Yin Lie pushed forward—
step by step—
through the darkness that hated him.
The Rift shifted around him like a living thing.
Walls slid sideways.
Floors moved like waves.
Shadows bent backward.
It tried to confuse him.
It tried to swallow him.
It tried to trap him in more illusions.
But Yin Lie wasn't falling for any more lies.
Every step he took made the darkness shake.
Every breath he took made the ground crack under his feet.
The Rift whispered:
"You do not belong here…"
But Yin Lie didn't slow down.
"I'm not here to belong," he said quietly.
"I'm here to leave."
The Rift hissed.
"You cannot leave.
You are part of us now.
A broken mind becomes a broken world."
Yin Lie laughed softly.
Not happy.
Not cruel.
Just tired.
"You're wrong."
The Rift Shows Him More Memories
The hall twisted again.
This time, a memory formed in front of him:
A battlefield.
Bodies lying in snow.
Broken machines.
A young boy—Yin Lie—standing alone, frost spreading under his feet.
Someone shouted:
"Contain him! Don't get close—he'll freeze your lungs—!"
The boy cried silently, hugging himself as the cold spread out uncontrollably.
Yin Lie closed his eyes.
He didn't want to see this.
But he forced himself to look.
The Rift whispered:
"You are dangerous, Yin Lie.
You always were."
Another memory came.
Yin Lie at sixteen, punching a door until his knuckles bled because someone he cared about was taken away.
"You lose control.
You hurt.
You break."
A third memory.
Sniper smiling faintly at him, tossing him a rifle:
"Don't die, kid."
Then her silhouette dissolving into red light.
Yin Lie's fists trembled.
"Stop showing me this."
The Rift growled:
"It is what you are."
Yin Lie lifted his head.
And for the first time—
he looked calm.
"No."
The memories shattered like exploding mirrors.
The Rift shuddered.
Yin Lie stepped through the falling shards of light.
"I'm not what happened to me.
I'm what I choose to protect."
He Hears Her Again
A faint voice echoed through the Rift.
"Lie…
Can you hear me…?"
Qin Mian.
His heart jumped.
"Mian! Where are you?!"
Her voice came again—
this time trembling, breathless.
"Lie… the creatures… they're coming…
I'm trying to hold them off…"
Ice spread across Yin Lie's shoulders.
Fire cracked across his spine.
Keystone symbols glowed under his skin.
He almost lost balance.
"Mian—stay where you are—don't move—"
The Rift tried to drown her voice.
But Yin Lie screamed louder:
"MIAN—!!"
The world cracked.
Deep.
Loud.
Impossible.
A glowing split opened in the darkness ahead of him.
Through the crack—
he saw her.
Qin Mian.
She stood in a different part of the Rift—
surrounded by white-shadow creatures crawling toward her.
Her arms shook as she held up a weak shield.
She looked exhausted.
Terrified.
But still standing.
Still fighting.
Yin Lie reached for her.
"Mian—!!"
She looked up.
Her eyes widened—
and hope filled her face like sunrise.
"Lie!!"
He pushed forward.
The Rift slammed the crack shut.
Just before his fingers touched hers.
Everything went black again.
Yin Lie Loses Patience
A cold rage spread through his chest.
Not anger at her.
Not anger at himself.
Anger at the Rift.
"You can twist my memories," he whispered.
"You can show me my failures."
His breath turned into frost.
Blue fire wrapped around his arms.
Keystone symbols spun behind him like a halo of geometry.
"But you can't touch her."
The Rift hissed sharply:
"You are nothing!"
Yin Lie smiled.
"You're scared."
The Rift fell silent.
"You know what happens when I stop running."
Cracks spread around his feet.
"You know what happens when I stop fearing myself."
The air shook violently.
"You know what happens when I decide to break something."
He raised his hand.
Energy burst outward like a storm trapped inside a heart.
The Next Layer Shatters
The Rift screamed.
Not in words this time.
In pure sound—
a sound that made the air ripple and the floor shake.
Yin Lie slammed his foot down.
The entire dimension cracked.
Lines of light spread outward like thunderbolts.
Piece by piece—
the darkness peeled back.
He grabbed the air with one hand.
And tore it open.
A rift inside the Rift.
A new layer.
He stepped through—
and the world changed instantly.
The Second Layer: The Mirror Valley
Yin Lie landed in a valley filled with floating mirrors.
Thousands of them.
Each mirror reflected a different version of him.
Some angry.
Some broken.
Some dying.
But he ignored all of them.
He shouted:
"MIAN—ANSWER ME!"
Her voice came—
but faint, far away:
"…Lie… I'm still here…"
He clenched his fists.
"I'm coming closer."
He took one step.
The mirrors shook.
Two steps.
A shadow creature formed from the mirrors.
Three steps.
The ground split open under him.
He didn't stop.
He walked straight through the mirrors.
They shattered against him, turning into dust.
The Rift whispered:
"You cannot reach her.
Not unless you give up everything."
Yin Lie lifted his head.
His eyes glowed like twin stars breaking through clouds.
"Then I'll give up everything."
He Breaks the Layer Completely
He placed both hands together.
Energy condensed.
Blue ice.
Wolf fire.
Keystone light.
All merging.
All unstable.
All HIS.
He slammed his hands into the ground.
BOOOOOOM—!!!!!!
The entire second layer exploded.
Mirrors flew into the void.
Shadows were erased.
Light flooded through the cracks.
A new tear opened in front of him—
and on the other side, he saw a flicker of movement.
A girl fighting alone.
A girl crying his name.
A girl he promised to protect.
"MIAN—!!"
He jumped into the tear.
The Rift screamed behind him—
terrified.
Because Yin Lie wasn't just breaking through dimensions.
He was breaking the rules.
—
Chapter 96 End