The air is thick with incense, but it cannot mask the scent of dried blood.
A vast underground chamber carved from black obsidian pulses with crimson sigils. At its center is a lotus-shaped throne, surrounded by twelve kneeling figures in gray robes, faces hidden by bone-carved masks.
A cloaked woman in black robes stands before the throne—her voice calm, yet every word feels like a dagger dipped in ice.
Voice of the Cloaked Woman:
"The Heavenfall operation failed. Three agents dead. The Jade Circle's corruption script was severed before it reached convergence."
She pauses.
From the shadows, a cold male voice responds.
The Black Lotus Lord:
"Who severed it?"
The cloaked woman lowers her head.
Cloaked Woman:
"A disciple. Outer Sect. Name: Jiang Chen."
Whispers ripple among the twelve masked figures.
One figure leans forward—his bone mask carved in the shape of a serpent.
Masked Serpent:
"An outer sect insect? Impossible."
Another, with a mask of a weeping maiden, speaks with scorn.
Weeping Mask:
"He must be a puppet. Someone fed him knowledge. Someone—"
Black Lotus Lord (cutting in):
"Silence."
The chamber falls into instant stillness.
Black Lotus Lord:
"A child who walks alone and slays shadows is either touched by fate… or by fire. We shall test which."
He lifts a hand.
A black lotus bud opens on the stone altar beside him, revealing a scroll sealed in red wax.
> "Phase Two Directive: Trial by Bonefire."
He places the scroll into the cloaked woman's hands.
Black Lotus Lord:
"Release the Bonefire Spirits into the third trial ground. Ensure Jiang Chen enters."
Cloaked Woman (bowing):
"And if he survives again?"
The Black Lotus Lord does not answer immediately.
He rises.
And smiles—a thin, jagged line in the dark.
Black Lotus Lord:
"Then I will greet him myself."
---
A girl in ragged robes sharpens a black dagger under candlelight.
Her eyes are hollow. Her skin bears the mark of failed cultivation experiments—burnt veins, faint glowing scars.
A shadow steps behind her.
Shadow Messenger:
"You're being sent out again. Your new name is 'Mist of Bone.' Your target: Jiang Chen."
She doesn't speak. She finishes sharpening.
She lifts the blade. Whispers:
Mist of Bone:
"I will not fail."
---
End of Chapter 11.5