The Ashlight Gorge loomed ahead like the wound of a god — a massive, jagged canyon carved through red-black rock, steep cliffs stretching high on both sides. The path wound down like a serpent, barely wide enough for two riders abreast. The air smelled of rust and sulfur.
Even the Qi here tasted wrong.
Fang Xi breathed it in slowly, letting the discomfort settle in his lungs.
A tomb untouched for centuries wouldn't open in peace. Something else is here.
🐺 The Silent Hunter
They were three days into the journey when the first corpse was found.
A scout from the Falling Rock Sect — throat torn open, eyes wide in death.
No battle signs. No weapon drawn.
Just a single massive claw mark across the chest.
"Beast?" Shui Fang asked, kneeling over the corpse.
"No." Fang Xi examined the ground. "Too clean. Too precise."
Yan Sui chuckled nearby. "A little wild dog couldn't do that. You ever heard of a Moonbone Wraith, darling?"
"Those are myths," Lu Shuwei said flatly.
Yan Sui's smile widened. "So are tombs that bleed."
⚔️ Midnight Attack
That night, they set camp by a broken obelisk near the gorge's mouth. Fang Xi took no rest. He sat cross-legged beneath a dead pine, senses spread thin.
And then — movement.
He heard it before it hit.
A flash of silver. A scream.
Three bone-pale creatures launched from the cliffs, their eyes glowing red, claws black with decay.
Moonbone Wraiths.
Not myths.
💥 Battle Erupts
Jiang Ping was the first to react — too slowly. A claw grazed his shoulder, blood spraying across the stone.
Fang Xi moved like a whisper.
One hand struck the Wraith's chest — and as it staggered, he touched the rune on his wrist.
Memory Snare.
He saw flashes — corpses being fed into a well, a robed man laughing in a forgotten language, a cracked seal bleeding crimson light.
The tomb was never closed. Only bound.
With a snarl, the Wraith turned — and Fang Xi crushed its skull with a silent, brutal palm.
Elsewhere, Shui Fang conjured a whip of water Qi, binding another Wraith as Lu Shuwei's talismans flared and incinerated it mid-air.
Han Yuren needed no help. His sword cut down the third in silence, bloodless and clean.
🩸 Aftermath
Jiang Ping lay groaning as Fang Xi stitched the wound.
"You moved like a fool," he said, not unkindly.
"I—I thought I could—"
"No. You don't think. You listen."
He leaned in closer, voice low.
"Next time I give an order, you follow. Or you'll die before you matter."
Jiang Ping swallowed and nodded. "Yes, senior."
Fang Xi stood, eyes distant.
The seal is cracked. Something's already leaking out. The tomb won't wait long.
🗣 A Tense Conversation
Later that night, Lu Shuwei approached silently.
"I've seen that technique before," he said.
Fang Xi didn't react. "Which?"
"The one you used on the Wraith."
A pause.
"It looked like an Echo spell."
Fang Xi turned. "Dangerous accusation."
Lu Shuwei smiled thinly. "Not an accusation. A warning."
"I don't care what you are. But if the elders find out you're touching forbidden Qi, they won't ask questions."
Fang Xi's eyes gleamed.
"Good," he said softly. "Then I won't need to lie."
Lu Shuwei stared a moment longer — then left.