Light a beautiful, shining light illumihe sky.

  Seeing this radiant glow, Yuan was stunned for a sed, his mind dazed as he struggled to prehend what was happening. His vision remained blurry, and all he could perceive was the dazzling brightness as he woke up. For a full minute, he y there, simply admiring the mesmerizing sight.

  Then, his thoughts slowly cleared. He let out a deep breath and remained on the ground, lost in refle.

  What had happened?

  It all began two weeks ago the day his only family member, his grandfather, passed away. His st words still echoed in Yuan's mind.

  In a modest wooden house, just rge enough to aodate four people, an old man y on a simple bed. His gray hair, ohick, had thinned with age, and his dark bck eyes had lost much of their youthful luster. Yet even in his final days, his face retained a certain handsomeness, a lingering trace of the strong man he once was.

  Beside the bed stood a young boy. His bck hair and dark, gleaming eyes bore a resembo the elderly man, though his youthful gaze shoh a light yet untouched by time.

  But there was no joy in the boy's eyes. No carefree ughter befitting his age.

  Tears streamed down Yuan's face as he clutched his grandfather's frail hand.

  "Grandpa... you 't go away!" Yuan's voice trembled with desperation. "What am I supposed to do without you? Why 't you stay with me longer? Please… just don't go. Please don't die… Please!"

  A weak chuckle left the old man's lips. "Hehe… little Yuan," he whispered, his voice hoarse and frail, "you know I 't stay much longer… aher you."

  Yuan's breath hitched.

  "You are smart, my boy," his grandfather tinued with difficulty. "You must already know that your time is running out as well. Your headaches… they're getting worse. Soon, life itself will bee unbearable for you. A… I have failed you. I am a useless grandfather I don't even know how to save you."

  Yuan immediately shook his head. His voice came out in a frantic plea.

  "No, Grandpa! Don't say that! Don't worry about my headaches they're nothing! Just stay with me! We find a cure together!"

  The old man smiled weakly, his cloudy eyes filled with sorrow.

  "Yuan, my boy... your father died before you were even born. Your mother followed soon after, leaving you at the age of three. And now, seven years ter, you will lose me too." He paused, his breath shallow. "A cruel fate for such a young and bright child. The heavens must truly have cursed you."

  His grandfather's expression darkened.

  "If only you had been born iside world like our aors," he murmured. "You could have bee a great schor… or even a legendary town chief, like the ones I heard about and once dreamed of being. But I was a coward. I never even tried to leave this tiny vilge."

  His wrinkled hand squeezed Yuan's weakly.

  "But the past is the past… and now is now. None of that matters anymore. I only hope that somehow… you will defy your fate. Just like the myths say."

  Yuan listened in silence, his heart pounding.

  "My grandfather oold me something that I never fot," the old man said, his voice a mere whisper now. "There are people mythical people who erase our entire vilge with a mere wave of their hand. They are the ones who defied their destiny, who refused to bow to the heavens… and rose from nothing to challehe very will of the gods themselves."

  His breath grew weaker.

  "Do you remember the story of the Mansion of tless Tombs in the Ghost Forest?" He chuckled faintly, though it was ced with pain. "Some say… one of those heaven-defying people built it. Or perhaps… the heavens themselves pced it there. Who knows? I'm just a foolish old man who knows nothing… but if you truly wish to escape your fate… perhaps that mansion holds the answer you seek."

  His firembled as he reached for Yuan's hand o time.

  "But before I leave, Yuan… promise me ohing."

  Yuan's tears fell freely now. He ched his small fists, his entire body trembling.

  "Anything, Grandpa!" he sobbed. "I'll promise you anything! Just say it!"

  The old man's lips curled into the fai of smiles.

  "Live a life you dret," he murmured. "I remember when you were little… you oold me you wao fly through the sky… to see the world beyond this vilge… just like iories of The Adventure of the East."

  His breathing slowed. His eyelids fluttered.

  "And that Saja girl," he added weakly, "I saw how she looked at you… with feelings beyond friendship..."

  His voice faded.

  Then, with the st of his strength, he whispered:

  "I loved the time we spent together, Yuan."

  And with that… he was gone.

  Yuahe moment his grandfather's ha limp in his own.

  Death had taken him.

  The pain that followed was unlike anything he had ever felt before. The grief. The loneliness. The weight of knowing that from now on, he had no o.

  But through the haze of sorrow, oruth stood out.

  His grandfather's st words.

  "You don't have much time left either."

  Even though it ainful to hear, Yuan uood. His grandfather had said it with a heavy heart, but he had meant well.

  And so, without hesitation… without looking back… he had made his decision.

  That very night, he had left the vilge, slipping away unnoticed.

  And he ran.

  He ran toward the Ghost Forest.

  And here he was now lying on a cold flazing at the shining lights above him. Somehow, these lights brought back memories of why he had e here in the first pce.

  He wao defy his fate.

  Something no ten year-old should even think about. Something no ordinary person would dare to sider.

  After all, defying the heavens would bring their wrath upon him just like the mythical figures his grandfather once spoke of.

  With a deep sigh, Yuan's vision cleared. No longer was the world a blurry haze. Instead, everything became sharp and vivid. A big smile formed on his face as crity filled his mind, strohan ever before.

  "Defying the heavens… have I already taken my first step?"

  He let out a chuckle ohat soon turned into ughter. A loud, heartfelt ugh, as if he had just realized something utterly absurd yet liberating.

  "Dying now or in five years… does it really make a differehe heavens already want me dead, so why should I care if they're angry?"

  As he spoke, his ughter grew bolder, filled with unshakeermination.

  Then, as he stared at the shining lights above, he decred:

  "Yes! I, Yuan, shall face the heavens' wrath! So what if the heavens want me dead? I refuse to obey! Why should I? I shall defy the will of the heavens! I will challehe heavens themselves and rebel with all my might!"

  A few moments passed before realization struck him,he had spoken those words out loud.

  His face turned crimson.

  Blushing heavily, he let out an awkward chuckle. "Thank the damn heavens no one heard that... hehe."

  With o deep breath, he slowly stood up, stretg his ag body. However, as he surveyed his surroundings, he realized something strange he was no loanding before the massive stoe.

  Instead… he was in a room.

  The walls were made of the same bd yellow stone as the gate, but uhe engravings he had seen before, these walls were pin and unadorhey looked almost… normal.

  Yet, the room wasy.

  There were decorations.

  At the ter stood a grand table,massive in size, each chair pced at least a meter apart, with enough space for eleven people to sit fortably. The craftsmanship was unlike anything Yuan had ever seen in his vilge. tless intricate patterns were engraved onto its surface, making it seem almost… otherworldly.

  Yuan's gaze fell upon one particur pattern a symbol unlike any he had ever entered.

  It resembled a square, though slightly twisted, with one edge pointing downward. In the ter of this twisted square was a wavy line, drawn as if flowing like water.

  Was this some kind of insignia? A crest?

  Yuan couldn't tell.

  Each chair ced precisely at the location of these symbols. The chairs themselves were made of a straerial,something he couldn't quite identify. It looked like white wood… or perhaps a rare kind of polished stone. Whatever it was, it was unlike anything he had ever seen.

  And just like the table, the chairs, too, bore the same strange square symbols, one on each side of the handles. Every inch of the furniture was covered in tless intricate patterns.

  After studying the table and chairs for some time, Yuan turned his attention to the decorations atop the table.

  At its ter stood five dles,one in the very middle, with the others positio the cardinal dires: east, west, north, and south. The spag between them was wide enough that Yuaire hand could fit between eae.

  But what truly caught his attention…

  Were the fmes.

  They burned not with an ordinary yellow glow, but with a deep purple hue. The es of the fmes glowed a brighter shade of violet, while the ter grew darker,almost bck.

  Ahese fmes did not burn as normal fire should.

  There was no smoke. No flickering embers.

  The fmes swayed gently, yet not a single wisp of mist rose from them.

  It was unnatural.

  Other than the dles, there were two vases oable, each holding flowers.

  Like the fmes, the petals of these flowers were deep purple, fading to a brighter hue at the edges while darkening toward the ter.

  A strange, eerie beauty surrouhem.

  Aside from these decorations, the table held nothing else.

  Yuan, having taken in the sight of the table, finally turned his attention to the walls.

  There, on each side of the table, Yuan saw two paintings.

  One of them depicted something he immediately reized,a dense forest shrouded in thick mist.

  "This… this is the Ghost Forest!"

  Yuan was certain of it. He had seen this very sight before, but as he stared at the painting longer, something strange caught his attention.

  The mist… was moving.

  At first, he thought it was a trick of his eyes. But the more he looked, the more he realized,the mist within the painting was shifting, swirling as if carried by an invisible breeze.

  A painting… that moved?

  Curious, Yuan stepped closer, wanting to exami more clearly.

  It was no illusion.

  The mist within the painting was alive, flowing like real fog trapped ihe frame.

  Shocked, Yuan reached out his hand, instinctively wanting to touch this bizarre painting. But just as his fingers were about to make tact

  His hand stopped.

  Only a timeter away from the surface, an invisible force prevented him from moving forward. No matter how much strength he mustered, he couldn't push through. It was as if an unseen barrier was blog his hand.

  Yuan furrowed his brows.

  "What kind of sorcery is this…?"

  Since he couldn't i with this painting, he turned his attention to the other one.

  Perhaps it would give him more clues about his situation?

  As he stepped closer to the sed painting, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him.

  He had seen something like this before.

  The paintied a grand pavilion built from gray and yellow stone. Before the pavilion y a vast garden filled with t trees, lush bushes, and even a small ke. Scattered throughout the garden were several statues, though Yuan couldn't make out their details from where he stood.

  But something was… off.

  Amidst the breathtaking sery, there stood aructure,a small tower.

  Uhe majestic pavilion or the beautifully designed garden, this tower looked utterly pin. It didn't fit with the rest of the ndscape at all.

  It was nothing more than a round block of stoh a simple wooden door.

  It seemed out of pce… yet it was there, included in the painting for a reason.

  Yuan gnced bad forth betweewo paintings.

  Just like the Ghost Forest painting, he found that he couldn't touch the pavilion paintiher.

  A feeling of utled over him.

  He was trapped.

  A rge dining table, two mysterious paintings, an eerie silence.

  That was all that surrounded him.

  Fear began to creep into his heart.

  "What is this pce? Why am I here? And… how do I escape?"

  For the first time since waking up, Yuarue despair.

  Minutes passed,ten, maybe more. He wasn't sure.

  He had tried everything he could think of. Yet nothing ged.

  Letting out a frustrated sigh, he gave up thinking and simply began pag in circles around the table.

  Maybe moving around would help him find something?

  After several rounds, his frustration only grew.

  His gaze fell upon the flickering purple fmes and the strange purple flowers. He sighed once more.

  And then, on impulse, he pulled one of the chairs from the table.

  To his surprise… it moved.

  Uhe paintings, he could actually touch the chair!

  For the first time since waking up in this strange room, a faint smile appeared on Yuan's face.

  "At least I i with something…"

  With nothing else to do, he decided to sit down a for a moment.

  But the mometled into the chair

  The tless patterns engraved into it began to glow.

  A brilliant light flooded the room, illuminating every er with an intense radiance.

  Before Yuan could eve, the light engulfed him pletely.

  And then

  It shot straight into the painting of the pavilion.

  The room, once filled with beautiful golden light, began to fade.

  Darkness crept in.

  The glowing ceiling dimmed…

  Until finally, the room was swallowed by eternal darkness.