, Yan Luo pointed directly back at Qing Li.
" And this is a fox demon." Silence.
Qing Li froze. "…I'm sorry." He turned slowly.
" Did you just say that like it was an insult?"
Chen Yu's eyes immediately narrowed in realization. " Fox demon?" Xu Yang, despite himself, visibly looked like this made too much sense. " Oh." Chen yu said.
Qing Li looked personally betrayed.
" What do you mean 'oh'?" Xu Yang folded his arms. " It explains literally everything."
" I don't know whether to be offended or proud." "You should probably be both," Yan Luo said.
Chen Yu looked Qing Li over again, this time with far more understanding than before.
" So that's why." Qing Li frowned. " Why what?" " Why you never answer a question normally." " That feels speciesist."
"No," Yan Luo said immediately. " It feels accurate." Liu Hao, who had somehow remained quiet through this entire disaster, finally spoke. " Cat. Fox. Wolf." He paused.
" This is either the strangest alliance I've ever seen…" A beat. " Or the most concerning."
Qing Li immediately brightened
Liu Hao, still focused, spoke again.
"If you are all connected," he said, "then coordination is better than separation."
Chen Yu glanced at him. " That sounds like a plan." Liu Hao nodded slightly. "It is."
Xu Yang looked between them all. " You're all adapting to this too fast," he muttered.
Qing Li shrugged. "Survival instinct."
Yan Luo added calmly: "Experience."
Chen Yu, after a pause, said " Or bad luck."
That earned him a brief look from Xu Yang.
" That one might be accurate."
For a moment, despite everything the threads, the uncertainty, the growing tension there was a strange sense of alignment forming between them.They moved a little closer to the edge of the cave entrance, away from open exposure, and continued speaking in lower tones as if the environment itself might be listening.
Chen Yu frowned slightly as the discussion shifted again, his focus narrowing. " Do any of you know how the Threads actually started?" he asked directly. "Not theories. Not guesses. The beginning." Xu Yang hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. " Not fully. But the first time we actually noticed something abnormal… it was near the shrine." Liu Hao's gaze lifted slightly. "Shrine?" Xu Yang nodded. " It wasn't active like this. Back then it was subtle. People started noticing small distortions. Nothing direct. Just… wrongness in perception."
Chen Yu crossed his arms. " So it didn't begin with attacks." Xu Yang replied quietly. "No. It began with misalignment." Liu Hao's eyes narrowed slightly. " That suggests gradual activation, not sudden emergence." Qing Li leaned slightly back against the rock, as if recalling something unpleasant. " Yeah, well, 'gradual' is one word for it," he said. "Another word is annoying." Chen Yu glanced at him. "Explain."
Qing Li sighed, then gestured loosely as he spoke. " In villages people started forgetting things they literally just did five minutes ago. Like 'I didn't eat today' even when their stomach is full. Then someone else remembers two versions of the same event and starts arguing with themselves."
He paused, then added more casually, " And the worst one people started seeing dead relatives walking around like it was normal."
A silence followed immediately after that.
Xu Yang's expression tightened slightly. " That's not hallucination-level distortion," he muttered. " That's perception overlap."
Liu Hao's gaze sharpened. " Or timeline interference." Chen Yu slowly looked between them. " You're saying reality itself is becoming inconsistent." Qing Li gave a small shrug. " I'm saying I once watched a guy argue with his own dead grandfather in the middle of a street. So yeah, inconsistent is one word."
That earned a brief, uneasy pause.
Chen Yu exhaled slowly. " And this all started near the shrine?" Xu Yang nodded. " That's the first recorded point we noticed it affecting multiple people at once." Liu Hao stepped slightly forward. " Was there anything present at the shrine during that time?" Xu Yang thought for a moment. " Nothing visible. Just a feeling of pressure. Like the space itself was slightly heavier than it should be."
Chen Yu frowned. " And nobody investigated it properly?"
Xu Yang gave a faint, tired look. " At the time, it was dismissed as local superstition."
Qing Li muttered, " Yeah, well, superstition is usually what people call things they don't survive long enough to understand." Yan Luo spoke quietly then, voice controlled but firm. " So from the shrine, it expanded into perception instability… then into physical manifestation." Liu Hao nodded once. " That progression is consistent with structural leakage." Chen Yu's expression tightened slightly. " Structural leakage?" Liu Hao answered calmly. " When a system designed to remain contained begins affecting external layers of reality." Xu Yang looked at him. " And Threads fit that model?"
Liu Hao paused. " They behave like it."
A brief silence followed again, heavier than before. Chen Yu finally spoke, slower now. "Then what we're dealing with isn't just attacks." Xu Yang looked at him. Chen Yu continued, voice lower. " It's expansion."
No one disagreed.
Chen Yu's expression tightened as the conversation shifted back toward the forest. He exhaled slowly, then spoke with a lower tone. " What happened in the forest wasn't normal engagement." Xu Yang immediately looked at him. " Then what was it?"
Chen Yu's gaze darkened slightly. " There weren't just a few Threads. It started with none… then suddenly, it was everywhere. Not in lines. Not in clusters." He paused. " In waves." Liu Hao's eyes narrowed slightly. " Waves?"
Chen Yu nodded once. " Like something was sending them in timed bursts. One after another. Pressure rising each time, not random." Qing Li tilted his head slightly. " So basically the forest decided to become a heartbeat that hates you." Chen Yu glanced at him. " That's… disturbingly accurate."
Qing Li shrugged. " It was joke."
Xu Yang ignored the humor, his focus sharpening. " And you survived that?"
Chen Yu hesitated for a moment. " Barely."
Xu Yang leaned forward slightly. " How?"
Chen Yu's gaze lowered slightly as he remembered. " At one point I lost control of the ground I was standing on. The Threads weren't just attacking they were closing space. I couldn't keep up." Liu Hao asked calmly. " Did you find a counter-method?"
Chen Yu shook his head. " No. I was seconds away from being overwhelmed." A brief silence followed. Then Chen Yu continued, slower. " And then someone appeared."
Qing Li raised an eyebrow. " Of course someone did." Xu yang asked " who?"
Chen Yu ignored Qing li. " Black hair. Dark robes. Clean, almost too organized for that environment. He didn't look like he was rushing. Like he already knew what was happening before it unfolded."
Xu Yang's expression changed slightly, though he didn't interrupt yet. Chen Yu continued. " There were also creatures with him. Large spiders moving in sync with him. Wolves circling without noise. They weren't chaotic. They were… coordinated." Liu Hao's gaze sharpened slightly. " Controlled entities." Chen Yu nodded. " They didn't act independently. They reacted to his direction."
Xu Yang frowned slightly, murmuring under his breath. " That kind of coordination…"
Chen Yu lifted his hand slightly, demonstrating. " He didn't fight like us. He used hand movements. Small, precise signs. Every time he changed direction with his fingers, the Threads around me changed too."
Qing Li blinked. " So basically, finger choreography decided your survival."
Chen Yu gave him a look. " If you want to put it that way." Qing Li shrugged again. " Sounds exhausting for him. Imagine needing perfect hand posture just to bully existential horror."
Despite everything.
Xu Yang stayed silent for a moment. But inside, his thoughts were no longer calm.
That description… black hair… controlled motion… command over Threads without resistance… and those little demons acting in sync with him… His brows tightened slightly as the fragments aligned in his mind.
I've heard this before." Why does it feel so familiar?" he thought slowly. "Where did I hear this name or description like this before?"
His gaze dropped slightly, as if searching his own memory for something buried.
Controlled interference with Threads… observer-type anomaly… non-hostile redirection behavior… And then a sharper thought cut through the rest.Xu Yang's expression shifted almost imperceptibly.
" Wang Xio," he thought slowly, the name settling into place like something long misfiled. "That description… it matches exactly."
His gaze flickered slightly toward Chen Yu as he replayed it in his mind. Black hair. Controlled posture. Dark robes. No unnecessary movement. Spiders and wolves acting in sync. Threads not resisting, but changing direction as if responding to command instead of force. And the hand signs. Precise, Minimal and Absolute.
Xu Yang's fingers curled faintly at his side.
" He was listed as a side character," he thought, confusion tightening into disbelief. "Just a minor mention in the records… not someone central enough to affect anything directly."
His brows drew together. " Then how is he controlling Threads?" the thought pressed harder. "That level of interaction isn't supposed to be possible for someone like that." He exhaled slowly through his nose, eyes lowering again.Xu Yang's gaze sharpened slightly. " If he really is Wang Xio," he thought, " then the records were incomplete… or intentionally wrong." A faint tension settled in his chest.
Chen Yu finally broke the silence again, his voice steady but intent. " Does anyone here know him?" Xu Yang reacted almost immediately. "No." His answer came too fast, almost casual. Then he added, glancing sideways at the group, "I've never heard of someone like that. Especially not a… that kind of handsome man."
His eyes shifted deliberately toward Qing Li and Yan Luo as he said it. A beat of silence.
Yan Luo blinked once, then slowly turned his head. " Hey," he said calmly, "what exactly do you mean by that?" Xu Yang didn't even hesitate. "I didn't say a name. If someone feels targeted, that's on them." Yan Luo's expression tightened slightly. " So I'm included in your definition of 'that kind of handsome man'?" Xu Yang shrugged faintly. "You said it, not me."
Qing Li let out a small laugh under his breath, watching the exchange like its was entertainment rather than tension. "This is getting personal for no reason." Chen Yu, however, didn't let the moment drift. His gaze sharpened again. " I'll ask once more. Does anyone know him?" This time, the air changed slightly. The joking tone faded.
Even Xu Yang didn't speak immediately.
Qing Li and Yan Luo exchanged a brief look quick, silent, and loaded with something unspoken. Recognition passed between them, subtle but clear.
Then Qing Li looked away first, folding his arms. " No," he said simply. Yan Luo followed without hesitation. " I don't." But neither of them sounded surprised by the question.
As if the answer was already decided long before it was asked. Chen Yu studied them for a moment, then slowly exhaled."Strange," he muttered. "I thought someone might."
Xu Yang lowered his gaze slightly again, but his thoughts didn't settle. Liu Hao's tone turned sharper. " Forget who he is for now." " What matters is this " " If someone like that intervened…" " Then this isn't random." Silence. " Something larger is already moving."
Wang Xio stopped at the edge of the lava river.Ahead, the prison came into view massive iron-like structures suspended in midair, each line forged from living fire, burning without fuel, forming an unbreakable boundary no creature could cross without being erased. Behind those blazing seals, countless demons remained trapped in silence.
Inside, deep within the layered confinement one of demon's shadow moved not aggressively but like something that had been waiting for a specific moment to acknowledge presence. Wang Xio didn't rush. He simply looked at the structure for a long time, as if reading something written between the flames. Then he spoke.
" You're still here," he said quietly. "I expected degradation by now."
From within the prison, a low voice answered not immediately hostile, but strangely familiar, as if the tone already knew him.
" You still speak like the outside world belongs to you," The dragon demon said. " That habit hasn't changed." Wang Xio's eyes narrowed slightly. " It never did," he replied. The fire-lines flickered. Wang Xio didn't move. " You've changed less than I expected," he said. A low exhale echoed from within the darkness.Then the voice spoke again, slightly closer this time.
" And you've changed more than you admit."
Then, from beyond the burning lines, the voice spoke again slowly, almost thoughtfully, like it was turning over something ancient just to see if it still fit. " Wang Xio." A beat passed.
The lava below shifted once. " Still walking where seals were designed to end others."
Wang Xio's gaze sharpened slightly, though his expression barely changed. " Hei long you're still measuring freedom like it was something taken from you." he replied.
A low sound followed from within the fire.
" Taken?" the voice repeated. " No."
The flames bent faintly inward.
" Misused."
A faint silence followed. Wang Xio stepped half a pace closer, stopping just before the boundary burned brighter. " You're more stable than I expected," he said. " Which means either the seal adapted… or you did."
" You always had a habit of speaking as if changes are surprises," Hei Long said. "When in reality, you were always part of them." Wang Xio's gaze narrowed slightly.
" That depends on whether you consider observation involvement," he replied. "I stopped interfering a long time ago."
A faint, almost distorted laugh came from inside the seal. " Stopped?" Hei Long echoed. "Or were you stopped?"
The fire-lines flickered again. Wang Xio didn't react immediately. Then, quietly " You're still testing boundaries," he said. "Even now."
Hei Long's presence leaned closer not physically, but in pressure, like the prison itself remembered something it didn't want to admit.
Hei Long spoke again, slower this time.
" Tell me something," it said. " Do they still call me a failure in the records… or have they finally removed my name so they don't have to explain why I'm still conscious?" Wang Xio's gaze sharpened slightly.
" Records are inconsistent," he replied. " Some still classify you as sealed. Some mark you as erased." A faint pause.
Then he added, almost casually: " None of them agree on what you are anymore."
That sentence landed differently not as information.
Hei Long's eyes narrowed. " And what do you think I am?" it asked.