The sect had never been this quiet.
Even when Zhang Mubo accidentally burned down the meditation hut by lighting incense near "Highly Flammable Enlightenment Scrolls," even when the spirit chickens rioted because someone fed them spicy herbs, even when a rogue cloud beast sneezed itself into a coma on their defensive formation—there had always been noise.
Now there was stillness. A breath held too long.
Jin Nian stood at the edge of the bamboo grove, staring at the spot where Wu Ling had unearthed the strange stone yesterday. The air still felt dense, like wet silk pressed against skin. Even the birds, who normally sang off-key like drunken poets, were silent.
He touched his chest. His heart beat steadily… but there was something else pulsing inside him.
A… tether?
Guardian signal detected.
The System's words echoed again in his mind.
He hadn't told the others. Not yet. Not until he understood.
Wu Ling hadn't spoken since yesterday either. Not about the name that surfaced in her head. Not about the faint scar she now had on her palm where she touched the stone. And definitely not about the tears that slipped from her eyes before she even realized she was crying.
He hadn't asked.
Sometimes silence speaks louder than anything.
---
A Day Before…
Zhang Mubo was humming happily to himself, unaware that he was about to ruin the peace.
He'd found a dusty old scroll in the storeroom called "Foundations of Realm Fracture Theory – Beginner Level."
Now, Mubo wasn't a genius. He wasn't strong. He wasn't brave. But he was curious. And sometimes, curiosity combined with a complete lack of fear created… disasters.
"Hmm… it says 'place two stones blessed by a fragment of lost soul at exact opposite points of sect territory to awaken latent energy lines,'" he read aloud.
Then he shrugged and did exactly that.
One of those stones?
Yes—the one Wu Ling unearthed yesterday.
---
Present Time – The Crack Deepens
There was a tremor. Faint, like a shiver underfoot.
Jin Nian's eyes snapped open. He'd been meditating—attempting to meditate, anyway. It was hard when your thoughts kept returning to things like "Why did the stone whisper to me?" or "Why is Mubo digging again and giggling?"
He bolted upright and ran outside.
And there it was—spreading from the grove to the outer gate—a faint vein of golden light, tracing across the earth like a scar.
"What the hell...?" he breathed.
The disciples were already gathering. Wu Ling arrived first, sword drawn, expression hard but her eyes searching—for what, Jin Nian didn't know. Mubo stumbled in next, covered in dirt, holding an empty snack wrapper.
"I might've… awakened something," he said sheepishly.
"You did what?" Jin Nian growled.
"I found this scroll, and it said something about ancient energy lines and resonance and—"
"You. Planted. A soul stone."
"Well… yeah?"
Jin Nian sighed, rubbing his face with both hands. "Why do I even bother?"
But before he could scold Mubo further, the ground hummed.
Not trembled—hummed. Like something ancient was stirring beneath it.
Then… the sky cracked.
Not completely. Not visually. Not yet. But everyone felt it. Like the very fabric of the realm had blinked. A blink that left behind a ripple in the heavens—just faint enough to be missed by normal eyes. But not by theirs.
Not anymore.
---
Inside Jin Nian's Mind – The System Speaks Again
> "Guardian Zone Seed activated. Mental threshold resonance beginning."
"System recommends emotional stability."
"Oh, that's great," Jin Nian muttered internally. "Emotional stability. Right after I find out my sect is sitting on top of a dead people energy grid."
> "Caution: If resonance continues, the host may begin attracting unbound Guardian echoes. Effects vary by emotional state and proximity to soul fractures."
"English, please!"
> "You're a spiritual beacon now. If you grieve, you'll summon ghosts."
"...Of course I will."
---
That Evening
Wu Ling sat alone in her courtyard.
She'd been trying to ignore the voice in her head—the one that whispered "Jiang Ru" every time the wind changed. She didn't know who that was. She didn't want to know.
Because deep down, she feared the answer.
Since arriving at the sect, her cultivation had improved. Her nightmares had faded. Her body, once tense from years of silent rage, had begun to relax.
But the stone… changed something.
She could feel it now—grief. Ancient, raw, and not entirely hers. Like a second heartbeat that didn't belong to her.
She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the scar. "Who are you?" she whispered.
No reply. Only wind.
---
Midnight – The First Contact
Jin Nian couldn't sleep. So he did what any responsible sect master would do.
He snuck into the forbidden scroll vault and started reading things he wasn't qualified to touch.
There, tucked between a recipe for "Cultivation Enhancing Moon Dumplings" and a map labeled "Definitely Not Cursed Ruins," he found a faded page that made his blood chill.
> "Guardians are souls bound by unfinished purpose. Some die in battle. Others by betrayal. Others… by fear. When a soul clings to the world, it waits for resonance. A living mind strong enough to carry its burden. Five may bond. No more. No less."
He read it twice. Then again.
There was a sketch of five glowing lights circling a cultivator. Above them, a line:
> "When the heavens crack, the old will awaken. When the old awaken, the sects will burn."
Suddenly, something knocked over a jar behind him.
He spun.
There was no one there.
But… in the dust… a footprint.
One that glowed faintly… before vanishing.
---
Dawn
A new name had been carved into the stone slab overnight. Not by hands. Not by tools.
But by presence.
Jiang Ru.
It hadn't been there before.
Wu Ling stared at it.
She didn't cry. Not yet.
But her sword felt heavier today. And when she closed her eyes, she saw flames—and a promise left unfulfilled.
Jin Nian walked up beside her, yawning. "That's… new."
"It's his name," she said quietly.
"You remember?"
"No. But I think… he remembers me."
---
And Somewhere Beyond the Sect…
Far in the clouds, unnoticed by all, a silver line cracked across the sky like a hairline fracture in glass.
A figure dressed in white and shadow stood at the edge of a floating realm, eyes closed.
"They've begun," the figure murmured. "The Sect of Echoes is stirring."
Another voice responded from the mist.
"Should we warn them?"
"No. Let them wake it. If the Guardians rise, we'll know."
"And if the Guardians fail?"
The figure turned. "Then the world falls again."
---
End of Chapter
Author's Note Question:
If you had to carry the grief of a forgotten soul just to earn its protection… would you risk your sanity to do it?
---