When there is fear of death in your eyes and death is standing in front of you

Mo Yan, once a warrior of unmatched grace, now stood like a shadow forged in fire. His skin was cracked and burnt, like dried earth struck by thunderbolts. The scent of ash clung to him. Steam hissed from his wounds, and each breath rattled like a furnace on the verge of collapse.

Yet in the stillness of that moment…

He moved.

Not with grand declarations.

Not with rage-filled shouts.

But with a silence so sharp, it made even the wind hesitate.

He faced the three cultivators before him, their blades drawn, their eyes uncertain. The silence he carried was more dangerous than any war cry. It was the silence of a man who had already passed through fire… and chosen to return.

He raised his broken hand...fingers trembling, blood trailing like ink.

And then… the fight began.

---

Elsewhere… far from the scorched earth…

In a dim, suffocating chamber buried deep beneath the temple ruins,

a man sat cross-legged in utter desperation.

Lin Chaoyuan.

His body trembled.

Not from cold…

But from fear.

The walls, the ceiling, even the floor beneath him..covered in talismans.

Thousands of them. Glowing faintly. Whispering like wind through dry leaves.

The last line of protection.

He clutched a vial of sacred river water, fingers white with strain. His other hand flicked droplets of it around him in a frenzy.

"Stay away... don't come near me... this is the water of the holy river... I will burn you... don't come near me, stay away, stay away from me …"

His voice was hoarse, barely audible, a cracked chant fighting to hold sanity.

But

Somewhere in the room… a talisman lifted.

Then another.

And another.

Each one quivering… twisting in the air as if being brushed by something unseen.

Then peeling from the wall… like leaves ripped by a storm.

His eyes widened.

"No… no…"

He screamed

"Stay back! Stay away from me! I'll burn you into ash!"

The door groaned open.

Footsteps.

And then… a figure entered.

Yu Sui.

He walked in slowly, gracefully..

....but behind him trailed a shadow, stitched unnaturally to his feet. It slithered like a living creature, eyes glowing faintly red, like coals beneath ice.

Yu Sui's smile was cold.

So elegant.

So terrifying.

He stared at the trembling Lin Chaoyuan, and his voice came like honey laced with venom.

"It pains me… truly… to see you like this, Lin Chaoyuan."

He stepped closer.

"What did you think?

That I'd let you go?"

"What was once taken from you…

Will never be returned."

..."And you…

You will never return either."

His red eyes glowed brighter. The talismans around the room ignited, one by one, their protections unraveling into sparks.

---

And then…

the wind howled.

Not from any window.

But from a crack in the very air behind him.

From that chasm of shrieking wind emerged a figure cloaked in wild silver and midnight blue....her robes fluttering like wings of a demon bird.

Wu Zu.

Her smile was too wide. Her eyes gleamed with savage delight.

She leaned against the doorway, watching Lin Chaoyuan squirm like an insect.

"Master…"

Her voice was honey-dipped mockery.

"How much longer are you going to keep this trash alive?"

She flicked her fingers. A blade formed at her side, humming with spectral energy.

"Just give the word…"

She stepped inside, circling him like a vulture around a dying flame.

"The cracks in Black Heaven have been thirsting for years…"

"And I want him to see what lies beyond death…"

Her voice dropped to a whisper, almost gentle:

"Something far worse."