The days after that night bled into each other.
Adam had expected suspicion. But he never thought the secret he knew were enough cause for imprisonment.
Old Bai had smiled when they left the room, calm and unreadable. But the next morning, Adam was taken. No trial. No warning. Just firm hands and cold stares. Two guards—faces hidden behind fur-lined hoods—escorted him across the village square, past silent homes and shuttered windows, to a part of Bai Village he hadn't known existed.
An underground prison.
The stone steps spiraled downward into damp air and silence. The cell they threw him into was small, no larger than a storage shed, with no window, no light, no sound except the distant dripping of water and the occasional echo of a guard's boot. He didn't fight them. Not even when they locked the iron gate behind him. Not even when they took his coat and left him in the cold.
He understood.
Old Bai had made his choice.
And Adam… Adam couldn't blame him.
He waited.
For the attack. For the flames. For the screams.
Days turned to weeks. Weeks to months.
Winter arrived in full. He knew it only by the freezing air that seeped through the cracks in the walls and by the faint scent of snow carried by guards when they brought him food.
He tried speaking to them. Pleading. Asking for an audience with Old Bai. Warning them again and again that danger was coming. But they ignored him—sometimes with pity, sometimes with disdain.
The more time passed, the more uncertain he became.
What if he was wrong?
What if something had changed? Or worse—what if this was the wrong life, the wrong time, and the attack would never happen?
Spring came.
He had lost count of the days by then. Lost count of the prayers and the silent screams. His muscles ached from lack of movement. His nails were cracked, and his body thinned, but his mind remained sharp—torturously so.
Throughout this period he kept trying to improve his martial cultivation. If he had been strong enough he wouldn't have ended up in this miserable situation, instead he would've solely relayed on himself to save everyone instead of seeking help. But his realm refused to budge, he was still stuck at the initial tier three stage.
He kept remembering Meiyue's death. Lin Yao's blood. The ashes. The smell of burning that never left his nose, even now.
And yet… nothing.
Old Bai had not visited once.
Even the three who once trusted him—Old Zhou, Lin Kuan, Madam Yue—remained silent.
Perhaps they had abandoned him. Perhaps they had all decided he was a liar, a threat, a madman.
After all he said the attack would happen the first weeks of winter, now it was spring already with nothing unusual happening.
While Adam felt the pain of losing the trust of those who believed in him, not to mention the possibility of spending the rest of his life forgotten in this prison. He didn't feel completely hopless, at least this way there was no attack, no fire and no losing what he held precious.
Then, one day—
BOOM.
The sound struck like thunder, shaking the walls of the underground cell. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the iron gate rattled in its hinges.
Adam's eyes widened. His body surged with adrenaline.
Before he could react, another explosion was heard, closer this time.
The ground beneath him quivered.
He ran to the bars, gripping them with trembling hands. "GUARDS!" he screamed. "It's happening! I told you—IT'S HAPPENING!"
No one answered.
A third explosion rocked the ground, and this time, cracks spread through the stone walls. A distant scream echoed from above.
The guard was gone.
Boom.
Stone split. A large slab collapsed near the back of his cell, and with it came a narrow opening—part of the wall crumbled under the pressure of the shaking earth.
Adam didn't hesitate. He clawed at the edges, forcing his way through the gap. Stones tore at his clothes and skin, but he kept moving, dragging himself into a narrow passage.
He climbed.
The stairs were half-buried under fallen rubble, but he forced himself upward, breathing hard, each muscle screaming in pain from months of disuse.
When he finally emerged into the daylight, he staggered forward and nearly collapsed.
His eyes widened.
The sky was red.
Or rather—the dome.
A massive, translucent dome of golden light shimmered over the entirety of Bai Village, flickering with runes and lines of power. Fireballs slammed into it like meteors, bursts of orange and white exploding on impact.
Each strike sent tremors through the ground. Smoke curled into the sky from buildings near the eastern edge. Screams echoed. And above it all, like the chorus of a nightmare, came the whine of talismans and the deep roar of qi techniques detonating in the air.
It had begun.
The attack.
Adam's chest tightened as he took a stumbling step forward. He had told them. He had begged them.
And still, this.
He broke into a run, heart thundering in his chest.
As he rounded the western road toward the village center, a figure dashed into view.
"Adam?! Is that you?"
Adam turned, breathless.
It was Hao—the boy who had once challenged him to a spar and ended up with a busted lip and a grudging respect. His face was pale, his forehead bleeding, but he was alive.
"Zhao!" Adam gasped. " What's going on?"
"The village is under attack!" Zhao Yun shouted over the sound of another distant blast. "We were caught off-guard. A few patrols spotted movement near the eastern barrier—but by then it was too late. They broke through using some kind of talisman! Like they knew how our array worked!"
Adam's blood turned cold. "I told them—"
"I know!" Zhao grabbed his shoulder. "They didn't listen. The elders delayed the hunt but didn't act beyond that. Thought you were just paranoid. We all did."
Adam clenched his fists. "Where are the elders now?"
"Village center. The elders and elite fighters were summoned to the plaza. The protective dome is holding for now, but it's weakening with each strike. They're trying to coordinate a counterattack. Meanwhile, children and the elderly are being evacuated into the inner sanctum, near the old sacred well."
Adam nodded and took off toward the center.
The streets were chaos—families running, men and women in armor racing past him toward the sounds of battle. He passed a collapsed home, flames licking at the edges, and helped a crying girl escape the wreckage. Her mother called for her from a nearby alley, and Adam moved on.
His legs burned.
Then he reached the square.
The heart of Bai Village.
It had once been peaceful—surrounded by tea stalls, training courts, and old banyan trees.
Now, it was a battlefield.
Old Bai stood at the center, flanked by Old Zhou, Lin Kuan, and Madam Yue. All four radiated terrifying power, their auras pressing down on the world around them. Circles of cultivators formed defensive lines, some channeling qi into the dome above, others standing guard near the secret tunnel behind the well.
Children huddled near it, guarded by robed warriors.
Adam ran toward the elders.
Lin Kuan saw him first. "You—!"
"Let him through," Old Zhou said quickly.
Adam didn't slow.
"There are more coming!" he yelled. "They'll break through the barrier soon! There's a girl here—Meiyue! They're after her. You have to hide her now!"
Old Bai turned slowly, and for a brief moment, their eyes met.
No hatred.
No suspicion.
Just grim recognition and a bit of guilt.
"…So you were right," the old man said quietly.
Before Adam could reply, the sky flashed white.
A final fireball struck the dome—and it shattered.
The golden barrier burst like glass under a hammer, raining down shimmering fragments of qi that fizzled into the air. A wave of heat and force blasted the square.
And from the smoke above the eastern hills…
They came.
In the sky was the young man blasting the dome with fire balls, but he wasn't alone.
Figures in black robes, red hems dancing like blood in the wind. Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Some walked on foot, others soared through the air on flying swords and strange machines that howled like metal birds.
Their leader was cloaked in crimson, face hidden beneath a silver mask.
Adam's eyes narrowed.
Him.
He remembered that mask. That stance. He was the leader of the masked men, the martial artists. He managed to push Old Zhou to the limit before losing.
Adam moved toward the elders. "You can't win this head-on," he said quickly. "They have numbers, strange weapons and magic artifacts. You have to—"
"I know," Old Bai said.
He raised a hand—and the village stirred.
From the earth, old inscriptions ignited. Hidden wards shimmered to life. The well behind them began to glow, revealing a passage extending far beyond Bai village.
Old Bai turned to Madam Yue. "Begin the evacuation."
She nodded and leapt toward the children.
Lin Kuan stepped forward, drawing his blade. "I'll buy you time."
"No," Old Zhou said, stepping beside him. "We fight together."
Adam looked to Old Bai. "What about me?"
The old man stared at him for a moment. "You've done enough. Get to the well."
"No."
"You'll die."
Adam clenched his jaw. "Then I'll die."
A pause.
Then—Old Bai smiled faintly.
"…Stubborn child."
Another explosion shook the ground.
The enemy had reached the village gates.
War had come to Bai Village.