Chapter 41 – Hollow Flames and Hidden Doors

Rael woke in the half-dark, the lingering ache of yesterday's fights pulsing in his bones. The Fang Mark still burned faintly on his forehead, not with pain, but with memory—of bone crunching beneath his knee, of Yue's blade singing through the silence.

Of being alive when he should not be.

He washed in cold springwater, dressed in the black-and-grey disciple robes of the Wandering Vein Sect, and strapped on his sword. The blade felt heavier than before. Not physically, but spiritually.

As if it too had witnessed something in the Fang.

As if it remembered.

---

Down in the training grounds, Elder Huo was waiting with six other disciples. She wore no expression, but Rael had seen how her eyes moved—measuring him. Testing him. Waiting for something to snap.

"You passed the Trial," she said. "But battle is not skill. And survival is not strength."

She pointed toward a jagged cleft in the mountainside.

"The Hollow Path begins now."

---

The Hollow Path.

A ritual trial older than the sect itself.

A journey through forgotten caverns and spirit-sealed chambers beneath the mountain—untouched by light, lined with Qi-siphoning wards, and crawling with beasts that had long lost their minds to hunger.

Only those who walked it and returned earned the right to carve a mark into the Bone Wall of Names.

Rael adjusted the wrappings around his wrists. Yue Qingshi stepped up beside him, her robe stained with silvery powder—residue from refining a new technique overnight.

"Still sure you want to walk with me?" he asked quietly.

She didn't look at him.

"I don't walk behind people."

"Not even allies?"

"Especially not allies."

He smiled faintly.

Then stepped into the dark.

---

The first cavern was called "The Hall of Wails."

There was no wind.

No echo.

Just a field of standing stones—each inscribed with thousands of claw marks.

Something moved between them.

Not quickly.

But with purpose.

Rael dropped into a low stance. "One."

"No," Yue whispered, narrowing her eyes. "Two. One below. One above."

 [System Notification: Host entering Qi-null zone.]

Warning: Internal circulation suppressed by 60%. External Qi unavailable. Trait's prediction thread offline.

The suppression hit like cold lead.

But Rael didn't falter.

He gripped a short throwing dagger—one of the ones he'd taken from a dead disciple's body after the trial. Blood-forged steel. Resonated with his core.

A soft scrape.

Then something lunged out from the ceiling—twisting, all bone and black fur and too many eyes.

Rael rolled forward, avoiding the drop. Yue's blade flashed, severing one of its limbs mid-flight, but the second beast shot up from the ground like a spear of sinew.

It impaled Rael through the shoulder.

The pain was sharp and immediate.

But pain was not death.

And death was not defeat.

Rael snarled and grabbed the beast's arm, yanking it closer even as blood ran down his chest.

Then buried his dagger into the side of its eye.

It screamed.

He twisted.

The thing convulsed once, then fell limp.

---

They bound the wound quickly. Yue didn't speak, but her eyes lingered longer than before. Not pity. Not concern.

Something more volatile.

"Three chambers left," she muttered.

Rael spat blood to the side. "Better be worth it."

---

The second chamber was "The Spiral Garden."

Deceptively peaceful.

A circular field of silver grass, growing in slow rotations.

Rael could feel something wrong the moment they stepped in. The grass shimmered with faint runes.

Illusion field.

Not like any formation he'd studied—but Yue had.

"This is ancient," she murmured. "Emotion-bound Qi matrix. Triggers memories. If you step wrongly, it will drag you into a false reality."

Rael hesitated.

He had memories he didn't want to revisit.

Too many.

She reached into her sleeve, pulling out two talismans—handmade, old ink on yellow parchment.

"Hold this. Burn it if your vision begins to twist."

"What about you?"

"I have stronger memories than you," she said simply.

Rael didn't argue.

---

Inside the Spiral Garden, reality flickered.

One moment, he saw the path ahead. The next—

—his brother, laughing with blood on his lips.

The cave. The beast. The betrayal.

Rael clenched his jaw.

The talisman smoked in his hand.

He closed his eyes and stepped forward.

One pace. Another.

Grass brushed his calves.

He could hear Yue's voice behind him, sharp and distant: "Don't follow voices. They're never yours."

He kept walking.

The air got colder.

Then the illusion shattered.

They stood at the far edge.

Unharmed.

But changed.

---

The third chamber was "The Room of Offerings."

Empty.

Stone altar. Silent flame.

And a single question etched in bone across the wall.

"What will you give to continue?"

Rael approached slowly.

 [System Interface: Soul Pledge Opportunity Detected]

Exchange: 1 Attribute Point or Trait Resonance Token.

Reward: Passage to Final Chamber.

He blinked.

He had no Trait Tokens left. And losing an attribute point now could cripple his already thin edge.

But there was no other way forward.

He glanced at Yue. She had already extended her hand and pressed her palm to the altar. A small curl of smoke rose.

She gave something.

Her expression was unreadable.

Rael did the same.

Gave up a fragment of Strength.

And felt something burn through his spiritual root.

Not pain.

But hollowness.

A wound that would not bleed, but would remain.

---

Then came the final chamber.

"The Chamber of Eyes."

A vast dome filled with old statues—hundreds of them.

Each depicting ancient cultivators. Some kneeling. Others screaming.

None alive.

In the center stood a single brazier, cold and empty.

A voice echoed from nowhere.

"Light it."

No further instruction.

No help.

Rael stepped forward.

Nothing worked—Qi burst apart as if the air rejected it.

Then Yue stepped beside him.

"I understand," she said, and cut her own palm.

Blood spilled.

She dipped her finger in and touched the brazier's core.

The flame erupted—not from the blood, but from the willingness.

Rael understood.

Sacrifice.

Not power.

Not skill.

But choice.

He followed.

Their blood mingled.

The fire burned white.

And the statues began to weep.

---

When they emerged from the Hollow Path, Elder Huo was waiting again.

Behind her, the Bone Wall gleamed with thousands of names—some cracked. Some glowing faintly with ghostlight.

"You survived," she said.

"No," Rael replied softly. "We chose to."

She studied him, then nodded.

"Takes more than talent to live in this world."

She handed him a carving knife made of petrified marrow.

"Write your name."

He did.

And Yue did the same beside him.

As the stone accepted their names, a cold wind passed over the mountain.

Somewhere deep beneath their feet, something shifted.

A door opening.

A path beginning.