The rain had stopped, but the smell of blood still clung to the air.
Jian Wu lay on the cold ground, breathing hard. His shirt was torn open, and the mark on his chest pulsed faintly with a dim blue light. Around him, the forest was silent, too silent. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Yue Shan knelt beside him, pressing his hand against Jian Wu's wound. "Don't move," he said, his tone sharp.
"Do I look like I'm moving?" Jian Wu muttered weakly, forcing a grin.
"Stop talking." Yue Shan frowned. "You've lost too much blood."
"I've lost worse," Jian Wu replied, trying to sit up.
The moment he moved, pain shot through his ribs. "Aargh..!" He clenched his teeth, his hand digging into the dirt. "It feels like fire inside me…"
"That's because it is," Yue Shan said, glancing at the glowing mark. "That symbol, it's not natural. It's burning your spiritual veins from the inside."
Jian Wu laughed bitterly. "Maybe the heavens decided to give me something special after all."
"Special?" Yue Shan snapped. "You call this special? You're dying!"
Jian Wu's smile faded. His eyes drifted toward the sky through the shattered canopy above them. The clouds moved slowly, their edges still glowing faintly from the lightning that had passed.
"I don't think the sky hates me anymore," he whispered.
Yue Shan turned to him, confusion written on his face. "What did you say?"
"The sky," Jian Wu murmured, "it's quiet. For the first time… it's listening."
Yue Shan didn't answer. He looked at his friend and saw something different, not madness, not pain, but peace. It scared him more than the wounds did.
---
They stayed there until the rain faded completely. When Yue Shan finally stood, his clothes were soaked with mud and blood. He grabbed Jian Wu's arm. "Come on. We need to move."
"Where?"
"To the Cold Sky Sect. They have healers. Maybe they can fix whatever that thing did to you."
Jian Wu chuckled weakly. "You mean the same sect that threw me out?"
Yue Shan didn't respond. He tightened his grip and pulled Jian Wu to his feet. "I don't care. You're not dying here."
Jian Wu stumbled, nearly falling, but Yue Shan caught him. Together, they moved through the forest, two silhouettes under the fading storm.
---
Hours passed.
By the time they reached the outer cliffs near the sect, dawn was breaking. The world looked washed clean, as if the rain had tried to erase everything that had happened.
But not everything could be erased.
The guards at the gate stared in shock when they saw Jian Wu. One of them whispered, "Isn't that… the boy without a core?"
Yue Shan glared at them. "Open the gate."
The guards hesitated. "He's forbidden from.."
"I said open it!"
Something in Yue Shan's voice made them obey. The iron gate creaked open.
Inside, the Cold Sky Sect looked peaceful, white stone towers, flowing waterfalls, the faint hum of spiritual energy. It was the same place that once called Jian Wu a disgrace.
Now he walked its path again, half-alive.
---
They entered the healing hall. Elder Lian, an old woman with silver hair tied neatly behind her, looked up as they approached. Her eyes narrowed. "You brought him back?"
"Please, Elder," Yue Shan said. "He's dying."
"I can see that," she replied coldly. "But this place isn't for the condemned."
Jian Wu coughed, blood staining his lips. "Condemned? That's a new title. I kind of like it."
Elder Lian frowned deeper. "You should have stayed gone. Whatever you touched, boy, it's not meant for this world."
"I didn't touch it," Jian Wu said. "It touched me."
Yue Shan took a step forward. "Elder, please.."
"Enough!" Her voice cut through the air. "If I heal him, that curse inside him will spread. Do you understand what that means?"
Silence filled the hall.
Then Jian Wu spoke, his voice calm. "If you don't heal me, I'll die here. If you do, maybe you'll learn something. Either way, I'm fine with it."
The Elder stared at him. There was no fear in his eyes, just a strange steadiness that didn't belong to a dying man.
Finally, she sighed. "Lay him on the stone bed."
---
Blue light filled the room as the ritual began.
Elder Lian pressed her palms together, murmuring an incantation. A circle of runes appeared beneath Jian Wu's body, glowing with soft energy. For a moment, the air trembled, then the light struck him.
"AAARGHH!" Jian Wu screamed, his body arching in pain. The mark on his chest flared, spreading across his skin like lightning veins.
"Hold him!" Elder Lian shouted.
Yue Shan pressed his arms down. "Stay with me, Jian Wu!"
"I.. can't.. " Jian Wu gasped. "It's too much!"
The light in the room grew violent, shaking the walls. The floor cracked beneath the ritual circle. Then, with a thunderous snap, the runes shattered.
The light vanished.
Jian Wu fell limp, smoke rising from his chest.
Elder Lian staggered back, breathing hard. "It's useless… The energy inside him rejects healing. It's not spiritual energy, it's something else entirely."
Yue Shan turned pale. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying…" she said quietly, "…he shouldn't be alive."
---
Minutes passed.
Then Jian Wu's fingers twitched.
Elder Lian's eyes widened. "Impossible…"
Jian Wu opened his eyes slowly. They glowed faintly , blue mixed with silver, shifting like the sky before dawn. He looked at his own hands, confused. "I can feel… everything."
Yue Shan leaned closer. "Are you.."
"Alive?" Jian Wu finished. He smiled weakly. "For now."
Elder Lian took a cautious step forward. "Boy… what did you become?"
Jian Wu didn't answer. He sat up, ignoring the pain. "When I was in that cave… I heard something."
Elder Lian frowned. "What did you hear?"
"A voice. It said…" Jian Wu paused, his gaze drifting to the window where the morning light entered. "It said I was chosen to be the vessel of emptiness."
The Elder froze. "Vessel… of emptiness?"
"The voice called it 'the core of nothing.' It said this world was too full of power, too much light, too much darkness. It needed balance."
Elder Lian's expression darkened. "You're talking about the Void Pulse. That's a forbidden force. It destroyed entire sects centuries ago!"
Jian Wu looked at her calmly. "Then maybe it chose the right person."
Yue Shan grabbed his shoulder. "You're not serious!"
"I don't have a choice," Jian Wu said quietly. "If I don't control it, it'll destroy me. And maybe the world along with me."
Elder Lian's voice trembled. "You can't stay here. The sect won't allow it."
Jian Wu stood. His body still weak, but his eyes steady. "Then I'll go."
Yue Shan looked torn. "Go where?"
Jian Wu glanced at the horizon. The sky was clearing, the storm finally gone. "To where the sky remembers me."
---
They left the sect before noon.
As they reached the mountain path, Yue Shan finally spoke. "Do you even know what you're walking into?"
"No," Jian Wu replied, his tone calm. "But for the first time, I think the sky might walk with me."
Yue Shan let out a long breath, shaking his head. "You're insane."
Jian Wu smiled faintly. "Maybe that's what makes me human."
The wind rose, brushing against their faces. The clouds parted above, revealing a streak of bright, blue. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rolled, soft, almost like laughter.
And as they disappeared into the mist, a faint glow pulsed across Jian Wu's chest again, like the heartbeat of the world itself.