Chapter 12: The Woman Waiting in the Present
The past is not always something left behind.
Sometimes, it is something that has been waiting for you to catch up.
A Letter Written Forty-Three Years Too Late
The fourth chamber fell silent.
Mu Cang stood before the open wooden box, holding a letter with both hands.
His white hair hung loosely around his shoulders. His weathered fingers trembled as he read the final sentence again.
I am waiting for you in the present.
Forty-three years.
He had spent forty-three years searching for a woman everyone insisted had never existed.
He had searched abandoned libraries, questioned retired scholars, and traveled through places whose names had changed so many times that even their inhabitants no longer remembered their origins.
Eventually, he had stopped telling people whom he sought.
It was easier to be regarded as an eccentric old beggar than a scholar obsessed with someone the world had forgotten.
Yet now, in the depths of an ancient ruin, he held a letter bearing the current year's date.
A letter written in Shen Yulan's handwriting.
A letter addressed directly to him.
"She's alive," he whispered.
Lin Qingyue looked at the paper.
"Old sir..."
"She must be."
Mu Cang looked toward Ye Wuchen.
"Young man, she knew we would return. She knew the year. She even knew I would find this letter!"
Ye Wuchen examined the envelope.
The seal had been intact when Mu Cang opened it.
The handwriting matched the earlier letter recovered from the Hall of Witnesses.
But those observations did not establish when the letter had actually been written.
Nor did they establish whether Shen Yulan was still alive.
"Read the rest," he said.
Mu Cang blinked.
"The rest?"
"Yes."
The old scholar looked down.
He had been so overwhelmed by the first two sentences that he had barely noticed the writing beneath them.
He steadied his hands and continued.
"You will have many questions. I cannot answer all of them in a letter, and there are things I still do not understand myself."
His voice grew quieter.
"If Han Zhen has returned with you, tell him that the room was not a prison. I am sorry we could not explain that before the door closed."
Han Zhen stiffened.
"She knew?"
Mu Cang continued.
"I left the fourth chamber after completing the testimony comparison. I did not leave the ruins by the mountain entrance."
Lin Qingyue's expression changed.
"Another exit?"
Ye Wuchen listened carefully.
"There is a passage beneath the western wall. It opens only when the testimony board contains seven confirmed witnesses. Do not attempt to force it. The mechanism is older than our expedition, and I do not know what lies beneath its foundations."
Mu Cang paused.
Then read the final paragraph.
"If you find this in the year 4,317, go to the city of Lanyue, west of the Northern Wastelands. Find the old observatory beside the dried lake. There will be someone there who can tell you what became of me."
The letter ended with a familiar signature.
Shen Yulan.
Beneath it was a small drawing.
A plum blossom.
Mu Cang stared at the flower.
"She always signed her private letters like that."
Han Zhen leaned closer.
"Old Mu, are you certain?"
"Absolutely."
Mu Cang smiled faintly.
"She once told me that if anyone forged her handwriting, they would probably forget the flower."
Ye Wuchen looked at the signature.
A useful identifying detail.
Not conclusive proof, but useful.
He examined the envelope again.
The date had been written in the same ink as the address.
However, something about the paper was unusual.
Its fibers contained a preservation technique he had not encountered elsewhere in the ruins.
It was neither particularly advanced nor especially powerful.
But it had been applied with extraordinary precision.
"System."
[Yes, Host.]
"Analyze the letter."
[Analyzing.]
[Material age: Indeterminate.]
[Preservation technique detected.]
[Technique classification: Unknown.]
[No active spiritual communication mechanism detected.]
Ye Wuchen nodded.
The letter was not transmitting information from elsewhere.
Whatever its origin, it was simply a physical document.
Mu Cang carefully folded it.
"Then we should go to Lanyue."
"Eventually," Ye Wuchen replied.
The old scholar looked at him.
"Eventually?"
"We still have several unanswered questions here."
"But Yulan—"
"May be waiting."
Mu Cang fell silent.
Ye Wuchen continued calmly.
"The letter does not say she is waiting at the observatory. It says someone there can tell you what became of her."
Mu Cang's expression slowly changed.
He looked down at the paper.
Then read the sentence again.
His earlier excitement faded slightly.
"You're right."
Han Zhen placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Old Mu, we've found more today than we found during the entire expedition."
Mu Cang looked at his friend.
Han Zhen smiled.
"We can afford to be careful."
The old scholar took a long breath.
Then nodded.
"Yes."
He folded the letter and placed it safely inside his robes.
"But we are going to Lanyue."
Ye Wuchen glanced toward the ancient stone board.
"Of course."
He had become interested in the city himself.
Not because of the promise of a reunion.
But because someone had left a message dated to the current year, inside a chamber that had apparently remained concealed for decades.
And because the message pointed away from the ruins.
For the first time, the investigation had acquired a destination beyond the mountain.
The Seventh Witness
Lin Qingyue approached the testimony board.
Seven columns stood beneath the inscription:
TESTIMONY COMPARISON — EXPEDITION SEVEN
Five names remained visible.
Mu Cang.
Han Zhen.
Shen Yulan.
Lu Wen.
Chen Shuo.
The final two columns were blank.
"Fellow Daoist Ye," she said, "the letter mentions seven confirmed witnesses."
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"Yes."
"But two names are missing."
"Correct."
"Then how did Shen Yulan leave through the western passage?"
Ye Wuchen examined the board.
"A good question."
Mu Cang joined them.
"Perhaps she remembered the missing names."
"Possibly."
Han Zhen looked toward the empty columns.
"Or perhaps the board once contained all seven."
Lin Qingyue considered that.
"If the names disappeared afterward, the passage might have closed again."
Ye Wuchen studied the formation beneath the board.
The structure was more intricate than it first appeared.
Seven independent channels connected the columns to a central mechanism.
Five remained faintly active.
Two were dormant.
Yet the central mechanism showed signs of previous activation.
He looked toward the western wall.
There, beneath a layer of ordinary stone, lay a narrow passage.
It had been sealed.
Not destroyed.
Sealed.
"Someone opened it," Ye Wuchen said.
Mu Cang approached.
"Can you tell when?"
"No."
"Can you open it?"
"Probably."
Lin Qingyue looked at him.
"Didn't the letter warn us not to force it?"
"Yes."
"Then..."
"I'm not going to force it."
He approached the board.
The seven channels formed an identification array.
But unlike the previous doors, this mechanism did not simply respond to a name.
It required evidence associated with each witness.
Ye Wuchen examined the five active columns.
Then turned toward Mu Cang.
"Your pendant."
Mu Cang removed it.
Ye Wuchen indicated a small depression beneath the first column.
"Place it there."
The old scholar obeyed.
A faint light appeared.
WITNESS ONE: CONFIRMED.
Han Zhen stared.
"That worked?"
Ye Wuchen nodded.
He looked toward the younger scholar.
"Do you still have the inkstone from your expedition?"
Han Zhen frowned.
"My inkstone?"
"The one you carried."
Han Zhen reached into his storage pouch.
After searching for a moment, he produced a small, damaged inkstone.
Mu Cang's expression changed.
"That's the one!"
Han Zhen looked confused.
"What?"
"The one we saw in the Hall of Witnesses."
Han Zhen examined the object.
Then shook his head.
"No. This is mine."
Mu Cang frowned.
"But I thought..."
He stopped.
Ye Wuchen looked at the inkstone.
The object in Han Zhen's hand was similar to the one displayed in the Hall of Witnesses.
But not identical.
The cracks were different.
The material was slightly darker.
Mu Cang had mistaken one for the other.
An ordinary error.
Yet in these ruins, even ordinary errors deserved attention.
Ye Wuchen examined the second column.
"Place it there."
Han Zhen obeyed.
The board illuminated.
WITNESS TWO: CONFIRMED.
Lin Qingyue looked toward the remaining columns.
"What about Shen Yulan?"
Mu Cang removed the letter from his robes.
Ye Wuchen examined it.
Then shook his head.
"Not the letter."
"Why?"
"The board may require an object registered during the original expedition."
Mu Cang considered this.
"The hairpin?"
"Possibly."
Han Zhen looked toward the entrance.
"We left it in the Hall of Witnesses."
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"We can retrieve it for examination."
Mu Cang hesitated.
"Should we remove it?"
"Not permanently."
The old scholar nodded.
They returned to the second chamber.
The Hall of Witnesses remained silent.
Thousands of ordinary possessions rested upon their pedestals.
Shen Yulan's silver hairpin lay within its protective formation.
Mu Cang approached.
He placed his pendant into the familiar slot.
The formation illuminated.
WITNESS IDENTIFIED.
RECORD ACCESS GRANTED.
This time, a second line appeared.
TEMPORARY TRANSFER PERMITTED.
Mu Cang looked surprised.
Ye Wuchen examined the inscription.
"Apparently, the archive anticipated that some records would need to be compared."
The old scholar carefully lifted the hairpin.
Its silver surface was cool against his palm.
For a moment, he remembered Shen Yulan standing beneath the autumn trees outside their old academy.
She had been arguing with Han Zhen about a mistranslated inscription.
Mu Cang had laughed.
She had threatened to strike him with her writing brush.
An ordinary memory.
One that had survived forty-three years when so many others had vanished.
He closed his fingers around the hairpin.
Then followed the others back.
When they placed it beneath Shen Yulan's column, the board illuminated.
WITNESS THREE: CONFIRMED.
Three channels glowed.
Four remained dormant.
Lin Qingyue examined the pattern.
"At least we understand how the mechanism works."
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"Partially."
Mu Cang looked toward the remaining columns.
"Then perhaps the other objects are in the Hall of Witnesses."
"Possibly."
Han Zhen looked toward the western wall.
"And if we confirm all seven?"
Ye Wuchen examined the sealed passage.
"Then we may learn where Shen Yulan went."
He paused.
"Or at least which route she took."
Mu Cang nodded.
For now, that was enough.
The Blackstone Sword Sect Arrives
Above the mountain, the night had begun giving way to dawn.
Qiu Ren sat beside a large stone, staring at the concealed entrance.
He had not touched the pebble again.
Nor had he attempted to disturb the formation.
The memory of the black-robed young man passing through solid rock remained vivid.
Qiu Ren was not a coward.
He had survived battles against demonic beasts, rival cultivators, and bandits who preyed upon traveling merchants.
But he understood the difference between courage and stupidity.
And he had no intention of challenging someone whose abilities he could not comprehend.
A sharp whistle sounded from the sky.
Qiu Ren looked up.
A flying sword descended through the clouds.
Upon it stood a young man dressed in dark green robes.
His cultivation aura was powerful.
Golden Core Realm.
The newcomer landed gracefully.
"Qiu Ren."
Qiu Ren immediately rose.
"Elder Luo."
Luo Cheng glanced toward the mountain.
"Where is the entrance?"
Qiu Ren hesitated.
"Concealed, Elder."
"I can see that."
Luo Cheng looked around.
"Your report said someone had entered."
"Yes."
"Who?"
"A young man."
"Which sect?"
"I don't know."
"Cultivation?"
Qiu Ren swallowed.
"I couldn't determine it."
"Foundation Establishment?"
"Unknown."
"Qi Refining?"
"Unknown."
Luo Cheng's expression darkened.
"Are you telling me you couldn't identify the cultivation of a single young man?"
Qiu Ren lowered his head.
"Yes, Elder."
Luo Cheng studied him.
Then asked:
"What did he do?"
Qiu Ren hesitated.
"He repaired the entrance formation."
"How?"
"By moving a pebble."
Silence.
Luo Cheng stared.
"A pebble?"
"Yes."
"You're certain?"
"Absolutely."
Luo Cheng looked toward the mountain.
Then smiled faintly.
"Interesting."
He approached the rock face.
A faint strand of spiritual energy extended from his palm.
The mountain responded.
Several ancient formation lines briefly appeared.
Luo Cheng's expression changed.
The formation was far older and more intricate than he had expected.
He withdrew his hand.
"This isn't an ordinary ruin."
Qiu Ren remained silent.
Luo Cheng examined the surrounding stones.
Then noticed the pebble.
"Was this the one?"
Qiu Ren's expression changed.
"Elder, I advise against—"
Luo Cheng lifted the stone.
The mountain trembled.
A deep humming sound emerged from beneath the earth.
Qiu Ren stepped backward.
Luo Cheng frowned.
He immediately returned the pebble to its original position.
The humming stopped.
Silence returned.
For several moments, neither spoke.
Then Luo Cheng looked toward Qiu Ren.
"You should have mentioned that."
Qiu Ren stared.
"I was trying to."
Luo Cheng ignored him.
He examined the formation again.
This time, his expression was serious.
Whoever had stabilized the mechanism possessed an understanding of ancient formations far beyond ordinary Lower Realm cultivators.
That did not necessarily mean the person was powerful.
Perhaps the young man had inherited specialized knowledge.
Perhaps he possessed a formation artifact.
Perhaps he had simply discovered the correct arrangement by chance.
Luo Cheng did not know.
But he intended to find out.
"Set up a temporary camp," he ordered.
Qiu Ren bowed.
"Yes, Elder."
"And send word to the sect."
"What should I report?"
Luo Cheng looked toward the mountain.
"Tell them we have found an ancient formation that warrants further study."
He paused.
"And that someone reached it before us."
The Nine Heavens Sword Palace
Far above the Lower Realm, Ji Wuhen stood within the sealed ancestral archive.
Before him lay three manuscripts.
Each concerned the founding of the Nine Heavens Sword Palace.
Each had been written during a different era.
And each described the mysterious tenth witness differently.
The oldest manuscript called the figure an observer.
The second referred to an appointed witness.
The third did not mention the figure at all.
Gu Shixuan stood nearby.
"Ancestor, I have examined the independent archive agreement."
Ji Wuhen looked up.
"Results?"
"The agreement appears genuine."
"Can you identify its signatories?"
"Nine founding ancestors."
"And the witness?"
"Not named."
Ji Wuhen frowned.
Gu Shixuan continued.
"However, I discovered something unusual about the agreement's structure."
He placed a jade tablet upon the table.
"The founders were required to preserve a copy of their original testimony."
"Where?"
"Within an independent archive."
"Which no longer appears in our records."
"Correct."
Ji Wuhen examined the tablet.
"Was its location specified?"
"Only indirectly."
Gu Shixuan pointed toward a surviving passage.
"The archive was to be established beyond the palace's ordinary jurisdiction."
Ji Wuhen narrowed his eyes.
"Beyond our territory?"
"Possibly."
"Or beyond the Upper Realm?"
Gu Shixuan hesitated.
"The wording does not exclude that interpretation."
Silence settled over the chamber.
Ji Wuhen considered the possibility.
An archive established outside the authority of the Nine Heavens Sword Palace.
A witness deliberately excluded from the founding records.
And an ancient symbol concealed beneath the Ancestral Sword Monument.
The connection to the Immortal Tomb remained unproven.
But the mystery was growing.
"Grand Archivist."
"Yes, Ancestor?"
"Do our oldest records mention the Lower Realms?"
Gu Shixuan looked surprised.
"Certainly."
"Not ordinary travel records."
Ji Wuhen looked toward the ancient agreement.
"I mean references to institutions, archives, or sect foundations established there."
Gu Shixuan thought carefully.
"There are several."
"Find them."
"All of them?"
"Yes."
Gu Shixuan bowed.
"Understood."
As the Grand Archivist departed, Ji Wuhen turned toward the ancestral monument visible through the distant hall.
The corrected sword scripture remained unchanged.
Its single altered character had transformed his understanding of the technique.
He still did not know who had corrected it.
But he had begun to suspect that the answer lay somewhere beyond the histories his sect had preserved.
And perhaps beyond the Upper Realm itself.
The Phoenix's Discovery
Within the Phoenix Race's ancestral sanctuary, Feng Qingluan stood before a newly awakened ancestral feather.
Its flames burned pale gold.
Unlike the previous records, this one contained a clear image.
An ancient mountain.
A vast gathering of cultivators.
And a stone monument standing beneath an unfamiliar sky.
Feng Qingluan examined the image.
The mountain did not resemble any known sacred peak.
The surrounding stars were unfamiliar.
But the monument...
She stepped closer.
A symbol had been carved upon it.
A circle.
Divided by a vertical line.
Feng Qingluan narrowed her eyes.
The same symbol had appeared in several damaged ancestral records.
She had initially assumed it was a ceremonial marking.
Now she was less certain.
"Can the image be enlarged?" she asked.
An elderly priestess approached.
"Yes, Your Highness."
The ancestral flame brightened.
The monument became clearer.
Beneath the symbol lay an inscription.
Most of the characters were obscured.
But one line remained visible.
LET THOSE WHO COME AFTER REMEMBER.
Feng Qingluan read the words silently.
Then looked toward the gathered figures.
They were not kneeling.
They stood in a circle around the monument.
Each appeared to be holding a small object.
A sword.
A feather.
A scroll.
A stone tablet.
Ordinary items.
Or perhaps objects whose significance could not be determined from the image alone.
Feng Qingluan considered the scene.
It resembled a ceremony.
But not one she recognized.
"Do we know when this memory was preserved?" she asked.
The priestess shook her head.
"The feather predates our current ancestral classification system."
"Can we determine its age?"
"Not precisely."
Feng Qingluan looked toward the unfamiliar sky.
"Then identify the stars."
The priestess hesitated.
"Your Highness, those constellations do not appear in our current celestial maps."
"I noticed."
"Then how should we proceed?"
Feng Qingluan turned toward her.
"Search the oldest maps."
The priestess bowed.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Feng Qingluan looked back at the monument.
LET THOSE WHO COME AFTER REMEMBER.
A strange instruction.
Why would an ancient gathering feel the need to preserve such a message?
She did not know.
But she intended to find out.
The Fifth Witness
Back beneath the Northern Wastelands, Ye Wuchen and his companions returned to the Hall of Witnesses.
Mu Cang carried Shen Yulan's hairpin.
Han Zhen held his inkstone.
Lin Qingyue examined the pedestals associated with the other expedition members.
They found a bronze seal bearing Lu Wen's name.
Beside it lay a small inscription.
WITNESS: ONE.
Mu Cang looked at the seal.
"I remember this."
Han Zhen nodded.
"Lu Wen used it to mark his translations."
Ye Wuchen examined the object.
The seal had been registered to the archive.
Its surface contained a faint formation mark.
"Take it for comparison," he said.
They continued.
Near the next pedestal lay a cracked compass.
Its inscription had partially faded.
But Han Zhen recognized it.
"Chen Shuo's."
Mu Cang looked surprised.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
Han Zhen picked it up.
"He was always complaining that the needle pointed toward things he didn't want to find."
Mu Cang laughed softly.
"That sounds like him."
Ye Wuchen examined the compass.
Its needle remained motionless.
The object appeared ordinary.
But the archive's protective formation had preserved it.
They carried the seal and compass back to the fourth chamber.
When placed beneath their respective columns, both were accepted.
WITNESS FOUR: CONFIRMED.
WITNESS FIVE: CONFIRMED.
Five channels illuminated.
Two remained dark.
Lin Qingyue looked toward the empty columns.
"Now we need the last two."
Mu Cang nodded.
"But we don't know their names."
Han Zhen stared at the board.
"I remember one of them carrying a small wooden box."
Ye Wuchen turned.
"What kind?"
"Dark wood. Brass corners."
"Anything inside?"
Han Zhen hesitated.
"I don't remember."
Mu Cang looked toward the Hall of Witnesses.
"There were hundreds of objects."
Lin Qingyue sighed.
"Searching them individually could take days."
Ye Wuchen considered the problem.
Then looked toward the testimony board.
"Perhaps we don't need to search every object."
He approached the sixth column.
Its surface was blank.
But beneath the stone, a faint formation channel remained.
He traced its direction.
The channel extended through the wall.
Toward the Hall of Witnesses.
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"The board is connected to the archive's identification system."
Lin Qingyue looked at him.
"Can we use it to locate the registered object?"
"Possibly."
She examined the formation.
Then her expression brightened.
"I see."
She placed her palm against the sixth column.
A faint strand of spiritual energy entered the stone.
The channel responded.
For several moments, nothing happened.
Then a small image appeared above the board.
A wooden box.
Dark wood.
Brass corners.
Han Zhen's eyes widened.
"That's it!"
Lin Qingyue smiled.
"Then we know what to look for."
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"Well done."
She looked pleased.
Mu Cang immediately hurried toward the exit.
"Let's find it!"
A Box Without an Owner
The Hall of Witnesses was enormous.
But with the image as a guide, the search became manageable.
They examined several rows of pedestals before Han Zhen stopped.
"There!"
Upon a low stone platform rested a small wooden box.
Dark wood.
Brass corners.
Exactly as he remembered.
But the inscription beneath it was blank.
No owner.
No status.
No witness count.
Lin Qingyue frowned.
"That's strange."
Mu Cang approached.
"Can we take it?"
Ye Wuchen examined the protective formation.
Unlike Shen Yulan's hairpin, the box was not sealed.
The wood was unexpectedly light.
He opened the lid.
Inside lay a folded piece of cloth.
And beneath it...
A small bronze mirror.
Mu Cang stared.
"That mirror..."
Han Zhen looked at him.
"Do you remember it?"
Mu Cang shook his head.
"No."
Yet something about the object seemed familiar.
Ye Wuchen examined the mirror.
Its surface was dull.
No spiritual energy.
No visible formation.
He turned it over.
A small inscription had been carved into the back.
The characters were ancient.
But readable.
TO REMEMBER IS TO BE RESPONSIBLE.
Lin Qingyue read the words aloud.
Mu Cang frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Ye Wuchen examined the inscription.
"A principle, perhaps."
"Whose principle?"
"I don't know."
He closed the box.
"Let's test it."
They returned to the fourth chamber.
Lin Qingyue placed the wooden box beneath the sixth column.
The formation illuminated.
For a moment, the channel flickered.
Then a line appeared.
WITNESS SIX: CONFIRMED.
Mu Cang exhaled.
"Six."
Han Zhen looked toward the final column.
"One more."
But before anyone could speak, the board changed.
A second line appeared beneath the sixth column.
OWNER IDENTIFICATION: UNAVAILABLE.
Lin Qingyue frowned.
"The object is recognized, but the owner isn't."
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"Apparently."
Mu Cang stared at the blank name.
"Then perhaps the final two people really were forgotten."
Ye Wuchen examined the board.
"At least their identifying information is missing."
He turned toward the seventh column.
Its formation channel remained dormant.
But unlike the sixth, it did not extend toward the Hall of Witnesses.
Instead, it descended beneath the floor.
Ye Wuchen followed its direction with his perception.
The channel passed through several layers of ancient stone.
Then disappeared into a sealed region.
He recognized the direction.
The concealed seventh door.
Lin Qingyue noticed his expression.
"What is it?"
Ye Wuchen looked toward the entrance.
"The final witness isn't registered in the Hall of Witnesses."
Mu Cang frowned.
"Then where?"
Ye Wuchen answered calmly.
"Somewhere beneath the seventh door."
Silence filled the chamber.
Han Zhen's expression changed.
Mu Cang looked toward the floor.
The final witness.
The missing name.
The forbidden entrance.
For the first time, the connection between them had become tangible.
But Ye Wuchen did not move toward the seventh door.
Instead, he examined the western wall.
Six channels now glowed.
Only one remained dark.
The passage remained sealed.
He considered the situation.
Then looked toward Mu Cang.
"We have enough information to continue elsewhere."
The old scholar looked surprised.
"You're not going to open the seventh door?"
"Not yet."
"Why?"
Ye Wuchen glanced toward the sealed passage.
"Because the letter gave us another destination."
"Lanyue."
"Yes."
Mu Cang slowly nodded.
The city of Lanyue.
The old observatory.
Someone who could tell him what became of Shen Yulan.
For forty-three years, he had searched the past.
Now, perhaps, it was time to follow the clue she had left in the present.
The Decision
They returned to the circular chamber.
Above them, the celestial map continued its silent rotation.
The erased region remained dark.
The seven doors stood beneath it.
Three had been explored.
The fourth had yielded Shen Yulan's research.
The fifth and sixth remained unopened.
And the seventh still bore its concealed warning.
Ye Wuchen looked toward the unexplored entrances.
He could investigate them now.
But there was no reason to assume they would disappear if he left.
The ruins had endured for an extraordinary period.
A short absence would hardly matter.
He turned toward the others.
"We'll leave for Lanyue."
Mu Cang's eyes widened.
"Now?"
"After we return the borrowed objects."
The old scholar nodded quickly.
"Of course."
Han Zhen looked uncertain.
"What about the remaining chambers?"
"We can return."
Lin Qingyue considered the decision.
"Should we seal the entrance?"
"Yes."
She looked relieved.
Ye Wuchen glanced toward the seventh door.
For a brief moment, the ancient inscription became visible beneath the stone.
YE WUCHEN IS NOT PERMITTED TO ENTER.
He studied it.
Then turned away.
He had no intention of allowing an unknown warning to dictate his movements.
But neither did he intend to spend every waking moment inside a ruin.
There was an entire world outside.
A world that had changed beyond recognition during his slumber.
And somewhere within it, a woman who had disappeared forty-three years ago might still be waiting.
That was worth investigating.
The Visitor Outside
When the four emerged from the mountain, the sun had risen.
Morning light spread across the Northern Wastelands.
A cool wind moved through the trees.
Mu Cang closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
Han Zhen stood beside him, staring at the sky.
For him, only a day had passed since entering the ruins.
Yet the world beyond had aged forty-three years.
The trees were taller.
The distant village had changed.
Even the mountains seemed unfamiliar.
Lin Qingyue watched him quietly.
Then she noticed two figures standing near the entrance.
One wore ordinary traveling robes.
The other wore the dark green garments of the Blackstone Sword Sect.
Her expression changed.
"Fellow Daoist Ye."
"I know."
Luo Cheng approached.
His gaze moved across the group.
An elderly mortal.
A younger scholar.
A female cultivator.
And a black-robed young man whose cultivation he could not detect.
He smiled politely.
"Greetings, fellow Daoists."
Lin Qingyue returned the greeting cautiously.
"May I ask your purpose?"
"My name is Luo Cheng. I represent the Blackstone Sword Sect."
Her expression became guarded.
The Blackstone Sword Sect was one of the major cultivation powers in the region.
Its relationship with the Azure River Sect was not openly hostile.
But neither were the two sects particularly close.
Luo Cheng looked toward the mountain.
"We heard reports of an ancient ruin."
Lin Qingyue remained silent.
He continued.
"Would you mind telling me what you discovered?"
Before she could answer, Ye Wuchen spoke.
"Books."
Luo Cheng blinked.
"Books?"
"Yes."
"What kind?"
"Mostly missing ones."
Qiu Ren, standing behind Luo Cheng, lowered his head.
He suddenly found the ground very interesting.
Luo Cheng's smile stiffened.
"Fellow Daoist, I am asking seriously."
"So am I."
Silence.
Lin Qingyue looked away.
Mu Cang coughed.
Han Zhen appeared confused.
Luo Cheng studied Ye Wuchen.
The young man possessed no detectable cultivation aura.
Yet his composure was extraordinary.
And Qiu Ren had already reported his unusual understanding of formations.
Luo Cheng decided to proceed carefully.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, perhaps we can discuss this privately."
Ye Wuchen looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because ancient ruins often contain matters of great importance."
"Then you should investigate one."
Luo Cheng paused.
He looked toward the mountain.
Then back at Ye Wuchen.
"Are you saying we may enter?"
"I didn't say that."
"Then what are you saying?"
Ye Wuchen considered the question.
"That your curiosity is not my responsibility."
Qiu Ren almost laughed.
He stopped himself just in time.
Luo Cheng's expression darkened.
A Golden Core cultivator commanded considerable respect in the Lower Realm.
Yet this unknown young man spoke to him as though he were an ordinary traveler.
For a moment, Luo Cheng considered releasing his spiritual pressure.
Then he remembered Qiu Ren's report.
The pebble.
The formation.
The impossible entrance.
He restrained himself.
"Very well."
He cupped his hands.
"Perhaps we'll meet again."
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"Perhaps."
He turned toward the others.
"Let's go."
The four began walking down the mountain path.
Luo Cheng watched them leave.
Only when they disappeared among the trees did he speak.
"Qiu Ren."
"Yes, Elder?"
"Find out who that young man is."
Qiu Ren hesitated.
"Should we follow him?"
Luo Cheng looked toward the mountain.
"No."
He paused.
"Not yet."
A Name on an Old Map
Several hours later, Ye Wuchen and his companions reached the village at the foot of the mountain.
They stopped at a small roadside tea house.
Mu Cang spread an old map across the table.
"Lanyue lies west of the Northern Wastelands."
Lin Qingyue examined it.
"How far?"
"Approximately six days by ordinary carriage."
"Less if we travel by flying sword."
Mu Cang looked toward Han Zhen.
The younger scholar had never traveled upon a flying sword.
His expression was uncertain.
Ye Wuchen glanced at the map.
The city of Lanyue.
He did not recognize the name.
But the dried lake mentioned in Shen Yulan's letter caught his attention.
"Show me the observatory."
Mu Cang pointed toward a small marking west of the city.
"Here."
Ye Wuchen examined the location.
Then frowned slightly.
The surrounding terrain resembled part of an ancient geographical record.
Not the current world.
A much older map.
He looked toward the western mountains.
"System."
[Yes, Host.]
"Compare this region with the geographical records from before my slumber."
[Comparing.]
[Partial correspondence detected.]
[Historical landmark identified.]
Ye Wuchen's eyes narrowed.
"What landmark?"
A brief pause followed.
Then the system replied.
[The site corresponds approximately to the former location of the Star-Observing Terrace.]
Ye Wuchen remained silent.
The Star-Observing Terrace.
He remembered that name.
Long before his slumber, it had been a modest observatory maintained by scholars who studied celestial movements.
It had not been particularly famous.
Nor had it possessed any extraordinary cultivation inheritance.
But Ye Wuchen had visited it once.
A very long time ago.
He remembered standing beneath an unfamiliar night sky.
A scholar had asked him a question.
Something about the stars.
Something about whether the heavens could ever change.
The memory was faint.
Not because he had forgotten it.
But because so much time had passed that the event had become insignificant among countless others.
Ye Wuchen looked toward the map.
Interesting.
An observatory from his era.
A missing scholar from forty-three years ago.
And a letter dated to the present.
He slowly folded the map.
"Let's go to Lanyue."
Mu Cang nodded eagerly.
Lin Qingyue prepared her flying sword.
Han Zhen looked toward the western horizon.
And Ye Wuchen, whose existence had already outlasted civilizations beyond counting, found himself returning to a place he had not thought about for billions of years.
A place where someone had once asked him a question.
A question he could no longer recall precisely.
But perhaps...
Someone else still remembered.
End of Chapter 12