The Threadsink had quieted.
No divine runes fell. No screams echoed.
Only the silence of aftermath—and the scent of scorched sky.
Yue Lian sat against the collapsed threadwall, her eyes closed, body faintly glowing with residual scarlet flame.
Yu Meixing was on her feet now, dazed, but steady.
And Liu Shen… was quiet.
He stared at the closing rift above, brows furrowed.
> "They sent executioners," he muttered. "Not envoys. Not messengers."
Lei Qing approached, voice tense.
> "They weren't here to warn us. They were here to erase us."
Liu Shen turned toward the others.
> "We're not just resisting anymore. We're at war."
---
Return to the Sect of Shadows
By dusk, they stood before the Sect of Shadows' main gates.
Or what remained of them.
The obsidian walls were cracked. Statues of shadow beasts had been shattered, leaving behind jagged fangs and shattered wings.
The guardian trees—ancient pines older than dynasties—were blackened and dead.
Yu Meixing clutched her chest.
> "Something's wrong. I can't feel the Soul Core."
The Soul Core, the spiritual heart of the sect, had always pulsed like a second sun beneath the altar.
Now… it was gone.
Liu Shen narrowed his eyes.
> "They've already retaliated."
---
Inside the Sect
They passed through shadowed halls filled with ash and silence.
Dozens of disciples lay still. Not dead—but unconscious, sealed in dream-like states.
Their soul threads were tangled unnaturally, like they had been twisted mid-thought.
Lei Qing knelt beside one of them.
> "They've been branded."
On each forehead was a faint, glowing mark: the symbol for "Witness"—a celestial curse that erased autonomy and converted memory into surveillance.
> "The Heavens turned them into beacons," Yue Lian said softly. "They're using them to watch."
Liu Shen clenched his fists.
> "They left them alive not out of mercy… but to spy on us."
---
A Stranger on the Throne
In the grand altar chamber, where the Sect's elders once governed, sat a lone figure draped in black.
The seat belonged to the Shadow Patriarch.
But this was not him.
The figure's aura was alien. Subtle, ancient, but overwhelmingly heavy.
> "You're not of this sect," Liu Shen said coldly.
The figure lifted its head.
A porcelain mask covered the face—plain, expressionless.
But the voice… was cold and knowing.
> "Correct. I am the Proxy of the Void Tribunal."
Yue Lian tensed.
> "Void Tribunal? That's not part of the Celestial Court."
> "No," Liu Shen said. "They predate it."
---
The Void Tribunal's Message
The masked proxy spoke with slow, deliberate cadence.
> "The Sect of Shadows interfered with restricted memories."
> "They breached the seal of Withered Souls."
> "They dared restore what was meant to remain forgotten."
> "So we claimed the Soul Core."
Yu Meixing stepped forward, fury burning.
> "That core belonged to this sect! You had no right—!"
The proxy raised a single finger. The air warped, and Yu Meixing collapsed to her knees, clutching her head.
Liu Shen moved instantly—his blade at the figure's throat in a breath.
> "Do that again," he growled, "and I'll show you the true meaning of ruin."
The proxy didn't flinch.
> "We do not fear threats. We are not alive enough to fear."
---
A Deal in the Dark
The proxy slowly stood and stepped down from the altar.
> "We are not your enemy, Liu Shen."
> "We exist to preserve balance. When you shattered the executioners' seal… the heavens tilted."
> "Now, judgment must come. But perhaps… not for you."
Liu Shen's eyes narrowed.
> "You're offering an alliance?"
> "A truce. Temporary."
The proxy pulled out a scroll, sealed in black jade.
> "One name. One location. A traitor who once served the Demon Sovereign—and now serves Heaven."
Liu Shen took the scroll.
> "Why help me?"
> "Because we hate Heaven… more than you do."
> "And because you… Liu Shen… are still incomplete."
---
The Name
As the proxy vanished into smoke, Liu Shen broke the jade seal.
Within, written in faded blood, was a single name:
> Zhao Wenxiu.
Yu Meixing gasped.
> "That was the Heaven's Witness… who betrayed your realm a thousand years ago."
Liu Shen's gaze turned sharp.
> "And he lives still. In the Hollow Empire."
The map included with the scroll pulsed with void essence—marked with a red circle at the empire's eastern border.
> "Time to move," he said.
Yue Lian looked over his shoulder.
> "You still trust that Tribunal's word?"
> "No," Liu Shen said.
> "But I trust that my blade will find truth faster than their lies."
---
Onward to the Hollow Empire
As dawn broke, they stood at the edge of the Sect of Shadows, the ruins behind them.
Lei Qing tied a red ribbon around one of the blackened pine trees—a tribute to the fallen.
> "This place was our beginning," she said softly. "But not our end."
Yu Meixing stood beside her.
> "We'll come back. Stronger. And reclaim it."
Liu Shen looked forward, the scroll clenched in his hand.
> "Zhao Wenxiu…"
> "You started this war in my last life."
> "Now I'll end it in this one."
He stepped onto the path to the Hollow Empire.
The sky above cracked faintly—not from divine fury, but from something else.
> The Heavens were watching. But this time… so was something older.