The fog over Jiangnan Forest had thickened since morning, turning the forest path ahead of Li Wei group into a pale silver blur. The air was cool, and dampness clung to every leaf and blade of grass. But the mist could not muffle the tension running among the five walking in single formation—Li Wei at point, followed by Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Meng Yiran. Each of them had felt it since they stepped past the marked boundary. In here they were not alone.
"They're tracking us," Meng Yiran murmured, her voice low and precise. Her serpentine pupils flicked toward the treetops. "Four presence signatures. Just almost outside of our detection range."
"That matches with what the Axis suggested," Li Wei said without looking back. "They must be the Serpent-Eyed. But they're not attacking us so what they said must be true."
"They're must be trying gauge us," Zhu Zhuqing replied, her tone calm but sharp. "Same way we gauge prey before leaping to hunt it."
"Then what do we do?" Ning Rongrong asked, tightening the clasp on her side of the skirt. "Call them out?"
Li Wei slowed. "No. We will let them decide. They want to make contact, not a confrontation but we will show that we will be ready if they want to have confrontation. Activate your martial spirit."
All of them summon their martial spirit. Zhu Zhuqing with her hell civet, Ning Rongrong with her Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Xiao Wu with the soft bone rabbit, Meng Yiran with her Serpent Cane and Li Wei with his Diendriver in hand.
He remember that a story he watch before, the other want to have a chat so they march. The other side actually looking from a hidden place as they march so they light the rope of the gun that said we are ready if you do not want to talk but want a confrontation.
Just then, the mist parted in front of them.
A woman stepped forward onto the path. She wore layered robes the color of emerald and obsidian, flowing like smoke. Her eyes glowed faintly green—no pupils, only swirling marks like coiled snakes. At her side hung a blade curved like a fang, not drawn, but humming with latent power.
"So. The ones chosen by the Axis walk boldly into our land," she said. Her voice carried the hint of a smile—not mocking, not kind. "Unexpected."
Li Wei stepped forward. "We're not here to threaten you. Only to understand why you're watching us."
"You touched the Thread beyond," the woman said. "You harmonized through the ancient vector. That was enough. We see those who awaken it."
"Who are you?" Zhu Zhuqing asked.
The woman tilted her head. "My name is irrelevant. You may call me Serpent Fang."
Behind her, three other figures emerged, their appearances diverse—a child with a blindfold, an old man with bark growing from his limbs, and a youth with obsidian scales along his neck and cheeks. Their aura was not Spirit Hall. Not Seven Treasure. Something older.
Li Wei asked, "What is the Serpent-Eyed Organization?"
"An inheritance," Serpent Fang replied. "A remnant of the early convergence, before the gods named balance. We protect those who hear the Axis, and silence those who misuse its voice."
"You think we'll misuse it?" Xiao Wu asked, eyes narrowing.
"We think you are not yet whole," she said, gaze flicking from one member of the team to the next. "Five threads, tangled but not woven. A spark, yes, but no flame."
Li Wei met her eyes. "Then you want to test us for that."
Serpent Fang smiled. "We already are. This is not a battlefield. It is a loom. The Axis watches to see if you are worthy of threadmaking, or merely the thread."
Meng Yiran stepped forward. "Enough riddles. What do you want?"
"To offer understanding. And to protect the Axis from those who seek to break it."
"Who?" Zhu Zhuqing asked.
"The fourth convergence is closing. The fifth is young. But there are others who remember the third—and hate what followed. They seek to twist the Axis back into chains."
"And you think we can stop them?" Ning Rongrong asked quietly.
"No. We think you can choose to. That matters more."
There was silence.
Then Serpent Fang held out a scroll wrapped in serpent-scale binding. "Take this to the Mistborn Archives in the Lotus Veins. It will guide you to the next locus of convergence. If you survive it, we will speak again."
Li Wei took the scroll without hesitation.
"And if we refuse?" Xiao Wu asked.
"Then we leave. And the Axis will find others."
The Serpent-Eyed turned, fading into the mist as swiftly as they had come.
Only then did Li Wei speak. "We're in something deeper now. Not just about politics. Not just about spirit rings. It's the history of the world itself."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded. "But we will walk forward. Together." She look at each of her sister and her might or will be husband.
Five voices. Five threads.
And somewhere, the Axis whispered.
[Thread verified. Next pattern forming.]