Chapter 14 — The Whisper Beneath the Streets
Azure City slept beneath a false dawn.
The light filtering through the clouds was too pale, as if painted on the air. Every clock remained frozen at six a.m., and yet the smell of rain drifted through the alleys—a paradox only Gu Tian seemed to notice.
He moved through the silent avenues like a shadow among statues. The Temporal Seal kept the citizens suspended in loops of routine, safe from the Abyss but unaware they had been saved. It also meant he was alone with the echoes.
> [System Status]
Stability Field: Active (72 hr)
Netherworld Sync: 42 %
Abyssal Residual Energy: Localized — Sub-terrane Zone 07]
"Underground, then," he murmured.
He crossed the old district where glass towers gave way to concrete and rust. At the mouth of a forgotten subway entrance, vines of black mist curled upward, brushing against the ceiling like breath. The sign above the stairs still read Line 7 — City Center ⇄ Harbor, though the harbor had been closed for years.
Each step down resonated with a deeper heartbeat. Thump… Thump… Thump…
At the platform's edge, he stopped. The rails had turned liquid—silver-gray, reflecting faces that weren't his. The reflections whispered fragments of dreams: childhood memories of strangers, confessions never spoken, every secret buried in the city's collective unconscious.
> [Warning: Conscious Residue Detected]
[Containment Level — S Class Anomaly]
Gu Tian extended his palm. Netherlight poured forth, weaving into spectral chains that anchored themselves across the tunnel walls. The System translated his intent into law: Dreams have no dominion here.
The whispers shrieked, merging into a single tone. From the rails rose a shape built of static and sorrow—humanoid but unfinished, its limbs twisting like smoke.
"The Conductor," Gu Tian identified. "A warden left behind by the Abyss to guide lost souls."
The being's hollow voice echoed:
> "The Abyss remembers its rivals. You are not meant to guard this cage."
"I am the cage," Gu Tian replied quietly.
He snapped his fingers. The entire station inverted—floors became sky, gravity a suggestion. The Conductor tried to flee into the mirrors, but the Netherworld Authority sealed every reflection. With one motion, he compressed the anomaly into a marble of darkness and flicked it into his palm.
> [Containment Complete]
[Absorbing Memory Core … Success]
The marble dissolved, leaving behind a flicker of vision: an image of a colossal gate buried deep beneath the city, carved with runes that pulsed like living veins. From beyond it, a faint melody played—a lullaby that was also a warning.
Gu Tian blinked the vision away. "So that's your heart, Azure City."
He rose through the tunnels, surfacing in the central plaza. The rain had begun—gentle, steady, and black. Each drop hissed as it touched the ground, eaten by invisible fire.
> [System Note]
Abyssal Rain = Physical Manifestation of Dream Residue]
Threat Level: Moderate]
He extended his aura, letting the Netherlight dissolve the corruption mid-fall. The raindrops turned silver before vanishing. But as the last one faded, a voice—soft and human—spoke behind him.
"You shouldn't fight it alone."
Gu Tian turned. A woman stood beneath the clock tower, holding a black umbrella. He recognized her instantly though she shouldn't exist here—Li Shen, his classmate from the world before transmigration, someone who'd died long ago.
For the first time in countless cycles, Gu Tian hesitated.
"Impossible," he whispered. "You were never part of this world."
Li Shen smiled faintly. "Maybe this world just remembered me for you."
The rain stopped. The city held its breath. The System fell silent, unable to classify her.
Gu Tian's pulse matched the distant one again. Somewhere under his feet, the sealed gate began to stir.
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