Chapter 10: The Slumbered god

The Slumbered god

The Hall of Gathering always smelled like old incense and old people trying to sound wise. Sunlight leaked through the glass mosaics above, scattering across the polished jade floor—but today, it felt colder.

Harsher.

Zixuan sat at the far end of the table, fists curled in her sleeves, jaw clenched so tight her ears rang.

Elder Mo's voice broke through the silence.

"What a waste. All that famous blood, and she still freezes when challenged.”

A few of the Protectors chuckled. Not loud. But loud enough.

"Maybe she got her father’s sense of honor,” A red haired protector added, barely glancing her way, “but none of his strength. Or worse… her mother’s temper, minus the actual power.”

Zixuan’s eyes snapped up, but they kept going.

"Your mother burned a mountain down by accident once, girl,” Mo said. “What have you burned lately? A scroll? Your breakfast?"

Even Shou—her Shou—leaned back against a column with that annoyingly smug grin.

"You tripped over your own flames last time. I’m just saying. That wasn’t exactly phoenix material.”

Laughter followed. Casual. Cruel.

"She's like a snail with wings,” someone muttered. “All bloodline. No fire.”

That was it.

Zixuan stood. Slow. Controlled. No drama. Just... done.

Her voice? Calm. Too calm.

You told me she was a phoenix,” she whispered, louder with each word, “That she shattered kingdoms. That her blood could light the skies. That I carried that same flame.”She turned to face Elder Shu and Ling, who had spent the last few minutes eating in silence.

Her fists clenched. The heat in her chest flared.

“So tell me—which part of her legacy is a joke? The part where she bled protecting your gates? Or the part where you all stood behind her and let her die?”

None of them answered.

“Don’t bother explaining,” Zixuan hissed. “You’ve already said enough.”

She turned on her heel.

Shou stepped forward, eyes softening. “Zixuan—wait, it was a joke. Come on—”

“You laugh again,” she said, voice low and dangerous, “and I will bury that laugh with your pride. Underneath the entire Temple.”

Shou blinked. He didn’t move.

Zixuan left the courtyard without another word.

She didn't know if they let her parents die, but she was told that they died in a war—she only said it out of anger

------------

She didn’t know where she was headed. Her feet moved. The trees parted. The air thickened.

Then she saw it.

A cave.

Almost hidden in the cliffside. Covered by something not quite visible — like the world was trying to forget it existed.

Her phoenix pin glowed faintly. Her father’s old hair tie pulsed with heat.

Everything felt… still.

Too still.

She stepped closer.

Her hand touched the barrier. Nothing happened.

So she stepped forward—and the barrier parted like silk.

Zixuan froze.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

She looked down at her palm—hot, red, and still tingling from whatever had just escaped it.

Heat pulsed up her arm. The scent of incense and burning marigold curled around her.

She swallowed hard and entered.

---

Inside, the air was cold. Not ordinary cold—deep, bone-woven stillness, the kind that felt older than memory. Crystals jutted from the walls, glowing faintly in shades of sapphire and pearl.

The floor was carved stone etched with symbols even she didn’t recognize.

And there, suspended in air by nothing—

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A frost tablet, perfectly rectangular, humming with energy so ancient it made her skin crawl.

Pale blue mist swirled around it, and golden script shimmered across the front like it was breathing

"When flame meets frost, the slumber shall end.

The mercy unpunished shall rise again.

Death awakens.”

Zixuan stared at it.

“That’s dramatic,” she whispered, tilting her head. “It’s always death and awakening. Where are the cute baby dragons?”

She took a breath. The flame at her fingers flickered unconsciously.

She reached out—slowly—and touched it.

—

CRACK.

The tablet exploded into shards of frost and gold light, a wave of wind bursting outward, knocking her back.

The sound was too loud — like ice screaming.

Zixuan hit the ground hard, coughing.

“WHAT—what the actual—”

The back wall of the cave split. Chains clattered. Frost fell in sheets.

Something inside shifted.

A sarcophagus. Black stone. Gold veins. Covered in celestial chains.

The ground beneath her feet began to rumble.

The black stone coffin pushed forward, glowing and humming like it was waking from a six-century sleep.

The air turned electric.

The flame at her fingers responded—snapping outward with a hiss.

“Did I just… do that?”

The golden chains around the sarcophagus began to steam. One by one, they melted—burned away not by her flames, but reacting to them.

And then—

He appeared from within the snow mist.

---

He stepped through the final crack in the frost, pieces of golden rock falling off his shoulders.

Tall. Unimaginably tall.

Hair like flowing ink, heavy and wild around his shoulders. His skin glowed faintly under the light—the color of frosted pearl, eyes closed like he was still dreaming.

When they opened—

Eyes of silver-storm blue.

They didn’t blaze. They didn’t soften.

They commanded.

The cave filled with the scent of thunder lotus and scorched myrrh—sweet, heady, and terrifying.

Outside, in distant temples, bells cracked.

He looked at her.

Unimpressed.

Silent.

His thoughts, unknown to her, whispered:

“…No aura. No divine scent. Mortal? Then how…?”

He didn’t speak.

The wind shifted.

He stood still, unmoving, while temple bells rang faintly in the distance. Each chime cut through the air like a warning. He paused, listening—like he understood something others didn’t.

Then his eyes turned to Zixuan again.

That look.

Not anger. Not curiosity. Not even recognition.

Just… something off.

Like he was looking through her. Pulling her apart without touching her.

Her heart dropped.

It wasn’t the cold that made her shiver. It was him.

Whoosh.

A figure appeared beside her.

A man in emerald robes, eyes wide with disbelief, dropped to his knees.

“My Lord… you’ve returned…”

His voice cracked with awe. And something deeper. Relief, maybe. Fear, definitely.

“The centuries have not changed you, my Lord. I—I never stopped waiting. Never stopped believing you’d awaken again.”

Zixuan gawked. “WAIT WHAT? Who? What lord?! You know him??"

The god turned, stepped through a shimmer in the air—and disappeared .

The man in emerald robes shot Zixuan a glare, his form shimmering before fading into the air.

Zixuan shifted uneasily. His glare hit her hard, but she had no idea why. Her lips parted, as if to ask—but he vanished before she could speak.

---

She sat there, surrounded by melting frost and chaos, staring at the broken remnants of what used to be a sealed god.

“I’m… so doomed.”

She stood, brushed dust off her robe… and shouted after the god who had dipped without a word

“NOT EVEN A THANKS?!”

Then—

She screamed again and ran back out the cave like a girl who’d just summoned the apocalypse by accident.

🌹🔥🪷🌹🌸

Zixuan didn’t stop running until she was past the temple gates. She didn’t look back. Not once. She bolted through the corridors, the golden-red sky blurring behind her, and didn’t stop until she reached the Protectors’ compound.

A few disciples turned to look at her. Some shifted awkwardly, remembering how they’d laughed earlier. But Zixuan ignored every single one of them. She pushed open the doors to her quarters and slammed them shut behind her.

Her room was tucked deep inside the west wing, where the wind always smelled like the plum blossoms outside. The walls were carved with lotus motifs and patterns of clouds chasing dragons. A low lacquered bed sat in the corner, draped in sheer silks. Her sword rested on the wall, and tiny glowing pearls floated gently in the air like little moons. She sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, gripping the sheets.

A knock came, soft and unsure.

"Zixuan..." It was Shou.

She didn’t respond, just stared at the floor.

The door creaked open, and Shou stepped in. He looked nervous. “Can I come in?”

She nodded, barely.

He stood for a while, then slowly walked closer. “I didn’t mean to laugh that hard. I mean... okay, I laughed. A lot. But I didn't think it would hurt you like that.”

Zixuan didn’t say anything. Her face was blank, but her fists were clenched.

“I’ve always been with you,” he said quietly. “Since we were brats learning how to hold swords with both hands. You always had something burning in you, Zixuan. You’re not weak. You’ve never been weak.”

Zixuan’s lips trembled. “I really thought I’d done something big, Shou... I was proud. And then you all laughed like I was some joke.”

He sat beside her. “I’m sorry. Truly. I should’ve known better. You’ve always believed you had something more, and today you proved it. I’m proud of you, Zixuan. Even if I was stupid before.”

She finally looked at him. Tears filled her eyes, and she didn’t bother blinking them back.

“I did something... dangerous,” she whispered.

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

Just then, the doors swung open again. Elder Shu entered first, with Elder Ling and the two other women—Elder Yun and Elder Hua—following behind her. All four wore their usual silk robes, but their faces were tight with concern.

“You’re back,” Shu said.

Zixuan immediately stood, shocked. “Elder Shu—”

“I knew something had gone wrong the moment the temple bells rang that way,” Shu cut in. “And you weren’t with us.”

The other elders looked from Zixuan to Shou, then to each other.

“You felt it too?” Ling asked Shu, stepping forward.

“Of course I did. The last time the bells cried like that, a god fell.”

Elder Shu narrowed her eyes. “Zixuan. What did you do?”

Zixuan folded her arms, jaw tight. “I went out after training. I was pissed off. I walked past the boundary near the mountain. I wasn’t thinking.”

Shou shifted beside her but said nothing.

“There was a cave,” she went on. “Hidden behind some kind of barrier, but it didn’t stop me. I walked right through. It didn’t even fight back.”

Ling’s voice was low. “What kind of cave?”

“It looked old. Empty at first. Then I saw a stone tablet, glowing a little. Cold all around it.” She inhaled slowly. “I read what was on it. It said something about death awakening. I thought it was just another cursed item, not that serious.”

“And then?” asked one of the elder women quietly.

“I touched it.” Zixuan’s eyes flicked between them. “It cracked. Broke apart. The wall behind it opened up. There was a sarcophagus, covered in frost. Gold veins, celestial chains—heavy ones. Like… real ones, not for show.”

Shu’s expression darkened. “And?”

“The frost started melting. One by one, the chains did too. Then the lid just… broke open. He came out.”

“Describe him,” Elder Ling said.

Zixuan exhaled sharply. “He’s tall. Long black hair with white at the ends. Skin was really pale. He wore black robes with silver threads—nothing I recognized from any sect. His eyes were gold. Not yellow—bright gold. He didn’t say anything.”

Silence.

“Did he look at you?” Shu asked.

Zixuan nodded. “Yes. After the bells started ringing. All of them, from everywhere. He listened for a few seconds. Then looked at me like… like I shouldn’t have been there.”

“What did he do next?”

“He vanished. Didn’t say a word. Then some guy appeared after—his attendant, I think. He looked scared —shocked even and said something about knowing he'd awaken. Then he vanished too.”

Zixuan’s voice flattened. “That’s it. That’s what happened.”

Silence settled over the room like ash after a fire.

The elders didn’t move at first. Then Ling leaned back in her chair, fingers steepled beneath her chin, eyes unreadable.

Elder Shu was the first to speak, and her voice was barely above a whisper. “Chains… melted? All of them?”

Zixuan gave a stiff nod.

Another elder, summoned a while after the other elders came in—a man with sun-worn skin and a white scar running down his jaw—rubbed his hands together nervously. “All five boundary bells rang, from every cardinal point. We haven’t heard that in centuries. Not since—”

Shou’s jaw clenched.

“Zixuan,” Ling said softly, eyes locked on the girl. “You said he looked at you. Just once. Did anything happen to you?”

“No,” Zixuan said quickly. “Nothing happened to me. I’m not cursed or possessed or glowing, if that’s what you’re asking.”

A shaky breath left one of the elders, more relief than anything.

Then Elder Yun stood. She was the oldest, and usually the gentlest, but this time her voice cracked like thunder.

“You foolish child!”

Zixuan’s eyes snapped up.

“You walked beyond the boundary without permission! You touched ancient sealcraft you couldn’t understand! Do you think this is a joke?! Do you have any idea what you might have unleashed? What we now have to face because of your recklessness?!”

Zixuan flinched. Her fists clenched at her sides, but she didn’t say anything.

Shou took a step forward, voice calm but firm. “Elder Yun… please. Don’t raise your voice at her.”

The room turned to him. Even Zixuan looked up, surprised.

“She made a mistake,” he went on. “But she came back and told us. She could’ve lied. She could’ve said nothing.”

“She still acted without care!” Yun shot back, not yelling now, but definitely not chill.

“I know,” Shou said. “And she’ll answer for it. But fear won’t fix this.”

The silence that followed was heavier than the last one.

Ling nodded slowly. “He’s right.”

Another elder sighed, then looked at Zixuan with something close to sorrow in her gaze. “Child… we need to prepare. You’ve stirred something older than the you. Than some of the Protectors out there. And he didn’t kill you. That… that’s what scares me most.”

Zixuan didn’t reply. Her stomach twisted.

“We’ll call the Seers tonight,” Ling continued. “And reinforce every boundary. Shou, stay with her. Don’t let her leave the hall. Not even to breathe.”

He nodded without hesitation.

Elder Shu spoke last, voice low. “Pray he doesn’t remember more. Because if he does…” She looked at Zixuan, something ancient in her eyes. “The world won’t survive it.”