The first thing Qin Mian felt was—
silence.
Not normal silence.
A deep, heavy silence that felt like cotton stuffed in her ears.
Like the whole world forgot how to make sound.
Then she felt a cold surface under her hands.
Not sand.
Not metal.
Something smoother.
Something like frozen glass.
She slowly opened her eyes.
And froze.
A World That Should Not Exist
She was lying on a long, glowing floor—
white lines running under the surface like veins of light.
Above her—
there was no sky.
There was only a giant crack—
a tear in space—
purple, blue, black, and white light swirling together like a giant storm stuck between worlds.
The crack stretched across the "sky" like broken glass, floating.
Pieces of metal debris drifted around her in slow motion, like underwater.
A broken Crawler leg floated past her head—
not falling—
just drifting.
Qin Mian gasped and pushed herself up.
The air was cold.
Too cold.
Her breath turned white instantly.
Her voice bounced strangely as she whispered:
"…Where am I…?"
Her words felt distant, like she was speaking in a huge empty hall.
She stood on shaky legs.
The ground under her feet glowed with faint patterns—
circles, triangles, shifting lines.
Like giant runes.
She turned slowly.
The world around her was empty.
No shed.
No sand.
No Kai.
No Chen Gu.
Just…
floating pieces of her old world—
a broken metal beam,
half a wall,
a rail track curled like a ribbon—
all drifting slowly around her, weightless.
Her heart pounded.
"Lie…?"
No answer.
She took a step forward.
The glowing floor rippled like liquid.
Her next step made the ground shift colors.
"Lie! Can you hear me?!"
Silence.
Terrifying silence.
The Memories Begin
Then—
the air shimmered.
Something formed in front of her—
like mist turning into a shape.
Qin Mian held her breath.
The shape became a hallway.
A long, white hallway.
With bright lights.
Medical lights.
Her heart dropped.
She knew this place.
She walked forward, slowly, trembling.
The white hallway was not real—
it was a memory.
Her memory.
A girl in a hospital gown appeared at the far end—
thin, small, clutching her arms.
Qin Mian's breath stopped.
"...That's me."
The memory-Qin Mian whispered:
"Don't wake her…
Don't let her open her eyes…"
Then the hallway shattered into pieces of glass and vanished.
Qin Mian almost fell forward.
"Why am I seeing this…?"
The world around her reshaped.
Another scene formed.
A man—
Chen Gu, younger, exhausted, face covered in dust—
stood in a dark laboratory.
He whispered to a hologram:
"We can't hold the resonance.
She'll break the city if she wakes."
Qin Mian whispered:
"Stop… please stop…"
The lab shattered.
Pieces of metal floated away like leaves in slow motion.
The Rift World rebuilt again.
This time—
Yin Lie appeared.
Not the current Yin Lie.
A younger Yin Lie, maybe fifteen, standing alone in a snowy courtyard.
His hand trembled as he released a wolf-flame.
Then he collapsed, coughing, blood spraying the snow.
A voice echoed:
"This child is unstable.
He will not survive."
Qin Mian stepped backward, tears filling her eyes.
"No… stop… don't show me this…"
The scene broke apart into glowing dust.
She sank to her knees.
"Why… why am I seeing all this?"
The Warning
A whisper drifted across the Rift World.
Not human.
Not machine.
Something else.
"Memory…
Fear…
Pain…
All of it feeds the Rift…"
Qin Mian spun around.
"Who's there?!"
The voice came again.
Closer.
"Your heart…
his heart…
broke the world…"
She trembled.
"You mean… Yin Lie did this?"
The air pulsed.
A low hum.
"Yes…
his pain opened the crack…
his grief called the Rift…
and now… it grows…"
Qin Mian's lips parted.
"How do I find him?"
The voice fell silent.
Then a soft whisper:
"…Follow the cold…"
The Search Begins
Qin Mian stood up slowly.
The glowing floor beneath her shifted—
the lines moved like living veins of frost.
She took one step.
The ground turned blue.
She took another.
A thin trail of ice formed ahead of her—
leading deeper into the broken dimension.
She clutched her chest.
"Lie… please be alive…"
She followed the ice path.
The Rift World bent and twisted around her as she walked.
Some places looked like broken city streets.
Some looked like memories floating in the air.
Some were empty void.
She walked past a floating street lamp.
Past a broken section of the old shed roof.
Past a frozen Crawler caught mid-air, like a statue.
The air grew colder.
Her breath turned thicker.
She wrapped her arms around herself, teeth chattering.
"Lie… I'm coming… just hold on…"
She kept walking.
Even when her legs shook.
Even when the ground cracked under her.
Even when she felt like she would fall into the endless void.
She didn't stop.
Because she could feel him.
Somewhere ahead—
a heartbeat.
Weak.
But alive.
The First Glimpse
The ice trail led to a large broken sphere floating in the air—
a cracked white dome, spinning slowly.
Inside—
shadows moved.
Qin Mian's heart pounded, breath catching.
"Lie…?"
She stepped closer.
And the crack widened—
just enough for her to see inside.
Her breath stopped.
He was there.
Floating in midair.
Unconscious.
Energy swirling around him like a storm trapped inside a glass cage.
Wolf fire.
Keystone geometry.
Ice.
His body flickered between light and shadow.
His heartbeat whispered through the air like a dying star.
Qin Mian pressed a trembling hand to the cracked dome.
Her voice broke completely.
"Lie… please… look at me…"
But he didn't move.
Didn't open his eyes.
Didn't answer.
The dome pulsed—
and a distorted voice echoed:
"He… cannot hear you…"
Qin Mian's tears fell.
"But I'm right here…
I followed the cold…
I came to find him…"
"We know."
"…We?"
The dome glowed.
And from its cracks—
shapes began to crawl out.
White silhouettes.
Long arms.
Empty faces.
Not living.
Not dead.
Something in between.
Creatures of the Rift.
They turned toward her—
and whispered in one voice:
"If you want him…
You must survive us first."
—Chapter 93 End—