Dawn had barely brushed the mountainswhen Lian Hong awoke with a sharp inhale.
Not from a nightmare.
From awareness.
Something in his body hummed—a faint rhythm pulsing beneath the ribs,like a heartbeat that wasn't entirely his.
His shadow trembled slightly at the edge of the bed.
Not expanding.Not attacking.
Just waiting.
Su Qingyue stepped into the room, hair still damp from training.
"You felt it too."
Lian Hong nodded.
"It's been restless since last night."
"It's responding to him," she said softly."To the pact. To your decision."
Zhou Shan burst in carrying a pot of porridge, immediately tripped on the threshold, and face-planted.
"BRO—BREAKFAST IS—OW—BRO YOUR SHADOW JUST TWITCHED—TELL IT NOT TO EAT ME—!!!"
Su Qingyue sighed and gently kicked him aside.
Before Lian Hong could speak—
a presence cut through the courtyard like a blade through still air.
Yan Ming.
He didn't knock.He didn't announce himself.
He simply stood outside the room,silver eyes calm but sharp.
"Come."
That single word carried weight.
Not threat.
Expectation.
Yan Ming led him up a narrow path behind the mountain—not toward Court halls,not toward training fields.
But to a cliffside platform overlooking the entire sect.
Wind whipped across it, cold and thin.
It was empty.
Featureless.
Except for one thing:
There were no shadows.
Not from the cliff.Not from the trees.Not even from Lian Hong himself when he stepped onto the stone.
Zhou Shan panicked immediately:
"BRO—BRO—WHERE DID YOUR SHADOW GO—OH NO—IT'S BEHIND ME ISN'T IT—AAAAH—NO—DON'T LOOK—!!!!!"
Yan Ming flicked a finger.
Zhou Shan froze mid-run like someone paused him.
He toppled over gently.
Yan Ming didn't even look in his direction.
"This place is called the Unlit Terrace."
Lian Hong frowned lightly.
"…Because there is no light?"
Yan Ming shook his head.
"Because there is no past."
Lian Hong blinked.
Su Qingyue's brows drew together.
"What does that mean?"
Yan Ming stepped beside Lian Hong.
"Shadow responds to what you fear.But it also responds to what you remember."
He gestured around the terrace.
"This place erases both."
A chill crawled along Lian Hong's skin.
"…That sounds dangerous."
Yan Ming's expression didn't change.
"It is."
Yan Ming faced Lian Hong fully now.
"Your previous lessons were survival training."
"This is not."
He raised his hand.
"From now on, you will learn how to command shadow."
A faint vibration pulsed beneath Lian Hong's sternum.
His own shadow—
which had vanished upon stepping onto the terrace—
began to gather at his feet.
Slowly.Cautiously.
Like a living creature stepping into unfamiliar terrain.
"You feel that?" Yan Ming asked.
"…Yes."
"That is shadow responding to intent."
Yan Ming moved closer.
"Shadow is not an element."
"It is not qi."
"It is not a curse."
He tapped Lian Hong's sternum with two fingers.
"It is your will given form."
Lian Hong breathed out.
"…My will?"
Yan Ming nodded.
"The shape of who you aredetermines the shape of your shadow."
He stepped back.
"Let us test your shape."
Yan Ming extended a hand.
"Tell your shadow to rise."
Lian Hong hesitated.
"…How?"
"Not with words."
Yan Ming pointed to Lian Hong's chest.
"With intention."
Lian Hong closed his eyes.
Reached inward.
Felt the faint tremor of that unfamiliar heartbeat—the seed of shadow beneath his ribs.
He didn't force it.
Didn't grip it.
Just acknowledged it.
And willed:
Rise.
The air chilled.
The terrace stilled.
And Lian Hong's shadow lifted from the ground—not vertically, but like a sheet of ink peeling off water.
It hovered behind him,a dark, formless silhouette.
Su Qingyue's eyes widened.
Zhou Shan screamed from the floor:
"BROOOO—YOU HAVE A DEMON—NO, A PET—NO, A PET DEMON—!!!"
Yan Ming did not react to the noise.
He stepped forward.
"Good."
"That is the first command."
Lian Hong exhaled.
He felt—
connected.Not overwhelmed.Not swallowed.
Not yet.
Yan Ming continued.
"Now—make it sharper."
Lian Hong frowned.
"…Sharper?"
"Your will is your blade."
The handler gestured.
"Give it shape."
Lian Hong inhaled.
Focused.
The shadow behind him flickered—blurry, unstable, like smoke trying to remember it used to be solid.
He tried to steady it.
Let it tighten.
Condense.
Align.
His heartbeat slowed.
Boop—Boop—Boop—
The shadow narrowed.
Edges forming.
Contour sharpening.
Arms.Shoulders.A vague humanoid shape—
No face.
No detail.
Just form.
Yan Ming nodded once.
"That is your current potential."
Su Qingyue whispered:
"…It looks like you."
Zhou Shan shrieked:
"BRO, STOP SUMMONING YOURSELF—WE CAN'T HANDLE TWO OF YOU—!!!"
Lian Hong ignored him.
He felt the shadow.
Felt its hunger—but also its patience.
Its power—but also its restraint.
Its instinct—but also its obedience.
Yan Ming spoke again.
"Now collapse it."
Lian Hong willed:
Return.
The shadow folded inward like a dissolving waveand reattached to his feet.
He exhaled sharply,skin prickling,mind buzzing.
It felt—
strangely natural.
Yan Ming's gaze sharpened.
"You adapt quickly."
Lian Hong frowned.
"You sound surprised."
Yan Ming shook his head.
"Not surprised."
He stared directly at Lian Hong.
"Concerned."
Yan Ming walked a slow circle around him.
"Shadow obeys you too easily."
"Responds too quickly."
"Aligns without resistance."
He stopped behind Lian Hong.
"Two lessons ago, you nearly lost yourself."
"Yesterday, shadow answered you calmly."
"Today, it follows your intent like breath."
He stepped back in front.
"It should not."
Su Qingyue tensed.
"…What does that mean?"
Yan Ming answered without softening the truth:
"It means he is synchronizing."
Zhou Shan sat up wildly.
"SYNCING WITH WHAT—!? PLEASE SAY IT'S SOMETHING POSITIVE—!!"
Yan Ming's voice lowered.
"With the power that touched him."
The masked killer.
The air went cold.
Su Qingyue's breath hitched.
"…Is that bad?"
Yan Ming didn't answer for a moment.
Then:
"It is not good."
"But it is not evil."
"It is simply…inevitable."
He turned back to Lian Hong.
"You will have to face him again."
Lian Hong didn't react outwardly.
But his pulse jumped.
Yan Ming noticed.
"You fear meeting him again."
"No," Lian Hong whispered.
"I fear… what he sees in me."
Yan Ming's eyes softened by a fraction.
"Then this lesson is more important than I thought."
Yan Ming extended two fingers.
"Your next command."
"Call your shadow forward, not upward."
Lian Hong blinked.
"…Forward?"
"Yes."
"The first test was control."
"The second is proximity."
"Shadow that rises answers power."
"Shadow that steps forward answers intent."
Lian Hong inhaled.
Reached inward again.
The faint second heartbeat pulsed.
He whispered inside himself:
Forward.
The shadow responded.
Not violently.
Not eagerly.
But deliberately.
It stretched forward across the ground—like a long silhouette walking ahead of him.
Then—
it rose slightly,forming vague shoulders,leaning forward in a stance that felt…
Protective.
Su Qingyue stared.
"…It's guarding him."
Zhou Shan shrieked:
"BRO YOU HAVE A BODYGUARD MADE OF DARKNESS—WE ARE SO DEAD—!!!"
Yan Ming observed without blinking.
"That,Lian Hong…"
He stepped closer.
"Is the shape of your will."
Lian Hong swallowed.
"…That's me?"
Yan Ming nodded.
"It is who you become when danger comes."
The shadow leaned further forward—as if awaiting enemies.
Or protecting its summoner.
Yan Ming lowered his voice.
"Your shadow is not hungry."
"It is not violent."
"It is not chaotic."
He stepped beside Lian Hong.
"It is resolute."
"And that,more than anything else—is why he chose you."
The masked killer.
Lian Hong felt a chill run through him.
But not from fear.
From recognition.
Yan Ming stepped back.
"Enough for today."
Lian Hong exhaled shakily as his shadow folded back beneath him.
Yan Ming continued:
"You took control faster than expected."
"That means two things."
He raised two fingers.
"One:Your potential is far beyond initial projections."
"Two:Your danger level has increased accordingly."
Zhou Shan screamed:
"BRO NO YOUR DANGER LEVEL WAS ALREADY ABOVE MINE—I CAN'T HANDLE HIGHER—!!!"
Yan Ming ignored him completely.
He turned toward the sky.
"We continue tomorrow."
"But be warned—"
His voice lowered to a whisper of warning.
"Control is only the first step."
"The next is understanding."
"And the last…"
A pause.
"The last is surviving what shadow wants from you."
He looked at Lian Hong.
Not as a handler.
Not as an operative.
But as someone who had chosen a side.
"Rest."
"You will need strength for what comes."
Yan Ming vanished.
The wind returned.
The terrace dimmed.
And Lian Hong stood quietly,feeling his shadow pulse onceunder his feet.
Not threatening.
Not consuming.
Just—
awake.