The fog thickened along the riverbank, dimming the world into a muted grey. Even from the deck windows, the water outside looked like a sheet of dull jade.
"Sigh… this fog doesn't even let us enjoy the river view," the Princess murmured. She turned to the two quiet figures behind her. "Ghost Shade, why not return to the chambers for a while?"
Kiaria exhaled lightly. "Fine… you're right. Let's go inside."
Their footsteps echoed along the polished corridor as Princess Lainsa guided them deeper into the vessel's internal chambers. When they reached the core corridor, Chief Azriel was already waiting–arms crossed, expression unreadable.
"You're here. Good," he said.
The core chamber differed entirely from the outer halls–solemn, complex, its walls carved with layered array patterns that shimmered faintly. At the center floated a transparent cube, four feet wide, rotating slowly counterclockwise. Suspended inside it, untouched by gravity, was a green wooden vessel filled with luminous jade-green water. A warning sigil flickered above the box, its mirrored reflection trembling upon the surface of the water.
"This," the Chief began, "is something you must–"
Before he could finish, several elders rushed in. "Chief Azriel! The welcoming party is ready! You must come!"
He shot Kiaria a glance–clearly wanting to warn them of something–but the elders pulled him away before he could utter another word. The chamber door shut.
Kiaria and Diala stood alone before the rotating cube.
For a moment, silence.
Then they felt it: a subtle, persistent pull drawing them closer.
"…Do you feel that?" Kiaria asked.
Diala nodded, already stepping toward the box.
Both leaned in to look at the water.
They should not have.
The instant their reflections touched the surface, a mist rushed across the vessel–and their pupils flashed green. The illusion swallowed them instantly.
This was no illusion like the one in the Preceptor's Mansion. It did not deceive the eyes; it pierced straight into the heart. It dug through memories buried deep and dragged out wounds never healed.
Diala stiffened. Her father's last battle, her brother Orman's death, the cold mountain nights, the fear, the hunger, the helplessness–they all slammed into her at once. Her chest tightened. Her spirit trembled.
She failed the first trial.
The Water of Jealousy judged only one thing: Can you let go of your past?Diala could not.
Kiaria, however, remained unaffected. His past–sealed by the palace elders–was unreachable. The illusion found no path into him.
The water shivered. The entire vessel trembled, sending ripples of green light across the chamber. An intricate array appeared above Kiaria's head, and a miniature imprint settled on his forehead like a glowing seal. Gasps filled the room from wandering cultivators, but none dared approach.
The array expanded, then folded like a vortex–and swallowed both Kiaria and Diala.
To those outside, the two children shrunk rapidly, becoming tiny figures drifting inside the vessel. No one dared look closely. The warning sigil alone made them avert their eyes; curiosity could kill.
Inside the vessel, the world distorted. What appeared small from outside became massive–the wooden basin now a vast pool with shadowed edges stretching endlessly.
Both Kiaria and Diala still had green eyes, illusion-bound, walking unconsciously toward the pool–the fatal instinct pressed on all intruders. But the immortal blood within both pulsed awake. A resonance shivered between them, Kiaria's immortal blood stirring the dormant echo inside Diala. Their eyes cleared.
"Stay close to me," Kiaria said.
As the illusion broke, horror awaited them.
Hundreds of corpses littered the ground around the pool–faces frozen mid-scream, limbs twisted as though clawing for life.
Kiaria crouched beside one. The moment he touched the cold flesh, memories burst through him. His Fairy-Nature Essence revealed fragments of the corpse's life–treasure greed, betrayals, poisoning, fratricide, children killing siblings, relentless backstabbing.
He jerked his hand back. "…Too crazy. They killed their own loved ones for gain?"He shook his head. "It's too wicked."
Diala's heart tightened. "Still not as crazy as those from the mountains…"
Before the moment settled, the bodies twitched. Tendons snapped and reformed, muscles mended, eyes opened–empty and lifeless. The corpses rose and immediately attacked one another. Slashing, stabbing, strangling–reenacting the injuries Kiaria had seen.
They died. Revived. Fought again. Endlessly.
Kiaria pushed Diala behind him. "Stop!" he shouted. But none heard him.
"These movements… It's not self-will. Someone is controlling them," Diala whispered.
Kiaria nodded. "Not puppetry. Something emotional–hesitation in every strike. Not mind, but heart."
His gaze drifted to the water. "What binds the dead to this water…?"
He knelt, studying the ripples. Earlier, the water reflected the warning sigil clearly.Now, inside the illusion–it reflected nothing of him.
"Shade, try," he said.
Diala stepped forward. Her reflection appeared–and cried.
Her mirrored face twisted, whispering words not her own. "I saw Father… Brother Orman… and a wolf. But something else wrapped around Father like a cold veil. It wasn't him… no warmth. Only a fear I can't explain."
Her voice changed. Her eyes flashed green again–
–but the immortal resonance snapped her back.
Kiaria inhaled slowly. This water… plays on attachments.
He placed his palm on the surface.
The water trembled.
Then it spoke–through waves only he could hear:
I am the Water…The Water of Jealousy.
The ripples stilled.
A figure emerged in the reflection–not Kiaria, but a wandering spirit filled with suffocating resentment. Behind them, the corpses continued their eternal slaughter, driven by the unseen thread of that spirit.
Kiaria's eyes narrowed. "So that's it…"
He summoned his beast companion–the two-headed mutant with control over Time and Space. Trap it. Break its hold on these corpses. The beast obeyed, unfolding seven portals around the spirit like invisible snares.
The spirit paused.
Its mouth curled.
The portals shattered.
In a blink, the spirit blurred forward, striking the beast with a claw of condensed hatred. A shockwave cracked outward–the Water of Jealousy's protection dissolved.
The spirit finally saw them.
Its hollow gaze gleamed."Children," it hissed, layered with countless lost voices, "why meddle in the affairs of the dead?"
It drifted closer, oppressive and cold.
"This place is not for the living. Leave… before you disturb what should never rise again."
The weight of its stare locked the air around them.
"This is your only warning."
And the world inside the vessel fell utterly silent.