The steam had barely finished curling off the shattered pool when the first bell rang.
Deep. Heavy. A sound that shook the air and made the lotus leaves—what few had survived—tremble.
The elders were coming.
Rhen straightened, his robes heavy with water and soot, every muscle screaming in protest. Xao Xao remained a few paces away, blade lowered but eyes still scanning the ruin as if expecting something to climb out of the cracks.
"Stay quiet," she murmured. "Let them speak first."
It was good advice. In situations like this, words could be as dangerous as blades.
The first to appear was Elder Han, his long beard still immaculate despite the night's humidity. Behind him came Elder Mei, face calm but gaze sharp enough to flay flesh. And flanking them were four discipline enforcers in dark jade armor—more for intimidation than protection.
They stopped at the pool's edge. Elder Han's eyes swept across the scene—charred stone, shattered braziers, the faint sulfur smell of burned qi.
"This…" His voice was quiet, but it carried the weight of a verdict already forming. "…was a ceremonial ground."
Rhen bowed. "Yes, Elder."
"And now it is a ruin."
"Yes, Elder."
Elder Mei's gaze lingered on the scorch marks at the pool's center.
"Explain."
Rhen's mouth was dry. "An echo-creature emerged from the Lotus Pool. It was channeling energy from the moon fracture above. It would have opened a full passage if we hadn't acted."
Xao Xao stepped in. "The seal stone was already destroyed when we arrived. We used heat to sever the connection before the breach could complete."
Han's eyes narrowed. "You expect us to believe that you two alone encountered such a threat, destroyed a sacred site, and just happened to be in the right place to intervene?"
Rhen's jaw tightened.
They weren't here to understand—they were here to assign blame.
"You think we did this deliberately?" Rhen asked, his voice lower than he intended.
Elder Mei didn't blink. "I think," she said slowly, "that the moon fracture is no small matter. And it is… interesting… that two relatively untested disciples happen to be involved in both the temple disturbance last month and now the destruction of one of our sect's most ancient sanctuaries."
"That's because someone keeps opening these fractures," Xao Xao said sharply. "And if you spent less time on accusations and more time—"
"Enough," Elder Han snapped. The sound of his voice made the air itself still.
The enforcers stepped forward.
"You will be confined to the Outer Disciplinary Hall," Elder Han declared. "Until a full investigation is complete."
Rhen's gut sank. That wasn't confinement—it was a silencing. In the Disciplinary Hall, messages didn't get out.
Xao Xao looked like she was about to argue again, but Rhen gave the smallest shake of his head. They couldn't win this here.
They let themselves be led away, past the blackened ruins of the pool. As they crossed the courtyard, Rhen glanced up at the fractured moon.
It pulsed once—faint, but enough for him to know.
The doorway wasn't closed.
Hours later, in the cold stone of the Disciplinary Hall, Xao Xao broke the silence.
"They didn't even ask about the figure on the steps," she said bitterly.
"They already know," Rhen said.
She turned to him. "Then why pretend otherwise?"
He looked at the barred window, at the pale light spilling across the floor.
"Because someone in that Assembly wants the doorway open."
***
The Disciplinary Hall was built for one purpose: to contain.
Its walls were not simply stone—they were embedded with qi-absorbing minerals, the kind that drew away a cultivator's energy like water bleeding into sand. The air was still, thick, a place where sound seemed to travel slower. Even the flickering lanterns gave off a muted glow, as if the light itself feared to linger.
Rhen sat cross-legged on the cold floor, eyes closed, breathing slow. He could feel the steady drain of his inner qi into the walls. It was subtle, but constant. Whoever designed this place had understood that even the strongest fighter could be rendered harmless if kept powerless long enough.
Across from him, Xao Xao paced. "We can't just sit here," she muttered for the fifth time in as many minutes.
"We can," Rhen corrected quietly. "We have to."
Her eyes narrowed. "That's not you talking. That's resignation."
He opened his eyes, meeting her glare. "It's survival."
Outside, footsteps passed the corridor—slow, heavy, armored. The guards didn't stop, but Rhen could sense their attention brushing the room like a knife's edge.
He waited until the sound faded before speaking again. "There's someone outside this hall who still trusts us."
Xao Xao frowned. "Who?"
He gave a thin smile. "If I tell you, and they pull it from your mind, it's over."
Her pacing slowed. "…So you do have a plan."
"Not yet," he admitted, "but I know how to start one."
The floor was stone, but beneath the stone was something older. Rhen had noticed it as they were marched in—an almost imperceptible hum underfoot, the resonance of ancient channels. If the sect had built this hall on top of older foundations, then those channels might lead… somewhere.
He placed his palm flat to the floor, closing his eyes again. The first touch burned—stone leeching qi—but he pushed through, pressing his awareness downward, beneath the hungry walls, into the earth's subtle veins.
A flicker answered. Weak, distant, but real.
Not sound. Not light. A pattern.
Xao Xao crouched beside him. "What are you doing?"
"Sending a ripple," he whispered. "Not with words. With rhythm."
Her brow furrowed. "Like a code?"
He nodded. "Something I learned… off-world."
Her expression shifted, curiosity flickering even in the dim light. "You've been holding out on me."
"Not holding out," he said quietly. "Protecting you."
The ripple went out in three beats, then pause, then two. Over and over, carried through the old channels until it reached… whoever might be listening.
Minutes passed.
Then—two beats, pause, one. The reply.
Xao Xao's eyes widened. "Someone's out there."
"Yes," Rhen said, suppressing a grim smile. "And they're coming for us."
But the moment was cut short by the sound of metal striking stone.
From the corridor came the hiss of an unlatched door, followed by a voice that didn't belong to any of the guards.
"You've both made quite a mess," the voice said, low and amused.
Rhen looked toward the shadow in the doorway, and recognition hit him like a blow.
It wasn't their ally.
It was the figure from the Lotus Pool steps.