Nightglass Invitation

We didn't sleep after the arena.

Some nights don't end.

They just bleed into the next.

Lan Ruo sat near the window, arms crossed, eyes locked on the city lights. Her sister's words lingered.

Qing'er paced outside the inn, her White Flame flickering—almost like it was watching her.

Zhao Feng, surprisingly quiet, sat on the rooftop feeding breadcrumbs to a spirit pigeon. "It's a good listener," he mumbled.

Me? I stared at the cracked challenge scroll, burned at the edges by the Void Flame.

> "Ash's Flawed Legacy."

That's what the Echo called me.

I hated how much it fit.

---

Dawn – City of Jade Blades

A black envelope slid under our door.

No seal. No name.

Just two words on the paper inside:

> Nightglass Awaits.

Then—

Smoke exploded from the floorboards.

We all leapt up—Qing'er drawing flame, Lan Ruo unsheathing steel, me ready to Void-Blink us out.

But the smoke only swirled.

Until it spoke.

> "The flame you carry is unstable."

> "The girl is awakening."

> "Come to Nightglass… if you want to understand what Ashen Fang feared most."

Qing'er's eyes glowed.

"They know me."

Lan Ruo frowned. "Or they want to own you."

---

The smoke faded.

We packed.

We had a decision to make.

Lan Ruo stayed silent until we reached the city gate.

Then she stopped walking.

"I'm not going," she said.

We turned.

"I need to go home. My father… he trained me, even after the clan exiled me."

I nodded. "You sure?"

"No," she said honestly. "But I have to finish that chapter. Or I'll never be able to write the next one."

She looked at Qing'er.

"Keep him alive."

Then she looked at me.

"Don't forget where your fire really burns."

And she was gone.

---

Qing'er didn't speak until we passed the jade pillars.

"I didn't think she'd leave."

"She'll be back," I said.

"She always is."

---

Road to Nightglass

The land changed.

Forests grew darker. The mist colder. Spirit energy twisted unnaturally.

Qing'er's flame flickered again.

"Something's wrong," she whispered.

I looked at her.

"Is it the White Flame?"

She shook her head.

"No. It's me. It's remembering things I never saw."

---

We made camp in a hollow beneath a dead tree.

Zhao Feng rigged a trap using string, chalk, and what looked like pickled onions.

"Don't ask," he muttered.

I sat beside Qing'er.

She stared at her hands.

"I don't think I'm real," she said softly.

"What?"

She looked at me.

"My memories aren't just mine. Some of them are… copied. Fragmented."

I took her hand. "You are you. No matter what was done to you."

She leaned against me.

"I just want to know why I was made."

---

That night, the White Flame pulsed.

And a voice spoke.

But not from her.

From inside me.

> "She was made… to carry your flame."

> "But you were made… to carry the burden."

> "Come to Nightglass. Ashen Fang left a secret only you can burn through."

---

Arrival – Hidden Sect of Nightglass

It was nothing like a sect.

It was a city of shadows.

Buildings shaped like obsidian thorns. Pathways that shifted when you blinked. Flames that gave off no heat—only whispers.

We were met at the gate by a woman dressed in silk-black robes, her hair made of shadow wisps.

"I am Whisper-Seer Yao," she said. "Nightglass welcomes the Broken Flame."

"Flame-Bound," I corrected.

She smiled.

"No. You haven't earned that title yet."

---

She led us into the inner sanctum.

Every step echoed like a heartbeat.

Symbols on the wall shimmered and faded.

Spirits moved through them.

> "This is where Ashen Fang came to forget," Whisper-Seer said.

> "And where you will come to remember."

She turned to Qing'er.

"You are the prototype."

Qing'er froze.

"Prototype of what?"

The woman touched her chest—right over her heart.

> "The first successful soul-grafted flame bearer."

> "Your flame doesn't belong to you. But it grew into you."

> "That's why it fights you now."

---

Suddenly, the flame in Qing'er's hand burst forth—shaped like a blade.

It hung in the air, white and pure.

"I've never done that before…" she whispered.

Whisper-Seer nodded. "Because it's not a weapon."

> "It's a key."

---

I stepped forward.

"Key to what?"

The shadows parted behind her.

Revealing a sealed gate made of black flame and bone.

She turned to me.

"To the truth about Ashen Fang."

"And to the thing even he couldn't destroy."

---

[SYSTEM UPDATE]

> Location: Nightglass Inner Sanctum

Qing'er White Flame: Synchronization Rising

Void Flame: Memory Threshold – 85%

Lan Ruo: Temporary Exit

Zhao Feng: Flirted with a shadow fox (Rejected)

Quest Unlocked: "Ashen's Final Flame"

Next Gate: Requires Dual Flame Signature

---

To be continued…

---

✍️ Author's Note – by [Your Author Name from Shadows of the Last Light]

🔥 Chapter 28 gave us:

A shadowy invite from

the Hidden Sect of Nightglass

Lan Ruo leaving to face her past alone

Qing'er's flame awakening further—revealing it is a key, not just a weapon

The truth that she may be a flame-bonded prototype, made by Ashen Fang

And a sealed gate that requires the MC and Qing'er to unite their flames to open