The Forest That Speaks the Language of the Dead
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Days after the battle in the Valley of Spirits, the "Liangzhou" forest had transformed into a living entity pulsing with secrets. The ancient trees, once silent witnesses to massacres, began to whisper in a forgotten tongue, like the rustle of massive insect wings. Withered leaves turned into strange hues: dark purple like bruises, deep red like clotted blood. Even the air grew heavy with a scent resembling musk laced with rusty iron. Here, in the heart of this enchanted forest, Lang Xian began his new journey with his golden wolves, holding a map drawn on the skin of a slaughtered human—found inside his grandmother's coffin.
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The Mysterious Encounter: The One-Eyed Orphan
One night, under a toxic green fog, while the camp stood by a dry riverbed filled with human bones, a girl no older than twelve appeared. She wore a tattered dress woven like spiderwebs, her left eye covered with a filthy cloth, while the right gleamed with an odd golden hue that matched Lang Xian's pendant. She did not fear the wolves; she approached them as if she'd known them forever.
Girl (with a voice as soft as breeze, yet weighted with centuries):
"You're searching for the temple… but it's searching for you too."
Lang Xian (his eyes hardened by the supernatural):
"Who are you?"
Girl (touching his golden pendant):
"I am the voice your ancestors left in the wind… I am the living memory of the temple."
Before he could ask more, the ground beneath her cracked open and swallowed her into darkness, leaving behind a yellowed paper smeared with dried blood: "Follow the light that hides in the dark."
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A New Nightmare: The Dance of Repeating Masks
That night, as fire flickered like a red phantom, Lang Xian plunged into a different nightmare. He found himself in an endless hall of mirrors, each reflecting a different version of him:
One mirror showed him as a child, crying beside his family's corpses.
Another as a black beast with three arms, slaughtering an entire village.
A third as a blind old man holding a golden lantern.
But the final mirror was pitch black… and when he touched it, he heard his mother's scream: "The temple is the human you're destined to lose!"
He woke up gasping, with the golden wolf Yun warming him with her fur, while Hei and Qin guarded the tent's entrance, teeth bared.
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Crossing Into the Underworld: The Bone Tunnel
Hours later, the map led them to a cone-shaped hill, encircled by black stones carved with symbols resembling weeping eyes. At its center was a narrow tunnel descending into the earth, its walls lined with human bones arranged in grotesque artistry—children's skulls on top, limbs forming staircases, ribs creating geometric patterns.
The wolves refused to descend. Lang Xian went alone, carrying an oil lamp said to burn with human fat, according to the map. After three hours of downward climb, he reached an underground lake as black as ink, in the center of which sat a small island with a round, windowless building.
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The Living Temple: The Last Priest
As he approached the island in a boat made of human skin, the temple's door opened on its own. Inside, an old man was chained to a wall glowing with golden light. He was blind, his mouth covered by a gold mask engraved with the Liang family symbol.
Old Man (with a voice identical to Lang Xian's):
"Finally… I've waited a thousand years for you."
When Lang Xian removed the mask, he was shocked—the face beneath was a mirror image of his own, but with white hair and scars everywhere.
Old Man / Lang Xian:
"I am you… the version who chose the light over darkness. I am the sacrifice you refused to make."
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The Eternal Conflict: Past vs. Future
Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed. The High Priest of Helayon appeared, carried on the back of a black dragon made of smoke. The battle that followed was unlike any other—each sword strike spawned an alternate reality. In one, Lang Xian saw himself as an emperor; in another, a limbless beggar.
But the golden wolves, who had finally braved the tunnel, attacked the dragon with radiant light. The old man / Lang Xian sacrificed himself, absorbing the High Priest's power.
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The Suspended Ending: The Door That Never Closes
After the battle, Lang Xian stood at the edge of the black lake, his grandmother's golden statue in hand. The old man had vanished, but his voice lingered:
"The temple… is you. You are the sacrifice, and the sacrifice is you."
Outside, the one-eyed girl waited, holding a bottle containing a living human eye—one that matched her missing one.
Girl:
"Now you know the truth… What will you do?"
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Before he could answer, the ground exploded beneath their feet. An army of hybrids—part human, part wolf—emerged, led by a dark version of Lang Xian himself, with blood-red eyes and a black pendant.
The golden wolves howled loudly as he gripped the golden statue, finally realizing:
The real battle was never against Helayon...
But against every version of himself betrayed by fate.