Masks hide the face.
But what hides the soul?
---
Linghai Outlands – Dusk After the Storm
The mountain cave was quiet, save for the soft hum of protection arrays.
Rael sat at the entrance, bathed in twilight. His eyes were half-lidded, but they missed nothing.
Behind him, Mok lay wrapped in silence. His body warm, breathing steady—yet hollow. Like a vessel without a soul.
And Yue Qingshi… she stood on a jagged ledge above, her silhouette drawn in fading moonlight, frowning at the parchment map unfolding beneath her fingers.
A soft breeze stirred her white robe.
She didn't speak for a long time.
Then—
"We have three of the five Masked Zones mapped."
Rael didn't move. "And?"
Qingshi turned, glancing toward the unconscious Mok. "Each site is older than recorded sect history. One's submerged in the Azure Serpent Basin. Another is buried beneath the Ghostwood Swamp. And the last…"
She hesitated.
"It's sealed under the Yue Clan's ancestral shrine."
Rael said nothing.
Then finally: "Of course it is."
---
The First Dream Fragment – A Night Visitor
That night, as the fire burned low, Rael meditated beside Mok's body.
Until something shifted.
A ripple in the fabric of space.
A faint ringing — like metal windchimes in a forgotten hall.
Then, the flames bent inward.
And someone else stepped into the circle.
Not physically.
But through dreamlight.
She wore robes of ink. Her feet didn't touch the ground. Her hair hung down like threads soaked in moonlight.
Her face was covered with a cracked porcelain mask, painted with weeping flowers.
> "You took one of ours," she whispered.
Rael opened his eyes, calm.
"I borrowed it."
The masked woman tilted her head.
"I am one of the Five. I am Grief. And he," she gestured to Mok, "wears a soul not his own."
Rael stood.
"And?"
"If you want him back, you must take our burden," she said softly.
Rael smiled faintly. "Already carrying worse."
---
A Test of Grief – Entering the Lunar Fragment
She raised her hand — a tear shimmered at her fingertip.
> "Then enter. Let sorrow weigh you. Let memory feed you."
Rael didn't hesitate.
He stepped into the light.
The world changed.
---
Dream Fragment – Forgotten Temple Beneath the Moon
Rael stood on a path of broken moonstones.
Around him stretched a reflection of the ruined world — beautiful, sorrowful, incomplete.
He heard whispers in the wind.
Children laughing.
His wife's voice.
Mok's training grunts.
Qingshi humming off-key.
He kept walking.
Until he found her.
Not the masked woman.
But Alina — his wife — standing beneath a blossoming plum tree.
She smiled. Her eyes didn't accuse.
She opened her arms.
> "Come home, Rael."
He stopped.
Every part of him ached to run forward.
To fall into that embrace.
But he didn't move.
"I buried you once," he whispered. "You're not mine anymore."
The illusion cracked.
---
Grief Respected – Trial Passed
Grief stood again in her original form, eyes faintly glowing behind her mask.
She bowed.
"You remember pain. But you do not beg it back. You pass."
She raised her hand.
A thread of silver qi unraveled from Mok's chest.
"Your friend will awaken."
Rael stepped forward. "And you?"
Grief tilted her head.
"One of five remains in you now. Should you collect all masks…"
"Then what?"
Grief paused.
"Then you'll see what's beneath your mask."
---
Back in the Cave – Mok Awakens
Rael opened his eyes.
Mok gasped. Sat up. Blinked in panic.
"Where—?"
Rael caught his shoulder. "You're safe."
Mok's eyes darted. "I saw… I saw a woman with no face."
"You saw yourself," Rael said. "And you lived."
Qingshi came rushing in, breath catching. "Mok?"
He turned to her — and for a moment, the fear in his eyes turned to tears.
"I thought I'd lost… everything."
"You didn't," she whispered. "We're still here."
---
System Prompt
> [Dream Fragment – Grief: Purified]
[Mask of Grief – Acquired (Passive)]
[Effect: Once per battle, nullify all emotional attacks and illusions]
[Warning: Two masks remain unclaimed. Madness threshold increasing.]
Rael looked at the moon outside.
It was blood-red now.
He didn't remember it changing.
---
Later That Night – Quiet Conversations
Mok had fallen asleep again, this time peacefully.
Qingshi sat beside Rael, arms wrapped around her knees.
"You never told me… what your wife looked like."
Rael stared at the dying embers. "She didn't look like you."
Qingshi smiled faintly.
"That's good."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Because I don't want to be a replacement."
Her voice was soft.
"And I don't want you to carry everything alone."
Rael didn't answer.
But after a while, he leaned back — letting his head rest against the stone.
Close enough to touch her shoulder.
He didn't.
But he didn't pull away, either.