The cold bit deeper with each step.
Even for cultivators like Liu Shen and Yu Meixing, the Frostpass Mirage was unnaturally frigid. Not the kind of cold that numbed flesh—but one that clung to the soul, peeling away the warmth of memory, emotion, and even time.
The wind howled through jagged cliffs, carrying the voices of those long dead.
> "So this is the place where even heaven dares not look," Lei Qing muttered.
> "No," Liu Shen said quietly. "This is the place Heaven buried… because it couldn't destroy it."
---
Legend of the Mirage
The Frostpass Mirage had no defined borders. It expanded and contracted like a living beast. No maps showed the same route twice.
It was said that in the center of the mirage was a mirror lake — one that reflected not the sky, but your forgotten self.
To reach it meant confronting what you wished you'd never known.
> "The Ninth Shadow once sought this place," Liu Shen thought. "To escape… or to remember?"
He wasn't sure anymore.
---
Inside the Mirage
As they entered deeper, the landscape changed subtly.
Snowdrifts turned to glass-like frost. Trees twisted into frozen sculptures of screaming figures. Time no longer flowed consistently—sometimes the sun seemed to rise and set twice within an hour.
Zhaoyu fell behind.
> "Why are there two suns?" she asked, dazed.
Liu Shen caught her shoulder.
> "Don't believe your eyes," he said firmly. "Only your heartbeat."
He tapped her chest.
> "That's real. Everything else in here wants you to forget who you are."
---
The Time Echo
As they reached a narrow ravine of black ice, Yu Meixing froze.
She stared at the cliff face where her own shadow flickered… but it wasn't mimicking her movements.
> It moved independently—raising a blade, facing Liu Shen.
She gasped. "I—I remember this…"
Liu Shen turned sharply.
Her shadow raised its hand, a crackling sigil blooming in its palm—the Ninth Seal of Judgement.
> "That technique—"
> "It was mine," Meixing whispered. "But I don't remember ever using it…"
The shadow dissolved.
Silence.
Lei Qing stepped back, pale. "We need to leave this place. It's rewriting us."
But Liu Shen didn't flinch. He stepped forward, placing his hand on the icy cliff wall.
The surface rippled.
Then parted.
> "We're close."
---
Lake of Forgotten Names
Through the narrow passage lay a crater valley—dead silent. At its center, a frozen lake stretched wide like a mirror made of sorrow.
The water reflected no stars. No clouds. Only the one who stood before it.
Each person saw something different.
Yu Meixing stood before the edge, and saw a woman in royal black robes—her face obscured—but her posture familiar.
> "She was me…"
Lei Qing saw a battlefield of his clan, torn and ablaze.
Zhaoyu wept softly. "That's… my brother."
But Liu Shen saw nothing.
No reflection.
No past.
> "You've buried yourself too deeply," a voice echoed.
He turned. No one stood behind him.
Only the wind.
Only the lake.
---
Trial of the Lake
Suddenly, silver runes lit up on the lake surface.
Each person was caught in a beam of light, paralyzed.
> "Trial of the Nameless," the voice boomed.
"Reveal the truth you buried, or lose what you've become."
Lei Qing screamed—memories of his mother's execution flashing through his eyes.
Zhaoyu collapsed, whispering names that meant nothing to her now.
Yu Meixing gritted her teeth, fighting it.
But Liu Shen—
He stepped into the lake.
It didn't freeze him.
It welcomed him.
> "Because I already know my truth," he said. "I lived it once. I burned for it."
A figure rose from the center.
A woman. Pale skin. Silver eyes. Dressed in the flowing robes of the Ninth Shadow.
But her face was blank.
> "You… don't remember me," he whispered.
She raised a hand.
> "Then let me return what was lost."
She touched his forehead.
---
Memory Returned
Flashes.
Screams.
A palace of light turned to ash.
Liu Shen, kneeling in chains, looked up at her as she held a sword to his throat.
> "If I kill you now, they'll spare my sect."
> "Then do it," he had whispered.
> "I'll forgive you anyway."
She had cried—then cast the blade aside.
She betrayed Heaven that day. And they erased her name.
From the world.
From Liu Shen.
Until now.
---
Awakening
Liu Shen staggered back from the lake.
His breath came in short gasps.
> "Her name… was Yue Lian."
He looked at Meixing, who now stared at him with new clarity.
> "That's what you called me…" she whispered.
> "Yue Lian."
He nodded.
She shook her head. "But that isn't me anymore."
> "No," he agreed.
> "But it means she still lives… inside you."
And Heaven would pay for erasing her.
---
Outside the Mirage
The lake faded.
The illusion dissolved.
They found themselves outside the Frostpass again—weeks had passed in the real world.
But Liu Shen held in his hand a crystal tear, the final gift of the Lake:
> The Echo of Yue Lian.
A fragment of her soul… waiting to be made whole.