"Some names are tombstones. Others, keys."
---
The next morning dawned with skies painted in dull lavender and rust—colors Moria had learned were omens in this world. The ground was moist with dew, and a strange wind blew from the west, carrying with it the faint sound of weeping bells.
Jiang sneezed. "I swear this land cries more than I do."
"You don't cry," Li Yuan muttered.
"Not visibly."
Moria was already awake, tracing a map on the ground with her finger. Glowing threads hovered in the air—her system manifesting an illusionary path.
"We need to travel to the Vale of Thousand Bones," she said. "That's where the war prince's last breath fell."
Jiang stared. "Sounds fun. Do we also get cursed on the way?"
"Probably," Moria said cheerfully. "But the view is incredible."
---
Meanwhile, in the court of Madam Xunyi…
A figure in red silk sat upon a throne of bone. Her face was veiled, but her voice was rich and poisonous.
"So she remembers him," she whispered.
A man in chains knelt before her. He was pale, with grey streaks in his hair, and his eyes were entirely black.
"She does, My Lady."
"Then begin Phase Two. Send the Hollow Brothers. Make them weep her name in their sleep."
The chained man hesitated. "That will alert the Flame Sect."
Madam Xunyi smiled behind her veil. "Let it."
---
On the path to the Vale…
The road turned from forest to sharp grey hills. Ruins lay scattered like broken teeth, half-eaten by moss. Strange birds sang songs that made the skin crawl.
Li Yuan walked beside Moria, fingers tense on his sword hilt.
"You okay?" he asked.
She nodded. "Just… my system keeps pinging like crazy."
[Alert: Dangerous Area Ahead – Emotional Echo Zone]
[Warning: Host's heartbeat exceeds normal rhythm.]
[…Are you about to cry?]
"I will uninstall you," Moria muttered.
Jiang skipped ahead, oblivious. "I heard this valley used to be a battlefield. A prince with eyes of shadow burned half the world here."
Moria slowed. "Not burned. Saved."
"What?"
She knelt, touching the earth. A ripple of old power answered—sad, ancient, longing.
"He gave everything to protect the mortals who followed him. And they let him die for it."
---
That night, they camped under a bone arch twisted with silver vines. The moon hung directly overhead, bright as flame.
Jiang went to sleep muttering about haunted frogs. Li Yuan stood guard.
Moria sat near the edge of a cliff, gazing at the stars. Her fingers trembled slightly.
"You're remembering more," Li Yuan said, approaching.
"I'm remembering pain."
He sat beside her.
"In the past… did I betray him?" she asked.
Li Yuan shook his head. "If you did, I don't believe it was out of malice. You're not that kind of person."
Moria looked up, eyes haunted.
"Maybe I wasn't a person then. Maybe I was just… a force. Something unfeeling."
Li Yuan turned her face to him gently. "You feel now."
She held his gaze.
Then—
A loud, bone-chilling howl echoed through the hills.
Both of them stood in an instant.
From the shadows of the cliffs emerged tall, thin figures—hooded, featureless, sobbing softly.
"The Hollow Brothers," Moria said, her voice cold.
They wept not blood, but white light. Wherever they stepped, the grass turned grey.
Li Yuan drew his blade. "How do we fight them?"
"We don't," Moria said.
She stepped forward, eyes glowing gold.
"We command them."
---
The wind turned icy as the Hollow Brothers advanced.
"Why do you weep?" Moria demanded.
The figures paused. One raised a trembling hand and pointed at her heart.
"You are the reason," it rasped.
Her power surged, her form briefly glowing with divine fire. The shadows recoiled.
"I was not myself when he died," she said. "But I will not let you take me before I reclaim his name."
The Hollow Brothers let out one unified wail and turned their gazes to Li Yuan.
"You are not him. But you smell like him," one said.
Moria stepped in front of Li Yuan. "Touch him, and I will unmake your sorrow."
The figures melted into smoke.
---
After the battle, silence returned.
Li Yuan sat with his back against a tree, breathing heavily.
"You didn't have to protect me," he muttered.
Moria sat beside him, shoulder brushing his. "Yes, I did."
A long pause.
"…Do you think I look like him?" he asked.
Moria didn't answer right away.
"No," she said. "You look like you. But your soul… your soul is something I would never let fade."
He turned to her.
She didn't look away.
Their hands touched.
And neither pulled away.
---
End of Chapter 24.