Chapter 4: Find the Truth?
That night, the village was shrouded in an eerie silence, broken only by the distant hoot of an owl. Yùlíng lay awake, her mind swirling with the images of the shrine and the strange waters. The discovery weighed heavily on her—a doorway to the unknown, a bridge to memories she longed to understand.
In her restless dreams, she saw flickering visions: the old shrine glowing faintly, shadows dancing around it, whispering voices calling her name. She awoke with a start, sweat beading on her forehead, the moonlight casting silver shadows across her room.
Meanwhile, Zhēngfēng sat outside the shrine in the woods, eyes fixed on the water. His gaze was distant, haunted by memories he couldn't quite grasp. A sudden movement caught his eye—faint ripples disturbing the surface without any breeze or apparent cause.
He stood slowly, approaching the basin cautiously. As he peered into the water, a reflection appeared—faint at first, then clearer. It was a face, blurred and ghostly, staring back at him with hollow eyes.
Zhēngfēng's breath hitched. The face was unfamiliar yet eerily familiar. It beckoned him, whispering in a voice that seemed to echo from the depths of time.
"Help me," the reflection seemed to say.
Startled, Zhēngfēng reached out instinctively, but his hand passed through the water as if through mist. The face vanished, replaced by ripples that shimmered like broken glass.
He stepped back, heart pounding. "What is this place?" he murmured.
Back in her home, Yùlíng couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. The line between waking and dreaming blurred, and she sensed an invisible presence lurking just beyond her sight.
Suddenly, a faint glow appeared outside her window—a flickering light that danced like fireflies. She hesitated, then slipped out of her room, following the glow through the darkened village.
It led her to the edge of the woods, where the moonlight revealed a trail of shimmering particles floating in the air. She reached out a hand, watching as the lights swirled around her fingers, casting an ethereal glow.
A whisper brushed her ears, faint yet unmistakable: "Find the truth."
Yùlíng clutched her pendant tightly. Somewhere in the shadows, the secrets of her past—and perhaps her future—awaited her discovery.