As they ventured deeper into the forest, the air grew heavier—far heavier than it should have been.And it wasn't because of the creeping fog weaving silently between them.Yes, it was foul… but the fog was not the true cause.
It was the spirits.
Those suspended souls hanging from the branches as if the trees had adorned themselves with human earrings, inhaling the memories of the dead and exhaling nothing but the scent of forgotten corpses.
A strange, unsettling scene.
Towering trees rose around them, their trunks wide like ancient pillars and their crowns swallowed by layers of shadow high above. From those crowns hung translucent cocoons—smooth, delicate, almost spun from light itself. Inside them were bodies… or what remained of them. Frozen imprints of extinguished lives, preserved in a tableau terrifying enough to be called dark art.
Huo Feng walked at the front, her steps unusually steady for someone known to move with a dancer's lightness. Meanwhile, Li rested between her strands of hair, like a wanderer who had searched too long for a homeland—only to finally find it there. His quiet voice whispered into her ear, untouched by the gloom around them, as if this place remembered him more than the souls who once lived within it.
Only Wu xin dragged his feet behind them, breathing in pain, forcing back a weakness he desperately wanted to release. The parasite inside him gnawed at his spirit like a cold ember—burning without smoke, without ash, but relentlessly from within.
Then, something impossible happened. A tiny honeybee—soft, harmless—appeared out of nowhere in a world utterly void of gentleness. It circled Wu xin insistently, hovering before his eyes as though carrying a message only he could understand. He lifted his gaze to it, and a quiet, aching longing flickered within him… a longing he didn't know how to name.
Is she… alright?The traitor he once knew. The one who had tried to save him.
Huo Feng watched him closely—and her heart clenched.Did he… remember?That painful, distant day when she tried to warn him… before he punished her?Before he crushed her between his fingers?
In that moment, the wound inside her—one she thought long dead—split open again. Wu xin reached toward the bee, thinking it might be his salvation. But Huo Feng's voice cut through the air first—sharp, furious:
"Leave her alone!"
She stepped toward him, her breath catching with disappointment.
"She's trying to tell us something."
The bee seemed to understand. It rose, then flew ahead in a calm urgency, guiding them like a creature carrying memory on its wings. It led them to a massive tree at the forest's heart, its branches heavy with honeycombs—identical, silent… except for one. Only one hive glowed faintly, as if light had chosen it—and only it—to inhabit. It was pure beauty, a shape sculpted from innocence itself.
Wu xin approached, entranced, lifting his hand to touch a golden droplet shimmering on its surface. The bee panicked instantly, darting in front of him in a frantic attempt to stop him.
"Move," he snapped—then struck it away without thinking.
Huo Feng rushed forward, catching the tiny body in her hands as though cradling her own heart as it shattered once more. Her tears weren't for the bee—but for the memory that had returned to whip her soul. Li said nothing. Wu xin pressed a trembling hand to his chest, gasping.
"Wh… what is happening to me?"
Huo Feng lifted her face, speaking from a wound born ages ago:
"Step back.Don't you understand?It's poison.She was warning you… you fool."
Wu xin froze. His eyes flickered with a strange mix of joy and regret.
"Yes… poison, not perfume."His voice was hollow."I was wrong before… those cursed drops of ink—"
She cut him off:
"No.The ink didn't reveal anything new.It simply exposed what was already there:You never trusted me."
Silence fell—deep, suffocating, endless. Then Li finally spoke, his voice sharp as a blade:
"At last… the serpent shows itself."
Huo Feng spun around. At first she saw only the towering tree in the heart of the Shadow Kingdom.She looked closer—and there it was.
A serpent curled around the trunk like a ring of light. Huge… yet not frightening. Its glow was not harsh, but calm—like a half-born sun. Its body radiated a sacred clarity that felt like peace, and even its venom held a strange tenderness… as if it understood sorrow.
It opened its amber eyes and met Huo Feng's gaze. Not in challenge— but in recognition.
For a brief instant, she felt she had known it for ages—bound to it by an ancient appointment.She could have sworn… it smiled.
But the moment shattered when Wu xin staggered. The parasite drained him relentlessly, pulling strength from him drop by drop. He tightened his grip on his sword, trying to stand, though his body was crumbling.
The serpent sensed his weakness—smelled the parasite within him. It turned toward him slowly… breath after breath… like a predator approaching a sleeping prey. And in a flash—it struck.It coiled around his neck, searching for the path to his throat where its victim hid.
"Huo Feng!"Li's voice echoed inside her—not beside her ear, but within her very soul.
"Wake up."
But her heart was frozen between fear and helplessness.
"I'm… not under a spell," she whispered."I'm just… afraid."
"Afraid it will devour you?Or afraid to watch it swallow Wu xin like ripe fruit?"
Li's voice was calm— because he knew she could act. And because he knew Wu xin would die if she didn't. She inhaled—and stepped forward.
Air swirled around her in a whirl of ash and light, making even the serpent's glow tremble at her gaze. It wasn't a human gaze entirely; it was fear, mercy, and a fury that refused to become flame. She raised her right hand. A violet cloud burst around her, the sacred furnace materializing between her palms in a flicker of hesitant brilliance. She didn't want to hurt the serpent… She only wanted to save Wu xin.
The serpent lunged like lightning...She blocked it with a surge of violet fire. Light clashed with flame midair— venom against radiance, darkness against glow. The great tree trembled, releasing gray sparks into the sky as though celebrating the end of something ancient.
The serpent writhed between fire and light. Huo Feng staggered backward, sweat shining on her brow like hot dew. Then its voice echoed inside her:
"I will not retreat… unless you promise to grant me my wish."
She didn't even ask. There was no room in her heart for questions. In a quiet voice, she answered:
"I promise."
Everything stilled.
The serpent bowed, glided closer, and whispered its secret in her ear. Her eyes widened with a sudden, unexpected joy.
Then its luminous body stretched into a ribbon of starlight and flowed into her palm—disappearing as though her hand had become a cradle for a creature born from an ancient dawn.
Wu xin collapsed to his knees, gasping, while the violet flames slowly faded. Li—silent between her hair—simply watched.