When I woke up, the sky was the color of death.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybrC1M8NfC
The cracks in the shattered dome sprawled like spiderwebs, carving the heavens into jagged fragments. The ashen clouds hung low, like a waterlogged shroud, pressing heavily upon the ruins. The wind howled through the broken pillars of the temple, its mournful wail resembling the murmurs of a forgotten god in its dreams.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLRJfqo4hw
I lay sprawled across the crumbling stone steps, half-buried in dust and withered leaves. A mutilated statue loomed over me—its face long eroded, leaving only hollow sockets that still stubbornly stared in my direction, as if scrutinizing a failed creation.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFPfZ72Yv4
I had no heartbeat.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2W0nIUjex
Yet my silver hair fluttered faintly in the wind, like a strand of moonlight that had no place in this world. It spilled across the steps, a stark contrast to the surrounding gloom.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDtiMUVqpB
"Bai Cen." The name surfaced in my consciousness without warning. No memories, no emotions—just a cold label, like a serial number hastily carved onto a vessel.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7nlj4ZFIV
I flexed my fingers. The joints creaked stiffly, like rusted machinery unused for years. When I pushed myself up, dust cascaded from my robes, revealing the silver-white fabric beneath—clearly not of mortal make, its weave faintly pulsing with light.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNjhbXAwPq
On the temple walls behind me, weathered reliefs chronicled the birth of the Five Nations. But on the final slab, a violent fissure tore through the stone, as though someone had deliberately erased a fragment of existence.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsCLrvpSeR
Perhaps what had been erased… was me.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8ih2INrvM
"You're finally awake."
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDJHOyZ0Nu
The voice came from the shadows. I turned and saw a girl standing on the fractured edge of the ruins. Her gray cloak was stained with dark crimson, and her long blade dragged against the ground, sending up tiny blue sparks as it scraped over rubble.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHjYgKmLIy
She couldn’t have been older than twenty, but her eyes carried the weariness of countless lifetimes.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScfrmDDOkc
"Who are you?" I asked. My voice was unexpectedly steady, as if this body already knew how to speak.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUTSA91geT
She lifted her gaze, her pupils like two shards of obsidian.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvi0mFa4lAb
"Xu Wu." She pronounced her name like a verdict. "Here to determine whether you need to be destroyed."
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHeIQZQpVME
The wind caught her hood, revealing a glowing brand on her collarbone—identical to the broken sigil at the base of the statue. The discovery sent a phantom twinge through a nonexistent organ deep in my chest.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiGRXDEIPQ
"Bai Cen." She chewed on my name, then suddenly pressed the tip of her blade to my throat. "Do you know what this means?"
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8cCQMZJO8
"A serial number."
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemwXti4QpU
"No." The steel bit into my skin, but I felt no pain—only the cold seep of metal. "This is the mark they stamped onto you."
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBfwtqvrVV
When she withdrew the blade, I realized my fingers were unconsciously tracing my neck—no wound remained, but the ghostly sensation of being scanned lingered.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9vdHyXG2F
Xu Wu smirked, her lips curling into a humorless arc. "As I thought… you don’t even have a pain module installed."
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNnmFaw2Sq
But as she turned away—
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgj9KT73WiX
In the fractured reflection at my feet, those pale golden eyes were fixed intently on her retreating figure.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0vSWw9Sli
The wind carried the scent of scorched earth and rust.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsk3rEGZER
Xu Wu walked ahead, her gray cloak now draped over my shoulders, concealing my conspicuous silver hair and inhuman golden irises. The cloak’s inner lining bore a jagged tear, hastily stitched back together in crooked seams—as if she’d repaired it herself in a hurry.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjL8ZE0dsx
"Don’t let anyone realize you’re a construct," she said tersely, tightening the hood around my face. "Especially not in the Fire Nation."
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmq1sA6r9tB
I didn’t ask why she was helping me. Maybe it was because my silence was too absolute, or because I lacked the confusion a newly awakened construct should possess. My very existence was a paradox—conscious yet devoid of emotion, bearing a name yet stripped of memories.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFx7uuoeFS0
Her steps maintained a precise distance, but at every turn, she hesitated for half a second—as if her body still remembered someone who should have been following behind. That tiny flaw reminded me of the deliberately defaced relief on the temple wall.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNU4mjvE2nM
"Saleht—the so-called Fire Nation—is collapsing." She spoke abruptly, her voice nearly lost in the wind. "The Ember Abyss is stirring. The armies are gathering. You need to learn how to run."
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzQb3Z2Xlv
"Run…?" The word felt foreign on my tongue. My vocabulary contained more elegant verbs: walk, patrol, purge.
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWi7RAGhFP
Xu Wu glanced back at me. "Right now, you’re like a blind idol. The day you learn to run for your life is the day you’ll start resembling something human."
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumaOZx7RQj
The cloak weighed heavily on my shoulders, saturated with blood and the fading warmth of another body. It made me think of the statue’s hollow eyes—had they once witnessed something warm, too?
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0XbE6eLtT
As we crossed the scorched plains, geothermal heat seared through the soles of my boots. On the horizon, flames gnawed at the sky, staining the clouds a sickly orange. This land seemed to be suffocating under some immense pressure.
*【System Alert】Next chapter reveals:
"Why Xu Wu killed her 7th clone"
[UNLOCK FOR 300P ≈ 2MYR]*
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDjUW44bzj
The ambush ca
ns216.73.216.154da2
