Three nights after the fall of the Crimson Sect, the rain did not stop.
It fell endlessly upon the ruins of the world below, and Li Shen walked through it in silence. Each drop felt heavy — not just water, but memory. The fragment of the Codex sealed inside him pulsed faintly, like a second heart.
Beside him, Mei Lian trudged through the mud, her robes soaked, her blade wrapped in white cloth. "You haven't slept," she said softly.
Li Shen's eyes stayed fixed ahead. "The whispers grow louder when I close my eyes."
They were heading west — to the Blackwater Marshes, where the drowned city of Heishui once stood. According to legend, Heishui was the first to rebel against heaven, building a temple that touched the clouds. For their pride, the gods sent endless rain until the city sank beneath its own reflection.
Now, travelers said that the dead still prayed in its depths.
By dawn, the marshland appeared — a sea of fog, dark water, and half-sunken towers covered in moss. The air hummed with quiet power, thick with stagnant Qi.
Mei Lian stopped. "This place feels… wrong."
Li Shen nodded. "It's not the land that's cursed — it's what sleeps under it."
They crossed a narrow bridge of rotted wood leading to the remains of a temple. Its gates were carved with unfamiliar symbols — half eroded, half alive, the words shifting like mist when looked at too long.
Inside, torches burned without flame, releasing pale smoke that spiraled upward. And from the shadows emerged men without voices — monks clad in black, faces hidden behind water-stained masks.
One stepped forward, pressing his hands together in silent greeting.
Li Shen bowed slightly. "We seek the truth of the Codex."
The monk wrote a single word upon the wet ground with his finger — "Why?"
"Because the world burns from what it doesn't understand," Li Shen said. "And the Codex feeds on ignorance."
The monk was still, then gestured for them to follow.
They descended into the drowned temple. Beneath the floor lay a vast underground hall, half filled with dark water. Lanterns floated like drifting souls. At the center stood an altar — and on it, a mirror of obsidian.
"The Blackwater Mirror," Mei Lian whispered. "Said to reflect not the face, but the soul."
The lead monk motioned for Li Shen to stand before it.
As he approached, the whispers inside him roared. The fragment within his chest glowed faintly — the lotus mark pulsing. The water around the altar rippled though no wind touched it.
Then, the mirror changed.
It did not show his reflection.It showed another him — older, eyes cold as stone, robes dark as shadow. Behind that reflection stood a figure without a face, wrapped in chains of light.
Li Shen staggered back, breath short.
The monk raised a trembling hand and traced glowing sigils in the air. A voice echoed — faint and distant, but real:
"You carry the Codex not as a guardian… but as its heir."
The air went cold.
Before Li Shen could speak, a sound cut through the silence — not thunder, but a sharp, wet slice.
The monk's head fell to the floor.
From the mist behind the altar stepped a tall figure dressed in white silk, his presence silent as a dying flame. His eyes were pale, his skin almost translucent — and in his hand, a curved blade that left no sound when drawn.
"The Qi of Silence," Mei Lian gasped. "A forbidden art."
The man smiled faintly. "You speak too loudly for this place."
He vanished.
A heartbeat later, Li Shen's blade met his in midair — the clash released no sound, only vibration. Every strike rippled through the water, creating waves of silent impact.
Mei Lian joined the fray, petals of Qi blooming around her like glowing shields. But the assassin's movements were fluid — soundless steps, vanishing strikes, killing intent so pure it felt like nothingness itself.
Li Shen closed his eyes briefly.The whispers inside him surged.
"Embrace the void, and silence will obey you…"
He exhaled, letting go of fear — and for a moment, his mind went perfectly still.
When the assassin struck again, Li Shen caught the blade between two fingers. Lightning flickered across his arm — not loud, not bright, but deep, like light beneath the ocean.
The assassin's eyes widened. "Impossible—"
Li Shen's strike came faster than sound. The man staggered back, his weapon splitting apart.
But instead of blood, black mist spilled from his wounds — and from that mist, a voice whispered through the temple:
"You cannot kill silence. You can only become it."
The assassin's form collapsed into the shadows, leaving behind only his blade — now dull and cracked.
Mei Lian steadied her breath. "He was guarding something."
Li Shen turned toward the altar again. The mirror now glowed faintly, and words began to etch themselves upon its surface — written in blood-red light.
He read them aloud quietly:
"The Nameless Master was not born — he was made.""He sought the Void to erase his pain… and instead erased his name."
The reflection in the mirror shifted again — now showing an image of the Nameless Master himself, kneeling before a vast void of stars, his hands burning with runes.
"He forged the Codex to trap the darkness within him," Li Shen whispered. "But the Codex became him."
The monks around them began to chant, their silent lips moving in rhythm. The temple trembled, water rising around them.
"Li Shen!" Mei Lian called. "The temple is sinking!"
He turned to her — but in that instant, the mirror cracked, releasing a blast of Qi that flung them both backward.
When Li Shen opened his eyes, they were outside — the temple gone, swallowed by the marsh. The rain had stopped.
In his hand, he held the assassin's broken blade. On its surface, faint characters shimmered — the third verse of the Void Codex.
He stood slowly, looking toward the horizon where the marsh met the clouds.
There, far away, a pillar of black light rose into the heavens — twisting like smoke, calling to him.
Mei Lian followed his gaze. "Another fragment?"
Li Shen's voice was calm, but his eyes were heavy.
"No. That's not a fragment."He sheathed the blade."That's where the Void itself begins."