The night of Zhou Fang's birth should have been quiet—a rare, fragile lull in the endless churn of fate.
Within the Zhou estate, silence held sway, broken only by the newborn's weak cries. Zhou Tian sat beside Lin Moun, his chest still alight with the warmth of a father's pride. Their daughters slept peacefully in the adjoining rooms, unaware that above them, in the invisible reaches beyond the mortal world, forces older than time itself were stirring, watching, and waiting.
But peace is always fragile in a world where the immortal walks unseen.
Lin Moun's body suddenly stiffened. A sharp, searing pain ripped through her chest, her hands tightening around the infant. Her eyes widened in terror. Ancient seals, carved meticulously into her meridians to restrain the depths of her immortal cultivation, began to fracture, one by one.
"No…" Her whisper trembled, a thread of silk caught in a storm. Fear, raw and consuming, painted her pale face.
Zhou Tian surged forward. "Moun! What is happening?!"
Boom—
The suppression that had lasted decades erupted in an instant. An aura of unimaginable magnitude spilled from her body, saturating the estate with a presence that seemed to warp space and time itself. Walls quivered. The ground shivered. Stars above, unseen yet felt by the soul, trembled in acknowledgment.
Zhou Tian instinctively flared his power, his Tier-A Ranker aura spreading like a storm, trying to shield the infant. But even his immense strength felt inconsequential, a single flame struggling against the sun.
From the edges of the night, invisible observers stirred. Their awareness extended far beyond the mortal plane, detecting the fracture of a power that had been sealed for countless years.
She had revealed herself.
A presence manifested from the void beyond, colossal, cold, and unyielding. Its gaze struck not with justice, but with inexorable authority. In an instant, it locked onto Lin Moun, and the estate seemed to shrink under the weight of its scrutiny.
"You of the Lin clan… did you truly think you could hide forever?"
Zhou Tian barely had time to react before the figure reached out. Space warped violently as Zhou Fang was ripped from Lin Moun's arms. His cries cut through the night like a blade, raw and helpless.
"Stop!" Zhou Tian roared, unleashing his full power. The earth beneath him fractured. Waves of energy tore through the estate. Yet the figure's presence remained unshaken, implacable. Zhou Tian's attacks shattered against it like glass against stone.
The voice of the figure rolled through the night, deep and commanding:
"If you wish to see your child again, come to the Mang family. Only there will his life be preserved."
The rift closed. Zhou Fang was gone.
Silence fell, heavy and suffocating. Only Lin Moun's ragged breaths broke it. Zhou Tian's hands were bloody, the force of his desperate grasp leaving raw wounds. Rage and helplessness burned in his eyes.
"The Mang family… why them? Moun! What do they want with our child?!"
Lin Moun's expression remained unreadable. Her face pale, yet in her eyes burned a cold, resolute fire.
"Zhou Tian… watch over our daughters," she said softly. Beneath the calm lay a determination that no mortal force could sway.
Before he could intervene, her body disintegrated into a pillar of light. Ancient runes flared along her skin as she tore open a portion of her cultivation. Air shivered. Space bent. Her aura surged again, magnificent and terrible, though it exacted a dreadful price.
"Moun!" Zhou Tian shouted, panic lancing through him. "You'll destroy yourself if you do this!"
But she was already ascending. Wings of pure fire erupted, burning with a brilliance that seemed to fracture the night itself.
"For my child," she whispered, "even if it costs me everything."
With one motion, she tore through the rift, vanishing from the mortal plane. Behind her, the night sky closed, leaving nothing but silence.
---
Days Later
Zhou Tian lingered outside the estate, his figure still, the night wind biting. He had eaten nothing. Slept nothing. His daughters clung to him, confused by their mother's absence.
Then, faint light appeared.
Lin Moun returned, her body frail and wounded. Her aura, once impossible to contain, had dimmed, leaving only traces of its former magnitude. Blood stained her robes, tracing scars that were not of flesh, but of the soul itself. Her body trembled, but more from the wounds carried within than exhaustion.
In her arms, Zhou Fang slept, unharmed and alive.
Zhou Tian surged forward, holding his son, relief rushing through him. But when his eyes met Lin Moun's, he saw not peace, but farewell.
"Moun…" His voice cracked. "What happened? What did they do to you?"
She said nothing. Whatever had transpired in the distant, unseen reaches, whatever bargain had been forced upon her, she bore alone.
Instead, she gently pressed her hand to Zhou Fang's forehead. Her expression softened in a way Zhou Tian had rarely seen.
"Tian… tell him I am gone," she whispered.
Zhou Tian froze. "No… you cannot—"
Her finger brushed his cheek. "If he knows the truth, the Mang family will never let him go. Let him believe his mother has left. Only then will he be free from their shadow."
Her voice broke, but her resolve remained absolute.
Zhou Tian could not stop her. She became a streak of light, disappearing into the void. One last glance toward the rift, and she was gone.
The mortal world sank into silence once again.
---
The Weight of Silence
Zhou Tian stood, holding his son tightly, torn between grief and fury. He did not know what she had endured, what price she had paid, or why the Mang family had intervened.
But he knew one thing with absolute clarity:
He would uncover the truth.
He would tear through the heavens if necessary.
The Mang family's name would one day be carved in blood.
The mortal world had glimpsed only a fraction of what an immortal could wield. That fraction had already reshaped reality, marking Zhou Tian's destiny and warning him that some powers were beyond mortal comprehension.
---
Reflections in the Night
As he walked through the courtyard, the wind whispered bitter truths. The stars above, once calm, now seemed uneasy, as if aware that a storm had been set in motion. Zhou Tian's mind replayed the past hours over and over: the abduction, Lin Moun's unimaginable sacrifice, the Mang family's interference.
The mortal world was fragile. Strength alone could not protect what one loved. Lin Moun understood this. She had sacrificed herself not for glory, but for the chance that her child might live.
Zhou Tian exhaled slowly, letting the cold night air wash over him. In the distance, the cries of children reminded him why he fought. Zhou Fang would grow believing his mother was gone, but the truth—hidden in shadow and fire—would one day be revealed.
And when it was, the heavens themselves would quake.
Power, love, and vengeance are threads of the same tapestry. They stretch across worlds, invisible yet binding, and Zhou Tian would unravel every thread if necessary.
The shadows had struck first. But Zhou Fang, cradled in his arms, was a spark. A beginning of a reckoning no mortal or immortal force could contain.
Peace had ended.
The storm had begun.