Chapter 34: The Thunder Beyond the Mountains
The mountain winds howled, carrying with them the scent of smoke and storm.
Ying Yue stood at the cliff's edge, her robes billowing like wings, silver eyes watching the horizon. That pillar of black mist—dark and unnatural—rose steadily from beyond the sacred range, where no mortal dared walk and even the immortals whispered in fear.
Bai Jiu came to her side, his expression grim. "The demon lord was only a fragment of what was sealed. The real threat... lies beyond that mountain."
She turned toward him, calm but determined. "Then we'll go to it."
He hesitated. "It's not just the darkness we must face. The gods... they will know you've awakened. They will come."
Her gaze didn't waver. "Then let them."
---
By nightfall, they had descended from the ruined lotus temple and crossed into the misted valley of whispers—a place untouched by time.
Here, even the stars were quiet.
A single sound broke the silence: the low tolling of a bell. Faint, but mournful. Echoing from a shrine nestled between crumbling trees.
Ying Yue followed the sound with certainty.
Inside the shrine, a blind old monk waited. His robes were ancient, worn thin with centuries. Though he could not see her, he bowed deeply as she entered.
"You have awakened."
"Yes," she said gently. "You knew I would."
"I was once your servant, in another life," he murmured. "Before the gods fell. Before the heavens tore."
She paused. "Then you know what lies beyond the mountains."
His lips trembled. "A gate. A broken one. Sealed by your last breath."
Behind her, Bai Jiu stiffened.
"Then that's where I must go," she said.
The monk reached for a small wooden box on the altar. "Before you do… take this. Your last memory."
Ying Yue opened the box. Inside lay a ring—simple, silver, marked with ancient script. The moment her fingers touched it, fire and frost rushed through her veins.
---
Suddenly, she saw it all:
A battlefield of gods. Bai Jiu—no, Xie Changye—was bleeding, holding her back as celestial soldiers closed in. She was screaming. There was light everywhere. And then... she ripped her own soul in two, forging the seal that trapped the darkness.
And him.
She had sealed him, too. To protect him. To save the world. But in doing so, she had lost everything—her memories, her powers, her heart.
Back in the shrine, her hand trembled.
"It was never just the demon," she whispered. "It was me. I was the key… and the lock."
Bai Jiu's voice was soft. "You sacrificed yourself. To protect me. And the world. I swore I'd never let you make that choice again."
Ying Yue clenched the ring in her fist. "Then come with me. We face this together."
---
The path to the gate was cruel and twisted.
Winds screamed with the voices of the forgotten. Old spirits rose from the ground like smoke, whispering her name in awe, in fear, in longing.
"You betrayed them," one ghost hissed.
"You saved them," said another.
Ying Yue walked on.
At the peak of the sacred mountain, the Gate of Heavens lay broken.
Once a celestial archway of gold and jade, it now stood cracked and blackened, veined with darkness. And at its center—chained by cursed light—was a figure.
A man.
Tall, regal, his long dark hair floating as if underwater. His eyes were shut, but even in sleep, he radiated agony.
Bai Jiu drew in a breath. "That's…"
Ying Yue nodded. "The First."
"The First what?"
"The first god born of mortal sacrifice. The one the heavens tried to erase."
She stepped forward. The chains trembled.
Bai Jiu grabbed her wrist. "Wait. If you break the seal—"
"I have to. He is the reason the darkness rises. Because he's waking, and the gods are afraid."
"And if he's not the same?"
She looked into his eyes. "Then I'll do what I must. But I need the truth first."
She raised the ring.
---
A pulse of light surged from it, striking the chains.
The sleeping god stirred.
And then... his eyes opened—golden, endless, filled with wrath and sorrow.
"You," he whispered. "You came back to me."
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