Basic Forms

"Stop playing word games." Jiu Jia Yi advanced slowly, the Short Blade glinting coldly. "You're the Keybearer for that door, aren't you?"

Bai Mo smiled. "You're wrong. I'm not that door's Keybearer." He paused and pointed at Lin Yun. "She is."

Lin Yun jolted as though an invisible chill had struck her spine. She instinctively stepped back, pressing against the wall. Her fingertips went cold, and her throat tightened.

"You're talking nonsense." Her voice was dry as she fought to suppress the terror threatening to break loose inside her.

"I've never touched any of your things, and I don't believe your insane stories. I don't even know what this 'door' is, much less how I could be its Keybearer!" Her voice trembled, but every word came out sharply.

Bai Mo kept smiling, as though enjoying a carefully staged play. He strolled closer, each step soundless on the thick carpet, yet weighing on both of them like a hammer blow.

"Do you think becoming the key is a choice?" Bai Mo's tone was calm, his voice rising and falling like the tide. "Miss Lin Yun... ten years ago, your older brother opened the first door with his own hands. And the price he paid to open it was you."

Her eyes widened. "What are you talking about? I... I never..."

"Have you ever wondered why he always kept such a close watch on you? Why you kept dreaming of strange things as a child? Beasts with bionic wings, faceless people, that 'Gray Bridge' no one could ever describe?"

Bai Mo spoke as gently as if he were telling a fairy tale, but every word pierced Lin Yun like an icicle driven into flesh.

She remembered those dreams. The dreams that had woken her screaming in the middle of the night, dreams she had never dared tell anyone about. She had thought they were nothing more than childhood fears, stray thoughts from her subconscious.

But now...

"Did you... investigate me?" Fear and anger crept into her voice. "How many years have you been watching me?"

Bai Mo stopped two meters away from her. Some of the warmth faded from his smile, replaced by a quiet solemnity. "No, I haven't been watching you. In fact, I couldn't be certain you were the key... not until the moment you boarded this ship."

He turned to Jiu Jia Yi, a chill entering his gaze. "You're a crucial part of this too, aren't you? You weren't supposed to get involved yet, but you barged in anyway. What a nuisance."

Jiu Jia Yi did not move an inch. The Short Blade remained trained steadily on Bai Mo. "Quit the act. If you really knew who the key was, you wouldn't have let the ritual fail. You're not in control."

Displeasure flickered in Bai Mo's eyes, as though Jiu Jia Yi had struck a nerve.

"You think destroying one Spirit-Guiding Lock means I've lost?" He scoffed. "That was only bait. A little show put on for people like you. The real 'door'... only she can open it."

Lin Yun's breathing grew faster. Countless fragments seemed to churn and fit together in her mind. Familiar images flashed past, veiled and impossible to make out, yet somehow long buried deep within her.

She raised her head, her voice trembling but defiant. "You say I can open the door... What's behind it?"

Bai Mo suddenly went still. He looked down at her and said nothing for three seconds.