The name hung in the air like a trigger.
Ge Ren.
The moment Qin Mian spoke it, the Rift reacted as if struck by lightning.
A blinding pulse exploded outward—
white, blue, violet—
so bright Yin Lie had to shield her with his entire body.
The ground beneath them cracked open into glowing fractures.
Floating pieces of the Rift-world began spinning like debris caught in a whirlpool.
Qin Mian's breath hitched.
Her hands trembled violently.
"I didn't mean to—
I didn't want to remember—"
"Mian, stay with me!" Yin Lie grabbed her shoulders, trying to steady her.
But the Rift didn't allow steadiness.
It screamed.
A high, metallic shriek tore through the air as if the dimension itself were crying out in pain.
The cracks in the sky tore wider, spilling rivers of white light.
The voice that once whispered gently now roared like a storm:
"ANCHOR—RETURNED—"
Yin Lie winced, tightening his hold around her.
"What did remembering his name do to this place?"
Qin Mian's face twisted with guilt and fear.
"I don't know…
But everything in here is reacting to the memory."
Another crack detonated across the horizon.
A massive shard of floating ground broke off and spiraled upward.
The Rift was collapsing.
Not slowly.
Not naturally.
It was tearing itself apart around them.
The Power Within Qin Mian Awakes
Qin Mian clutched her chest.
A faint blue glow spread from her ribs to her throat,
pulsing like a heartbeat that wasn't hers.
"Lie—
Something is opening—
Something inside me—"
Her voice cracked as her legs buckled.
Yin Lie caught her before she hit the ground.
Her resonance surged—
a spiral of dream-light erupting around her like a blooming flower made of starlight.
Yin Lie felt the pressure press into his bones.
"Mian… you're resonating with the Rift."
She shook her head desperately.
"No—
It's resonating with me.
It's changing because I remembered him."
The Rift responded with another violent tremor.
Pieces of the world fell upward—
not down—
as gravity reversed in patches.
Yin Lie pulled her closer, his arm wrapped tight around her waist.
"You're not facing this alone," he whispered into her hair.
"I'm right here. I'm not leaving."
The Rift paused—
as if listening.
As if angry at the defiance.
The Shatter Begins
Without warning—
the entire sky shattered.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The crack tore fully open, revealing a swirling void behind it—
a place of deeper darkness, deeper light, deeper meaning than the Rift itself.
Wind roared inward toward the void,
trying to swallow everything.
Qin Mian screamed as the pull yanked at her body.
Yin Lie tightened his grip until his arms shook.
"I've got you!"
Her fingers clung to his shoulders.
"Lie—if it takes me—
if I go near that place—
don't follow—!"
His voice sharpened instantly.
"I'm following you into every hell I have to."
The ground beneath them peeled away like broken tiles,
each piece flying upward into the void.
Yin Lie stepped onto a remaining platform—
the size of a dinner table,
floating wildly, tilting dangerously.
He braced them both.
But the Rift was far from done.
The Rift Speaks With a New Voice
A deeper voice emerged from the void.
Not the same one that called her name.
Not gentle.
Not familiar.
This one was ancient.
And angry.
"THE ANCHOR HAS RETURNED TO HER DESIGNATION."
Qin Mian froze.
The glow around her brightened.
"No—no, I am NOT returning! I didn't choose this—!"
"THE DESIGNATION CANNOT BE DENIED."
Yin Lie snarled:
"Stop talking to her like she's a machine!"
The void roared.
"THIS ONE WAS BUILT TO BIND."
Qin Mian's breath caught painfully.
"Bind… what?"
Yin Lie stepped protectively in front of her.
"Enough.
You're not taking her anywhere."
The voice shifted.
Low.
Dangerous.
"OBSTRUCTION IDENTIFIED."
White lightning shot toward Yin Lie.
He reacted instantly—
ice shield rising,
wolf-fire reinforcing it.
The blast hit him full-force.
CRASH—!!
He staggered backward, his boots sliding along the shattered platform.
Qin Mian grabbed him from behind.
"Lie!!"
He gritted his teeth, forcing the shield to hold.
The lightning cracked around them,
splitting the platform into smaller, floating pieces.
Qin Mian's hands shook as she held onto him.
"Lie, your power—
it isn't enough against that!"
He growled softly.
"Doesn't matter.
You're behind me.
That's enough."
The Memory Completes Itself
But the Rift wasn't finished.
The void flashed.
And suddenly—
the memory played again.
The chamber.
The bed.
Her younger self crying.
And the man—
Ge Ren—
holding her hand.
This time the memory wasn't foggy.
It wasn't blurred.
It was painfully clear.
Qin Mian gasped.
"I… remember everything."
Yin Lie turned toward her.
"Mian—?"
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
"Ge Ren didn't die because of me…"
The Rift trembled.
She clutched Yin Lie's hand.
"He died protecting me."
Her body glowed brighter.
Her resonance burst outward—
and the Rift started splitting even faster.
"Mian—what's happening?!"
She looked at Yin Lie with terrified clarity.
"My memory wasn't sealed by accident.
It was sealed because—
when I remember too much—
the world around me breaks."
The platform cracked beneath them.
The void pulled harder.
The ancient voice roared:
"ANCHOR—RELEASED—"
Yin Lie grabbed her face with both hands.
"Mian.
Look at me.
Stay with me.
Don't disappear into whatever they made you for."
Her tears fell onto his fingers.
"Lie…
I can't hold this alone…"
His forehead pressed against hers.
"I'm not letting go."
The Rift reached its limit—
and with a final, bone-deep scream—
it shattered.
Light consumed everything.
And both of them fell—
together—
into the collapsing void.
—Chapter 103 End—