The shrine stood silent in the middle of the clearing. Then the bell suddenly moved on its own.The deep sound spread through the village, and a few dogs started barking before suddenly going quiet. Thunder crashed above the village, and lightning flashed across the dark sky.The bell moved again.There was no one near it, but the rope kept swinging.The torn prayer papers around the shrine began to shake, even though the trees nearby were completely still. Then one paper caught fire.
Xu Yang's ears lifted. Another paper caught fire, then another, until all the prayer papers were burning. The flames slowly grew brighter, but the shrine itself did not burn. The fire stayed only on the papers.A loud crack of thunder filled the sky. At the same moment, the bell rang again.The burning papers suddenly flew up and circled the shrine.The flames moved slowly around the door before going out all at once. The clearing became completely dark. For a few seconds, nothing moved.
Then came a soft sound from inside the shrine. Knock. Xu Yang froze. Another knock followed. Knock. Knock. His claws slowly came out as he stared at the door. No one was inside. At least, no one should have been. Lightning flashed again. The shrine door slowly opened by itself. Only a small gap appeared, but the darkness behind it looked far deeper than the small room should have allowed.
Xu Yang stood at the edge of the clearing, staring at the dark doorway. His ears remained flat. Why is this scary? I know there is no ghost, but I'm human... Sometimes it's okay to believe. His tail flicked once. Can anything just stay dead or normal in this world? He narrowed his eyes at the shrine. No. Of course not. That would be too simple. And Xu Yang, you are not lucky enough to have a simple life. I step into one cursed story and suddenly everything starts acting like it has opinions. A low rumble came from inside the shrine.
Xu Yang's body stiffened. His claws pressed lightly into the ground. I didn't agree to be part of whatever this is. I just wanted food and quiet...Another sound came from the shrine. This time it sounded like something heavy dragging across the wooden floor. Xu Yang took one slow step back. The shrine door moved slightly then stopped. Xu Yang stared at it without blinking. "Don't." he whispered. The door creaked again. His fur rose along his back. "I'm serious. Whatever you are, stay inside."
The door suddenly slammed shut. Xu Yang jumped backward, nearly slipping on the wet stone. "Okay. Fine. Very funny." He stared at the door. "I get the message." Another flash of lightning lit up the shrine for a single second. In that brief light, Xu Yang thought he saw something standing behind the wooden window. He froze. The lightning disappeared. The window was empty. He blinked twice. "Nope," he muttered. "Didn't see that. Absolutely didn't see that."
His tail flicked again. "Can anything just stay dead or normal in this world?" He narrowed his eyes at the shrine. "No. Of course not. That would be too simple." He looked up at the dark sky as another low roll of thunder passed overhead. "And Xu Yang, you are not lucky to have a simple life. I step into one cursed story and suddenly everything starts acting like it has opinions." His claws pressed lightly into the ground. "I didn't agree to be part of whatever this is. I just wanted food and quiet." A small stone beside his paw suddenly cracked. Xu Yang looked down. "And apparently even the ground has something to say."
Behind him, footsteps approached. Xu Yang didn't turn immediately. His ears tilted back slightly. Great... Another one. Do I look like a meeting point for everyone's problems now? He heard the footsteps stop a few steps behind him. He exhaled and kept staring at the shrine."This place is seriously overbooked." he muttered under his breath, still not looking back. The person behind him said nothing. Xu Yang's eyes narrowed. He waited. Still nothing. He finally glanced over his shoulder. Yan Luo stood there, completely calm, as if the strange bell, the storm, and the cursed shrine were all part of an ordinary evening.
Xu Yang looked back at the shrine. Then at Yan Luo. Then back at the shrine. "Why don't you just stay with me?" he said quietly. "So you don't have to keep tracking me every time I move." His tail flicked once. "It would honestly save everyone time." Yan Luo stopped beside him, arms crossed, golden eyes fixed on the shrine. "Did you say something?" Xu Yang did not look at him. "Nothing important," he replied immediately. "Just complaining about logistics." Yan Luo hummed faintly, unconvinced.
A sharp wind suddenly swept through the clearing. The prayer papers around the shrine snapped against the wall. Yan Luo didn't move, but his eyes narrowed slightly. Xu Yang noticed. "You felt that too, didn't you?" Yan Luo remained silent for a moment. "Yes." Xu Yang sighed. "Fantastic. I was hoping I was imagining it." Another low sound came from beneath the shrine. This time both of them heard it. Xu Yang's ears rose. Yan Luo slowly turned his head toward the wooden floor. "It's getting stronger." Xu Yang swallowed. "You could have said something less terrifying." Yan Luo looked at him. "Would you prefer a lie?" Xu Yang stared at him for a second. "Actually, yes. Right now, I would."
Qing Li arrived moments later, stepping into the clearing with his usual relaxed smile. He looked at Xu Yang, then Yan Luo, then the shrine. "Do you miss us that much?" he said lightly. Xu Yang looked annoyed. "No," he said flatly. "I just keep collecting problems like they're free samples." Qing Li smiled. "That sounds like attachment." Xu Yang immediately shook his head. "It's not attachment. It's bad luck." Yan Luo glanced at him. "That's still consistency."
Xu Yang pointed slightly toward the shrine without turning fully. "This," he said, "is consistency. You three showing up everywhere I stand is something else."
Qing Li tilted his head. "Then stop standing in interesting places." Xu Yang paused. "It's a shrine," he said slowly. "It's literally the opposite of interesting." Yan Luo finally spoke, voice calm. "It's not the place." A beat. "It's what reacts to you." Xu Yang's ears flicked. "I didn't ask it to react," he muttered. Qing Li chuckled softly. "No one does."
The shrine door creaked. All three of them went still. Grass grew in uneven patches, some lush and green, others withered to brittle gray. The banyan tree's roots coiled like frozen serpents, their bark split as if something had tried to claw its way out from beneath. A low sound came from inside the shrine. It was barely a sound at all, more like wood rubbing against wood. Xu Yang's ears turned toward the doorway. He took one careful step forward.
Yan Luo moved faster. He grabbed the back of Xu Yang's neck and pulled him back. Xu Yang froze instantly. "Hey," he said sharply, ears shooting back. "What are you doing?" He twisted around, more annoyed than afraid. "Why are you grabbing me?" Yan Luo did not loosen his grip. His eyes stayed on the shrine. "Don't move." Xu Yang narrowed his eyes. "I was just walking." "That's exactly the problem," Yan Luo replied. "You were walking straight toward something none of us can see."
Qing Li's voice drifted in lightly from the side. "You were about to become interesting to the shrine." Xu Yang turned his head slightly. "What does that even mean?" Qing Li pointed toward the doorway. "Look at the ground." Xu Yang glanced down. The grass near the shrine was slowly bending toward the door. Not from the wind. It was being pulled in. Xu Yang's ears lowered. "Okay... that's new." "We do not walk into cursed structures first." Yan Luo said. "We observe. We assess. We send Qing Li." Qing Li placed a hand over his heart. "Your faith in me is touching." Yan Luo finally looked at him. "You volunteered." Qing Li paused. "I was being polite." "You were laughing." "I can do both." Xu Yang stared between them. "Are you two seriously arguing about who gets to enter the creepy shrine first?"
A sudden sound came from inside. Tap. All three stopped talking. Another sound followed. Tap. Tap. Qing Li's smile faded. Yan Luo's grip tightened slightly. Xu Yang looked toward the doorway again. "That came from inside," he said quietly. Yan Luo nodded. "I know." Xu Yang swallowed. "And you're still going to send him in?" Qing Li raised a finger. "Technically, no one has sent me anywhere yet."
Xu Yang twisted free with an irritated hiss and landed silently on the stone path. Both demons stared. "He hissed," Qing Li said, delighted. Yan Luo frowned. "He has opinions." Xu Yang glared at them. "I heard that." Qing Li laughed softly. Xu Yang turned away from them and walked toward the shrine. "Fine. I'll look from here. I'm not going inside." Yan Luo watched him closely. "Xu Yang." Xu Yang stopped. "What?" "Don't cross the doorway." Xu Yang sighed. "I said I wouldn't."
The door had not merely opened. The wood around the hinges had split outward, as though something inside had pushed—not violently, but patiently, over many years. Xu Yang paused at the threshold. The darkness within was too complete. Even moonlight avoided it.Yan Luo stepped up behind him, expression sharpening. "That is not shadow." Qing Li's playful demeanor faded. "No. That is absence." Xu Yang stared into the darkness for a few seconds. Then something moved far inside. He could not see what it was, but he heard a slow scrape against the floor. His tail stiffened. "You heard that, right?" Yan Luo nodded. "Yes." Qing Li's eyes narrowed. "Something knows we're here."
Xu Yang crossed the threshold.Xu Yang hesitated for half a step. "I'm starting to hate when things are described as absence," he muttered under his breath. Qing Li leaned slightly forward, voice light again. "Oh? Scared of empty concepts now?" Xu Yang shot him a look. "I am not scared."Then a crack echoed somewhere inside the shrine. Xu Yang stepped back. "I am respectfully cautious." Qing Li smiled. "That sounds like scared with extra steps." Yan Luo, standing behind them, said nothing.
Qing Li stepped closer to Xu Yang's side and peered into the dark interior. "Don't worry," he said in a mock-reassuring tone. "If anything grabs you, it'll probably be polite about it." Xu Yang stiffened slightly. "Why would you say that?" Qing Li tilted his head. "Because things here feel polite." Xu Yang turned slowly toward him. "That is the worst sentence you have said so far." Qing Li looked genuinely pleased. "Thank you." Yan Luo finally spoke, "If something is here, it's not interested in manners." Qing Li sighed softly. "There goes my theory of ghost etiquette." Xu Yang muttered, "I hate both of you."
They moved deeper into the shrine. The interior was smaller than it should have been. The floor was bare earth, cold and damp beneath their feet. The broken altar leaned against one wall, covered in dust and old marks. Faded talismans hung from the walls, some torn in half. A few moved slightly, even though there was no wind inside. Xu Yang looked at them. "Please tell me those aren't moving." Qing Li glanced over. "They're moving." "I was hoping you would lie." "I could." "Don't."
At the center of the floor was a large circle carved into the earth. Deep lines crossed over each other, forming strange symbols that covered almost the entire floor. Some marks were clear, while others had almost disappeared with age. Xu Yang stared at them for a moment and quickly looked away. "My eyes hurt just looking at that." Qing Li crouched near the edge. "That's because the pattern is wrong." Xu Yang looked at him. "Wrong how?" Qing Li's smile faded. "The lines shouldn't be able to exist together." Yan Luo's expression became serious. "But they do." A quiet sound came from beneath them. Tick. All three stopped.
Another tick came from under the floor.Xu Yang's ears slowly lowered. "Please don't tell me something is knocking." Qing Li looked toward the circle. "I wasn't going to." "Good." "I was going to say something is scratching." Xu Yang stared at him. "Why are you like this?" Qing Li shrugged. "I don't know."Yan Luo's voice dropped. "A seal." Qing Li crouched lower, careful not to touch the carved lines. "An old one. Older than the current demon clans." He reached toward one of the symbols, but stopped before his fingers touched it. The mark suddenly darkened. Qing Li pulled his hand back. "It doesn't want to be touched." Xu Yang blinked.
Xu Yang's chest tightened. Something about the seal felt familiar. He stepped closer without thinking. The moment his paw came near the circle, several symbols flickered. Qing Li's expression changed. "He's reacting to it." Yan Luo's gaze sharpened. "Or it's reacting to him." Xu Yang looked down at his paw. "I really don't like either answer." One of the symbols pulsed again, and the sound beneath the floor stopped.
Xu Yang slowly raised his head. "Why did it stop?" Qing Li's voice became quiet. "Because it heard you." Xu Yang stared at him. "That was not funny." "I wasn't joking." Xu Yang's ears flattened. "That is somehow worse."
Xu Yang placed one paw just outside the carved line.Yan Luo grabbed him again and hauled him backward. "Absolutely not." Xu Yang glared. "I didn't even touch it!" "You were about to." Qing Li laughed despite the tension. "You've been adopted by a very strict parent." "I am not his parent." "You carry him by the scruff." "It is efficient." Xu Yang twisted around and bit Yan Luo's sleeve.Yan Luo stared down at him. "You did that on purpose." Qing Li leaned against the broken altar, grinning. "He definitely did." Xu Yang pulled his ears back. "Maybe I did." For a fleeting moment, the shrine felt less oppressive. Then the circle pulsed.
The grooves in the earth glowed faintly. The light was weak, but it spread through every carved line until the whole circle could be seen clearly. The old talismans on the walls began shaking. One fell to the floor. Then another. Xu Yang stopped smiling. "Okay. That's enough." Then sound came from beneath the seal. Everyone went silent.It came again, like claws dragging across stone far below them. Xu Yang's fur stood up. "That is definitely not a rat." Qing Li looked at the floor. "No." Another scrape came, closer this time. Dust dropped from the ceiling.
Yan Luo exhaled slowly. "It's not fully awake." Qing Li's voice was softer now. "But it knows the door is open." One of the carved lines suddenly cracked. The sound was small, but everyone heard it. Xu Yang stared at the broken circle.Xu Yang didn't move for a moment.Why does everything keep connecting back to me?...His tail flicked once, uneasy. I didn't ask to be part of any of this...His eyes stayed on the broken circle.Is this the benefit of being a book traveler?...Just becoming the convenient center of every disaster?" He laughed.So what, I get transported into a world and my reward is becoming a magnet for everything weird and unfinished?...
Above the shrine, the sky thinned again, and a single thread of red light pierced the clouds, too narrow for mortal eyes to notice. Inside the shrine, the seal reacted violently. The glowing lines flared, then dimmed. The scratching below stopped. Yan Luo's expression darkened. "Heaven is watching." Qing Li looked up at the ceiling, his smile fading. "Then we should probably stop standing under it." Yan Luo glanced at him. "You think Heaven cares about where you stand?" Qing Li gave a small shrug. "I prefer not to find out." Xu Yang looked between them. "For once, I agree with him."
The red light flickered above the shrine. The seal pulsed again. Xu Yang stepped forward. This time, neither demon stopped him. He stood at the edge of the circle, golden eyes reflecting the faint glow. The moment he moved closer, the red light became brighter. The seal answered with another pulse. Xu Yang's ears flattened, and he stepped back. The light vanished. The seal dimmed. The scratching did not return. Qing Li watched the ceiling for another moment before quietly saying, "I think it was watching you." Xu Yang glanced at him. "That's not helpful." "I know." Qing Li gave him a small smile. "I was just making sure you knew."
Yan Luo finally spoke. "We cannot leave this unattended." Qing Li nodded, his expression turning serious. "If it breaks, the village will not survive the first breath of whatever is trapped below." He looked toward the dark doorway. For once, there was no joke in his voice. "Whatever is under that seal is strong enough to make Heaven notice." Xu Yang's tail stopped moving. "That's supposed to make me feel better?" Qing Li shook his head. "No. It was supposed to make you stop asking questions." "It didn't." "I noticed."
Xu Yang sat at the base of the banyan tree. He watched the shrine. Then he looked at the dark sky. Finally, his eyes moved to the Yan Luo and Qing Li.Qing Li stretched and forced a little brightness back into his voice. "Well. On the positive side, we did not die." Yan Luo snorted. "Your standards are low." "They are realistic." Qing Li looked around the ruined shrine. "We're still breathing, nobody lost a limb, and the ancient thing under the floor is still asleep. That's a good night." A small piece of wood fell from the shrine behind him. Qing Li flinched and looked over his shoulder. "See? Still alive." Xu Yang stared at him.
Qing Li crouched beside him, this time keeping a little distance. His voice became quieter. "You knew it was here, didn't you?" Xu Yang blinked. "Knew what?" Qing Li pointed toward the shrine. "That." Xu Yang looked at the dark doorway. "I knew something was wrong. That's different." Yan Luo crossed his arms. "We are taking the cat with us." Qing Li's grin returned. "Oh? Have you accepted him?" "I am containing the disaster." Xu Yang placed one paw on Yan Luo's boot. Qing Li looked down, then smiled. "Too late. He's chosen you." Yan Luo looked at the paw. "He is using me as a shield." Xu Yang's ears twitched. Qing Li nodded seriously. "Still counts." Xu Yang gave him an annoyed look. "It does not."
Yan Luo looked skyward, as if asking for patience he did not possess. From the shadows beyond the clearing, unseen by all three, Shen Lian watched. Her compass hung shattered at her side. The needle, though broken, pointed steadily toward the shrine. And toward the cat.