The waters of the Skyveil River ran deep.
Jin Mu-Won stood at its edge, the Lotus Seal blooming faintly behind his back. Three petals now glowed with serene power, circling like ghostly wings. The full moon shimmered across the surface of the water, but something felt off—wrong. Too quiet.
Behind him, his companions emerged from the trees. Bai Yiran held a dried fish between his teeth. Yu Fei, as always, checked the air for poison or traps. Lin Xue was still studying the scrolls they had recovered from the Hollow Moon Cavern. Hye Rin walked slowly, her ghost-like movements somehow regal despite her silence.
"We're being watched," Jun Seo said, appearing from a nearby tree. His black robes blended perfectly into the shadows. "Five... no, six auras. Weak. Spies."
Jin's hand twitched toward his spear. "Let them run back with tales of our arrival."
Bai Yiran grinned. "Or we could send them back without tongues."
Yu Fei gave him a sharp glare. "We're not savages."
"No," Jin said. "We're symbols now. Word of our strength spreads, and with it, pressure on the cult rises. Let them talk."
The spies were gone before he finished speaking.
---
They camped that night on the river's edge. Despite the peaceful view, the group felt the growing weight of their quest. Three shards had been claimed. Four remained. Each one harder than the last.
Yu Fei sat beside Jin while the others slept.
"I read through Lin Xue's scrolls," she whispered. "They weren't just ritual instructions. One mentioned something... old. Something sealed beneath the river."
Jin turned to her. "What kind of seal?"
"Something called The Silent Flow. It's not a martial technique. It's... a curse."
He narrowed his eyes. "Show me."
They spread the scroll across the ground. Faint ink lines sketched an underground chamber beneath the Skyveil River. Runes were scribbled along the borders — sealing symbols, forbidden magic, soul-warping glyphs.
A note beside it read:
"Here sleeps the Fourth Shard, bound by silence and sin. It speaks only to those who hear nothing."
Jin frowned. "That doesn't make sense."
Hye Rin, who had stirred nearby, approached. "It means the shard reacts to silence. True silence. Not the absence of sound — the absence of everything. Spirit. Emotion. Intention."
Yu Fei's brows furrowed. "How do you fight with no intention?"
Jin closed his eyes. "You don't. You become the weapon itself."
---
The next morning, they set out by boat. The Skyveil River stretched for miles, twisting like a serpent between jade cliffs and mist-covered valleys. Locals called it The River That Never Sleeps, not because of current — but because of dreams.
Legends spoke of those who sailed too deep into its heart and never returned. Not killed. Just... forgotten.
As they sailed, Lin Xue read aloud from another recovered scroll.
"'In the dream lies the seal. Only those who drift past memory may enter.'"
"What does that even mean?" Bai Yiran asked.
"It means," Jin said quietly, "we're going to sleep."
Yu Fei's eyes widened. "What?"
"The fourth shard is hidden in the Dreaming Abyss — an underwater dimension accessed only through shared lucid dreaming, powered by the Skyveil's current. We can't enter by force. We have to let the river take us."
---
They anchored the boat near a stone arch shaped like an open eye.
Jin stood in the center of the deck, the Lotus Seal pulsing behind him. "Everyone sit. Cross-legged. Focus on your breath."
One by one, they complied.
He reached into his satchel and drew a vial of shimmering liquid. Dreamroot Essence — the rarest dream-initiating elixir in the world.
Hye Rin raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get that?"
Jin smirked. "Stole it from a Red Moon cultist's pocket last week."
"Lucky bastard," Bai muttered.
Jin poured the liquid into the river.
The water changed.
A slow shimmer overtook the boat, and reality itself rippled outward. Sound faded. Light twisted. The air became thick as syrup.
Then…
---
They dreamed.
---
Jin Mu-Won opened his eyes into a world made of glass.
Everything shimmered — the trees, the river, the air itself. The sky was cracked like old porcelain, and beneath his feet, the ground pulsed with slow, ancient rhythm.
He was alone.
"No... not alone," he whispered.
Whispers danced through the air. Voices he recognized — Yu Fei's laugh, Bai Yiran's complaints, Lin Xue's quiet prayers, Hye Rin's chants.
They were close. But fragmented.
The Dreaming Abyss wasn't linear.
He began walking.
---
Hours passed. Or maybe seconds. Time was strange here.
Jin passed memories carved into the landscape — his old life, past failures, even visions of battles not yet fought. In one, he saw himself atop a throne of bones. In another, kneeling before a woman with silver eyes who whispered his name like a promise.
At the center of the dream stood a tower made of nothing — a silhouette without form. He entered.
Inside was silence.
True silence.
No breath. No heartbeat. No thought.
It threatened to consume him.
But Jin pushed forward. One step. Another. He remembered Yu Fei's words. Hye Rin's warning.
No intention. No resistance.
He let go.
The moment he surrendered, the silence welcomed him.
And from it... bloomed the Fourth Shard.
It wasn't a stone.
It was a song.
---
The melody entered his soul.
Light burst from his core. The Lotus Seal drank it in. The fourth petal bloomed — white, pure, and still. The Dream shattered.
---
They awoke together, gasping.
The boat rocked violently. The river was storming.
Above them, a figure stood atop the arch — cloaked in crimson and black. A woman. Long hair. Eyes like rubies.
"I am Hong Mei," she said calmly. "Red Moon Apostle. Deliver the shards, or drown."
Jin stood slowly. His seal glowed behind him, all four petals now swirling with divine rhythm.
"I don't think so."
---
The battle began instantly.
Hong Mei summoned chains made of dreamstuff, lashing through the air. They distorted time — erasing seconds, skipping attacks. But Jin adapted. He bent the flow around him. Dodged moves that hadn't happened yet.
The others joined. Lin Xue conjured spectral falcons that shattered illusions. Bai Yiran warped through shadows to strike at blind angles. Hye Rin controlled the rhythm of time with bells woven from moonlight. Yu Fei reversed injuries before they even occurred.
Jin struck last — his spear cleaving through dream and lie alike.
Hong Mei laughed as her mask cracked. "Good. You'll make a worthy offering."
Then she vanished in a pulse of crimson smoke.
---
Hours later, on the riverbank, the group sat in exhausted silence.
Four shards. More danger than ever.
Yu Fei leaned against Jin again, more openly this time. Lin Xue rested her head on his shoulder. Even Hye Rin lingered nearby, her gaze softer than usual.
"You're different," Bai Yiran said suddenly.
"How?" Jin asked.
"You're not just strong now. You're becoming… something else."
Jin looked at his hand. The Lotus Seal pulsed softly beneath the skin.
"I don't know what I'm becoming," he said.
"But I'll make sure I never become what they fear."
Behind them, the river shimmered.
And far, far away… the Red Moon Sect prepared for war.