1. The Name in the Ashes
The air smelled of burning vellum and regret as the First Scribe materialized fully. Its patchwork form now revealed disturbing details:
The Anatomy of Erasure
Its left eye was Bai Yu's missing comedy mask lens, cracked diagonally
Where a heart should beat, Xiao Qi's stolen laughter echoed in hollow chambers
Each step left ink footprints that sprouted silver thorns - the Tome's early censorship marks
The Ransom's True Nature
The "Lin Xiaoqi" name tag wasn't paper - it was living skin:
Child-sized fingerprints visible along the edges
Pulsed in time with Lin Feng's quill-stabbed ribs
When the wind hit it just right, you could hear a lullaby in reverse
The Scribe's Ultimatum
"Your choice, Authorling:"
"Keep your quill and watch her name unravel" (demonstrated by peeling a corner of the tag)
"Or trade your editor's sight" (it pointed to Lin Feng's silver-etched eyes)
Lin Feng's Hesitation
His fingers twitched toward the quill - but it bled where he touched it now. Not blood. Ink mixed with pear blossom petals.
2. Blood Ink Organ Replacement - Deeper Horror
Lin Feng's transformation accelerated:
The Ink Metastasis
Lungs: Coughing up entire sentences that crawl back up his nostrils
Liver: Visible through skin, its lobes now paginated like a book
Spine: Vertebrae transforming into tiny inkwells that leak during storms
Bai Yu's Dark Examination
He pressed an ear to Lin Feng's chest:
"Huh. Your heartbeat's iambic pentameter now. Also-" (a beat) "I think your left ventricle just footnoted me."
The Tome's Psychological Warfare
Unwritten words now manifest as:
Phantom limbs that reach for the quill when he sleeps
Taste hallucinations (every "unsaid truth" tastes like overripe pears)
Echoes of his own voice correcting his thoughts
Critical Development
When Lin Feng accidentally ink-coughed onto the ruins, the droplets formed:
*"Article -1: Before shall, there was ______"
(The blank burned whoever touched it)
3. The Ninth Blade's Lullaby - Unversed Truth
Yan Jiu's weapon revealed deeper secrets as it cut:
The Full Nursery Rhyme
*"Hush little weapon, don't say a word,
Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird.
If that mockingbird won't sing,
Papa's gonna break everything.
If that break won't mend,
Sister's gonna walk sideways again.
If that walk goes unseen,
We'll all become what never been."*
The Blade's Composition
Under magnification:
Every thread in the ribbon was a timeline
The "blue" was actually thousands of tiny forgotten names
The edge wasn't sharp - it bisected moments cleanly
Child-Yan Jiu's Epiphany
When he touched the blade to his own cheek:
It left no wound
But erased two years of nurse-doll programming
He whispered: "It doesn't cut things. It cuts instructions."
4. The Original Sin Unbound - Expanded Revelation
The melted time-ice became a living panorama:
The Elders' True Crime
Not just kneeling - being consumed:
Frost Moon's beard fraying into paper fibers
Cloud Soaring's fingers unspooling as thread
Their terrified whispers revealed:
*"We didn't bind it - we fed it our worst students!"
The Tome's Feeding Mechanism
Projected images showed:
Early "disobedient" cultivators being edited out of history
Their essence becoming:
The silver in Celestial Strategy's ink
The cold in Frost Moon's needles
The knots in Cloud Soaring's threads
Lin Feng's Physical Reaction
His ink-filled organs screamed in recognition - because:
Some of those erased students were his ancestors.
5. The Sideways Door - Ultimate Cliffhanger
As the revelations peaked:
The 7th's Full Manifestation
No longer just a shadow - but a negative space in reality:
Where she walked, the concept of "obedience" unraveled
She held out a single item to Lin Feng:
A mockingbird's skull with pear blossoms for eyes
Bai Yu's Transformation Completed
His chest cavity now a gate:
The laughter-void birthed thousands of mockingbirds
Each carried:
A censored word in its beak
A soul-fragment in its wings
Together they sang: "The first prisoner wrote his own chains"
The Final Choice Enhanced
The scribe extended three quills:
Blood-ink (Sacrifice memory)
Silver (Sacrifice future)
Pear wood (Sacrifice name)
The Tome's True Form Revealed
Not a book - but an infinite ouroboros of:
Frost Moon's needles as teeth
Cloud Soaring's threads as scales
Its hunger never ending because it was eating itself
Last Line Redux
Lin Feng reached for a quill - and the 7th grabbed his wrist:
"Don't write," she pleaded. "______"
(The chapter ends with her mouth moving, but no sound emerging)