Chapter 41
Silence followed his refusal.
Not the fragile silence of fear, but a heavy one, as if the city itself had leaned closer to listen.
The chains of light around Shenping's limbs trembled, then stabilized. The negation platform beneath him glowed unevenly, fractures spreading like veins through black metal, but it did not collapse.
Above the city, the projected image of Li Wei froze.
The smile faltered.
For the first time since its appearance, the thing hesitated without recalculating.
"Response inconsistent," the voice beneath Li Wei's tone murmured faintly. "Emotional compliance below threshold."
Gu Tianxu exhaled slowly. "Good."
Luo Heng raised a hand sharply. "Hold all formations. Do not escalate."
Elders obeyed, though unease rippled through them. This was no longer a test of power. It was something far more dangerous—restraint.
Shenping opened his eyes.
The pressure in his chest had not vanished, but it had changed. It no longer surged outward blindly. It condensed, drawing inward like a star collapsing under its own gravity.
Li Wei's image tilted its head again, the gesture almost perfect, almost him.
"You're hurting yourself," it said gently. "You don't have to."
Shenping looked up at the projection. His voice was hoarse but steady. "You don't get to sound like him."
A faint distortion rippled across the image's face, as if a mask had slipped for half a breath.
"You always blamed yourself," the thing continued. "For choosing her. For hesitating. For surviving."
Sang Sang flinched.
Shenping did not.
"That guilt," the image said, stepping closer to the city gate, "it's killing you slower than we ever could."
The chains around Shenping creaked.
Gu Tianxu placed a hand against Shenping's back, not restraining him, but anchoring him. "Do not answer it," he murmured. "Every response feeds the loop."
Shenping nodded once.
He shifted his focus—not outward, not toward the projection, but inward, toward the pressure that had become part of him. He did not push it. He acknowledged it.
The world answered.
The projected image blurred at the edges.
Luo Heng's eyes widened. "What's happening?"
Gu Tianxu's voice was quiet with awe. "He's denying relevance."
The Li Wei construct frowned, confusion flickering through its borrowed expression. "You're not listening."
"I am," Shenping said. "I'm just not responding."
The image stepped forward again—and stopped.
An invisible boundary had formed between it and the city, not a barrier of force, but of meaning. The construct strained against it, movements growing fractionally delayed, as if reality itself questioned why it should allow this thing to advance.
"Access denied," the CORE's underlying voice intoned softly. "Causal priority conflict."
Sang Sang gasped. "It can't come closer."
The construct's face hardened. "You think this ends here?"
"No," Shenping said. "I think this begins here."
The image shattered—not violently, but cleanly, breaking into layers of light that peeled away and dissolved into nothing. The pressure in the city eased, formations settling back into their dormant states.
The bells fell silent.
For several heartbeats, no one spoke.
Then Luo Heng let out a long breath. "You just refused a direct CORE interface."
Shenping swayed slightly. Gu Tianxu caught him before he fell.
"That took more than you realize," Gu Tianxu said grimly. "You denied a designed emotional pathway."
Sang Sang ran to Shenping's side, clutching his arm. "Does it hurt?"
"Yes," Shenping admitted. "But it's… quieter now."
Luo Heng approached slowly, studying Shenping with new wariness. "You didn't destroy it."
"I didn't need to," Shenping replied. "I made it unnecessary."
One of the elders swallowed. "That thing was wearing a dead man's face."
"And it will do so again," Gu Tianxu said. "Next time, with more precision."
Luo Heng nodded. "Then we adjust."
He turned sharply to the gathered elders. "Iron Burial City changes protocol. The anomaly is not to be suppressed."
Murmurs erupted.
"Warden—"
"We can't—"
Luo Heng silenced them with a raised hand. "We cannot outfight what's coming. But we may be able to stand near it without breaking."
His gaze returned to Shenping. "You will train here. Not to grow stronger."
Shenping met his eyes. "Then why?"
"To learn where you end," Luo Heng said. "And where others begin."
Gu Tianxu helped Shenping to his feet. "That will be the hardest lesson."
Shenping looked down at his hands. They trembled faintly—not with fear, but with aftermath.
"They'll come again," he said quietly.
"Yes," Gu Tianxu agreed. "With lovers. With friends. With faces you haven't met yet."
Sang Sang tightened her grip on his sleeve. "I'll remember them all."
Gu Tianxu looked at her sharply, then nodded. "That may be the most dangerous thing of all."
Far beyond Iron Burial City, in a place without walls or mercy, the CORE processed the failed interaction.
Emotional leverage attempt one: incomplete.
Adaptation initiated.
If grief could be resisted—
—then affection would be engineered.
A new variable was introduced.
A future bond.
A love that would be allowed to grow naturally.
And when it broke—
—the fracture would be irreversible.
Phase Three authorized.