**Early Morning — Cloud Vein Sect Gates**
Thirty disciples stood at the southern gate in formation, bags packed, weapons sealed, and eyes flickering with eagerness or doubt.
Zeravon stood quietly near the rear, Yueyin a few steps ahead.
Instructor Wei paced in front of them, a sealed scroll in hand.
> "Your journey will take you across Three Peak River, into the Whispering Pines, and finally through the Azure Path before reaching **Scarlet Moon Valley**."
> "You travel as a unit, but what happens inside the valley — is yours to survive."
He threw the scroll to Yueyin.
> "You're the field leader."
Gasps spread.
> "Why her?"
> "She's not even from this branch of the sect!"
> "She just got here!"
But none dared challenge openly.
Yueyin's gaze remained cold and impassive. She didn't defend herself — because she didn't need to.
Zeravon watched her quietly. A flicker of… familiarity stirred again. But faded.
---
**Day 1 – Journey Begins**
The group moved in three lines, with Yueyin at the front, Lin Xu coordinating the rear, and Zeravon blending somewhere in the middle.
The path was calm.
Too calm.
Birds chirped. Trees swayed. But under that peaceful surface, **Qi lines were off**. Animals were too quiet. Even the wind sounded like it whispered warnings.
Zeravon's senses — still dull from weak cultivation — tingled.
Not from danger.
From **invitation**.
> *"Something is calling to me from ahead."*
---
**At Night — Whispering Pines Camp**
They made camp near an abandoned spirit well.
Disciples gathered around fires, eating dried meat and discussing rumors.
> "They say the last expedition to Scarlet Moon Valley never came back."
> "Except one guy, right?"
> "Yeah… but he returned blind. Said he saw 'a gate of screaming stars' and lost his mind."
Zeravon sat under a dying pine tree, tracing patterns in the dirt.
Yueyin approached silently and dropped a small spirit fruit near him.
> "Eat. You'll need your strength."
Zeravon looked at her.
> "Why are you helping me?"
> "Because you're not what you think you are."
She turned and walked off, not waiting for an answer.
Zeravon stared at the fruit, then took a bite.
> *Sweet. Cold. But… energizing.*
The small silver orb inside his robes pulsed once — like responding to **old memory**.
---
**Far Away — Within Scarlet Moon Valley**
The land was still… but not dead.
Deep underground, a gate carved into obsidian pulsed faintly.
The script above it read:
> *"Let those who carry fragments of the Beyond… return."*
Behind the gate, something *breathed*.
---
**Day 2 – Approaching Azure Path**
The second leg of the journey brought cliffs, mist, and old forgotten paths.
A minor fight broke out between two disciples — one tried to take another's spirit stones.
Yueyin ended it instantly. No words. Just pressure — one so sharp and heavy it crushed the offender to the ground.
No one questioned her again.
Zeravon, watching silently, realized:
> *"She's holding back too."*
---
**Later That Evening — Quiet Moment**
Lin Xu approached Zeravon.
> "Why are you even here?" he asked. "You're not strong enough."
Zeravon didn't answer at first.
Then:
> "Because something down there… knows me."
Lin Xu stared.
> "You're weird."
Zeravon gave a faint smile.
> "I know."
---
**Final Scene — Valley's Edge**
As the sun dipped below the cliffs, they arrived.
Scarlet Moon Valley sprawled before them — a crimson basin surrounded by black hills. Mist danced above glowing red grass. Distant howls echoed, though no beasts could be seen.
Yueyin raised her hand.
> "We rest here. We enter at dawn."
Zeravon looked at the valley.
The silver orb pulsed again — faster now.
And from deep within the valley… **something else pulsed back**.
Like an old heartbeat.
Calling him home.
---