The gate opened.
Slowly, the crack widened, spilling white light that wasn't illumination but a wound carved into darkness. The radiance stabbed at Yan Zhi's eyes, yet carried no warmth—only a cold that seeped into his bones.
He stood frozen, lungs locked, heart pounding. Through every layer he had walked with shadows—whether as enemies, whispers, or weapons. But here, before this faceless threshold, he was truly alone. Even his shadow had refused to follow.
His first step fell heavy, though the void beneath his feet should have had no echo.
One step. Two.
Each footfall felt like carving new scars into nothingness.
The light pulled him in. He did not resist. Somewhere deep within, he knew: this was a summons he could never refuse.
Crossing the threshold, the world behind him vanished.
No earth. No sky.
Only a bottomless well of shifting shadow, pulsing like the heartbeat of an unseen colossus.
From its depths, the voices returned—not as whispers, but as cries.
Weeping. Thousands. Millions. Human, beast, and things that had never taken form in the living world.
The sobs wrapped around him, filling every space, piercing deeper than sound.
He clutched at his ears. Pointless. The cries weren't heard—they flowed directly through his blood.
His body shook. His eyes blurred with tears. For a moment, he wanted to scream: Stop!
But in that flood of lament, a truth revealed itself.
The Core of the Veil was no place at all. It was the collected grief of everything ever denied by the world.
And now, they demanded to be acknowledged.
Yan Zhi staggered, but pressed forward. If he halted, he knew he would drown in the wailing.
Until at last he reached a narrow platform suspended in the well's center.
The cries ceased. Silence fell.
Then a single voice spoke—vast, resonant, as though it poured from the mouth of the world itself:
"Yan Zhi… at last you arrive. Will you reject the world… or will the world reject you?"
His heart skipped a beat. His body trembled. But beneath the fear, a bitter smile touched his lips—cold, resolute.
"I no longer know the difference."
And with that, he stepped forward.
The sound of that step echoed into the endless well—
marking Yan Zhi's first stride into the Core of the Veil.
---