More than a hundred li from Spirit City, thick fog stretched like a sea. Grayish-white mist churned without end, swallowing the mountains, rivers, and forests whole.
A figure burst through the fog, his body as light as a falling leaf as he drifted down soundlessly onto a natural stone platform.
The stone platform had stood for untold ages. Its surface was smooth and black, as though it had been scorched by ancient flames.
One end led to a pitch-black cave entrance, its edges covered in dense, ink-dark waterweed that swayed gently in the breeze.
The cave was bottomless, like an ancient beast lying in wait with its jaws agape, ready to devour whoever came near.
"You shouldn't have come here..."
A hoarse, low voice came from within the cave, like the whimper of a cold wind and the snapping of dead branches, sending chills down one's spine.
The young man stood at the edge of the stone platform, the hems of his robes slightly damp.
Hesitation showed on his face as his gaze shifted between the cave entrance and the way behind him. After a moment, he took a deep breath and resolutely entered the cave.
The cave was black as ink, without a trace of light.
The walls on either side were unusually smooth and icy to the touch. The air was damp and stagnant, mixed with the scent of decaying organic matter.
Drops of water occasionally fell from above, splashing with faint echoes in the silence.
He did not know how long he had walked. Perhaps it had only been a moment, perhaps an entire hour had passed, when the narrow cave walls suddenly receded to either side, and the space opened up before him.
A figure appeared before the young man.
That person was completely concealed in