Chapter 16: Echoes of Fire and Blood
The elder's crooked smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Turn back, Yanyu. You're dancing with shadows too ancient for a child to command."
Ji Yanyu's eyes flashed. "Then I'll become the storm they fear."
Lightning cracked in the distance. It was more than weather. The spiritual pressure in the air shifted.
Lin Ma placed his hand on Yanyu's arm.
"We didn't come to fight," he said evenly. "We came to ask questions."
The elder snorted. "Questions? This is the altar of betrayal. All that remains here is ash and regret."
> [System Alert: Host in Proximity to Key Location]
> [Sub-Quest Triggered: "Ashes of the Traitor"]
> Objective: Recover Echo of Ji Qian — Hidden Memory Fragment
Lin Ma didn't blink. "What did Ji Qian really do?"
The old man's eyes turned cold.
"He tried to unseal what should never be touched. He believed a curse could be reversed, that our bloodline's fate could be rewritten. He failed—and his ambition burned him alive."
Yanyu stepped forward. "He was your nephew. You stood and watched as they lit the pyre."
A long silence.
"I did what I had to," the elder replied at last. "And I would again. Some truths should remain buried."
Without another word, he turned and disappeared into the mist like a phantom.
> [System Notice: Presence Retreated. Enforcers Disengaged.]
Yanyu looked down at the center of the altar.
Lin Ma crouched, brushing away soot and moss.
A strange stone circle, carved with unfamiliar runes, sat nestled beneath the surface. His fingers tingled as he touched it.
> [Spiritual Touch Detected]
> [Activating Memory Echo...]
The world blurred.
His vision darkened.
And suddenly—he stood in a different time.
---
A Vision — Ji Clan Ancestral Grounds, Twenty Years Ago
The air smelled of oil and fire.
A young man with wild eyes stood atop the altar, robes torn, hands glowing with celestial flame.
"I see it now!" he shouted to the gathered elders. "The curse is not a punishment—it's a key!"
The crowd hissed in disapproval.
The elder who had confronted Lin Ma stood at the front, younger but just as cold.
"You defy our laws, Ji Qian."
"Your laws are built on fear! The seal is breaking, and we are unprepared! Let me finish what my mother started—"
"Silence!"
Chains of light wrapped around him.
He didn't resist.
Instead, he whispered, "Then let this blood remember. One day, she will return."
Flames consumed him.
But just before his body turned to ash, a flicker of light escaped from his chest—like a fragment of spirit torn loose.
---
Back to the Present
Lin Ma gasped, stumbling back as the vision ended.
Yanyu caught him.
"You saw it too?" she asked breathlessly.
He nodded.
"He didn't die in vain," Lin Ma murmured. "He left behind a fragment. A message."
He reached into the altar's center, past the circle of runes—and felt a pulse.
Warm. Alive.
He pulled it out.
A small crystal sphere, glowing faintly red.
> [Item Acquired: Echo of Ji Qian (Memory Fragment 1/8)]
> [Main Quest Updated: "Tomb of the Phoenix Curse – Phase II" Progress 1/8]
Yanyu stared at it.
"We need all eight," she said. "Then we'll know the truth."
"But they'll try to stop us."
She looked him dead in the eyes. "Let them."
---
Later That Night
Back at their hidden study chamber, Yanyu rolled out a clan map.
"There are whispers that Ji Qian once journeyed through the abandoned mausoleum beneath the southern peak. If his soul fragments exist... the next one might be hidden there."
"But it's sealed," Lin Ma noted. "And guarded."
She smirked. "That's why we won't go in through the front."
He raised an eyebrow. "You know a way in?"
She tapped the lower ridge of the map. "An old cave system runs beneath it. Mostly forgotten. Unless, of course… you've done your homework."
He grinned faintly.
"I studied every foot of this estate after they locked me in for those 'tests.'"
> [Skill Unlocked: Shadow Cartography – Mastery of hidden paths, tunnels, and clan terrain]
Yanyu gave a proud nod. "Then it's settled. At dawn, we descend."
---
Meanwhile — Deep in the Elder Chambers
The cold-eyed elder entered the inner sanctum.
Other hooded figures waited, forming a circle around a low fire.
"She's begun," he said. "Just as the prophecy warned."
A woman's voice replied, low and ancient.
"Let her dig. The deeper she goes, the faster she unearths her own ruin."
Another figure leaned forward. "And the boy?"
The elder's voice was flat. "A ghost from a forgotten line. But his soul burns too clean. We'll need to dirty it… before it remembers."
The fire crackled.
> [Parallel Objective Activated: "Break the Boy. Shatter the Bloodline."]
---
End of Chapter 16