The tunnel widened.
通道在脚下逐渐变宽.
Wind moved like water between the walls,
风在岩壁间流动,像液体.
carrying with it a low, steady pulse.
带着低沉而持续的脉动.
It wasn't sound.
那不是声音.
It was rhythm — the heartbeat of the world.
而是一种节律——世界的心跳.
---
Lin Jin felt it in his hands.
林烬能感觉到它在手中颤动.
The hilts of his blades vibrated faintly,
双刀的握柄在微微震动,
like metal trying to remember its origin.
仿佛金属在回忆它的诞生.
Behind him, Lai adjusted his shield.
在他身后,莱伊调整了盾的位置.
They didn't speak.
他们没有说话.
Speech didn't belong here.
语言不属于这种地方.
---
The passage opened into a vast hollow.
前方豁然开朗,通向一个巨大的洞厅.
The air shimmered gold,
空气泛着金光,
and the ground rippled like liquid sand.
地面像液体的沙浪一样起伏.
At the center,
在中央,
a massive formation of crystal and bone rose from the ground.
一座由水晶与骨骼构成的巨大结构从地面升起.
Each pulse of light from it made the whole chamber breathe.
每一次光脉动,都让整个空间在呼吸.
---
> "The heart," Lai murmured.
"那是...心."莱伊低声说.
Lin Jin nodded once.
林烬微微点头.
He stepped forward,
他往前踏出一步,
the sand folding under his boots like soft fabric.
脚下的沙像柔布一样弯曲.
The hum deepened.
嗡鸣声变得更深.
And then the world moved.
然后,世界动了.
---
The crystal core cracked.
那晶体核心裂开.
Light poured out like water.
光如水般涌出.
The sand convulsed,
沙地开始抽搐,
rising into shapes that should not exist.
沙浪汇聚成不该存在的形体.
Limbs formed,
肢体成形,
not flesh, but stone and glass,
不是血肉,而是石与玻璃,
fusing into a single, towering figure.
融合成一个高耸的身影.
---
It stood twice their height.
那身影高出他们两倍.
Its torso was cracked quartz,
它的胸腔由裂纹晶体组成,
and through those cracks,
从裂缝中,
light pulsed — slow, steady, deliberate.
有光在脉动——缓慢,稳定,有节奏.
Its face was empty.
它的脸是空的.
A hollow cavity where eyes should be.
在该有眼睛的地方,是个空洞.
The Heartbreaker.
裂心者.
---
Lai shifted forward first,
莱伊第一个向前,
shield raised, knees bent.
举盾,半蹲.
Lin Jin mirrored him from the side.
林烬则从侧翼并行.
They didn't speak a plan.
他们没说战术.
They didn't need one.
他们不需要.
---
The creature moved.
那怪物动了.
Slow, but with weight that bent air.
缓慢,却带着能压弯空气的重量.
When its arm came down,
当它抬手落下时,
the ground rippled like water under pressure.
地面像被重压的水面一样荡起波纹.
Sand burst upward,
沙浪冲起,
the air filled with dust and flickering light.
空气中充满尘光闪烁.
---
Lai braced,
莱伊撑住盾,
the impact shoving him back a step.
被那冲击力推退一步.
Lin Jin leapt through the dust,
林烬借着尘浪跃起,
his blades flashing like twin arcs of dawn.
双刀如黎明的弧光闪过.
He struck across the creature's arm,
他斩过怪物的手臂,
the sound like breaking glass.
声音像玻璃碎裂.
Cracks spread across its surface.
裂纹沿着表面蔓延.
But there was no blood — only light seeping through.
却没有血——只有光从中渗出.
---
The Heartbreaker turned.
裂心者转身.
Its movements were deliberate,
它的动作沉稳,
almost thoughtful.
几乎像在"思考".
It swung once,
它横扫一击,
and the air split.
空气被切开.
The shockwave hit both men.
冲击波扫过两人.
Lin Jin skidded across the sand,
林烬被掀飞,在沙上滑行,
his shoulder slamming into stone.
肩膀撞上岩壁.
Lai dropped to one knee,
莱伊单膝下跪,
shield cracking with light as it absorbed the blow.
盾面亮起光纹,将冲击吸收.
---
For a moment, everything was dust.
一时间,四周全是尘.
Nothing but the echo of the heartbeat.
只有那心跳的回声在震荡.
Then — movement again.
然后——再度动.
The creature's core pulsed faster now.
那生物的核心跳得更快.
The light spreading through its body changed color —
光的颜色在它体内转换——
gold to red,
由金变红,
heat building in the air.
热度在空气中累积.
---
Lin Jin pushed off the rock,
林烬从岩壁推身,
sand spilling from his shoulders.
沙从他肩头滑落.
He glanced at Lai —
他瞥了眼莱伊——
their eyes met once,
视线短暂相交,
and that was enough.
足够了.
They moved together.
他们同时出击.
---
Lai took the front.
莱伊迎在前.
The Heartbreaker swung again,
裂心者再次挥击,
but the shield caught it.
却被盾接下.
Light splintered across the metal,
光在金属上碎裂成线,
burning like veins.
像燃烧的血脉.
Lin Jin used the opening.
林烬抓住空隙.
He slid low,
他下滑一步,
spinning beneath the creature's reach.
从怪物的臂下旋出.
Both blades crossed in one motion —
双刀在一瞬间交错——
cutting through the glowing ribs of the monster.
劈入那闪光的肋骨中.
---
The sound that came was not a scream.
随之传出的声音,不是嘶吼.
It was a note.
而是一种"音".
Pure. Long.
纯净,悠长.
Like a string pulled too tight before breaking.
像是一根琴弦被拉到极限.
Then, light exploded outward.
然后,光爆炸开.
---
Lai braced behind his shield,
莱伊藏身在盾后,
his boots sinking into the sand.
靴底陷入沙中.
Lin Jin slid back,
林烬退步,
sword hilts vibrating with the resonance.
刀柄在共鸣中震颤.
When the brightness faded,
当光散去时,
the Heartbreaker was still standing.
裂心者依然站着.
Its chest was split open,
胸腔被劈开,
but inside — nothing.
但里面——是空的.
No heart.
没有心.
Only an absence that pulsed like silence made visible.
只有一个可见的"空白",在跳动.
---
> "You can't kill something that never lived," Lai said.
"你杀不死从未活过的东西."莱伊淡声说道.
Lin Jin didn't answer.
林烬没有回答.
He stepped forward,
他上前一步,
blade dragging faint light through the air.
刀尖划出一线光.
> "Then we break it anyway."
"那就照样砍碎它."
---
They attacked together this time.
这次,他们同时出击.
Lai blocked every swing,
莱伊挡下每次挥击,
absorbing the shock into his shield.
将冲击导入盾中.
Lin Jin followed each hit,
林烬随势推进,
cutting deep into joints,
斩入关节,
finding seams between the shards of light.
寻找光的裂缝.
The rhythm became a pattern.
节奏变成规律.
Strike. Guard. Advance. Cut.
出击,防御,推进,再斩.
Each step syncing with the pulse beneath their feet.
每一步都与脚下的脉动同步.
Until —
直到——
---
A sound like glass breaking under the sea.
一声像海底碎玻璃般的声响.
The Heartbreaker froze.
裂心者停下.
The light inside its chest shattered outward,
胸腔中的光向外爆裂,
piercing the air in a silent burst.
无声地穿透空气.
Then it fell.
然后,它倒下.
Not collapsing —
不是崩塌——
but disassembling.
而是"解体".
Piece by piece,
一块一块,
becoming sand and memory again.
重新化为沙与记忆.
---
When it was gone,
当一切归于寂静,
the heartbeat stopped.
那心跳声消失.
Only the whisper of wind remained.
只剩风的低语.
In the center of where the creature fell,
在怪物倒下的中央,
a shard glowed faintly —
一块碎片在微微发光——
white, pulsing slow.
洁白,缓慢地脉动.
Lai knelt and picked it up.
莱伊跪下,拾起.
> "The heart's gone," he said.
"心没了."他说.
> "Maybe it never had one," Lin Jin replied.
"也许它从没拥有过."林烬回答.
---
They stood in silence for a while,
两人静立了一阵,
the light from the shard reflecting in both their eyes.
那碎片的光映在他们的眼中.
Then Lai placed it on the ground again.
莱伊将它重新放在地上.
> "Let it rest," he said.
"让它歇着吧."
> "You sound like it deserves that."
"听起来你好像觉得它该歇."
> "Everything does. Eventually."
"所有东西,最终都该歇."
---
They left the chamber without another word.
他们没有再说话,离开了洞厅.
Behind them,
在他们身后,
the shard dimmed,
那碎片的光逐渐暗去,
and the sand above shifted —
头顶的沙微微塌落——
as if the world itself exhaled in relief.
像是整个世界在松一口气.