No Answers at All

They walked for about half an hour before darkness fell. Hu Liena found a hollow at the base of a dead tree that was just large enough to sit in. After clearing it out, they settled against the trunk. They lit no fire and ate cold rations.

"Xiao Ran."

"Mm?"

"Can you still hear that heartbeat?"

Xiao Ran closed his eyes and pushed his mental power a short distance outward. The heartbeat was still there, but weaker, as though it had slowly sunk back down after they moved away.

"It's still there. But it's farther away than before."

Hu Liena fell silent for a while. "What do you think is down there?"

"Something alive," Xiao Ran said. "And something is keeping it locked up. The patterns on those rock walls might be part of a seal. The patterns on the corpses might be the seal spilling over. My card..."

He stopped. Hu Liena did not press him. She simply waited.

"My card is growing the same patterns," he finished.

Hu Liena put away her rations. Her tail slowly spread out behind her and came to rest on the ground. She turned her head toward a point in the darkness. Xiao Ran thought she was looking toward the hollow, though it was impossible to see from here.

"When we get back," she said, "have you decided what to tell Ghost Douluo when he asks?"

"The truth."

"Which part of the truth?"

Xiao Ran thought for a moment. "I won't mention the card. I'll tell him everything else: the patterns on the backs of the corpses' necks, the living thing underground, the word 'retreat.' Ghost Douluo already knows about those. I only confirmed them."

Hu Liena gave a soft snort, almost a laugh, though it might have been something else. "You learn fast."

"To stay alive in Spirit Hall, the most important thing isn't how strong you are," Xiao Ran said. "It's making people think you're useful, but not so useful they have to get rid of you."

Hu Liena turned to look at him, her fox eyes glimmering faintly in the dark. She watched him for several seconds, then turned away. The tip of her tail tapped lightly against the ground.

"I'm the one who said that."

"Mm."

"Don't turn it into your catchphrase."

Xiao Ran said nothing. He leaned against the trunk and closed his eyes without extending his mental power again. The heartbeat thudded in the distance, beat after beat, neither hurried nor slow. He felt the card against his chest gradually cool to its usual temperature.

But just as he was about to fall asleep, the card gave another pulse. It was faint, barely perceptible, even fainter than it had been at the edge of the hollow. He opened his eyes. He could see nothing in the dark. Hu Liena's breathing was steady; she had fallen asleep.

Xiao Ran pressed a hand to his chest. The card was quiet again.

He had always felt that the heartbeat and the pulses of the Ultraman Tiga Card fell out of step. It was like two people striking the same drum, one after the other, their blows never landing together.

But tonight, after the card pulsed, the heartbeat seemed to quicken for a beat.

Xiao Ran did not sleep again for the rest of the night.

He leaned against the trunk with his eyes closed, keeping his mental power at its lowest level, covering only a few meters around him. The heartbeat was still there, neither near nor far. It sounded a little deeper than before he had fallen asleep, but he could not shake the feeling that it had quickened for a beat. He went over it again and again. No matter how he thought about it, something was wrong. Every time before, the heartbeat and the card had kept their own rhythms without affecting each other. But that pulse last night had felt as though the card were setting the tempo.

He opened his eyes. Dawn had yet to break. The forest was pitch-dark, with only the faintest trace of light filtering between the dead branches. Hu Liena was still asleep, her fox tail lying loosely on the ground. Her ears turned now and then, but her breathing remained even.

Xiao Ran slipped a hand inside his clothes and touched the edge of the Ultraman Tiga Card. It was cool, with nothing unusual about it. He left it where it was, withdrew his hand, and closed his eyes again. This time, he stopped thinking about the heartbeat and went over their return route instead. On the way in, they had taken the route farther east to avoid several areas where Soul Beasts gathered. They could take a different route back, passing along the west side. The distance was about the same, but the terrain was more open.

Hu Liena woke on her own at first light. She sat up, swept her tail across the ground, then stood and stretched her limbs. Xiao Ran glanced at her. Neither of them said a word as they packed up and set off.

The return trip was faster. They did not need to scout or leave markers. Hu Liena picked up her pace, and Xiao Ran kept up. The dead forest was as silent as ever. After they had walked several miles, the carved marks on the rocks beneath their feet disappeared entirely. Farther on, rotting leaves began to cover the ground. There were insects, ants, signs of living things. The deathly stillness had formed an invisible boundary. Once they crossed it, the forest came alive again.

"Let's rest." Hu Liena stopped beside a stream and crouched to wash her hands. The water was clear, with small fish swimming in it. She splashed her face, then looked up at Xiao Ran. "How do you feel?"

"I haven't used much Soul Power. I'm a little tired mentally."

"Didn't sleep well last night?"

"I slept. Restlessly."

Hu Liena stood and shook the water from her hands. "Is the heartbeat still there?"

Xiao Ran did not immediately reach out with his senses. He stood still and simply listened, without using his mental power. The heartbeat was still there, but so distant and faint it might have been coming from beyond several mountains. The strange sense that it had quickened for a beat last night was gone too. It had returned to its original rhythm, dull and slow.

"It's far away. Back to normal," he said.

Hu Liena nodded and asked no more. They continued walking.

It was afternoon when they emerged from the forest. Sunlight fell across Xiao Ran's face, and he narrowed his eyes. After spending two days and a night inside, seeing the open sky and ordinary daylight again felt like surfacing from underwater. Hu Liena's stride relaxed too, and her tail resumed its lazy sway.

When Spirit Hall came into view, Xiao Ran saw someone standing on the stone steps outside the main entrance.

Ghost Douluo.

He wore the same gray-white robe and leaned on his cane, his hood pulled low over his brow. From a distance, he looked like a stone statue, his expression unreadable. As they drew near, Ghost Douluo's gaze swept over Hu Liena before settling on Xiao Ran's face for two or three seconds.

"You're back." His voice was hoarse and flat, without a hint of inflection.

"We're back," Hu Liena replied.

"Come inside and tell me."

Ghost Douluo turned toward the Side Hall. His pace was unhurried, but every step was steady. Xiao Ran followed and noticed that Ghost Douluo did not return to the main hall today. Instead, he led them to an inconspicuous little room on the east side of the Side Hall. Inside were only a table, two chairs, and a faded map hanging on the wall.

Ghost Douluo sat down and propped his cane against the table. He gestured toward the two chairs opposite him, and they sat.

"Tell me."

Hu Liena spoke first. Her account was concise: their route, the distance traveled, the Soul Beasts they had encountered and avoided. Then she described the deathly silent area deeper in the forest, the Soul Power patterns on the rocks, the hollow, and the dark red mist. She paused when she reached the two corpses.

"The corpses were intact. There were no external injuries. There was a brand on the back of each neck." She turned to glance at Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran took over. "The brand's pattern resembled the pattern on something I carry." He deliberately did not say "card," only "something." Ghost Douluo's eyes shifted slightly, but he did not interrupt.

"There were also words you left at the edge of the hollow," Xiao Ran said. "The word 'retreat,' carved into a rock. The strokes looked a lot like the writing on the back of the parchment you gave me."

Ghost Douluo did not deny it.

"What about the heartbeat?" he asked.