Chapter 22: Coils Beneath Stone – Threads That Shouldn’t Exist

Vermilion Palace – Inner War Hall, Nightfall

The polished black table reflected candlelight like liquid gold. Beyond the windows, thunder rumbled low, distant, as if the land itself debated whether to wake something long buried.

Li Tianming stood at the center of it all—silent, hands clasped behind his back, eyes narrowed at the flickering leyline chart projected across the room.

Behind him, Kisuke Urahara entered, hat in hand for once, eyes unusually serious.

"I found something," he said without preamble.

Tianming didn't turn. "Another theft?"

"No," Kisuke said. "Something stranger. Vault IX."

Tianming finally turned.

"Collapsed during Grandfather's reign. Nothing left but dust and half a memory."

"That's the official story," Kisuke said. "But the array activity I picked up around it… something's moving. Or someone is."

A figure emerged from the shadowed door. Yoruichi crossed her arms as she stepped in. "He's not exaggerating. Spiritual echoes. Active seals. And a footprint trail."

Tianming's expression remained composed, but his voice lowered.

"Someone's mining a forbidden ruin beneath my own feet—and they're hiding it."

Southern Vault Path – Late Night

The ancient corridors whispered with damp breath and long-dead names. The trio moved without a word, each step muffled by time's dust.

Yoruichi stopped, knelt, and pressed a finger to a print in the grime.

"Female. Nascent Soul level. Flexible gait. She's been here more than once."

Kisuke frowned. "She's not the only one. There's a secondary echo—slower pace. A watcher, not a worker."

Ahead, Vault IX's door loomed. Not broken. Not sealed.

Unlocked. Slightly ajar.

Tianming stared at it.

"The royal seal still responds to my blood," he muttered. "But only partially."

"They tried to bypass it," Kisuke said softly, "and failed. So they lured someone who could open it for them."

Vault IX – Forgotten Chamber

The moment they stepped inside, the temperature dropped.

Not from cold—but from pressure. Old, sealed, watching.

Pillars curled inward, like frozen screams. The air shimmered around a fractured stone altar ringed by faint runes. A dull violet glow throbbed like a heartbeat.

Kisuke crouched near one glyph. "This is not storage. It's a restraint."

Yoruichi exhaled slowly. "This vault wasn't lost. It was buried. Containing something they feared."

Tianming stepped forward. A whisper crawled along the walls.

"You wear a new crown... but the roots remain. Feed them or burn with them."

His knuckles whitened.

"This place knows me."

Kisuke didn't move. "Or remembers someone who wore your blood."

As they turned to leave, an enchantment shattered across the threshold. A shimmer peeled back.

A woman stood blocking their path. She was not armed. Not afraid. Just… resolved.

"Lady Jin," Tianming said, voice flat.

She lowered her hood. "You were supposed to be resting, Your Majesty."

Yoruichi tensed. "She's the treasury matron. She manages every sealed item ledger."

Lady Jin looked tired. "I buried two kings. Helped them hide things no crown should ever find. This vault was meant to stay silent."

Tianming studied her.

"You're the one falsifying the ledger."

Her eyes didn't flinch. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because they promised not to let Vermilion die if I played my part."

Kisuke's cane twitched. "The Western Tiger?"

She nodded once.

Tianming's voice was quiet.

"Did they tell you what's down here?"

Lady Jin's face flickered with something between guilt and terror.

"No. Only that if it stirred… it could unmake more than just our little kingdom."

Then she moved. Quick, with a poisoned charm at her sleeve.

But Yoruichi was faster. A blur, a strike to the shoulder, a seal flaring into place.

Lady Jin crumpled—bound, bleeding, but alive.

"Should we kill her?" Yoruichi asked flatly.

Tianming shook his head. "No. Not until she tells me what she thinks she was protecting."

War Hall – Early Morning

Tianming stood alone again, staring at the mirror glyphs.

Kisuke returned first, then Yoruichi.

"She didn't act alone," Kisuke said. "But she thought she was the last defense between us and something worse."

"Worse than betrayal?" Tianming asked.

"No," Yoruichi said. "Worse than ignorance."

Tianming didn't speak for a while.

Then, calmly: "Send a message. Invite the Holy Daughter back. This time, into the inner circle."

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow. "Big move."

"She came seeking truth. Let's show her the kind that bleeds."

Crescent Grove Spire, Shadow Lotus Sect

Elder Magnolia traced a petal pattern across her scrying orb.

"She's stepping deeper into the king's web."

Elder Orchid scoffed. "And he's pulling her into a trap."

"No," Magnolia murmured. "He's baiting the past into revealing itself."

"And what will Mei Xueyan do?"

"Hopefully," Magnolia said, "she'll choose wisely."