Mystique Soul: A Cultivator's Flame
Chapter 117: Killer moon

Chapter 117: Killer moon

Though they where warned, the group couldn’t fully believe what they heared. So, they decided to pass the time by catching up a little, despite the worry and fear for their missing friend weighing in their heart.

Feng Jiao Xue told them about what happened in the empire more detailed than what she said when they met, keeping to herself some parts of it that is better left unsaid.

Xia Lian did the same, telling her more of their adventures, from returning to the mist, to hunting monsters, protecting nobles in a journey and such.

Feng Jiao Xue stood near the window as she listened.fingers grazing the heavy curtain fabric.

"Sister, the moon is about to rise soon. Don’t get too close." Mo Tianze worriedly called to her, tugging at her.

"It’s fine, I’ll stay away from the light." She told him.

She got to admit, she was curious about the so called Blood Moon. And... fascinated at least, her interest piqued.

"Jiao Xue, I agree with Mo Tianze. Let’s stay away from the scary, killer moon, shall we?" Xia Lian called her away.

By this point, the sky already started to turn a golden shade of red as the sun slowly retire for the night.

Feng Jiao Xue hadn’t opened the curtain despite her tugging and dangerously growing curiosity, she didn’t dare to. At that thought, her eyes flickered to Mo Tianze and sighed.

But the aura of the Blood Moon pressed against the walls like a held breath. She didn’t need to see it to feel the way it clawed at the edges of her soul.

Behind her, Xia Lian sat curled up in the farthest corner, clutching the charm necklace she always wore. Her eyes were wide, fixed on a crack in the ceiling, though her mind was somewhere far away now. Chen Rong somewhat near her but not close enought to encroach in her space, waiting for Lia Xian herself to decide if she needs him or not.

"We should ward the room," Mo Tianze said quietly, rising from where he’d been crouched near the fireplace. "Just in case. The light’s bad enough, but if anything’s drawn to it..."

He didn’t finish the thought. He didn’t have to.

Feng Jiao Xue nodded and walked to the center of the room, dragging the small pouch of runes from her belt. Something she had bought just in case they needed to sleep in the woods to ward beasts away. "Lin Feng, help me. You know the markings."

He joined her, silent as always, but his movements were confident, practiced. Together they knelt on the floor, carving protective sigils with chalk and powder across the threshold, the corners, and the center of the room. The magic was old, not particularly strong, but it had a purity to it. A kind of intent.

"Won’t stop anything powerful" Lin Feng murmured, glancing up at her as he pressed his palm to the final seal, activating it. "But it’ll slow them down."

"Sometimes a moment’s all we need," she said.

Chen Rong had taken up post near the door, blade sheathed but within easy reach. He wasn’t good with waiting. Too used to doing. Too used to control. His jaw was tight, eyes narrowed.

"Damn moon," he muttered. "Of all the nights..."

"Maybe it’s not a coincidence," Feng Jiao Xue said, her voice soft but sharp.

He turned to her. "You think Wei Jian’s disappearance was timed with this?"

"No, but." Feng Jiao Xue looks at the window. "Just a gut feeling"

A log in the fireplace snapped, sending sparks scattering. The fire had dulled to embers, but it was enough to hold the cold at bay. Still, the air felt heavy. Like the sky was leaning too close.

Xia Lian finally spoke again, her voice hollow. "What Wei Jian is being tortured or killed right now?"

Mo Tianze looked over, his gaze softer than usual. "Lets just think possitive"

The words sounded brave. But even he knew they were mostly for her benefit.

Feng Jiao Xue moved to the table and unrolled the map again, her eyes tracing the route they’d planned, the ruined shrine, the hidden trail, the catacombs. All of it waited beneath the city. But now, they waited too.

Lin Feng joined her, arms crossed. "What if Wei Jian’s already below? What if he’s trapped down there... during this?"

"He might be." Her voice didn’t waver. "But we can’t help him if we die trying."

He looked at her, something unreadable in his eyes. Then he nodded once.

Silence settled again. Not peaceful this time, this silence felt watchful. Like the darkness beyond the window was listening.

Mo Tianze stepped close to the window and sniffed the air, his eyes narrowing. "Something’s not right. The air outside smells like fish and metal"

Feng Jiao Xue could feel it too, the air had shifted. Something outside wasn’t alive, not truly. Not anymore.

The group was so focused on the atmosphere that they didn’t notice the other female in the room looking up in shock as her head snapped side to side anxiously.

"...ia...an... Xi... ian... Xia Lian" Xia Lian stood up abruptly getting everyone to look at her as she washearing the familiar voice outside.

"Xia Lian, what’s wrong?" Chen Rong immediately asked trying to find what is causing her to react too.

She stepped forward before she could stop herself. "Wei Jian?" she whispered trying to look around for her friend.

"What? Where?" Lin Feng asked immediately.

No response.

Chen Rong grabbed her arm. "It could be a trick."

She shook her head, heart pounding in her throat. "I know his voice."

"Or something using it," Lin Feng said.

But she was already moving.

She stopped at the clossed window and pressed her ear against it.

Another whisper, softer now. Pained.

"...help... me..."

"Can’t open it" Mo Tianze said. "Not during the Blood Moon. You’ll kill us all." Mo Tianze reminded Xia Lian as he walked to Feng Jiao xue with a blanket. If the moonlight is what’s killing others, then perhaps covering from it van be enough to be safe.

Xia Lian’s hand hovered near the latch.

A low shout echoed through the empty streets, followed by a slurred string of curses and laughter startling Lia Xian enough to step back.

The group tensed instantly. Feng Jiao Xue was the first to move, rising swiftly from her seat and crossing the room with measured steps. She reached for the edge of the window curtain, careful to let no gap form that might let the moonlight in.

The others gathered behind her, each one keeping to the shadows, eyes trained on the narrow slice of the world beyond the glass.

Down below, the red-tinted glow of the Blood Moon bathed the street in a haunting light. Shadows bled into one another, stretching long and thin across the cobblestones. In the middle of the street, two figures stood illuminated in that cursed light.

One was a hunched, disheveled man swaying on his feet, a drunkard, clearly, by the way he stumbled and waved a bottle high in the air. The other was younger, clean and panicked, gripping the older man’s arm and trying to pull him away from the open.

"Come on, old man! You’ve got to get inside!" the good-natured man cried, voice shaking with urgency. "It’s the Blood Moon! Don’t you understand what’ll happen to you if you stay out here?"

But the drunk only laughed harder, wrenching his arm free with a flourish. "Bah! You lot are always makin’ up ghost stories! Blood Moon, curses, boogeymen in the dark, it’s all nonsense! Look at me! I’m fine!"

He raised his arms dramatically as if to challenge the very sky, stumbling backward into the full glow of the crimson light. The good-natured man retreated, terror etched across his face, shouting one last desperate warning before turning and fleeing down the alley.

Feng Jiao Xue watched, unmoving, her expression unreadable.

At first, the drunk continued his performance, chuckling and jeering at the disappearing man. "Cowards! All of you! Afraid of a little red light!"

Then he stopped laughing.

His voice caught in his throat, a choked sound of confusion bubbling out as his body stiffened.

Right before their eyes, his skin began to pale, then sag. His hair lost its color, going from gray to bone white in an instant. Wrinkles deepened across his face with unnatural speed, and his once lively eyes turned dull and sunken. He gasped, more in shock than pain, hands trembling as the bottle slipped from his fingers and shattered at his feet.

He reached toward the window, toward nothing, as if begging for help he no longer believed he needed.

Then he collapsed.

A withered husk where a man once stood.

A brittle whisper of wind blew past, disturbing the stillness. No footsteps. No breath.

Just silence.

Inside the room, Xia Lian pressed a trembling hand to her mouth.

"By the heavens..." Chen Rong muttered, his voice barely audible.

Lin Feng took a step back, his face grim. "It’s real. It’s all real."

"No theory anymore," Mo Tianze said quietly. "No room for doubt."

Feng Jiao Xue closed the curtain with deliberate care, shutting out the red light and all it carried. Her eyes lingered on the fabric for a long moment before she finally turned back to the group.

"We don’t step outside tonight," she said flatly. "No matter what."

And no one dared to disagree.