The passage slopes into darkness beneath the shrine. Behind Sima Yirou, the iron key remains in the lock, and the round stone door stands open without disturbing its lower seal.
Cool air rises from below, carrying the dry scent of old stone. Her footsteps descend toward a low chamber where faint tremors pass through the walls.
The chamber floor is marked by fresh footprints crossing toward the far wall. No figure waits among the shadows, but the tracks end beside incomplete martial diagrams carved into the stone.
Sima Yirou
The footprints are fresh, but they do not return.
A faint pulse travels through the carvings, making broken stances and unfinished channels shimmer with reflected chi. The rhythm is uneven, like something searching and failing.
At the chamber's center, dust has been disturbed in a narrow circle. The expelled force has already probed this place for a host, leaving the diagrams incomplete and the silence tense.
The passage behind her remains open, while the low chamber offers three dark recesses beneath the trembling carvings. Nothing moves, and the next choice rests with Sima Yirou.
Learn where the forbidden technique is located
Stop the expelled force from corrupting the martial inscriptions