Chapter 5 - The Ruin

The laughter faded.

The ancient ruin became silent again.

Too silent.

Lin Qingyue stood at the entrance with Moonfall drawn.

Beside her, frost slowly spread from beneath Shen Ruoxue’s feet.

Neither woman spoke.

The disciples behind them waited for instructions.

Then—

Boom.

The ground shook.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

A long crack appeared across the stone floor.

“Formation!”

Lin Qingyue’s voice was calm.

The disciples immediately moved.

A golden barrier rose around them.

Another tremor followed.

Then something emerged from the darkness.

It was not a beast.

Not a human.

It was a shadow formed from spiritual energy, its shape constantly shifting between mist and solid form.

Two pale eyes opened.

The creature looked directly at Lin Qingyue.

Then at Shen Ruoxue.

It bowed.

The disciples stared.

“What…”

The creature spoke.

Its voice sounded ancient.

“Welcome…”

A pause.

“…home.”

Lin Qingyue’s sword moved instantly.

Clang!

The creature’s attack struck Moonfall.

The force sent Lin Qingyue sliding several steps backward.

Shen Ruoxue raised her hand.

A wall of ice erupted from the ground.

The creature struck it.

The ice shattered.

Shen Ruoxue’s eyes narrowed.

“Not a physical body.”

Lin Qingyue nodded.

“Spiritual entity.”

“It absorbs spiritual energy.”

“Then don’t give it any.”

Shen Ruoxue looked at her.

“That’s easier said than done.”

The creature attacked again.

This time, Lin Qingyue moved first.

Her sword flashed.

One strike.

The shadow split apart.

But before she could retreat—

the pieces of darkness moved behind her.

“Qingyue!”

Shen Ruoxue’s voice rang through the chamber.

Lin Qingyue turned.

Too late.

A wave of darkness rushed toward her.

Then a wall of ice appeared between them.

BOOM.

The impact shook the entire chamber.

Shen Ruoxue staggered.

Lin Qingyue caught her arm.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

Shen Ruoxue looked at the hand holding her arm.

Neither moved.

For one strange moment, the ancient ruin disappeared.

There was only the warmth of another person’s hand.

And something inside Shen Ruoxue’s mind whispered—

Don’t let go.

She blinked.

The thought vanished.

“Shen Ruoxue?”

“I’m fine.”

She gently pulled her arm away.

But neither woman noticed the faint glow that had appeared beneath their feet.

The ancient symbols on the floor were changing.

⸻

The creature attacked again.

This time, they moved together.

Lin Qingyue stepped forward.

Shen Ruoxue followed.

Sword light crossed with frost.

A blade cut through the creature’s center.

Ice sealed the wound before it could reform.

The creature retreated.

For the first time, it appeared afraid.

Lin Qingyue noticed.

“It doesn’t want to fight us.”

Shen Ruoxue frowned.

“Then why is it attacking?”

Lin Qingyue looked toward the deeper part of the ruin.

“Something is making it.”

Shen Ruoxue understood immediately.

“Then we don’t need to defeat it.”

“We need to find what’s controlling it.”

They looked at each other.

No discussion.

No plan.

Yet both moved at the same time.

⸻

They rushed deeper into the ruin.

The disciples followed.

Corridors stretched endlessly beneath the mountain.

Ancient murals covered the walls.

Battles.

Empires.

Sects.

Cultivators.

But every few steps, Lin Qingyue noticed something strange.

Two figures appeared in almost every mural.

A woman holding a sword.

And another surrounded by snow.

Their faces had been deliberately scratched away.

Lin Qingyue stopped.

Shen Ruoxue stopped beside her.

Again.

That feeling.

That inexplicable ache.

“Have you seen this before?” Shen Ruoxue asked.

“No.”

“Neither have I.”

Lin Qingyue looked at the damaged faces.

“Someone doesn’t want us to know who they were.”

Shen Ruoxue’s expression became serious.

“Or…”

She touched one of the murals.

“…someone was afraid that we would remember.”

Lin Qingyue looked at her.

Neither spoke.

⸻

A sound came from behind them.

The disciples turned.

The shadow had followed.

But something was different.

Its body had become larger.

More powerful.

And behind it…

a second presence appeared.

Then a third.

“Senior Sister!”

Lin Qingyue raised her sword.

“Stay back.”

Shen Ruoxue stepped beside her.

Again.

“You’re doing that again.”

Lin Qingyue glanced at her.

“Doing what?”

“Telling me to stay behind you.”

“You keep ignoring me.”

“Perhaps because you’re always wrong.”

Lin Qingyue stared at her.

For the first time…

Shen Ruoxue smiled openly.

“Shall we?”

Lin Qingyue’s lips lifted slightly.

⸻

The battle began.

Sword light filled the corridor.

Frost covered the walls.

The shadows attacked from every direction.

But something remarkable happened.

They did not need to speak.

Lin Qingyue moved left.

Shen Ruoxue already knew where she would go.

Shen Ruoxue raised her hand.

Lin Qingyue understood where the opening would appear.

Their movements slowly became one.

Not practiced.

Not planned.

Instinctive.

As though they had done this before.

Many times.

Far too many times.

Finally, Lin Qingyue leaped into the air.

Shen Ruoxue raised her hand beneath her.

A pillar of ice lifted Lin Qingyue higher.

She stepped on the ice and launched herself forward.

Moonfall descended.

At the same instant, Shen Ruoxue’s frost surged upward.

Sword and ice struck together.

The shadows disappeared.

Silence returned.

⸻

Lin Qingyue landed.

Shen Ruoxue lowered her hand.

They looked at each other.

Neither knew what to say.

Then one of the disciples whispered:

“That was…”

“Like they’d fought together for years.”

Lin Qingyue heard him.

So did Shen Ruoxue.

Both turned away.

Neither answered.

⸻

At the end of the corridor stood an enormous stone door.

Unlike the others, it was completely untouched by time.

No cracks.

No dust.

No inscriptions.

Only one symbol.

A crescent moon.

And beneath it…

a small snowflake.

Lin Qingyue approached.

Her heart began beating faster.

Shen Ruoxue felt it too.

Neither touched the door.

They didn’t need to.

The moment they stood before it—

Click.

The door opened.

A cold wind swept through the corridor.

Inside was a small chamber.

At its center stood a stone pedestal.

On it rested a single object.

A white ribbon.

Lin Qingyue froze.

Her breathing stopped.

She did not know why.

She had seen that ribbon before.

Not in this life.

Not in a dream.

Somewhere deeper.

Somewhere she could no longer reach.

She slowly walked toward it.

Shen Ruoxue followed.

The closer they came…

the stronger the feeling became.

Then Shen Ruoxue whispered:

“…Qingyue.”

Lin Qingyue stopped.

It was the way she said her name.

So familiar.

So painful.

As though she had heard it countless times.

She turned.

Shen Ruoxue was staring at the ribbon.

Tears had appeared in her eyes.

She seemed just as confused as Lin Qingyue.

“Why…”

Her voice trembled.

“Why does this feel like something I’ve lost?”

Lin Qingyue had no answer.

She reached toward the ribbon.

Her fingers were only an inch away—

when the entire chamber suddenly lit up.

Ancient words appeared across the walls.

One sentence.

Only one.

*“**When the moon remembers the snow, the **

cycle shall end.***”

Lin Qingyue stared at the words.

Shen Ruoxue did the same.

Neither understood them.

But somewhere, far beyond the ruin…

an ancient woman opened her eyes.

For the first time in thousands of years…

she smiled.

“Not yet.”

She looked toward the moon.

“But soon.”

And in the ancient chamber beneath the mountain…

the white ribbon began to glow.

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