Fate Again

"You've all seen the underground altar. That altar is far older than a few hundred years. When my ancestor discovered it, the seal was still intact."

"Seal?"

Su Yuehe's pen paused.

"You didn't mention a seal before."

"Because you didn't ask before."

"That altar itself is a container, sealing away part of the Lord of Nothingness's power left behind in the mortal world."

"You mean those black mists?"

"Exactly. Its true form must be sleeping elsewhere, and fragments of its power are scattered across the mortal realm in more than one place. The altar my ancestor found is just one of them. We are waiting for the deity to awaken."

With that, he glanced toward Chen Guan.

Chen Guan had his legs crossed, leaning back in a chair. He noticed the prolonged stare.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Yue Teng's gaze clung to Chen Guan, each word deliberate. "You carry His aura."

"I sensed it the moment you walked through that door."

Chen Guan sat on the folding chair, arms crossed over his chest, sneering. "Then why didn't you sense it sooner?"

Su Yuehe turned her head to look at Chen Guan, then faced Yue Teng again.

"Answer my question."

"After servitude spanning dozens of generations, has the Lord of Nothingness ever given any tangible response?"

Yue Teng withdrew his gaze, settling it on Su Yuehe's face.

"The altar is the response."

"Those black mists are also the response."

"Fragments of power scattered across the mortal world. Our duty is to guard and wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait for Him to awaken."

Su Yuehe flipped to the second line of her outline.

The pen glided across the paper.

"You said the seal is intact, and the black mists are sealed power fragments."

"After your ancestor discovered the altar, what did they do—maintain the seal or try to break it?"

Yue Teng's Adam's apple bobbed.

"The first dozen or so generations maintained it."

He paused, weighing his words.

"Later, a certain family head discovered that remnants of will lingered in the fragments."

Yue Teng slowed his speech, looking down at the shackles constricting his wrists, veins bulging on the back of his hands.

"Those black mists aren't hostile to everyone."

"My ancestor found that the fragments react with affinity toward certain people."

"What kind of people?"

"I don't know."

Yue Teng shook his head.

"In dozens of generations, only two instances were recorded."

"The first was three hundred years ago."

"The second..."

He shifted his gaze toward Chen Guan.

Su Yuehe followed his line of sight and turned her head.

Chen Guan sat in the corner, the black coffin leaning against the table leg, harsh white light striking his face, his expression steady as always.

"The second is him."

Yue Teng's voice carried a strange tone.

"On the altar, the moment the cocoon broke open, all the black mists submitted to him."

He stared at Chen Guan.

"What dozens of generations waited for, what they begged for but never received—a response."

"He, an outsider, walked in, and the black mists knelt."

His voice trailed off with a hint of defeat, and the room fell into a long silence.

Su Yuehe suppressed her emotions and continued down the outline.

"For that affinity response three hundred years ago, were there any details recorded about that person? What happened to him later?"

"He died."

Yue Teng's answer was blunt.

"The fragment's power was too immense. That person couldn't bear it."

"After seven days, his body collapsed. When he died, all his bones were shattered."

Su Yuehe wrote this down on the paper, her handwriting steady.

"So you think Chen Guan will go down the same path?"

"No."

Yue Teng denied it quickly.

"He's different."

"Different how?"

“Three hundred years ago, that man was passively exposed to the fragment. The fragment invaded his body on its own. He had no ability to resist, and in the end, he was shattered by the power.”

Yue Teng leaned forward, the chains pulled taut with a grating screech.

“But with him,” Yue Teng continued, “those black mists stopped on their own. There is a fundamental difference between the two.”

Chen Guan spoke up. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

Yue Teng rotated his neck, the silver light of the spiritual power suppressor tracing an arc across his throat.

“I’m saying you might be the vessel chosen by the Lord of Nothingness.”

“My family has waited for dozens of generations, all for a vessel capable of bearing His will.”

“The affinity reaction of the fragment is the criterion for judgment.”

Yue Teng’s cracked lips split into a grin, brimming with certainty.

“I said earlier that three months would be enough.”

Su Yuehe squinted.

“Go on.”

“Three months is enough time for me to see one thing clearly.”

Yue Teng locked his gaze on Chen Guan.

“Whether or not he is the one chosen by the Lord of Nothingness.”

Su Yuehe leaned back in her chair, placing her pen down on the folder.

“You’re locked a hundred meters underground, your spiritual power sealed off, tortured by the black mists every day. What could you possibly see?”

Maybe under Chen Guan’s influence, her tone had shifted as well.

“No need to see,” Yue Teng replied, his eyes still fixed on Chen Guan.

“Once the affinity reaction of the fragment starts, it never stops.”

“Those black mists have acknowledged their master.”

“No matter where he is, the remaining power will seek him out on its own.”

“This is not something I can control, nor something you can stop.”

Chen Guan straightened up, his feet pressing against the cold alloy floor.

“You mean the black mists will appear again.”

“Yes,” Yue Teng answered without hesitation.

“And the frequency will only increase.”

“It will happen right beside you. You cannot escape it.”

“This is your destiny.”

Su Yuehe looked at Chen Guan, her lips pressed into a thin line, clearly processing the information.

Chen Guan stood up and walked over to Yue Teng.

The distance between them was less than half a meter.

He looked down at the gaunt man in the chair.

Destiny. This was not the first time he had heard that word.

“What do you gain by telling us this?”

Yue Teng tilted his head back, the suppressor humming with the movement.

“I want to see for myself.”

His voice was hoarse, carrying an obsessive edge.

“To know whether the wait of dozens of generations meant anything. Whether He will ever return.”

“And you are the only one who can give me the answer.”

Chen Guan stared at him for a long moment, then turned and walked back to the corner, slinging the black coffin over his shoulder.

“We’re done here.”

He glanced at Su Yuehe.

She closed the folder, stood up, pushed her chair back into place, and headed for the door.

The two exited the cell, and the metal door slid shut behind them.

The corridor was left with only the lighting and the smell of disinfectant.

After a few steps, Su Yuehe leaned in and lowered her voice.

“How much of what he said do you believe?”

Chen Guan walked beside her with the black coffin on his back.

Their footsteps echoed through the empty hallway.

“Seventy percent.”

“And the thirty percent you don’t believe?”

“As for the so-called vessel — whether it is meant to bear the will or be consumed by it… He might not even know that himself.”

Su Yuehe was silent for a moment.

“What about the black mists seeking you out again?”

Chen Guan did not answer.

If what Yue Teng said was true, then their meeting today… could it be considered the black mists taking the initiative to find him?

The Black Wind Ruins. The Northern Border. And now this.

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside.

Su Yuehe pressed the button for the upper levels, and the elevator began to rise.

"When is the next interrogation scheduled?"

"Three days from now."

Su Yuehe replied.

"What he said today is just the tip of the iceberg. The really valuable intel is yet to come."