Location: Broken Moon Wastes, Northern Frontier
The night was cold and unnaturally quiet. No beasts stirred, no winds whispered. Only the sound of shifting fabric echoed across the desolate plains.
A crescent-shaped obsidian portal tore itself open in the ground. Out of it stepped five cloaked figures, faces hidden, breath silent. At their center walked a man with hair of silver and a mask of polished glass:
The Mirror Saint.
> "It has begun," he whispered. "The child has awakened the Hollow Lotus."
Behind him, the cloaked ones bowed low.
They were the last remnants of the Silent Sect—the original pioneers of Void Cultivation, thought to have been eradicated centuries ago by the seven great clans, including the Qin.
> "The world is not ready," one of them said.
> "That is not our concern," the Mirror Saint replied.
"We only need to ensure the Lotus blooms completely. The Void must consume the rot of this world… before it can birth something new."
---
🏯 Qin Estate – Night
In his study, Qin Huaian stared at a map of the continent. Red ink marked threats. Circles marked safe zones. But it was the center—the Void Scar north of Mount Tian—that held his gaze.
> "If what Yuanhe says is true…" he muttered, "...then the Silent Sect never died."
Xiaoxiao stood behind him, arms crossed.
> "If they come for Fenglan or Meiyue…"
> "They won't succeed," Huaian said coldly, rising to his feet.
"They may be ghosts of the past, but we are the living future. And I will burn them with both flame… and void."
---
🌒 Meiyue's Nightmares Begin
Meiyue curled up in her bed, breath ragged. The moment Fenglan vanished days ago, something within her had changed. Now she saw visions in her dreams.
Tonight, a single phrase echoed in her ears:
> "Don't speak. Listen."
She found herself walking inside a black mirror corridor. At the far end stood a young woman—her face was Meiyue's, but twisted and older, eyes blank and mouth sewn shut.
> "Who… are you?" Meiyue whispered.
The mirror-woman reached out and placed a hand on the glass, and a stream of symbols and foreign chants poured into Meiyue's mind.
She awoke screaming.
---
🔥 Fengyuan's Past Revealed (Through Yuanhe's Memory)
Inside his meditation cave, Yuanhe burned incense before an ancient scroll sealed with black wax. It was a forbidden artifact—one that held the memories of Fengyuan, the long-lost grand elder of the Qin.
He bit his thumb, broke the seal, and let the memory flow.
> "The Void isn't evil," Fengyuan's voice echoed. "It is simply honest. It strips away lies, illusions, time. It's the end of all delusions."
In the vision, Fengyuan stood before a burning capital—alone, bleeding, surrounded by thousands of corpses.
> "The seven clans feared it because it showed them what they really were."
Yuanhe wept as the vision ended.
> "So that's why you left… you wanted to protect them… by becoming the villain."
---
🧥 Mirror Saint's Prophecy to the Sect
In the center of a blackstone temple, the Mirror Saint addressed his cloaked followers:
> "The Hollow Lotus will blossom in three phases: Flame, Grief, and Silence.
The boy has entered the first.
The girl… is the key to the second."
He raised a hand, revealing a crimson mirror shard floating mid-air.
> "Send word to the Nightless Abyss.
The hunt begins now."