Everyone Was Stunned

"What else can we do?" Despair edged her voice, but fear of the unknown ran deeper. She knew that whatever lay ahead was beyond their control. They had no way of knowing what they would face.

Jiu Jia Yi glanced at her, resolve flashing in his eyes. "We can only keep going and find that 'answer.'" His tone was utterly calm, as if he were discussing something trivial, but deep in his eyes lurked tension and unease.

They walked on, their footsteps echoing through the empty ship. The air grew heavier, and the light ahead grew so bright they could hardly look at it. Anxiety and fear filled Yan Zhi, but she did not stop. She knew there was no turning back.

Just as they were about to reach the source of the light, a violent tremor ran through the ship. The entire vessel seemed to flip over in an instant. The air grew suddenly hot, as though the space around them were collapsing. Yan Zhi's heart lurched, panic flashed through her mind, and she stopped in her tracks.

"What's happening?" she cried, gripping the railing beside her. Her body trembled.

"It's reacting." Jiu Jia Yi's voice remained calm, but his eyes were more alert than ever. "We're close."

"Close to what?" Yan Zhi pressed, confused and afraid.

"To that... being," he said quietly. His gaze was deep, as though he were answering both her question and a fear of his own.

"Being?" Yan Zhi's heart sank. An oppressive weight unlike anything she had ever felt bore down on her. Her thoughts tangled further, and she could not make sense of what they were facing.

Yan Zhi's heart raced faster. She clutched the railing until her fingertips turned white. The pressure radiating from the light grew stronger, as if an invisible force were pulling her in. Her thoughts dissolved into chaos, as though a vast black hole were swallowing her mind and she could not break free.

"That being..." she repeated softly, her lips dry with unease. She wanted to ask more, to know what stood before them, but an unseen pressure seemed to close around her throat. She could not get another word out.

Jiu Jia Yi did not answer at once. He turned slowly and met Yan Zhi's eyes, a complicated emotion flickering across his face. He was silent for a moment, as though weighing whether to tell her more of the truth. In the end, he spoke.

"It isn't a being humans can understand." His voice was low, as if he were speaking of something forbidden. "The light we see, everything we feel—those are only outward signs of it. Its power is beyond anything we can resist."

Yan Zhi's heart plummeted. It felt as though the weight of the entire world had settled on her chest. Questions flooded her mind. Had they followed this path all along just to face a being they could not comprehend? What could they possibly do?

"What can we do?" she finally asked. Desperate to understand, she searched his face for even the faintest glimmer of hope.