Chapter 35: The Hidden Path

  Ronen and the others were the first to reach the trembling ruins.

  The small hut, already precarious, had completely buckled. Shattered timber and broken beams were tangled in a chaotic heap. Fortunately, the bedrock foundation had held firm; the falling roof and walls hadn't buried everything but seemed to have been violently peeled back by some unseen force, revealing the jagged skeleton beneath.

  The dust hadn't yet settled. Through the swirling grey mist, a figure gradually emerged—slumped against the only standing stone wall, where a bright, jagged smear of blood marked the masonry.

  "Uncle!" Zoe cried out, lunging forward in a panic.

  Mark sat there like a broken puppet. Blood trickled from his temple, staining half of his pale face. His robes were shredded, and his exposed skin was a map of scrapes and bruises. Most terrifying was his chest—a large patch of charred black, as if he had taken a firebolt at point-blank range.

  "It was magic," Ronen said, his voice low and certain. Even without being a mage, he could smell the residue of mana in the air—a cold, violent aftertaste that still seemed to simmer in the dust.

  Zoe was already on her knees beside Mark, her hands trembling but moving with purpose as she hovered them over his scorched chest. She closed her eyes, and a soft white glow emanated from her palms and eyelashes. The bleeding slowed, the deep bruising began to fade, and Mark’s throat worked as he coughed up a glob of dark, clotted blood. A flicker of life returned to his face.

  "The impact was heavy, but his organs seem intact," Vivian said, her fingers checking the pulse at Mark’s neck before quickly scanning his limbs for fractures. "Mostly external trauma and concussion... but a blast of this power..."

  Relieved that Mark wasn't in immediate danger, Ronen scanned the surroundings. The enemy could still be lurking; they couldn't afford to drop their guard. His eyes scraped over the ruins—toppled beams, scattered bricks, drifting dust—and then, his gaze locked.

  The floor had split open, revealing a jagged, pitch-black maw. Broken floorboards hung like the teeth of a beast, and within the shadows, he could just make out stone steps descending into the earth.

  The direction—it was exactly where his vision had pointed.

  In the center of what used to be the hut’s hall, a hidden path to the underground had been forcibly unearthed.

  "What happened here?! What have you done!"

  The sound of frantic footsteps and panicked voices approached. The villagers of Dragonwood had been roused by the explosion. Lei Fei led the way, followed by five white-haired elders and several frightened women. Jiu and little Maple Star lingered at the back of the crowd, watching from a distance.

  The villagers crowded around, trapping Ronen and the others in the center of the ruins. Their eyes were filled with suspicion and burgeoning rage.

  Lei Fei surveyed the wreckage, his voice heavy with suppressed pressure. "I took you in out of the kindness of my heart, and you destroy our homes?"

  "Wait, this is a misunderstanding!" Ronen stepped forward. "We just got here. It was already like this when we arrived. Look at my companion—he’s been gravely injured."

  "Even so, you are the ones who brought this calamity upon us," a raspy voice cut through. An old woman with a cane pushed through the crowd. Her voice sounded like a broken bellows, but her eyes were as sharp as daggers. "Disrespectful outsiders... time and again, you shatter the peace of our village! You are all the same!"

  "We brought this?" Zoe, who had been suppressed all day, finally snapped. She roared while supporting Mark, "Your village is the one with the problem! We stay for one night and we're hunted by monsters, trapped by storms—and now you're pointing fingers at us? If you had a shred of sense, you'd see we're the ones caught in your mess!"

  Lei Fei looked at Mark’s pale face and fell silent for a moment. He raised a hand to silence the old woman and stepped forward. His tone remained hard, but the edge of his anger softened slightly. "Then tell me, what happened here?"

  Ronen shook his head. "We heard the explosion and ran. We only beat you here by a few steps. As for the cause..." He looked down at Mark, his brow furrowing. "We want to know that as much as you do."

  "Mr. Mark," Vivian said, helping Mark into a sitting position. "Who attacked you? And why were you here?"

  As the healing magic worked its way through him, color returned to Mark’s face. But it wasn't calm that returned—his eyes snapped open, and in their depths burned a light that bordered on madness. He shoved Zoe aside, staggering to his feet by bracing himself against the ruined wall. A trembling finger pointed straight into the dark maw in the center of the ruins.

  "Down there... there’s something... there’s something!" He seemed deaf to the murmurs around him, his mouth twisting into a distorted, ecstatic grin. "The good stuff... the real prize is down there!"

  He grabbed Vivian’s arm with surprising strength. "What we’re looking for—it’s right there!"

  "What we're looking for?" Vivian and Ronen exchanged a sharp look. "You mean... the missing mages are down there?"

  "No—!!" Mark almost shrieked, his eyes bloodshot with excitement. "It’s more fundamental... the origin of everything!"

  He tried to lunge toward the hidden path but stumbled, falling hard back to the ground. "Uncle! Your wounds aren't healed!" Zoe cried, rushing to catch him.

  Ronen looked back at the dark tunnel. Then, he turned to Lei Fei. "Village Head, what exactly is down there?"

  Lei Fei’s face was unreadable in the gathering dusk. After a long silence, he let out a heavy sigh. He turned and waved the villagers away. "Go on, get back to your homes. There’s nothing to see here. I’ll handle this."

  "Lei Fei," the old woman, Wang, said with a grave expression. "You know this is the village’s..."

  "I know," Lei Fei cut her off.

  Mother Wang shook her head, turning away with her cane. She muttered as she walked, "Sinful... truly sinful. You are all sinners!!" She cast one last glare at the group before following the crowd.

  Finally, only the wind, the wreckage, and the silent group remained—including Jiu, who stood apart, and Lei Fei, who remained alone in the center of the ruins.

  Ronen glanced at the deep, dark entrance. Even without magical training, he could feel the mana churning within—thick, almost physical, like the breath of a slumbering behemoth.

  "There’s nothing much inside, really," Lei Fei said, his voice flat. "But since you’re so interested, follow me."

  He turned and led the way down the stone steps. As Ronen stepped into the hidden path, he blinked in surprise. It wasn't as dark as it looked from above. The narrow passage was bathed in a faint, sourceless glow, yet the air remained suffocatingly heavy.

  "There are veiling wards here," the village head explained without looking back. "From the outside, you can't see what’s within."

  The passage was short—barely a dozen steps before they reached the bottom. The group crowded together at the end of the tunnel.

  Directly ahead stood a massive stone door.

  Embedded in the door was a strange keyhole, surrounded by dense, intricate carvings. They weren't decorative; they looked like a seal, or perhaps a warning. The lines were carved deep into the stone, glinting with a cold, metallic luster in the dim light.

  Lei Fei stepped forward and pressed his palm against the stone. The door didn't budge. There wasn't even an echo.

  "As you can see," he said, pulling his hand back. His tone was as casual as if he were discussing the weather. "This is everything in the secret passage. Perhaps there’s something beyond, but unfortunately, I can't open it."

  "What do you mean you can't open it?" Ronen pressed.

  Lei Fei shook his head. "I have no way to open this door." His gaze swept over them, and he gave a small, cynical tug at the corner of his mouth when he saw their skeptical faces. "Don't look at me like that. I truly don't know. I only know the village has this secret room, nothing more."

  "But you're the village head."

  "Being the village head doesn't mean I can enter someone else’s private vault," Lei Fei’s voice dropped an octave. "Knowing it exists is the extent of my knowledge."

  He turned around, his face half-hidden in the shadows. "I suggest you—no, I warn you. Do not try to open this door. Otherwise... please leave my village immediately."

  Ronen stared into his eyes. Deep within that calm exterior, something was churning—not deceit, but a suppressed terror.

  The village head wasn't lying about everything. But what he was hiding was likely far more than what he had admitted.

  Suddenly, that eerie voice shrieked in Ronen’s mind again, frantic and pleading: “Save me!”

  Ronen froze, his gaze locking onto the stone door. For some reason, he felt as though he could see through the thick stone—he saw the ice cellar. The same cellar he had just stood in.

  The girl imprisoned in the ice was right there, separated from him by only a single wall. He could see her figure shimmering in the frost, her face as pure as winter snow, hauntingly beautiful.

  “Save me!”

  The voice seemed to bleed through the stone, carrying a magic that was impossible to resist.

  And then, Ronen saw it.

  He saw a vision of years to come—bards in taverns singing the legend of a hero. A mercenary youth who rescued a captive girl from an ice cave in the Northlands; the girl falling in love with the youth, and the two of them embarking on a romantic, legendary journey together.

  At this moment, he felt as though he were standing at the very beginning of that legend.

  I want to save her.

  I MUST save her!!

  A powerful impulse surged through Ronen, and his hand moved toward the stone door of its own accord. He could feel the icy breath behind the stone, as if the girl’s breath were seeping through the wall, brushing against his fingertips.

  "Aren't you the village head? Even if you don't know what's inside, you must know something else," Vivian was still pressing Lei Fei, unaware of the change in Ronen. "You know there are strange things happening in this village! We can help you, but only if you trust us, if you tell us what you know—"

  "Stop wasting your breath!" Ronen cut her off. "If we want to know what's inside, we just have to open it!"

  He couldn't wait any longer. He only wanted that door open. And as a mercenary, he had his own ways of doing things.

  Mercenaries—warriors—didn't manipulate mana like mages, but they had their own way of channeling power: Martial Arts.

  Ronen moved with a speed and decisiveness that left even Vivian stunned. His eyes flared with a faint amber light, and a weak shimmer enveloped his blade and arm. In an instant, his strength and the power of his short sword spiked.

  Without hesitation, he swung his blade at the keyhole of the stone door.

  However, the moment the blade was about to strike, the surrounding mana converged, forming a translucent barrier that shielded the door.

  When Ronen’s sword hit the barrier, a horrific counter-force exploded. Before he even realized what had happened, he was sent flying backward. His body slammed into the ground, landing almost exactly where Mark had been lying moments before.

  A spray of blood erupted from his mouth. Ronen felt as though he had just been struck by his own full-force blow.

  Fortunately, his armor and years of grueling training saved him. He managed to cling to consciousness, gasping for air as he spat out the remaining blood.