Silent Mountain Tales - Volume 1 Chapter 3

Описание: Chapter 3 — The Lantern’s Second Awakening
The mountain path was silent except for the soft crunch of Li Shen’s bare feet against the cold stone. The night wind tugged at his tattered robe, carrying with it the distant echoes of laughter from the Cloudveil Sect — laughter that no longer reached him.
He didn’t look back.
The lantern in his hand glowed faintly, its phoenix carving catching the moonlight. It felt heavier tonight, as if the wood itself carried the weight of everything he had lost.
Li Shen walked until the stone path gave way to forest soil. His legs trembled. His breath grew shallow. The exhaustion he had been holding back since dawn finally broke through.
He sank to his knees beneath an ancient pine.
For a moment, he simply knelt there, head bowed, the lantern resting beside him. The forest was quiet — too quiet. Even the insects seemed to hold their breath.
Li Shen whispered, voice barely audible.
“I’m sorry… I tried.”
His fingers curled weakly around the lantern’s handle.
“I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t… be enough.”
The wind shifted.
The lantern flickered.
Not like a flame disturbed by the breeze — but like something inside it had stirred.
Li Shen blinked, lifting his head. The glow brightened, then dimmed, then brightened again, pulsing softly like a heartbeat.
A warmth spread through his palm.
Then he heard it.
A faint sound — not a voice, not quite — more like a memory brushing against the edge of consciousness. A whisper of something familiar, something buried deep within him.
The lantern’s light swirled gently, illuminating the pine needles around him in a soft golden halo.
Li Shen stared, breath caught in his throat.
The phoenix carving on the lantern’s front panel shimmered. Its wings, once still, seemed to shift — not physically, but as if the light behind them was moving with intention.
A single image flashed in Li Shen’s mind:
A woman’s silhouette.
A hand reaching toward him.
A soft, warm voice saying his name.
Then it vanished.
Li Shen gasped, clutching the lantern to his chest. His heart pounded, not from fear, but from something he hadn’t felt in years.
Hope.
The lantern dimmed again, returning to its usual gentle glow — but the warmth in his palm remained.
Li Shen closed his eyes, steadying his breath.
“What… are you?” he whispered.
The lantern did not answer.
But the forest around him felt different now — as if the world itself had shifted slightly, acknowledging him in a way it never had before.
Li Shen rose slowly, gripping the lantern with renewed strength. His legs still trembled, but his steps were steadier.
He didn’t know what the lantern had shown him.
He didn’t know why it had awakened.
He didn’t know what waited beyond the forest.
But for the first time since leaving the sect, he felt guided.
Not by destiny.
Not by power.
But by a memory — faint, fragile, and impossibly precious.
He walked deeper into the forest, the lantern’s glow leading him forward.
And somewhere far behind him, high in the Cloudveil Sect, a ripple of energy stirred in the Ashen Vault — as if answering the lantern’s call.