Chapter-62 A Rocky Encounter

The scream echoed through the silent park, sharp but not quite terrified... more startled, like someone being caught off guard.

Frederique froze, heart still pounding from the storm brewing inside her. She spun around, eyes narrowing as she scanned the empty night. The pale glow of the streetlamps illuminated nothing but frost-covered grass and the skeletal outlines of trees.

No one was there.

The scream had felt close.

Intimate.

Almost... beneath her?

She shook her head, forcing a breath through clenched teeth.

' Get a grip.'

The cold must've been playing tricks on her. It had been a long night. Frustration and exhaustion were a dangerous mix.

Still, the silence felt heavier now.

Pressing.

She continued walking, each step punctuated by the soft crunch of gravel under her boots. The bitter cold gnawed at her cheeks, grounding her... until her foot caught against something small and solid again.

The same pebble from before.

It felt... deliberate.

Without thinking, she kicked it again, harder this time, letting her frustration carry through her foot.

The pebble sailed a few feet...

" WAIT...!"

Frederique staggered back. The voice was clear this time.

Crisp.

Echoing from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

"...What the hell?"

Her pulse raced as she scanned the park again.

Still empty.

Still silent.

No.

Not silent.

The pebble lay in the frost, resting innocently among scattered leaves.

Heart pounding with curiosity... and a touch of dread... Frederique crouched beside it.

She hesitated only a second before reaching out and plucking it from the ground.

The moment her fingers closed around the cold stone...

" Oh! Finally! Someone who can hear me!"

Frederique nearly dropped it. The voice wasn't just around her anymore. It was inside her head, clear as a bell.

" What...?"

A sharp pressure bloomed behind her eyes, the familiar sensation of her Art... Willow Whisper... activating instinctively.

But this was different.

Connection established.

The stone wasn't just speaking. It was... feeling.

The raw sensation of overwhelming relief flooded through her senses, unfamiliar but clearly not her own.

Frederique blinked, fingers tightening around the pebble.

"You're... real? What are you?"

" I... am... The Heavenly Demon of the Ming Cult."

"...You're a rock."

"Is that... what I look like? But that is not my true form!"

She stared at the pebble, half-expecting it to start glowing or crack open like some ancient artifact.

Nothing.

It remained cold, smooth, utterly mundane in her palm.

"...Right. Explain."

The voice in her head sighed, a long, exaggerated breath.

" It is a long and tragic tale, but since you seem to be the first soul to hear me in... who knows how many mortal lifetimes, I shall enlighten you. I am... was... a mighty cultivator, a master of the profound arts of spiritual transcendence. My power shook the heavens themselves."

Frederique raised a skeptical brow.

"Sure you were."

" DO NOT MOCK ME, MORTAL..."

"Uh-huh. You're literally a pebble."

The rock somehow conveyed an indignant huff.

" This is but a temporary state! You see, in my pursuit of ultimate power, I transcended the limitations of my flesh. My body perished... but my soul? My essence persisted! I was to ascend, break free of mortal shackles! But something... went wrong. I awoke... here... in this world. Trapped. Sightless. Deaf. Cut off from the flow of Qi."

There was a long pause.

"...It has been a very long time. And you are the first to hear me since my... unfortunate transformation."

Frederique felt the pebble's presence pressing against her mind like a faint whisper, as if it could sense her thoughts.

"You... feel things?" she asked, more curious now.

" Only when you hold me. I can... borrow your senses. Feel your touch. Hear your voice. Smell the air. But sight... sight still eludes me."

She frowned, shifting the pebble between her fingers thoughtfully. It felt so ordinary.

Cold.

Smooth.

Fragile.

Yet the presence inside felt anything but.

"And you've been stuck like this? For how long?"

" Time means little when imprisoned. But... long enough to forget the feel of the wind. The sound of rain. To crave sensation again."

Frederique felt a pang... just a sliver... of sympathy.

But there was one thing she couldn't ignore.

"So... why did you scream when I kicked you?"

The rock's voice turned sheepish.

" Well... imagine existing in endless silence for centuries... and suddenly someone punts you across a frozen field? Would you not scream in surprise?"

"...Fair point."

Silence stretched between them, heavier now. The initial strangeness had worn off, leaving only the bizarre reality settling in.

She was talking to a sentient pebble.

And yet...

Somewhere deep in her gut, Frederique could feel it. This wasn't some random trick. Her Art had reacted. The connection was real.

"So... Heavenly Demon, huh?" she said finally, testing the words on her tongue.

" Indeed. Though... it seems my power has diminished... but just a little bit."

"Yeah, no kidding."

The rock sighed again.

" Still. Perhaps... fate has chosen you, girl. The first to hear me. To restore my honor."

Frederique snorted.

"Buddy, I barely have my own life together. I don't need the problems of a rock demon on top of it."

" Tch. Unworthy."

Despite herself, she smiled faintly.

"...So. What am I supposed to do with you?"

The pebble was silent for a long moment.

Then, softly...

"...Just don't leave me behind. Please."

Frederique's expression shifted.

The anger that had simmered in her chest earlier... the pain of seeing her parents so content without her...

It felt distant now.

She closed her fingers gently around the stone.

"...Fine. But you better not start glowing or trying to possess me. I already have a fairy infestation to deal with."

" I would never. My cultivation is far too dignified for possession."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, rock. Let's go."

And as she walked into the misty night, the Heavenly Demon... trapped in his humble pebble... felt the wind for the first time in centuries.