The night after Yan Xue's breakthrough was silent—but not peaceful.
A strange tension gripped the village, like a breath held too long.
Children cried in their sleep. Dogs refused to bark. The old well didn't echo when water was drawn.
It was as if the land itself was waiting for something to happen.
And in a way, it was.
---
Shen Yi hadn't slept.
He sat in the dark, legs crossed, breath slow, hands resting on his knees.
He was trying to meditate again—trying to enter a state of calm, the way Su Yao had once taught him.
"Focus on the breath. Guide your qi with intention. Don't force it. Let it flow."
"Be patient with yourself."
But the flow didn't behave like hers.
His qi didn't ripple gently. It pulsed—erratic, sharp—like a beast shackled beneath his skin.
Whenever he reached for it, it reached back.
And for a moment, he could almost hear it whisper.
More. Devour. Remember.
He opened his eyes.
Sweat beaded along his temple despite the chill.
His breathing was steady, but his heart was racing.
---
Elsewhere, Yan Xue stood alone in the woods again.
Not to train.
To think.
Her body felt different—sharper, faster, more attuned. She could sense life in the trees, taste the weight of rain still hidden in the clouds.
The Blood Refinement Realm had deepened her connection to the world.
But it hadn't numbed the ache in her chest.
If anything, it made it worse.
Now she remembered every heartbeat of that night five years ago with perfect clarity.
Not just the deaths.
But the laughter.
His laughter.
"I'll never forget."
"I'll never forgive."
"And yet…"
She clenched her fists.
"Why can't I stop wondering if it's really him anymore?"
---
At dawn, the Sect Envoy arrived.
He came without warning, cloaked in maroon robes bearing the Scarlet Immortal Sect crest—three crimson lotus petals drifting over silver flames.
His boots crunched softly over gravel as he entered the village.
Shen Yi sensed him first.
The air shifted—too still, too focused.
He stepped into the main road just as the envoy passed the shrine.
The man stopped.
They stared at each other for a long second.
"Shen Yi," the envoy said.
His voice was smooth, but his tone lacked warmth.
"Do I know you?" Shen Yi asked carefully.
The man studied him. "You used to."
That answer didn't help.
Su Yao emerged from the side alley before things escalated. "Envoy Han," she said quickly. "You didn't send notice."
"I didn't need to," the envoy replied. "I've come on a matter of internal concern."
He turned to Shen Yi again.
"You're to return to the sect with me."
Shen Yi frowned. "Why?"
"Because the elders have questions. And because you've been missing for five years."
Su Yao stepped in. "He's not ready."
"That's not your decision."
"He has no memory," she said. "No clear grasp of his cultivation state, no awareness of sect law—"
"That's exactly why we must act," the envoy cut in. "If his condition is what you say it is, then he may be a liability. Or worse."
Yan Xue appeared behind them, silent as snow. "Or he may be something far more dangerous."
They turned.
She was calm, composed, every inch a princess in poise and presence.
The envoy bowed slightly. "Princess Yan."
She nodded. "If you take him now, he may break under questioning. Or panic. Or turn violent."
"Do you speak for him?"
"I speak for the consequences."
---
Later, in the shrine courtyard, the envoy paced as Su Yao and Yan Xue exchanged quiet words beneath the eaves.
Shen Yi stood apart, arms folded.
"I don't want to go back," he finally said.
The envoy raised an eyebrow. "You may not have a choice."
"Then I'll run."
"You wouldn't get far."
"Try me."
The envoy stared for a moment longer… then laughed softly.
"You haven't changed that much after all."
---
Yan Xue pulled Su Yao aside. "If he goes with them now, it'll undo everything."
Su Yao's voice was low. "The sect is watching. If we defy them openly—"
"Then we stall."
"For how long?"
Yan Xue didn't answer immediately.
Then: "Until I decide whether I want him dead… or closer."
---
That night, the envoy remained in the village, agreeing to delay the return by three days under Su Yao's advisement.
But he kept his eyes on Shen Yi.
And Shen Yi could feel them—heavy as iron.
He wasn't afraid.
He was… curious.
"What did I mean to these people before I vanished?"
"Why do they all look at me like I'm a sealed weapon?"
---
Meanwhile, far in the Eastern provinces, a girl with charcoal-stained fingers finished inscribing a scroll in black ink made from demon bone.
She rolled it tightly, sealed it with wax, and gave it to a silver hawk.
"To the Scarlet Immortal Sect," she whispered.
"Tell them the past has not yet stayed buried."
----
The village slept under a pale moon, but not a soul truly rested.
Inside the shrine, the envoy sat cross-legged, eyes closed, body utterly still. But his mind was wide awake—cataloguing, sensing, watching.
He wasn't just here for retrieval.
He was here for confirmation.
If the rumors are true… if the Immortal Demon Skill has truly resurfaced…
He opened one eye and looked toward the window, where Shen Yi sat alone in the courtyard.
Then we'll need more than a summons.
---
Shen Yi could feel the air around him hum.
Not just from the envoy's pressure, but from the tension inside his own body.
Something was waking up.
It had started after Yan Xue's breakthrough. Ever since she touched him in the forest, a pulse had been traveling through his veins—slow, measured, but building like pressure behind a dam.
He didn't understand it.
But he didn't fear it, either.
In some strange way… it felt like part of him was returning.
But what part?
The boy?
The monster?
He didn't know yet.
And he wasn't sure he wanted to.
---
Inside the inn, Su Yao sat with Yan Xue, her voice low.
"You knew they'd come eventually."
Yan Xue didn't flinch. "I did."
"Then why didn't you prepare an exit plan?"
"I did."
Su Yao blinked. "Which is?"
Yan Xue poured tea but didn't answer right away. Then she said quietly, "You."
Su Yao frowned. "Me?"
"You're the only one who believes he's worth saving."
Su Yao's hands stilled on her teacup.
Yan Xue's gaze didn't waver.
"If the time comes when I lose control… you'll be the one to stop me."
There was no threat in her voice. Only certainty.
Su Yao closed her eyes.
She didn't say yes.
But she didn't say no, either.
---
The next day passed in tension-choked silence.
The villagers avoided the envoy. Even the birds in the trees were quieter.
Shen Yi helped an elderly farmer fix his broken door, despite the envoy standing just ten steps away watching him like a hawk.
He tried not to react.
But it wore on him—this pressure. This weight.
And when dusk finally fell, he walked away from the village, needing air. Space. Solitude.
But Yan Xue followed him.
She didn't speak.
Just walked beside him as the wind picked up, stirring dry leaves across the path.
Finally, he asked, "Did you tell them I was dangerous?"
"No," she said. "They already knew."
"Then why not let them take me?"
"Because I haven't decided what to do with you yet."
He stopped walking.
"So I'm your prisoner?"
She stopped too. Turned to face him.
"No. You're my shadow."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you'll follow me… until one of us disappears."
His breath caught.
Then he said, "What if I don't want to disappear?"
Her eyes glinted. "Then don't make me want to erase you."
---
Back in the shrine, the envoy unfolded a slip of black parchment sealed with ash wax.
He read it once.
Then burned it with his qi.
His expression didn't change, but his posture did—straightening slightly, as if a thread had just been pulled tight through his spine.
So,the girl in the East has seen it too.
He stood, robes rustling, and stepped into the fading light of the village road.
---
The next morning, he approached Shen Yi directly.
"You have one day left," he said. "Then you return with me."
Shen Yi didn't answer.
But his jaw tightened.
The envoy leaned closer.
"You think running will help? We don't need your cooperation. We only need your heart."
And with that, he walked away.
---
Later that night, Shen Yi sat beneath the plum trees again.
The wind whispered through the leaves.
He didn't know what to do anymore.
He didn't know who he used to be.
But he knew who he was now.
A man who didn't want to run.
A man who wanted to face what he had done.
A man who… still looked for her in every silence.
Then a soft voice came from behind.
"You should run."
He turned.
Yan Xue stood there.
Her cloak fluttered in the breeze, her hair loose for once, shadows dancing across her face.
"If you stay," she said, "they'll take you apart. They'll tear you open until they find what they're afraid of."
"Let them."
She stared at him. "Why?"
"Because I need to know too."
Her breath caught slightly.
"Her breath caught slightly. The flicker of hesitation in her eyes lasted only a moment before she schooled her features back into an unreadable mask."
"Then be ready."
"For what?"
"For the truth," she said.
"Because if you really remember…
…you may end up hating yourself more than I ever could."
End of Chapter 7