The Wailing River

As the duo stepped onto the path towards the wailing river, they felt the air grow thicker with each step. The air turned frigid, heavy with spiritual oppression. Just three hundred paces away from the wailing river stood the tall entrance to the kingdom of roaring rivers, the cries of tormented soul echoed from the water like a cursed chorus.

Kenji and the Ghost Emperor halted in silent understanding.

Without a word, Kenji swayed his hand in a swift motion and a talisman appeared in the air, inscribed with celestial runes.

With a calm breath, he pressed them onto his chest and forehead.

As the talisman activated,it formed a protective halo—a radiant cocoon around them that flickered.

"This will not hold if I falter", Kenji said quietly, "But it will buy us some time if the resentful energies turn violent, we have to be prepared for the worst."

The Ghost Emperor raised his hand, a shape of dark smoke in air, conjuring spirit-inked seals from the sleeves of his dark robe. His talismans were forged from necrotic silk and ashes of oath-bound spirits. Whispering an incantation in a lost tongue,he pressed them onto his body. A phantasmal energy of ghost fire,dancing in hues of violet and red, enveloped them over the divine talisman.

"These talismans are imbued with the regrets and resentment of of ten thousand souls." He said, "Let them scream for us when the resentment listens."

Behind them, the ghostly guards—shadowy figure with spectral armor—knelt in perfect synchronisation. Each placed a talisman etched with soul-forged ink across their hearts and temples.

"By his will, we guard not only the path but his silence." The leader of the troop said solemnly.

As the final talisman was anchored to the earth beneath their feet, the protective cocoon shimmered faintly like a barrier of shifting light and gloom.

As their feet crossed the threshold of the entrance,the air changed—thickening into a suffocating mist laced with heavy resentful energy.

The talismans flickered like candlelight in a storm, already resisting the invisible pressure of thousands of bounded souls.

The river did not seem to made of water anymore, but ashen fog and glimmering fragments of memory. Faces screamed in the currents, stretching out phantom limbs to grasp at the bridge.

The bridge was unstable, shifting with every step, as if they walked upon the buried resentment of centuries of battle.

Kenji narrowed his eyes, "Your highness, the bridge is not stable. We should take the hold of wind."

Kenji and the Ghost Emperor lifted their hands in the air and as if they pushed the air beneath them, they were above the ground, the guards too followed and in a moment they were floating in the air.

A sudden shriek echoed, kenji and the Ghost Emperor drew out their weapons. The black blade glinted, cinders of fire emerging from its edge. The axe in the Ghost Emperor's hand glistened.

The river responded, a tidal wave of blackened mist surged toward them, carrying with it the echoes of the battle fought long ago.

"Don not let it touch you." The Ghost Emperor said,his voice echoing in dual tones, both living and dead.

The guards drew out their sword,fighting the talk waves of mist, the talisman lighting brighter with each wave, fighting the resentful energy.

"Lian….." a ghost guard muttered, "LIAN" the guard screamed, he fell to the bridge, the mist trying to swallow him whole. His talisman had dimmed.

"LIAN…" he screamed again, without hesitation, the Ghost Emperor flicked his sleeve. A binding chain whipped forth, matching onto the guards chest and dragging him back into the formation, "Do not listen to the river." The Emperor instructed.

"It will use your memories to devour you."

They moved further, the ghost emperor and Kenji back to back and the guards in order of formation.

Suddenly, the waves began to take shape—specters of long forgotten warriors, some still armored in broken heavenly regalia. Several stepped forward at one time.

"Do not falter. Do not listen to any voice trying to put you in trouble,it's just the river creating illusions." The Ghost Emperor instructed.

Kenji raised his blade high, and with a strike he sent a surge of energy, the fireflies emerging from his sword and clashing at the black mist. The Ghost Emperor stepped forward,his axe clashing with the black mist.

The talisman's glow started dimming as the tides of mist grew thicker and heavier.

Kenji narrowed his eyes, swaying his hands in a swift motion he sent waves of talisman,pushing forward the waves of mist.

The waves shaped as warriors moved towards Kenji and the Ghost Emperor, the guards pushing forth clashed with the waves.

Suddenly, the talisman dimmed completely and the illusion took over. The river

uses the sorrowful or resentful memories of each to drown them into it,swallowing them and their spiritual energy.

"DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYTHING! IT IS ALL AN ILLUSION!" Kenji instructed.

The swords clashing with the soldiers of dark mist.

The air twisted, no longer just cold, it was mourning itself , alive with the whispers of regret and sorrow.

The air beneath Kenji's feet rippled like breath.

The mist coiled.

Then —

He heard it

A voice.

Faint.

Familiar.

Wounded.

"Please, please Guardian Kenji…please listen to me….it has been written guardian's are not to accept any prayers and neither do I, a mortal have the right to pray to the guardian but here I am, I know this will lead to my retribution but please...they say, pray to gods, the gods will answer your prayers but why is it that my prayers are unheard…I have no choice. You are the guardian of destruction. I pray you, please lift up the curse of destruction from my family. I promise I'll do anything."

Kenji froze. His breath caught. No blade, no beast had ever struck him so hard. The voice was trembling, swallowed sobs and the prayer dissolving into hiccups,

"Please! Heavenly Guardian Kenji….are you real?…..if you are then please take me away…I know praying to you will lead me to a punishment but I don't want to wait for death anymore….life is too painful…lord I don't want thrown food…I don't want anymore whips….I don't want to live…I don't want to wake up anymore so if you are there, then please I beg you, lift up the curse of destruction and grant me death…give me the punishment for praying to guardian but take me away from this world…."

He heard it.

The same voice.

The same plea.

Kenji's soul cracked like old porcelain. His hands shook, lips parted to say something but no words came out. He felt as if his throat was strangled in a wire,as of a nnot formed, stopping all the words from coming out. Kenji collapsed on the bridge, clutching his chest.

"No no no it is all an illusion, this is not real. This is not real. This is an illusion. This is an illusion. Don't let your past become your weakness." Kenji muttered to himself repeatedly as he felt the black mist trying to reach to him, tears burning in his eyes. He got up. The Ghost Emperor seemed to facing an illusion too but he had not stopped fighting,he was screaming as if something pierced him but he did not stopped fighting. Some guards fell into the river, succumbing to the illusion. The waves of black mist swallowing them.