Chapter 2: The Crimson Veil's Whisper

The wind howled across the barren wasteland, sweeping up flurries of ice and snow like ghostly apparitions dancing in the night. I stood amidst the desolation, my robes tattered, my body battered, and my soul hollow. Yet within that emptiness, something stirred—a whisper, a presence, a darkness that coiled around the edges of my consciousness.

It called to me.

Before me, half-buried in the snow, lay the Crimson Veil. The mask pulsed, its surface shimmering like fresh blood under the moonlight. It was not merely an artifact—it was alive. I could feel it, the way it exuded an unnatural energy, the way it seemed to breathe.

A voice, smooth as silk yet laced with undeniable hunger, seeped into my mind.

"Take me."

The words slithered through my thoughts, dark and enticing.

"Embrace me, and I shall grant you the power you were always meant to wield."

Power. That was the language of the world. The righteous sects spoke of power to protect, power to uphold justice—but what had their so-called power given me? Betrayal. Despair. A death sentence.

The Azure Cloud Sect had turned its back on me, cast me into this frozen abyss to die. My master, my fellow disciples—the people I had once called family had discarded me like a broken sword. Even Li Xue, the woman who once swore she would stand by my side, had chosen to look away, her voice cold and distant.

What had I ever gained from my devotion to the righteous path? Nothing.

I clenched my fists. My breath came in ragged bursts, white mist curling in the frigid air.

I reached down, fingers brushing against the mask's cold, metallic surface. A shiver crawled up my spine as an intoxicating surge of energy coursed through me. My vision blurred, the world around me dissolving into a crimson haze.

Then I saw them.

The elders of the sect, their faces indifferent as they cast their judgment. The executioners, their swords gleaming as they carried out my sentence. Li Xue, her back turned to me, walking away without hesitation.

A storm of rage swelled within me—dark, unrelenting.

The voice inside the mask coiled around my mind like a serpent.

"Do you seek vengeance?"

My lips parted, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Vengeance? No. This was beyond vengeance.

This was reckoning.

"I do."

The moment the words left my lips, the mask trembled, then shattered into crimson light, twisting like tendrils of flame as it surged into my chest. Agony unlike anything I had ever felt ignited in my body, burning through my veins like molten steel.

My meridians shattered. My spiritual core, the foundation of my cultivation, crumbled into dust. Years of effort, of training, of discipline—erased in an instant.

I collapsed to my knees, my fingers clawing at the ice. A scream tore from my throat, yet no sound escaped—only raw, suffocating silence. My body convulsed, my mind teetering on the edge of oblivion.

Yet, amid the torment, something new took root.

Something dark.

A power, foreign yet familiar, slithered through my broken body. It did not flow like spiritual energy—it did not feel like the cultivation I had once known. This was something more… primal. Unshackled.

Demonic.

My flesh mended itself, stronger than before. My bones reforged, denser, more resilient. My senses sharpened—I could hear the soft crunch of snow from miles away, feel the vibrations in the earth, taste the fear lingering in the wind.

The voice inside me—no, the entity inside the Crimson Veil—spoke again, satisfaction dripping from its tone.

"You were never meant to walk their path."

My eyes snapped open. They were coming.

A sharp rustle in the wind. Footsteps. The faint scent of steel and dried blood.

I turned my gaze toward the distant treeline, where shadows moved against the moonlight. Figures emerged, clad in dark robes, their movements silent, yet unmistakably lethal.

The assassins of the Azure Cloud Sect.

Twelve of them. Their leader, a tall man with silver-streaked hair, stepped forward. His face was expressionless, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"Mo Wuyuan," he intoned. "By order of the Azure Cloud Sect, you are sentenced to die."

I exhaled slowly, my breath misting in the cold air. Fear did not grip me. There was only the steady pulse of power surging through my veins, the whisper of the Crimson Veil curling around my thoughts like smoke.

I lifted my head, meeting their gazes with newfound clarity.

"You should have sent more."

The first assassin struck. His blade flashed under the moonlight, swift and precise, aimed straight for my throat.

I did not move.

The steel stopped mid-air, caught between two fingers.

The assassin's eyes widened in horror. Before he could react, I twisted my wrist—shattering the sword as if it were glass. His mouth opened to scream, but I was faster. My other hand lashed forward, piercing through his chest. Blood splattered across the snow, steaming in the frigid air.

The others hesitated for only a moment before charging as one, their swords gleaming like streaks of silver rain.

But I was not the same man they had cast into the abyss.

I moved like a shadow, faster than thought, my body bending and twisting beyond human limits. I wove through their strikes with inhuman grace, my movements effortless, my counters devastating.

A flick of my wrist sent a shockwave rippling through the air, cleaving one assassin in two. Another lunged at me from behind—too slow. I caught his arm, twisting until bone snapped like dry wood. His scream barely left his lips before I drove his own sword through his throat.

A third assassin attempted to retreat, his footsteps faltering in the snow. I flicked my fingers, and a crimson chain of energy erupted from my palm, wrapping around his body like a serpent. He struggled—then burst into flames, his body reduced to cinders in seconds.

Their leader remained.

He trembled, his blade wavering. Gone was his cold confidence—only terror remained.

"You…" he breathed, stepping back. "What are you?"

I stepped forward, feeling the Crimson Veil pulsing within me, its presence like a second heartbeat.

"I am the one you betrayed," I said, my voice dark and smooth. "I am the reckoning you feared."

With a single step, I closed the distance. My fingers pressed against his chest. A pulse of energy erupted from my palm, sending his body hurtling through the air. He crashed into the frozen ground, unmoving.

The battlefield fell silent. The only sound was the wind, carrying the scent of blood and ash.

I exhaled, feeling the last remnants of my former self fade into oblivion.

The Crimson Veil had fused with me. I was no longer Mo Wuyuan, the disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect.

That man was dead.

In his place stood something new.

Something far more powerful.

Something far more dangerous.

And soon, the world would come to know my name once more.