The Bone Hall was not a place disciples were permitted to enter.
It sat on the far western cliff of the Scarlet Immortal Sect—half-buried in fog, carved directly into the side of a mountain veined with ancient fossils and shattered spirit veins. The structure was said to predate the sect itself.
And yet, that morning, Shen Yi found himself standing before its sealed gate.
He didn't remember how he got there.
One moment, he was walking the lower path, trying to clear his mind. The next—he stood beneath a stone archway inscribed with forgotten runes, the massive bronze doors looming before him like the mouth of a tomb.
The gate was supposed to be sealed by talisman chains and protective scripts.
But today, it stood slightly ajar.
A pulse of cold wind brushed his face.
It felt… familiar.
Wrong.
But familiar.
He should have turned back.
Instead, he stepped forward.
---
The interior of the Bone Hall was dim, lit only by the faint glow of soulflame lanterns hanging from the high vaulted ceiling. Long halls twisted through layers of dust and crumbling relics. Bones—human and otherwise—were stacked within crystal coffins along the walls. Some glowed faintly, pulsing with residual spiritual energy.
Shen Yi moved quietly, heart pounding louder with each step.
Something here was calling him.
Not with words.
With instinct.
He rounded a corner—and froze.
At the far end of the corridor stood a statue.
No, not a statue.
A body.
Tall, skeletal, draped in tattered robes woven from black silk and crimson veins. Its face was hidden behind a mask carved with a single eye, and both hands were folded over the hilt of a rusted sword stabbed into the floor.
He stepped closer.
A plaque rested at the base of the figure:
"The First Devourer.
Unnamed.
Silence eternal. Curse unbroken."
Suddenly, the air changed.
A pressure pressed against his temples—dull at first, then sharp.
"You've returned."
Shen Yi staggered back.
The voice hadn't come from his ears.
It came from inside.
From deep beneath the layers of self he didn't yet understand.
His breath caught.
"What… are you?"
Silence.
Then—
"You know. You've always known."
A vision flared before his eyes:
A battlefield drenched in blood.
A young man—himself—standing over corpses, eyes black with hunger, his laughter echoing across the wreckage.
Then the vision snapped away.
He fell to his knees, gasping.
His hands were shaking.
The voice spoke again, softer this time.
"Devour… or be devoured."
He stood and ran.
---
Back in the main sect quarters, Yan Xue felt it again.
The pulse.
A sharp pull against the back of her mind. Like her blood had twisted around something unseen.
She straightened, hand tightening around the hilt at her waist.
"Where is he?" she muttered.
Su Yao stepped out of the side hall just as she spoke.
"You felt it too," she said.
Yan Xue nodded. "He's gone somewhere he shouldn't."
"The Bone Hall?" Su Yao asked, eyes narrowing.
Yan Xue didn't answer. She was already moving.
---
Shen Yi emerged into the cold air just as they reached the edge of the fog.
He looked pale.
Not frightened. Not angry.
Just… distant.
Yan Xue grabbed his sleeve, stopping him.
"What did you see?" she asked.
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked past her—toward the sky.
"I saw a version of myself that shouldn't exist," he said quietly.
Su Yao's brow furrowed. "Was it a memory?"
"I don't know."
Yan Xue's gaze was hard. "Then tell me what you do know."
He turned to her. Met her eyes.
And said:
"I think I was never supposed to survive."
---
They walked back in silence, none of them speaking, each one carrying different questions.
Su Yao kept glancing at Shen Yi, concern tightening her mouth.
Yan Xue walked a step behind, her thoughts a swirl of instincts and warnings.
If the Bone Hall was reacting to him…
If even the ancient remnants were acknowledging his presence…
Then it meant something far worse than any of them were ready to accept:
The curse wasn't sleeping anymore.
It was waking up.
And it remembered everything.
---
Far away, across the northern gorges where twilight always lingered, the masked emissary known only as The Ash Collector knelt before a sleeping beast veiled in chains of molten bone.
He whispered, "He has entered the Bone Hall."
The beast did not open its eyes.
But its mouth curled into a slow smile.
"Then it begins again."
---
Later that evening, the halls of the Scarlet Immortal Sect were quiet.
Too quiet.
Even the wind outside the towers moved cautiously, as if disturbed by something it couldn't name. Moonlight filtered through the spires, brushing faint silver against polished stone.
Shen Yi stood beneath one of those high arches, gazing out at the valley far below. He wasn't thinking clearly anymore. Not because he was overwhelmed—but because too many thoughts were clawing for dominance.
Devour… or be devoured.
He repeated the phrase in his mind, over and over, like a mantra. Like a curse.
Behind him, footsteps approached.
He didn't turn.
But he didn't need to.
He already knew it was her.
"Yan Xue," he said softly.
She stopped a few paces away, the hem of her robes catching in the moonlight.
"Why did you go there?" she asked.
He didn't answer immediately.
Then: "I didn't choose to."
Her brow furrowed.
"I woke up in front of it. The gate was open. Something inside me led the rest of the way."
"Something?"
He nodded. "Something ancient."
Her gaze narrowed. "Did it speak to you?"
He turned to her, slowly. "Yes."
"What did it say?"
He hesitated. "That I've always known who I am."
"And do you?"
He looked down at his hands—quiet, steady, the same ones that had once held hers under a blooming plum tree.
"…No," he whispered. "Not yet."
---
They stood in silence for a while.
It wasn't awkward.
It was a silence filled with too many unspoken truths, pressing in like waves from both directions.
Then Yan Xue spoke again, voice lower. "Do you want to know who you were?"
He blinked. "You already told me. I killed your family."
"That's not the whole truth," she said coldly.
He studied her.
"You mean… there's more?"
"There always is," she said.
And then, like dropping a blade:
"You didn't just kill them. You made me watch."
Shen Yi staggered back half a step. His eyes widened. "What…?"
"You forced me to kneel. You told me that I would remember your name until I died. You tapped my cheek and said I was a crybaby."
She said the words without flinching.
Without emotion.
But her fingers were trembling at her side.
Shen Yi's voice came hollow. "I don't… I didn't…"
"No," she said flatly. "You didn't, not now. But you did. And that matters more than what you remember."
---
Silence again.
But this time, heavier.
He couldn't breathe.
He sat down on the stone bench behind him, unable to stand any longer under the weight of what she'd said.
"Why haven't you killed me yet?" he asked, voice rough.
Yan Xue turned her head slightly.
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do," he said. "You've had the chance. More than once. You could've poisoned me. Cut me down in the grove. Let the Sect take me. Why haven't you?"
She stepped closer.
For a heartbeat, they were only inches apart.
Then she leaned forward, her breath brushing his ear.
"Because part of me wants to see you remember," she whispered.
"Wants you to suffer the knowing. The guilt. The rot that comes when you realize what you truly were."
"And when that happens… I'll know you're finally human enough to break."
Then she stepped away and walked into the darkness.
---
Shen Yi didn't move.
Couldn't.
Her words sank into him like iron weights tied to invisible chains.
He didn't cry.
Didn't scream.
But he curled forward slowly, elbows on knees, hands knotted in his hair.
He sat like that until dawn.
---
Elsewhere, Su Yao stood before the mirror in her sect quarters, hands resting on the carved wooden frame.
Behind her, a scroll lay open on the table—half-finished, inscribed with protective glyphs and energy-diverting formations. Defensive talismans, modified for one person.
Shen Yi.
She wasn't sure why she was still making them.
Part of her told her he was dangerous.
Part of her wanted to believe he could be saved.
And another part…
Another part was afraid that both could be true.
---
The next day, Elder Han summoned Shen Yi.
The inner sanctum training chamber was empty, save for Shen Yi and the Elder.
The elder circled him once, then said, "I know where you went."
Shen Yi didn't deny it.
"I didn't mean to."
"It doesn't matter," the elder replied. "What matters is that it let you in."
Shen Yi straightened. "What does that mean?"
"It means the Bone Hall recognized your presence. Recognized your power."
"Power?" Shen Yi repeated.
Elder Han's eyes hardened. "The Immortal Demon Body."
Shen Yi clenched his jaw. "You knew."
"We all did," Han said. "From the moment your body didn't decay. From the moment your pulse returned when it shouldn't have."
Shen Yi looked away. "So why bring me back?"
"Because we need to understand what you are. And whether you'll destroy us."
---
Later, back in the disciple's quarters, Su Yao met him outside the gates.
"You look worse than usual," she said gently.
He smiled, weakly. "Good. That means I'm being honest."
She hesitated. Then, more softly, "I still believe in you."
He looked at her. "Even now?"
"Especially now."
"But what if I become what they all fear?"
Su Yao didn't flinch. "Then I'll stand between you and the world… until I can't."
He reached out, brushed her shoulder. "Don't risk yourself for me."
"It's not a risk," she said. "It's a promise."
---
Meanwhile, Yan Xue stood on the cliffside balcony above the east tower, watching him from afar.
She saw the way Su Yao reached for him.
Saw how he softened around her.
And hated how her chest tightened at the sight.
She whispered to herself, "You still haven't remembered."
"But when you do…"
She didn't finish the sentence.
Didn't need to.
The wind carried the rest.
---
In a cave far from the sect, the Ash Collector stood before a pool of black liquid, shimmering with demonic energy.
He dropped a single bone shard into the water.
The pool writhed.
And an image surfaced.
Shen Yi.
The Ash Collector's voice echoed in the chamber.
"Soon, you'll remember. And when you do… you'll come to us."
"Because no one else will have you."
---
End of Chapter 14