"Not all records are meant to be read. Some are meant to be buried."
Part 1: Arrival in the Fog
On the forty-sixth day since their departure from Fogridge Crossing, the trio arrived at a sunken valley wrapped in grey mist.
Black pillars jutted from the earth like broken teeth, and between them stood the Black Reed Archives – an ancient structure partially collapsed, partially swallowed by wild ivy and time.
No guards. No lights.
Yet the moment they crossed the carved boundary stones, Li Wei felt it.
A presence. Old. Watching.
Mu Yan shivered. "Feels like stepping into a graveyard."
Yun Luo, pale but resolute, nodded. "It was once a neutral ground for wandering scholars. Then it fell silent. But one man still tends it."
Part 2: The Archivist
Inside, the halls were dark stone and dust. Scrolls layered on broken shelves. Ink stains on cracked tile.
A narrow stairway led them into the heart of the Archives.
There, by candlelight, sat a hunched old man with a long mustache, dipping a reed brush into golden ink.
He did not look up.
"Three come. One carries death. One carries lies. One carries truth without knowing."
His voice was thin, yet echoed clearly.
"Why do you bring Ashfire secrets into my house?"
Li Wei said nothing. Yun Luo stepped forward, holding the encrypted ledger.
The man stared at her. "The girl brings a book of names to a library of ghosts."
She offered the parchment.
He accepted it with cracked hands.
"I can read this. But the price is memory. One truth from each of you. Unfiltered."
Part 3: The Truths
Mu Yan laughed bitterly. "Fine. I abandoned my sect during a beast tide. Ran while others died. I never stopped running."
Yun Luo's face tightened. "I poisoned my own cousin to escape a forced marriage. She lived, but barely."
The archivist turned to Li Wei.
His voice dropped. "And you, butcher-child?"
Li Wei spoke softly. "I don't belong to this world."
Silence.
Then, the old man nodded.
"Truth accepted. Ink received."
He turned the scroll. His fingers moved with graceful certainty.
"Ashfire experiments. Root extraction. Spirit branding. Names of allies. Codes for smuggling routes through sect-neutral zones."
He looked up.
"They are building something. A vessel. A rebirth. You must decide whether to reveal this—or disappear."
Part 4: Echoes and Offers
That night, the trio stayed in a sealed reading chamber.
Yun Luo traced the names. Some were familiar. Some belonged to dead sect elders. Some matched bounty posters.
"If we publish this, we draw every blade in ten provinces," she murmured.
Mu Yan sharpened his saber. "If we don't, this all happens again."
Li Wei sat in silence, hand on his blade.
He opened his panel.
Experience Panel
Name: Li Wei
Age: 23
Cultivation: Martial Dao – Postnatal Realm (Late Stage)
Skills:
• Longevity Technique – Proficiency: (211/400) – Great Success
• Butchering – Proficiency: (124/200) – Minor Success
• Swordsmanship – Proficiency: (144/200) – Minor Success
• Bone-Cleaving Form – Proficiency: (43/200) – Minor Success
• Silent Severing Art – Proficiency: (38/100) – Beginner
• Falling Leaf Footwork – Proficiency: (8/100) – Beginner
Outside, the black reeds swayed without wind.
Something was coming.
End of Chapter 13