The moment Lian Hong's fingertips touched the Shadow Heart—
the world ceased to exist.
No sound.No breath.No body.No thought.
Only darkness.
Not the cavern's darkness…Something deeper.
Something ancient.
Something alive.
Zhou Shan's scream echoed from impossibly far away, muffled like it came from underwater:
"BROOOO—!! YOU DISAPPEARED—!! YOU LITERALLY DISAPPEARED—!!!"
But Lian Hong didn't hear him.
Because—
he had entered the shadow's mind.
He floated in endless black.
Shadow ripples drifted like smoke around him, forming shapes—faces, blades, memories—before dissolving again.
The system tried to speak:
[ERROR][ERROR][Host consciousness… unstable]
Its voice broke apart.
Lines of code fragmented like shattered ice.
Then even the system vanished.
And Lian Hong was alone.
Truly alone.
A whisper brushed his mind:
"…you seek to challenge the killer…"
Another whisper followed:
"…but you do not yet understand death…"
The shadows shifted.
Coalesced.
Took form.
Until he stood face-to-face with—
himself.
Another Lian Hong.Identical in every detail.Except for one difference:
His eyes were empty.
Completely void.
He spoke with Lian Hong's own voice:
"You are not ready."
The void-version of Lian Hong moved.
Not fast—too fast.
Not silent—utterly silent.
Not predictable—impossible to read.
The real Lian Hong raised his arm—
but the shadow-self grabbed his wrist.
Cold.
Stronger than steel.
The shadow-self whispered:
"You think instinct will save you?"
He struck.
CRACK—!!
Lian Hong was thrown across the void, crashing into nothing.
Pain bloomed across his chest.
The shadow-self walked forward.
Step by step.
Each step produced ripples that sliced the air.
"You think bloodline can save you?"
Another strike.
Another burst of pain.
"You think sensing shadows will save you?"
He lunged.
A hand materialized beside Lian Hong's throat.
The shadow-self whispered:
"These are tools."
He leaned closer.
"But the killer is not a tool.He is an inevitability."
Lian Hong coughed blood—or something like blood.
He tried to stand.
Failed.
The shadow-self grabbed him by the hair and lifted him effortlessly.
"You are not ready."
He hurled Lian Hong downward—into an abyss—into nothingness.
Falling.
Falling.
Falling.
Lian Hong's thoughts blurred.
He felt himself slipping.
Fading.
Disappearing into darkness.
Just like the Shadow Heart warned:
If it rejects you—you die.
And right now—
it was rejecting him.
His heartbeat slowed.
Memories drifted past—
the orphanage.The cold winters.The humiliation.The defeats.The loneliness.
Faces blurred.
Instructor Wei Feng's voice.Su Qingyue's concern.Mu Yanting's bruised pride.Zhou Shan's constant screaming.
Everything pulled away.
Until only one thought remained:
"I refuse."
His heartbeat steadied.
"I refuse to disappear."
His breath returned.
"I refuse to die."
His fist clenched.
The darkness shivered.
"I refuse to be less than who I must become."
A spark ignited in his chest—a spark the darkness couldn't swallow.
He raised his head.
"I refuse you."
The abyss broke.
The shadow-self stood at the edge of the void, watching him rise.
Its empty eyes widened for the first time.
Lian Hong stepped forward.
Not fast—but firm.
The shadow-self spoke:
"You defy inevitability?"
Lian Hong answered:
"I redefine it."
The shadow-self lunged—
a blur of shadow and death.
This time—
Lian Hong didn't dodge.
He stepped into the attack.
His fist collided with the shadow-self's face.
BOOOOM—!!
The void cracked like glass.
The shockwave tore the darkness apart.
Shadow fragments scattered like birds.
The shadow-self staggered.
Then dissolved into a thousand shards of darkness.
A whisper echoed:
"…you pass…"
"…for now…"
Lian Hong gasped and fell forward—
back into his body.
Back into the cavern.
Back into the world of light.
He collapsed to one knee, drenched in sweat.
Zhou Shan screamed and hugged him:
"BROOO YOU'RE BACK—!! YOU WERE GONE FOR LIKE AN HOUR—!!! I THOUGHT WE'D NEED TO HOLD A FUNERAL—AND WE CAN'T AFFORD A FUNERAL—!!!"
Wei Feng stood over him.
Expression unreadable.
But his voice—
held something rare.
Approval.
"You entered the Heart and came out alive."
He stepped back.
"Then you are ready for Stage Four."
Zhou Shan shrieked:
"THERE'S A STAGE FOUR—???"
Wei Feng nodded.
His eyes sharpened.
"Stage Four is not training.It is not instruction.It is not guidance."
He paused.
"It is awakening."
The Shadow Heart pulsed once more.
A fragment of it flowed into Lian Hong's body—merging with his bloodline.
[Bloodline Instinct Resonance: 63% → 72%]
His senses sharpened.
The world slowed.
The cavern air grew clearer.
Wei Feng exhaled.
"You gained what very few ever gain."
Zhou Shan asked:
"Pain? Trauma? Nightmares?"
Wei Feng ignored him.
He faced Lian Hong.
"You gained a weapon."
Lian Hong looked up.
Wei Feng said quietly:
"You gained the ability to sense killing intent…even when the killer does not release it."
A beat.
"Even when the killer tries to erase himself."
A second beat.
"Even when the killer is the masked one."
Zhou Shan fell to the floor in relief and fear mixed.
"BRO… you finally have something that might keep you alive for ten extra seconds tonight…!!"
Wei Feng stepped back into the shadows.
"Your final awakening begins at sunset."
He paused.
"And if you fail…then your death will be quick."
Lian Hong stood.
His breathing heavy—but steady.
His eyes sharp—but calm.
Tonight, the masked killer would come.
And he would not face him as the boy he was four days ago.
He would face him as something new.
Something forged in void.
Something sharpened by shadow.