You Tin Can

Yet she still could not stop walking, as though an invisible force were drawing her forward.

"Whatever lies ahead," she murmured, weariness in her voice, "we have to keep going."

"Yes." Jiu Jia Yi's reply was quiet, but resolve flashed in his eyes. "Whether hope or despair awaits us, we have to face it."

As they drew closer to the light, the weight on their hearts did not lift. It grew heavier. Yan Zhi could feel pressure closing in from every direction, as though the entire space were swallowing them whole.

At last, they reached the source of the light. It was not dazzling as she had expected, but soft and warm, like the only hope within the mist that surrounded them. Yan Zhi reached out without thinking and touched its edge.

A strange sensation spread through her body. The light felt neither cold nor warm. Instead, it filled her with a peace she had never known. All her confusion and unease seemed to be gently smoothed away by an invisible hand. Her heartbeat steadied, and the unrest and resentment buried deepest in her heart vanished at the light's touch.

"Do you feel it?" she asked softly, with a calm she had never felt before.

Jiu Jia Yi turned to face her and looked into her eyes. After a moment of silence, he said, "I do."

They fell silent, as though time had stopped. Yan Zhi's heart beat gently, while her thoughts grew clear. Perhaps she understood something now. The light was not a key to every answer, nor was it an escape from reality. It had merely soothed her deepest fears for a moment, allowing her to calm down and face whatever lay ahead.

Resolve flashed in her eyes. "Whatever lies ahead, we can't avoid it."

"We can't avoid it," Jiu Jia Yi repeated, his voice firmer than before.

Just as they were about to move on, a faint sound came from the end of the passage. It seemed to come from somewhere far away, yet it also sounded like a whisper buried deep within her heart. Yan Zhi stopped and listened more closely.

The sound grew clearer, like a whisper rising from the depths of hell, or an ancient summons.

"Do you hear that?" Yan Zhi asked, her voice barely audible.

Jiu Jia Yi frowned slightly, seeming to sense her tension. "Could it be an illusion?"

"No..." Yan Zhi shook her head. Her gaze turned unfocused. "That voice... It isn't an illusion."

Turmoil rose within her. She had a feeling that the voice did not belong to this world. And perhaps the light was not as warm or peaceful as she had thought.

"It's calling us," she whispered, as if speaking to herself and seeking his confirmation at the same time.

"Calling us?" Doubt flickered in Jiu Jia Yi's eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. She could still sense the light, as though it truly were an entrance to the unknown. But where that entrance led, no one could say.