The sun hung low over Qinghe as the group prepared to leave. The air, though lighter than before, still carried an unease, like the faint hum of a storm on the horizon. Lan Xiu and her companions had set up camp near the village’s edge, their presence a reminder that the battle for balance was far from over.
Yan Wei stood apart from the others, her blade resting against a tree. The whispers in her mind were louder than ever, pulling at her thoughts and fraying her focus. Each step they had taken since the fortress seemed to amplify their intensity, and she could no longer ignore them.
“Yan Wei,” Li Feng called, approaching cautiously. “You’ve been quiet.”
She turned to face him, her sharp eyes betraying a flicker of hesitation. “The whispers are getting worse.”
Li Feng’s chest tightened. “What are they saying?”
“They’re not words anymore,” Yan Wei said, her voice low. “It’s like… an instinct. A pull I can’t ignore. They want me to go—to find the fragment of my qi I gave up.”
“You can’t face it alone,” he said, his tone firm. “Whatever it is, we’ll handle it together.”
Yan Wei shook her head. “No. This is mine to bear. The fragment is tied to me. It’s my responsibility.”
Li Feng stepped closer, his voice steady but softer. “You’ve carried so much already. Let us help.”
For a moment, her sharp demeanor softened. “I know. But if I can’t face this alone, I won’t be able to stand with you when the real battles come.”
Li Feng opened his mouth to argue, but Lei Ming’s voice cut in from behind. “She’s right.”
The spear-wielding cultivator stepped forward, his expression calm but resolute. “Whatever this fragment is, it’s connected to the Dao through her. If she doesn’t confront it, it’ll only grow stronger—and more dangerous.”
“But she doesn’t have to do it alone,” Li Feng insisted. “We’re a team.”
Yan Wei gave him a faint smile. “We are. And I’ll come back. But this… I need to do this myself.”
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Mei Lin joined them, her voice soft but steady. “Then let us help in another way. If the whispers are leading you, it means the Dao has a purpose for this. Trust that we’ll be here when you return.”
Li Feng hesitated, his mind racing with possibilities. But as he met Yan Wei’s gaze, he saw the steel in her eyes, the resolve that had carried her through every battle. Finally, he nodded. “Be careful.”
“I always am,” she said with a smirk, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
----------------------------------------
Yan Wei left at dawn, her silhouette disappearing into the horizon. The whispers guided her steps, drawing her toward a distant forest shrouded in mist. Each step felt heavier, the pull of the fragment growing stronger as she ventured deeper into the unknown.
The forest was ancient, its trees towering and gnarled. The air was thick with qi, but it felt wrong—fractured and chaotic. The whispers grew louder, their presence pressing against her mind like a tide.
At the heart of the forest, she found a clearing. In its center stood an altar, weathered and cracked, its surface covered in runes that pulsed faintly with energy. Above the altar hovered a faint, flickering light—her fragment.
Yan Wei approached cautiously, her blade drawn. The fragment pulsed in time with her steps, its light growing brighter as she drew near. But as she reached out to touch it, the ground trembled, and shadows erupted from the earth.
The creatures were twisted and writhing, their forms barely humanoid. They moved with unnatural speed, their glowing eyes fixed on her. Yan Wei tightened her grip on her blade, her focus sharpening.
“If you think this will stop me,” she muttered, her voice steady, “you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
The battle was relentless. The shadows moved in waves, their attacks coordinated and unyielding. Yan Wei’s blade moved with deadly precision, each strike cutting through the darkness. But the whispers in her mind grew louder, pulling at her thoughts and threatening to break her focus.
“You can’t win,” a voice echoed, cold and hollow. “The fragment belongs to us now.”
Yan Wei gritted her teeth, her blade glowing brighter as she channeled her qi. “It was never yours to take.”
The ground cracked beneath her as she drove her blade into the earth, releasing a burst of qi that scattered the shadows. The altar’s light flared, the fragment trembling as the energy around it dissipated.
Yan Wei knelt before the altar, her breaths heavy. The fragment hovered above her, its light steady and unyielding. She reached out, her fingers brushing against its surface.
As the fragment rejoined her, a surge of energy coursed through her body. Visions flooded her mind—threads of light weaving through the Dao, broken and repaired. She saw the Nexus, the fractured sky, and the mark that had bound Li Feng to the threads.
And then she saw herself, standing at the edge of a battlefield, her blade glowing with the same light as the threads.
“The Dao needs you,” a voice whispered. “You are more than a guardian. You are its shield.”
Yan Wei opened her eyes, her body trembling with the weight of the visions. The whispers were gone, replaced by a quiet certainty. She rose to her feet, her blade glowing faintly at her side.
“Then I’ll protect it,” she said softly, her voice steady. “No matter what it takes.”