The voice echoed through the underground chamber.
“Lin Xue.”
“Come back to me.”
Lin Xue’s blood ran cold.
He knew that voice.
There was no mistaking it.
Ji Chen.
The man he had once trusted with his life.
The man who had accepted the throne with blood on his hands.
The man who had watched Lin Xue drink poison.
Yet this was not the Ji Chen from his memories.
Not yet.
He was still the Crown Prince.
Still the man who smiled gently at court.
Still the person everyone believed would become a wise and benevolent emperor.
So why was he here?
And how had he found them?
Mo Yuan stepped forward, placing himself between Lin Xue and the passage.
His sword gleamed beneath the dim crimson light.
“Stay behind me.”
Lin Xue shook his head.
“No.”
Mo Yuan glanced back.
Lin Xue’s expression was unusually firm.
“If Ji Chen came all the way here, hiding behind you won’t solve anything.”
“I didn’t say you should hide.”
Mo Yuan’s gaze softened.
“I said stay behind me.”
Lin Xue almost smiled.
“You really are stubborn.”
“So are you.”
Before Lin Xue could reply, footsteps echoed through the passage.
Slow.
Measured.
Unhurried.
Then a figure emerged from the darkness.
Golden robes.
Long black hair.
A jade crown.
A familiar face.
Ji Chen.
Behind him stood more than twenty imperial cultivators.
Minister Zhao followed several steps behind.
But something was different.
Ji Chen wasn’t smiling.
His expression was cold.
Almost unfamiliar.
His gaze immediately landed upon Lin Xue.
Then shifted to Mo Yuan.
The temperature in the chamber seemed to drop.
“Move away from him.”
Ji Chen’s voice was quiet.
Mo Yuan didn’t move.
Lin Xue stepped forward.
“Why are you here?”
Ji Chen looked at him.
“I came for you.”
“Why?”
“You already know.”
“No.”
Lin Xue’s voice was calm.
“I don’t.”
Ji Chen stared at him for several seconds.
Then his eyes moved toward Lin Yue.
The moment he saw the ancient man, his expression changed.
“You.”
Lin Yue smiled faintly.
“Long time no see.”
Ji Chen’s face turned pale.
“You should be dead.”
“I was.”
Lin Yue’s gaze became cold.
“Just as you intended.”
Minister Zhao stepped forward.
“Your Highness, we should leave.”
Ji Chen raised a hand.
“Silence.”
His eyes never left Lin Yue.
“What did you do to the Oracle?”
Lin Yue laughed softly.
“I simply allowed the truth to surface.”
Ji Chen’s jaw tightened.
Then his gaze returned to Lin Xue.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing.”
Lin Xue’s expression hardened.
“Then explain.”
Ji Chen took a step forward.
“The Soul Lotus is not a blessing.”
“It is a curse.”
Lin Xue looked at his wrist.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to remember.”
Ji Chen’s spiritual energy suddenly surged.
Golden light flashed through the chamber.
Lin Xue’s vision blurred.
A memory struck him.
A palace.
A different palace.
A different life.
He was standing beside Mo Yuan.
Both were dressed in white ceremonial robes.
They were smiling.
Happy.
Then—
Blood.
Fire.
Mo Yuan falling.
Lin Xue screaming his name.
A blade entering his chest.
The memory vanished.
Lin Xue staggered.
Mo Yuan caught him.
“Lin Xue!”
He looked up, breathing heavily.
Mo Yuan’s face was filled with concern.
“I saw…”
He swallowed.
“I saw us.”
Mo Yuan froze.
“I know.”
“You saw it too?”
“Yes.”
Ji Chen’s expression darkened.
“Stop.”
His voice suddenly carried an unfamiliar force.
The Soul Lotus on Lin Xue’s wrist immediately reacted.
Crimson light exploded.
Ji Chen stumbled backward.
His eyes widened.
“No…”
Lin Xue stared at him.
“You can’t control it.”
Ji Chen’s expression became furious.
For the first time, the perfect mask cracked.
“Because it was never supposed to awaken this early!”
The words echoed through the chamber.
Everyone went silent.
Lin Xue’s eyes narrowed.
“Who told you about my rebirth?”
Ji Chen didn’t answer.
“Who?”
Still nothing.
Lin Xue stepped forward.
“Was it the Heavenly Oracle?”
Ji Chen’s expression changed.
“Or…”
Lin Xue’s gaze sharpened.
“…someone above it?”
The silence that followed was answer enough.
Mo Yuan’s hand tightened around his sword.
“Ji Chen.”
The Crown Prince slowly looked at him.
“You should never have returned.”
Mo Yuan’s eyes narrowed.
“Returned from where?”
Ji Chen’s expression became unreadable.
“From the place where you died.”
A strange pressure filled the chamber.
Ji Chen wasn’t simply talking about his previous life.
He was talking about something much older.
Something none of them fully remembered.
Lin Yue suddenly stepped forward.
“Enough.”
His voice carried ancient spiritual power.
The entire chamber trembled.
Ji Chen’s expression changed.
“You’re still protecting them.”
“I always will.”
Lin Yue raised his hand.
A golden formation appeared beneath Lin Xue and Mo Yuan.
“Go.”
Lin Xue looked at him.
“What about you?”
“I have waited a thousand years.”
Lin Yue smiled.
“Another few minutes won’t matter.”
A massive explosion suddenly shook the cavern.
The ceiling cracked.
Rocks began falling.
Minister Zhao shouted,
“The mountain is collapsing!”
Ji Chen turned toward him.
“Everyone retreat!”
Mo Yuan grabbed Lin Xue’s hand.
“Come!”
They ran toward the golden formation.
Lin Xue looked back.
Lin Yue remained standing alone.
Ji Chen stood opposite him.
For a moment, the two ancient enemies stared at each other.
Then Lin Yue whispered something.
Lin Xue couldn’t hear it.
But Ji Chen could.
The Crown Prince’s face went completely white.
The golden formation activated.
Light swallowed Lin Xue and Mo Yuan.
Just before everything disappeared, Lin Xue heard Ji Chen shout—
“LIN XUE!”
Then darkness.
When Lin Xue opened his eyes…
He was lying beneath a tree.
Moonlight filtered through the branches.
Mo Yuan was beside him.
Unconscious.
Lin Xue immediately sat up.
“Mo Yuan!”
He shook his shoulder.
No response.
His heart dropped.
“Mo Yuan.”
Still nothing.
Lin Xue placed two fingers against his wrist.
A heartbeat.
Weak.
But steady.
Relief washed through him.
Then he noticed something.
Mo Yuan’s hand was tightly gripping his sleeve.
Even unconscious…
He hadn’t let go.
Lin Xue stared at their hands.
A strange warmth filled his chest.
Then—
A golden feather drifted down from the sky.
It landed in Lin Xue’s palm.
Words appeared across its surface.
The first seal has broken.
Five remain.
Lin Xue’s expression changed.
Far above the clouds…
Six crimson stars appeared in the night sky.
One of them slowly faded.
Five remained.
And somewhere in the darkness…
Something ancient had begun to wake.
End of Chapter 14