The fog remained still around them.
Cold.
Silent.
Feroz stared at the old man near the broken stones while the strange figure beside him stayed unusually quiet.
Almost cautious.
That alone felt wrong.
Haya slowly stepped closer.
"...people thought you were dead."
The old man gave a small smile.
"People think many things when they don't understand something."
He looked relaxed.
Too relaxed.
Like the broken space around him didn't affect him at all.
Feroz noticed something else too.
The noise in his head had become weaker since they arrived.
Not gone.
But quieter.
The old man noticed him realizing it.
"It calms near stable minds."
Feroz frowned slightly.
"What does?"
"The crossing."
That answer honestly explained nothing.
The old man slowly stood up.
His movements were calm and careful.
Not weak.
Controlled.
He looked older than everyone Feroz had met recently.
Grey hair.
Tired eyes.
But something about him felt solid.
Like reality itself had stopped trying to change him long ago.
Haya looked at him carefully.
"...how did you survive?"
The old man stayed silent for a moment.
Then:
"I stopped fighting the wrong thing."
Feroz immediately looked toward the figure beside him.
"You mean that?"
The old man followed his gaze.
For the first time—
his expression became serious.
"No."
A pause.
"I mean yourself."
Silence.
The words stayed in Feroz's head longer than expected.
The old man slowly walked closer.
The figure reacted instantly.
The air distorted lightly around it.
But the old man didn't stop.
He looked directly at the figure.
Then calmly said:
"You're early."
The figure became still again.
Haya frowned.
"...it understands him."
The old man heard her.
"It understands more than you think."
That answer made the atmosphere heavier again.
Feroz watched carefully.
"...what is it?"
The old man looked at him quietly.
Then answered with the simplest words possible.
"A path."
Feroz frowned harder.
"A path to what?"
The old man didn't answer immediately.
Instead—
he looked around the broken space surrounding them.
Then back at Feroz.
"That depends on whether you lose yourself before the end."
The noise inside Feroz's head suddenly grew slightly louder again.
Whispers.
Pulling.
The old man noticed instantly.
"You're resisting too emotionally."
Feroz looked frustrated now.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true."
The answer came immediately.
Simple.
Direct.
The old man stepped closer again.
This time—
he stood directly in front of Feroz.
Close enough that the boundary should have reacted.
But nothing happened.
Feroz noticed immediately.
"...why doesn't space reject you?"
The old man smiled faintly.
"Because I already crossed."
Silence.
Haya looked at him carefully.
"...completely?"
The old man nodded once.
"Long ago."
Feroz stared at him.
"But you're still normal."
That made the old man laugh quietly for the first time.
"No," he said softly.
"I'm simply stable."
Those words confused Feroz even more.
The old man looked toward the knife in Feroz's hand.
"Good."
Feroz glanced down.
"What?"
"You kept something connected to your old life."
The old man looked back at him.
"That's important."
Feroz slowly tightened his grip around the knife again.
The old man sat back down near the broken stones.
Then pointed calmly toward the path ahead.
"You shouldn't stay here long."
Haya frowned.
"You know what's ahead?"
The old man nodded slightly.
"The shifting roads started moving again yesterday."
Feroz immediately looked toward him.
"...shifting roads?"
The old man picked up his tea calmly.
"Broken spaces don't stay in one shape forever."
That sounded dangerous.
And the old man's face confirmed it was.
Haya crossed her arms slightly.
"You still live here alone?"
"Mostly."
"You never tried going back?"
The old man became quiet for a moment.
Then finally:
"I did once."
The silence after that answer felt different.
Heavier.
Feroz noticed it too.
"...what happened?"
The old man looked into the fog ahead.
"They couldn't recognize me anymore."
No one spoke after that.
Because somehow—
that felt more painful than death.
Far away—
back at the valley—
Haroon stood beside Younus near the remaining Circle symbols.
The distortions had become weaker.
But not stable.
Ibn Younus slowly looked up from the markings.
"...someone else connected to the threshold just appeared."
Haroon immediately looked toward him.
"You can sense that?"
Ibn Younus nodded slowly.
"Very faintly."
Younus's expression changed slightly.
"Another survivor?"
Ibn Younus stayed silent.
Then quietly answered:
"...or someone much worse."
Back in the broken space—
the old man looked toward Feroz again.
Long.
Careful.
Then finally asked:
"...has it shown you the tree yet?"