CHAPTER 127: CHAPTER 127: PAGAN IDOL

The corridor swallowed Li Wei whole, its air thick with incense smoke and the cold musk of sealed time. Each step he took stirred faint echoes—soft as the heartbeat of something vast and buried. The lanterns that lined the hall trembled, their flames bowing in submission before guttering one by one.

~Ffft... ffft...~

Darkness crept in behind him like an obedient shadow.

He moved with the calm of one long accustomed to walking the edge of calamity. His hand brushed the wall’s lacquered surface, fingertips gliding over carved cranes and dragons. The wood beneath felt strangely warm—as though the house itself breathed with fever. Somewhere above, the rain struck the tiled roof in uneven rhythm.

~Pat... pat... pat-pat...~

Pei Zheng’s voice echoed faintly from behind the closed study doors, muffled by distance. "Li Wei! The vault is sealed! The wards—" His words cut off in a hiss, as though strangled by the storm.

Li Wei did not turn back. "Wards woven by greed are no stronger than the oaths of gamblers," he murmured. "Let Heaven bear witness."

He reached the foot of a spiral staircase descending into the earth. Two stone lions flanked the entryway, their mouths open in perpetual snarl. Between their fangs, candles burned low, their flames a dull and sickly blue. The scent of damp stone met him, thick and old.

As he descended, the air grew colder. The world narrowed to the circle of his pearl’s pale light. Shadows clung to the steps like mourning robes.

The ground here breathes, he recalled his earlier words. And now it dreams.

At the base of the stairs lay a bronze door engraved with ancient sigils. They pulsed faintly, veins of light snaking across the metal. A faint whisper issued from behind it, indistinct yet pleading.

—help... me...—

Li Wei paused, his hand hovering over the latch. "Voices bound to relics often wear the tone of the innocent," he said softly. "But nothing about it is true."

He touched the pearl to the door. Its light flared—

~Wummm~

—then sank into the sigils. The metal shuddered. Dust rained from the ceiling. The lock split with a brittle crack, and the door eased open.

Inside, the vault breathed frost. Shelves of sealed chests lined the walls, but at the center stood a single pedestal, and upon it—a figure of black jade.

The idol was man-shaped, yet wrong. Its limbs elongated, its mouth stretched too wide, carved in a scream that seemed to ripple through air and bone alike. Crimson veins splintered across the jade’s surface, glowing faintly from within. The sight drew the eye and refused to release it.

Li Wei’s expression did not change, though his breath left a faint cloud before him. "So this is the heart of your blight," he said. "An echo of the Western Ruins’ old gods."

He circled the pedestal, robes whispering across the stone floor. Each movement stirred motes of ash-like dust that rose and vanished. "Bound by greed, fed by fear. You should have remained beneath the sands."

The idol’s surface shivered. A low hum bled into the air, resonating in the marrow.

~Mmmmmm...~

Then the whisper came again, stronger now. Li... Wei...

He stilled. "Ah. You know my name."

’You seek balance... yet you disturb the rising tides...’

Li Wei raised a hand, palm open. The Pearl of Resonant Tides glimmered between his fingers, blue light blooming outward in rippling rings. "Balance cannot exist while corruption breathes unchecked."

The idol’s mouth stretched wider, light spilling from within like blood turned luminous. Tendrils of crimson mist began to crawl across the floor, coiling around his ankles, reaching for his throat.

Li Wei’s eyes flashed. "Enough."

He drew a sigil in the air—swift, precise. Azure energy erupted outward, striking the mist with the hiss of quenched steel.

~Ssshhhkkk!~

The mist recoiled, twisting upon itself before retreating toward the pedestal. The idol’s glow flared in pain. The entire chamber trembled.

"Still it resists," Li Wei murmured. "Then let us reason through silence."

He pressed his palm against the air before him, fingers curling in a slow, deliberate motion. A circle of glyphs unfolded, luminous and intricate, turning like a wheel of water and moonlight. From its heart rose a faint sound—like temple bells beneath the sea.

~Ding... ding...~

Pei Wong’s voice broke faintly from the staircase. "Sir Li! Are you—by the heavens, what is that noise?"

"Stay where you are," Li Wei called back, his tone like cold iron. "One misstep, and the spirit will claim more than your breath."

Pei froze halfway down the steps, clutching the railing. "I—I only wanted to help."

"Then pray quietly," Li Wei said, not unkindly.

He turned his focus again to the idol. The circle of glyphs brightened, water condensing from the air and spiraling toward it. The droplets formed streams, streams into a current, and the current into a spectral tide. The very walls began to shimmer, as though seen through a thin veil of rain.

The crimson glow fought back, surging violently. The idol screamed—a sound without breath or lungs, shaking dust from the ceiling.

~Aaaaahhhhhh!~

Li Wei’s hair whipped in the wind of it. He set his jaw. "Return to your slumber, nameless one! The mortal world owes you no worship!"

The idol cracked. From within, a shadow rose—a humanoid shape, featureless, its form woven from liquid darkness. It lunged, silent and swift.

Li Wei moved as though the air itself obeyed him. The pearl leapt from his palm, spinning midair before bursting into threads of light. Each thread coiled around his arms, his shoulders, his chest—forming a mantle of shimmering blue.

He raised his hand. "Return to the stream!"

The light surged forward, colliding with the shadow.

~WHOOOOSH~

Steam exploded through the chamber. The shadow shrieked, its form unraveling like smoke. Yet even as it faded, its voice slid into Li Wei’s ear: Others will come. The tide cannot be dammed...

The last echo faded into stillness. The chamber’s light dimmed, leaving only the faint glow of the pearl as it drifted back into Li Wei’s palm. It pulsed once—twice—and then grew still.

Li Wei exhaled, his breath slow and even. "So ends the hunger of this house." He glanced toward the stairs. "Pei Wong, it is safe."

The boy stumbled down, wide-eyed. "The air is different now, it feels lighter."

Li Wei gave a single nod. "Your father’s curse is broken, though his debt to the heavens remains." His gaze moved to the idol, now lifeless stone. A fine crack split its brow, and from that crack leaked a single tear of dark water, falling soundlessly onto the floor.

Pei stared. "Is it... dead?"

"Spirits do not die," Li Wei replied, voice quiet. "They remember. They wait." He turned toward the stairway. "Come. The night is not yet spent, and your father owes me truth."

They ascended in silence. When they emerged into the study, Pei Zheng sat slumped behind his desk, sweat shining upon his brow. He looked up as they entered, disbelief mingling with relief.

"You live," he rasped.

"As do you," Li Wei said, approaching. "For now."

Pei Zheng’s composure broke. "That thing... it whispered to me for weeks. Promised gold, long life, fortune unending. Every night I heard it in my dreams."

Li Wei studied him for a long moment. "And you listened."

The merchant bowed his head. "I am a fool."

"Then you are human," Li Wei said. "Pray that Heaven’s patience exceeds your greed."

Outside, the storm began to ease. The rain softened into a steady drizzle. Through the open window, the scent of wet earth drifted in. Pei Wong leaned against the sill, staring out into the night. "Sir Li," he said quietly, "what did it mean—when it said others will come?"

Li Wei looked toward the dark horizon where lightning still flickered far off over the sea. "The Western Ruins were not a tomb, young master," he said. "They were a gate. And someone has begun preparation to fully open it."

A silence fell, thick as prayer.