Chapter 37: Mei

  Vivian paced the small room, her boots clicking rhythmically against the floorboards as she processed Lei Fei’s words.

  "So," she said, stopping abruptly. "You’re saying there is no one left who can open that room?"

  Lei Fei remained silent for a moment before nodding slowly. "The secrets of the Priest are not mine to know. In Dragonwood, what lies behind that door is a taboo."

  Ronen took a deep breath, the frigid air stinging his lungs. The fire in his chest—the irrational need to open that door—hadn't died, but it was now held in check by a cold, hard logic.

  "Brute force won't work," he said, turning to Vivian. His voice was raspy. "Vivian, you’ve seen more of the world than any of us. Any ideas?"

  Vivian bit her lip and shook her head. "This is magic beyond my expertise. It’s a scholar’s puzzle, not a warrior’s." She turned her gaze toward Mark and Zoe. "What about our mages?"

  Zoe waved her hands frantically, stepping back as if the question itself were dangerous. All eyes then fell on Mark.

  Mark still looked half-mad, but the shared goal seemed to ground him enough for conversation. He dragged his battered body toward the tunnel entrance, his fingers tracing the air as if feeling the invisible texture of the seals. After a few silent circuits, he spoke in a dry hiss.

  "I was too excited before... I didn't notice the structure of the wards." His eyes gleamed with a sickly, feverish light. "There is a self-destruct mechanism. If we force it, whatever is inside will be destroyed." He suddenly grinned, a terrifyingly devout expression. "But that is no matter. Give me time. I will unpick these threads. I will break the seal."

  "Guests," Lei Fei’s voice turned stern. "I ask you again to abandon this. Do not pursue what lies beneath." He looked at each of them in turn. "This is the taboo of Dragonwood."

  He paused, his throat working as if swallowing something bitter. "What is sealed there is connected to an ancient god. Our rituals have been silent for years. I will not see us provoke its wrath further."

  "Men worship gods for the peace and protection they provide," Vivian said, her voice hardening. "When a god ceases to be a guardian and becomes the source of calamity, it is no longer a god. It is merely a shadow in the dark, unworthy of devotion."

  She leaned in, her golden eyes locking onto Lei Fei’s. "Village Head, you know the truth. we are trapped. The clues behind that door might be our only way out. Don't you want this village to return to normal?"

  Lei Fei fell into a long silence. The wind howled through the ruins, a mournful sound that seemed to echo his thoughts. Finally, his shoulders slumped, as if a great weight had finally broken him.

  "This is not the place to speak. There are other things you must know." He turned, his back looking as old and gnarled as a dead tree. "Follow me."

  "Go!" Mark snapped, not even looking back. His eyes were hooked into the dark runes of the tunnel, his obsession leaving no room for anything else. "I stay here."

  "I... I’ll stay and help," Zoe added, stepping closer to Mark. She looked less like an assistant and more like a guard, afraid he might do something suicidal again.

  Vivian, Ronen, and Jiu followed Lei Fei out of the ruins. As they reached the edge of the wreckage, Vivian paused and looked back. The tunnel was like a black mouth, silently swallowing the grey light of the afternoon.

  "What is it?" Ronen asked, noticing her hesitation.

  Vivian stared into the darkness for a long moment before turning away. "I feel like... we’re missing something vital." She shook her head. "Let’s go. Let’s see what the old man has to say."

  The interior of the Village Head’s house was exactly as they had left it. Even the water cups on the table sat in the same positions.

  Ronen felt a sudden, cold sink in his stomach. He remembered the first time they entered this house—it had looked exactly like this. It was as if time here were stagnant, and they were the only variables in a frozen world.

  They sat in silence. Lei Fei let out a long, ragged breath. "I saw you arrive with the boy, Maple Star. You’ve met him?"

  Vivian nodded, her gaze sharpening. "Is there something special about him?"

  "Not the boy himself," Lei Fei shook his head. "But what I have to tell you concerns his family. You asked about the lineage of the Priests. Maple Star’s mother, Mei, was the Priest of this generation. And the house you... damaged today? That was her ancestral home."

  "Wait." Vivian’s voice cut through the air. "You said the Priest was dead."

  Lei Fei looked up. "She is. What of it?"

  "But Maple Star told us," Vivian said, her words measured and slow, "that he saw his mother recently."

  Lei Fei flinched, a visible tremor running through him. "That is impossible. The boy must have been mistaken. Or he is speaking nonsense."

  "He didn't look like he was lying," Vivian said, glancing at Jiu. "You spent the most time with him. What do you think?"

  Jiu remained silent, his eyes downcast, his fingers tracing the hem of his sleeve as if lost in thought.

  "I presided over Mei’s funeral myself," Lei Fei said, his voice heavy as falling snow. "Her husband, Feng Chen—Maple Star’s father—was devastated. He spent weeks drinking with me, unable to accept she was gone."

  Vivian accepted the explanation for now, but she steered the conversation back to the mystery that refused to leave her mind. "And the legend of the Snow Blindness Demons? Is it truly just a story for children?"

  Lei Fei’s face darkened. "I have answered this before." He paused for a long time. "Perhaps they... truly exist. Perhaps they are connected to the 'God'."

  "Truly exist?" Vivian pressed.

  "When I was a child, my parents told the stories. I thought they were just myths." Lei Fei looked out the window at the grey, oppressive sky. "No one in the village had ever seen one. But shortly before you arrived—around the same time the blizzard trapped us—the villagers began to complain of eye pain. They began to see things. The symptoms... they are exactly as the stories describe."

  He looked back at them, a deep, bottomless dread in his eyes. "I checked the records of the previous Village Heads. In a hundred years, nothing like this has ever happened."

  "A blizzard that blinds... Snow Blindness Demons... monsters without eyes, beasts with swollen ones..." Vivian whispered, her fingers unconsciously touching her own eyelids. "Everything comes back to the eyes."

  She let out a short, tired laugh. She leaned over and patted Ronen’s shoulder, her tone mockingly light. "Little Ronen... do you think what we see is real? Could our eyes be lying to us? And if they are... when did the lie begin?"

  A cold shiver raced down Ronen’s spine.

  Hallucinations... He suddenly remembered the night at the Crescent Moon Tavern. There were supposed to be nine members of the investigation team. But ten had arrived.

  Had the lie begun even then?

  He looked up at Vivian, then at the silent Jiu. A sickening dread crawled up from his feet. Seeing is believing? If sight could no longer be trusted, then who—or what—was standing in front of him?

  Ronen took a deep breath, forcing the panic down. He looked at Vivian again, remembering the solid impact of her fists on the sparring mat, the vivid sting of pain. At least she must be real.

  "Vivian," he whispered. "What do we do now?"

  Vivian closed her eyes, as if organizing a chaotic library of thoughts. When she opened them, they were clouded with a thin veil of exhaustion. She turned back to Lei Fei.

  "Village Head, tell us more about Mei. How did she die?"

  Lei Fei nodded slowly. "That is why I brought you here. As the village withered, the status of the Priest’s family became... awkward. The secrets of the god and the seal were unknown to most. To them, the Priest was just someone who ran a yearly festival but required the village’s support. They saw her as a burden."

  "The lineage faded fast. By Mei’s time, they lived like any other villager. I wasn't close to her, though we were of an age. We only met at the end of the year to discuss the festival. I truly came to know her through Feng Chen. He and I grew up together, hunting under his father’s tutelage."

  "One day, Feng Chen told me he had fallen in love with the Priest’s daughter. After that, I saw her often. They were happy. Feng Chen hunted, Mei cooked and made medicines. Then came little Maple Star."

  "Feng Chen had a small hunter’s cabin in the Frostwood to store his gear and process his kills before bringing them back at dusk. I visited a few times; it always smelled of raw meat and blood. Usually, it was safe, as only herbivores roamed the outskirts. Every day at noon, Mei would bring him lunch."

  "Her death was an accident. Five years ago, during a winter like this. The beasts usually keep to their territories, and Feng Chen knew the woods better than anyone. But he underestimated the cold snap that year. It drove the predators out of the deep woods. A Fissure Tiger, lured by the scent of blood, found the cabin just as Mei arrived."

  Lei Fei sighed, a sound of profound regret. "When Feng Chen returned, there was only a cabin full of blood and a trail leading into the deep forest. He went mad, charging into the woods after her, but..."

  Ronen nodded, his expression grim. "I know of Fissure Tigers. The Mercenary Association ranks them high. The recommendation is a squad of five armed, trained men. A lone hunter... he stood no chance."

  "He didn't kill it," Lei Fei said softly. "He nearly became its next meal. A passing mercenary group found him and brought him back. He was in a coma for weeks—broken bones, horrific wounds. They said it was a miracle he survived. I think it was only his love for Mei, and his hatred for that beast, that kept his heart beating."