The pale figure stood at the crest of the slope, still as stone.Its form was neither wholly human nor entirely unnatural — more like an outline pulled from the corner of the eye and fixed into shape.The moonlight did not fall on it.
Lau Rhen narrowed his gaze.The qi here bent toward it, as if drawn in slow spirals.A predator without hunger.
"Don't move," Xao Xao's voice was low but firm.
"I wasn't planning to," Lau Rhen replied, his eyes not leaving the figure.
"You don't understand. If it sees you move—"
"It already sees me."
She inhaled sharply, almost like she wanted to argue, but didn't.Instead, she stepped forward, her presence in the Off World more deliberate than in the waking world — each motion balanced, like someone who had walked these roads for years.
"How long has it been following you?" Lau Rhen asked.
Her silence was an answer.
The figure tilted its head.It was subtle — a shift so slight that he might have imagined it — but the cold in the air deepened.
"Is it a spirit?" he asked.
"No," she said finally, "and yes."
He almost smiled at the contradiction. "Helpful."
Xao Xao didn't return the smile."It belongs to this world, but it doesn't live here. That's all I can tell you."
The slope between them was not far — a few dozen paces — but the air felt heavy, as though each step would take hours.The moon above never shifted, locked in its silver stare.
"Why are you here, Lau Rhen?"
"Why are you?"
Her eyes hardened. "I asked first."
"I didn't choose to come."
She blinked at him, the faintest crease appearing between her brows. "Then… it pulled you here."
The figure remained motionless, but the shadows around its feet thickened, stretching toward the path like fingers.
Lau Rhen's hand twitched toward the hilt of the dagger at his waist — not the one he carried in the waking world, but the one that appeared when he stepped into the Off World. A weapon of pure qi shaping itself from his will.
"If it attacks," he murmured, "can it be killed?"
Her gaze stayed on the figure. "No."
"Then what's the point of—"
"Surviving."
The ground trembled faintly, like the earth exhaling.And then the figure was gone.Not vanished in a blur — simply not there, as though the space it had occupied had been folded away.
The wind returned, carrying the sound of the flute once more, distant and uneven.
Xao Xao turned toward the village below."You shouldn't stay here tonight. I'll take you to the crossing point."
Lau Rhen didn't move. "It's not done with me."
"No," she said quietly. "It never is."
***
The path down the slope was narrow, carved into the side of a ridge where roots clung to the soil like skeletal hands.Below, the village stretched out in muted colors — roofs of dark wood, eaves bending slightly under the weight of time. A few pale lanterns swayed in the still air, their light soft and smoky.
The Off World had no scent of smoke or food like the waking one.Instead, it smelled of rain that hadn't yet fallen.
Lau Rhen followed behind Xao Xao, his steps light but deliberate.
"You move like you've been here longer than I've been alive," he said.
"Maybe I have," she replied without turning.
"Cryptic again."
"That's how this place works. If you explain too much, you lose something."
They reached a bend where the ridge narrowed. A wooden railing, worn almost smooth, stood between them and the drop. Below, a stream caught the moonlight like a blade.
Lau Rhen rested his hand on the railing, feeling the faint vibration of flowing water."This place is more alive than the real world," he said quietly.
"It's not more alive," Xao Xao corrected. "It's more awake."
He tilted his head. "Meaning?"
"Qi here isn't scattered and sleeping like in our world. Here, it's… aware. It listens. Sometimes it answers."
As they descended, he noticed faint symbols carved into the cliffside.Each one was etched with a precision that didn't match the rough wood and dirt of the path.Some pulsed faintly with light, like a breath taken in slow intervals.
He stopped, running his fingers over one."This is old work. Older than the village."
Xao Xao glanced back at him, the lanternlight catching in her eyes."You read these?"
He nodded. "It's not hard if you understand qi flow. These aren't just warnings. They're… gates."
"Gates to where?"
"That depends on who opens them."
By the time they reached the base of the slope, the village lanterns seemed brighter.People moved in the distance — not villagers in the mundane sense, but cultivators dressed in robes that blended into the shadows. Some carried swords. Others carried nothing at all, yet walked as though their hands were full.
Lau Rhen watched them with quiet calculation."They're stronger here than they would be outside."
"Yes," Xao Xao said. "This is where strength comes from. Out there, it fades."
They passed a narrow alley between two houses.From the darkness within, a low voice whispered something — not in a language Lau Rhen knew, but in one his bones seemed to remember.
He stopped.The voice stopped too.
Xao Xao didn't notice until she'd walked a few more steps."What is it?"
"Something's listening."
"Something always is."
They crossed a wooden bridge over the stream, its planks creaking in the quiet.On the far side stood a small shrine — weathered stone, a roof of moss-covered tiles, and an offering bowl filled with coins from no era Lau Rhen recognized.
Xao Xao paused before it, bowing slightly.Lau Rhen stayed still.
"You're not going to?" she asked.
"I don't bow to something I don't know."
Her expression softened, but only slightly. "Sometimes that's the only reason you should."
The air shifted.Somewhere high above, the moon dimmed for the briefest moment — as though something passed between it and the land.
They both looked up.The pale figure was not there, but Lau Rhen could feel it — like a thread pulled tight, somewhere just beyond the reach of sight.