The air in the room seemed to thicken. Luo Chenxi's words still echoed in the stillness, like an unspoken warning lingering in the void.
Xuan Xingli slowly closed her eyes, adjusting her breathing. She focused on the rhythm of her heartbeat—an unfamiliar beat, as if it did not belong to her. The whispers from the darkness, the cold hand pressing against her heart… None of it could have been mere illusions.
"What do you feel?" Luo Chenxi asked, her voice low, her amethyst eyes unwavering as she observed every change in Xuan Xingli's expression.
A moment passed before Xuan Xingli opened her eyes. They were deep, unreadable. "Something… has left its mark inside me."
Luo Chenxi tilted her head slightly. She reached out again, this time pressing her fingers against Xuan Xingli's chest with deliberate precision. A thin stream of Xuan Yuan energy seeped from her fingertips, flowing carefully into Xuan Xingli's body.
In that instant, a sharp pain shot through Xuan Xingli's chest. Something inside her was reacting.
It was not just her heartbeat.
A strange force was stirring within her.
"There's a response." Luo Chenxi furrowed her brows, a glint of sharpness flashing in her gaze. "This is more than just a lingering shadow."
The moment she spoke, a chilling aura seeped from Xuan Xingli's body.
It was not wind.
It was not ordinary Xuan Yuan energy.
It was something else entirely.
The candle flames in the room flickered violently, twisting unnaturally as if an unseen shadow was distorting the space. The wind outside the window howled, causing the curtains to billow wildly, casting eerie shapes upon the walls.
"Stop." Xuan Xingli whispered, reaching out to grasp Luo Chenxi's wrist, halting the flow of Xuan Yuan energy.
Luo Chenxi frowned but withdrew her hand immediately.
The strangeness within Xuan Xingli was no longer just about her heartbeat or the fragments of memory that haunted her. Something had embedded itself within her, lurking deep in her flesh and blood, becoming a part of her.
And she… had no idea what it was.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the room, extinguishing the candles. For a brief moment, the chamber was swallowed by absolute darkness.
And then, the voice echoed again.
"Come back…"
Xuan Xingli clenched her fist. She no longer trembled as before, but the oppressive sensation of the darkness remained. It was not an external force—it felt like a part of herself was calling out.
Luo Chenxi stood motionless in the dark, but her gaze remained razor-sharp.
"Can you control it?"
Xuan Xingli did not answer immediately. She slowly opened her palm, feeling the unknown power surging through her veins. It was neither wholly malevolent nor purely benign. But there was one thing she was certain of—it did not belong to this world.
"If you can't control it, I will help you erase it." Luo Chenxi's voice was low but carried absolute certainty.
Xuan Xingli let out a soft laugh. "Do you really think it can be erased?"
Luo Chenxi did not respond.
Both of them knew—the entity that had woven itself into Xuan Xingli's essence would not disappear so easily. And perhaps, it was not something she was meant to erase.
It was something she had to face.
Outside the window, the moon was swallowed by dark clouds. The shadows grew deeper, as if foretelling an approaching storm…