A suffocating silence descended upon the air, heavier than the storm clouds gathering above.

  For unfortunately, the ritual had begun. At the very center of the ceremonial altar, Yu Sui lay sleeping... surrounded by sacred inscriptions and spiritual talismans. His tiny body was utterly still too still, almost holy in its purity.

  Though such rituals occurred across the continent, what made this one extraordinary were the officiants: the Great Elders and the Sect Leader himself, clad in ceremonial robes. Upon the newborn's forehead, a talisman was pressed, bearing his name in golden letters the name Yu Sui.

  One of the most prestigious elders raised his hand and gave the command. The chanting began. From the sidelines, Lin Chaoyuan allowed a satisfied smirk to curl his lips; his heinous plan was on the verge of fruition.

  Slowly, the deep, resonant vibrations of the ancient mantras echoed through the hall, flowing from the mouths of elders who had never learned to question an order.

  Far away, in the birthing chamber, Queen Guzuie’s eyes snapped open.

  In a surge of panic, she scrambled up, looking around frantically. Beside her, Wan Yi slept peacefully, but when the Queen turned her gaze toward the cradle, it was empty. Her heart sank. Her own son, Mo Yan, lay beside her, but Yu Sui was gone. She understood instantly... the secret ritual of the Fuxi Xion clan had commenced.

  A wave of terror crashed over her. Clutching Mo Yan in her trembling arms, she bolted from the room. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead. Every instinct within her screamed that this was wrong that something horrific was about to happen.

  Her feet struck the marble floors of the birthing wings bare, bloodstained, and shaking from exhaustion. She ran without stopping. She had not yet recovered from the agony of childbirth; her body craved rest, but fate demanded otherwise. She sprinted past startled guards and shocked healers, running faster than she ever had in her life.

  When she finally reached the ritual site, the ominous energy vibrating in the air told her everything. She was too late. Bursting into the temple, Guzuie screamed,

  “Stop the chanting! Please, stop!”

  No one listened. She screamed louder, “Do not recite those mantras! The words have been altered! They are cursed! Please... stop!”

  But before her final plea could leave her lips, the last syllable was spoken. The ritual was complete. And in that moment, the sky turned black.

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  The circle of sacred talismans around Yu Sui exploded with a deafening roar. The surrounding ritual ground was instantly charred to ash. Every holy object within the temple turned pitch black and corrupt. Above, a rift tore through the stormy clouds, as if the heavens themselves had been split in two.

  Then, a nightmare unfolded before Queen Guzuie's eyes: Yu Sui’s pure soul was pulled from his tiny body. Like a wisp of pale white smoke, it rose toward the dark rift offered as a sacrifice to the Black Heaven.

  Queen Guzuie shrieked, “NO!!!!”

  Yet, the spiritual power within Yu Sui’s body did not cease; it surged upward until it vanished into the dark void. Instantly, a different, blackened aura erupted from the rift, streaking down with the speed of light to inhabit Yu Sui’s small frame. Behind this dark light, millions of hungry, wailing spirits poured out.

  Upon descending, they began to ravage everything, devouring the souls of the living. Bodies fell like hollow puppets. Even the air became poisoned.

  Yu Sui’s tender soul had been cursed by a ritual that should never have been completed.

  The earth trembled violently. Destruction, fire, and ash spread everywhere. The land of the Xuemo Sect, once considered holy, collapsed within moments. Thousands of vengeful, suffering spirits descended from the rift, screaming in pain and seeking retribution. They consumed everything in their path.

  Lin Chaoyuan laughed like a madman. He watched the dying, watched the birthing chamber now engulfed in flames where Wan Yi likely perished, hidden safely behind his own protective barrier. He was losing himself to his own insanity.

  Queen Guzuie, protected by her own inner power, barely survived the cataclysm with Mo Yan in her arms.

  When the spirits finally retreated and the dark rift closed taking Yu Sui’s original soul with it Guzuie’s eyes burned with a righteous fury. She turned toward Lin Chaoyuan.

  Her voice crackled like a lightning strike:

  “Lin Chaoyuan!!!! This is your doing! You poisoned the sacred mantras. You are a traitor! You betrayed your own blood your own niece, Wan Yi! Have you no shame? Do you feel no remorse?!”

  But she had no time for further confrontation. She turned to Yu Sui’s lifeless body and collapsed beside him, weeping. With trembling hands, she pulled the name-talisman from his forehead and held it tight. She gently placed Mo Yan beside Yu Sui. Using the sacred talisman, she bound the two infants' tiny hands together.

  Then, taking a strip of paper, she poured her remaining spiritual energy into a final mantra and tucked it into Mo Yan’s robes. Looking at her son through a flood of tears, she whispered,

  “Forgive me, Mo Yan... my child.”

  Lin Chaoyuan’s eyes widened in horror. He realized what she was about to do. He screamed and ran toward her,

  “No... don’t do it!”

  But it was too late. Queen Guzuie drew a forbidden talisman at her fingertips using her life force. She poured every ounce of her essence into it. The talisman erupted in a blinding white light. The seal demanded a sacrifice. Smiling faintly through her tears, she took one last look at the two children, drew her sword, and drove it across her own throat.

  Her eyes lingered on the babes for a heartbeat before her final breath left her, and her lifeless body fell beside them.

  The mantra seal activated, hovering above the infants before transforming into a divine silken thread that bound itself around the wrists of Yu Sui and Mo Yan. Lin Chaoyuan reached them, but he was too late. The despair on his face said everything. In a panic, he tore the Queen’s name-talisman from Yu Sui’s hand and threw it away, but the bond was already active.

  He snatched Mo Yan and fled, leaving Yu Sui alone on the charred stone ground. Slowly, the child opened his eyes. On his forehead, the talisman bearing his name flickered with a faint light: “Yu Sui.”

  As Lin Chaoyuan vanished into the distance, a scrap of paper fell from Mo Yan’s clothing, floating through the air to land beside Yu Sui. On it were the words of the binding mantra:

  “Yu Sui, as long as Mo Yan is with you, no curse shall ever touch you. Mo Yan, as long as Yu Sui is with you, you shall never feel the void of my absence.

  — Guzuie”