Be Gentle, Immortal Master

I took a step forward instinctively, trying to get a better look. But a tug on my hand stopped me. "Careful," Bai Ye warned. "The seal around those swords … feels a bit off."

I halted. He was right—I realized belatedly that this seal was different from the one we went through last time. As opposed to the portals that gave off an aura leading towards the unknown, the mound of stones in front of us emanated a restrictive presence, as if threatening to imprison anyone who dared step too close. "This isn't a space manipulation seal like the ones before," I gasped. "This is … a trapping seal?"

And it wasn't only the purpose of the seal that felt different. Even its spiritual power didn't seem the same as the one that led me to this chamber. Did this mean that the existence calling to me earlier wasn't the seal itself, but actually what the seal had trapped inside?

The look on Bai Ye's face couldn't be more serious. "Don't step any closer," he warned again and waved his hand. With a flutter of sleeves, a spark of white light shot forward from his palm, encasing the platform with a dazzling glow. I squinted against the brightness that formed a sphere around the swords. As the sphere slowly started to spin, a dark symbol in the shape of a coiled snake appeared over the platform, with the blades driven through the snake's head.

"Restrictive seals like this typically rely on talismans," Bai Ye explained. "I just used a spell to reveal the underlying talisman drawing. This symbol—" his eyes narrowed, "—is most likely used to trap souls."

Trap souls? My first reaction was to look at those swords. Could it be that they not only looked like Twin Stars, but also worked the same way with the ability to detain their victims inside? I quickly dismissed that possibility though. The spiritual power from the swords felt different from the seal. If it was the seal that trapped the souls, then it shouldn't be related to the power of the swords.

"Qing-er." Bai Ye's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Does the spiritual power on those swords feel familiar to you?"

I nodded. "They are the same as what I felt through the portals last time. They call to me." I looked at him curiously. "Are you suspecting something?"

His grip on my hand tightened. "I have a guess," he said with some hesitation. "This seal—" he gestured at the platform, "—carries the characteristic spiritual power of the Vermilion Shrine, a sect in the east famed for their art in talismans. From what I know of them, the cultivators from that sect rarely leave their halls, unless they are asked by other sects to help seal up powerful demons that cannot be killed."

"Powerful demons?" My eyes snapped towards the swords. "Are you saying those are demonic swords as well?"

"No. But I think …" He hesitated again, as if unsure how to explain the rest of it to me. "I think there is a presence inside those swords. I can't tell if it is a sword spirit, a person slain by the blades, or something else. I can't tell if it is residing in the swords by choice or forced into it either. But I can tell its existence, and I think that presence is what this symbol was used to seal."

I turned that theory over in my head. It must be quite a dangerous presence then, if it was big enough of a deal to involve an otherwise reclusive sect. I revisited everything we had seen in this cave since the first time we set foot in it, trying to determine if we had encountered traces left by this creature, and I suddenly remembered the boneyard we had run into last year. "A powerful demon …" I repeated Bai Ye's earlier words. "Could it be that this presence inside the swords is what killed those cultivators that disappeared at Misty Mountains? Is that why the Vermilion Shrine was alerted, so that they could help put an end to this disaster and stop more casualties from occurring?"

Bai Ye only gave me a strange look, and he didn't offer a response. "We should probably leave," he said simply. "This seal is still active and quite powerful. It might not be safe for us to stay here too much longer."

"Wait!" I resisted his tugging. "I think I have a suspicion too," I said. A jumble of thoughts seemed to be slowly coming together in my head, and I carefully walked myself through it as I spoke. "The spiritual power on those swords feels familiar to me. It guided me here, helped me find our way through the maze. If, like what you said, there is a presence inside those swords, then that means this presence is related to me in some way …"

"Qing-er—"

"That matches our earlier guess then," I continued, ignoring his interruption. "The only difference is that, it is not the Misty Mountains that I'm connected to, but rather this presence inside the swords. It has probably been here for hundreds or maybe thousands of years, so it's not surprising that it has reached the bixies. It would also explain why I was able to manipulate those portals last time, because—"

I paused at the next thought entering my mind. Turning towards Bai Ye, I stared at him in disbelief. "You mentioned that the way I worked out those portals made it feel as if I had made them myself," I said, suddenly understanding his earlier hesitation and reluctance to continue the conversation. "Does it mean that this presence sealed within those swords … is not only related to me, but actually … a part of me?"

Though the more shocking question that I felt too afraid to ask was: did this mean that I had contributed to the deaths of all those cultivators in the past? And how much of this had to do with Twin Stars?