The path down the mountain was colder than Li Shenhai remembered.
Twilight bled across the horizon as he and Xiao Lan descended through winding trails and whispering trees. Birds no longer sang. The wind carried a strange tension—like the mountain itself was holding its breath.
"Where are we going?" Xiao Lan finally asked.
Shenhai didn't look back.
"The village by the River of Broken Swords. I need to find my grandmother."
She blinked.
"The blind herbalist? She's still alive?"
"She's more than that," Shenhai said quietly. "She raised me after my father vanished. And I think she's been hiding the truth from me."
That Night – The River Village
The village hadn't changed—mudstone walls, flickering lanterns, the scent of jasmine and smoke. But as they approached Shenhai's childhood home, a warning talisman burned in midair.
"Someone was here," Xiao Lan whispered.
Shenhai burst through the gate.
The small hut was quiet. Too quiet.
Then a soft voice floated from the inner room:
"You've come, Shenhai. And the moon stains you red."
His heart stopped.
Grandmother Li, frail and sightless, sat by the hearth. Her hands trembled as she reached for him, touching his face like she was reading a long-forgotten script.
"The seal has broken, hasn't it?" she asked.
"You knew?" Shenhai asked.
"I was there when your father vanished into the mountain. I held the blade he left behind. I've waited years for the storm to return."
She handed him a small wooden box.
Inside: a letter written by Li Zhen the Stormblade, Shenhai's father—and a broken pendant etched with the same crimson sigil now burned into Shenhai's skin.
"He wanted you to know," she said softly. "The Crimson Soul… is not a weapon. It's a memory that chose to be forgotten."
Shenhai's eyes narrowed.
But before he could ask more—
Boom.
The front wall exploded inwards.
Flames erupted as masked cultivators in dark robes stepped through the smoke, swords gleaming with talismanic light.
Their leader stepped forward. A lean woman with violet eyes and a silver spear etched with soul-warding runes.
"Li Shenhai," she called. "By decree of the Iron Vow Sect, you are marked for extermination. Surrender the Crimson Seal, or die."
Xiao Lan drew her blade.
"We're not running."
Shenhai looked at his grandmother. She gave a nod of quiet acceptance.
He turned toward the intruders, drawing his blade slowly.
"I've passed the Trial of Blood. You think you're the first to come for me?"
His qi surged—deeper and more precise than ever before. His aura spread like fire given breath.
"Then let me show you why the seal chose me."