Ho Lam Uyen walked ahead of them, her steps steady, her voice low yet tinged with pride.
"On the left, that is the stone table of Heaven's Fracture. Upon it, and scattered across the ground, lie the records of the society. It is where strategies are drawn, where decisions are carved into fate."
Khanh and Vy followed, their eyes widening. The table loomed, carved with ancient Asian motifs—solemn and austere—yet buried beneath layers of parchment, scrolls, and brittle bamboo slips. The air around it carried the weight of countless councils past, as if the echoes of old debates still lingered.
On the other side, Ho Lam Uyen gestured.
"To the right is the purification lake. We use it to cleanse, and to rest."
The water gleamed faintly in the dim cave light. Beside it ran a narrow stream, cascading like a thin waterfall into a hollow pool. Beneath that steady flow sat a young man in meditation. His robes were luxurious, fit for an old noble house of Vietnam. His figure was plump, his skin pale as milk; hair fell long at the back while his forehead had been shaved bare. Khanh, glancing at him, thought to himself: Though he looks older and larger, he can't be much beyond my own age.
"That is Vu Minh Triet," said Ho Lam Uyen softly. "He tempers his spirit in silence."
Not far from the stream, a towering figure swung an immense wooden great blade. Each arc of his training cleaved the air, sending shockwaves like bursts of storm wind. The force rushed past Khanh and Vy, ruffling their clothes as though the gale might tear them apart.
"That is Vo Tinh Hai," she continued. "His mastery of cold steel turns every motion into a storm."
Vy's hand clenched into a fist at her side. Her knuckles blanched white, her eyes wide with a mix of dread and reverence. Around them, the cave stretched vast and endless, layer upon layer of stalactites catching stray shafts of light, a thousand fragments of brightness in the shadows.
They pressed on. The further they walked, the more the cave seemed without end, a hollow world unto itself. Finally, Ho Lam Uyen stopped before another chamber.
"This is the weapon-crafting hall. Here, you will find La Diep and Bui To Nhu."
Khanh's eyes first fell upon La Diep. His body was gaunt, skin drawn tight over bone. One eye was covered by a contraption of lenses—round, square, and triangular—linked in a strange lattice. In one hand, he held a jagged lump of metal, like a broken stone picked off a street. In the other, a bundle of tattered papers, yellowing and brittle with age. His expression, when he noticed Khanh, was almost childlike—a sudden spark of delight, as though he had stumbled upon a new discovery. His pupils dilated, his lips curled in a faint, amused smile.
The chamber itself was crowded with tools and secrets. A great map of Dai Long stretched across the wall, its surface marked with miniature models and strange symbols, as though charting the movements of forces unseen. In one corner stood a vast birdcage, and inside perched a black crow, large and brooding, its eyes cold as embers.
Ho Lam Uyen drew breath to continue, but a sharp voice cut across her words.
"Where is Vu Minh Ly?" Bui To Nhu's tone was ice. "I can feel his hidden aura here, yet he is not present."
Ho Lam Uyen smiled awkwardly, forcing calm into her reply.
"Perhaps… he carries burdens unspoken. That is why he has not come."
Bui To Nhu's expression hardened, her voice low.
"He hides and hides… such a path cannot last. A new decree of pursuit has already been issued, fiercer than before. Yet, since he brought these ones here, he must have planned his moves. There is no need to fear for him."
Khanh faltered, his steps slow, his throat tight. His hands trembled as he drew out the scroll Vu Minh Ly had entrusted to him. His words cracked as they left his lips:
"Vu Minh Ly… is dead."
The chamber fell silent. Bui To Nhu stared at him, disbelief flashing into rage. Her face drained pale, her jaw set, as though invisible hands had seized her throat.
In the next breath, a killing aura burst from her—terrifying, suffocating. A wave of spiritual energy surged forth, dark green laced with streaks of black, pressing upon the chamber like the weight of a storm. Khanh and Vy staggered, as if caught in a gale that might crush them where they stood.
Before Ho Lam Uyen could move to stop it, Khanh—who was the focus of that fury—suddenly found himself seated upon a green chair that had manifested out of nothing.
Bui To Nhu advanced. Her hand, slender but roughened by labor, shot forward. Her thumb pressed tight against Khanh's brow.
"Reverie Mirror"
Khanh's vision tore open. It was as if his soul had been ripped from him, struck by an impact vast as an army of souls flooding into his body. The weight was unbearable. His mouth opened in an involuntary cry:
"Aaaaaaaah—!"
Bui To Nhu's gaze burned, her eyes lit with power. Through them, the world unfolded: the moments before, the moments after—the truth of everything that had bound Khanh to Vu Minh Ly.