The fracture pulsed again.
A soft shimmer through the air, like a curtain breathing. The grass around the ruined shrine bent away from it in a perfect ring, as if even plants didn't want to be touched by whatever lived inside that slit.
Shen Lu felt the pendant at his chest warm faintly in response.
Not a warning.
A pull.
Like his space was sniffing the air and deciding it wanted what was on the other side.
Helian Feng didn't look at the fracture first.
He looked at the cheerful boy.
Helian Feng's expression had gone so blank it was almost worse than anger. Like a judge deciding whether a crime deserved a trial.
"Name," Helian Feng said.
The boy swallowed and laughed nervously. "I'm trying."
Xie Han lifted his metal fan, tapping it lightly against his palm with that crisp sound. "If you say 'Tang Ye' again, I'm going to test how fast you can run."
The boy's beast flicked its tail, offended on his behalf.
Pei Xun's tone was dry. "It's not even funny anymore."
Shen Lu muttered, "It's still a little funny."
Gu Li glanced at Shen Lu, stern. "Don't encourage him."
Shen Lu didn't answer. He was already encouraged, against his will. After days of being hunted and counted and priced, someone being ridiculous felt like air.
The boy took a breath, visibly trying to pull himself into seriousness. He slapped his own cheeks once, quietly, like he was waking up.
"Okay," he said. "Okay. My real name is Tang—"
Helian Feng's aura sharpened just a fraction.
The boy's voice cracked. "Not Tang. Not Ye. Not Tang Ye. I swear."
Tang Ye with the rude fox crossed his arms, grin sharp. "You're doing it on purpose."
The boy winced. "I'm not. It's just… I keep saying it when I'm nervous."
Xie Han's smile was lazy. "Then be less nervous."
The boy shot him a look that was somehow cheerful and furious at the same time. "Easy for you. You look like you were born holding a weapon."
Xie Han's fan clicked open. "I was."
Pei Xun sighed. "Can we name him ourselves."
Gu Li's eyes narrowed. "No."
Shen Lu rubbed his temple. "Please."
Helian Feng's voice was flat. "If you can't tell us your name, you can't travel with us."
That finally cut through the boy's cheer.
He went still.
His beast's ears drooped slightly.
For the first time, Shen Lu saw what had been under the brightness all along: this boy was used to talking his way out of danger because nobody had ever waited for him patiently.
He swallowed once, then said quietly, "Tang Ye found me on the road after the secret realm. I… don't have a sect. I don't have a family that will claim me."
Tang Ye with the rude fox looked away, pretending he didn't care, but his fox's tail flicked once, annoyed at the softness.
The boy continued, voice softer. "If I say my name, people look it up. If people look it up, they decide what I'm worth."
Shen Lu's stomach tightened.
That hit too close.
Helian Feng's eyes narrowed. "So it's a real name."
The boy nodded.
Gu Li's voice was stern, but not cruel. "We're not buying you."
The boy let out a shaky laugh. "Good. Because I'm not cheap."
Pei Xun's mouth twitched. "That was almost funny."
Shen Lu stepped forward a fraction, then stopped. He didn't want to be the one to soften first. He didn't want to be the weak point that turned every stranger into a companion.
But he also remembered what it felt like to be a name on someone else's paper.
Shen Lu said quietly, "You don't have to tell everyone."
Helian Feng's gaze snapped to him, warning.
Shen Lu ignored it. He was tired of being managed.
Shen Lu looked at the boy. "Tell me. I won't repeat it."
The boy stared at him, surprised.
Then his gaze flicked to Helian Feng, to Pei Xun, to Gu Li, to Xie Han, to Tang Ye and his rude fox.
He took a breath.
And he leaned in toward Shen Lu just enough to make it clear this was a choice.
He whispered a name into Shen Lu's ear.
Tang Ye's friend finally had a name that wasn't borrowed.
Shen Lu's eyes widened slightly, not because the name was dramatic, but because it was… ordinary in the most human way.
A real name.
A living name.
Shen Lu nodded once. "Okay."
The boy pulled back and watched Shen Lu's face like he was waiting to see if Shen Lu would flinch.
Shen Lu didn't.
Shen Lu only said, "I'll call you that."
Relief flickered across the boy's face like sunlight in a crack.
Pei Xun leaned forward, eyes sharp. "Well. What is it."
Shen Lu looked at him. "No."
Pei Xun stared. "Excuse me."
Shen Lu's voice was dry. "You said I lie badly. So I'm not lying. I'm refusing."
Xie Han snorted, delighted. "I like him."
Gu Li's stern gaze flicked to Shen Lu. "We need clarity."
Helian Feng's voice was cold. "We need safety."
Tang Ye's friend raised both hands quickly. "It's fine. It's fine. He can call me that. Everyone else can call me… whatever."
Pei Xun's eyes narrowed. "Whatever."
The boy nodded quickly. "Yes."
Pei Xun deadpanned, "Your name is Whatever now."
The boy brightened, unbelievably. "Sure!"
Xie Han laughed openly.
Even Tang Ye with the rude fox looked entertained for half a breath.
Shen Lu felt something loosen in his chest again, and he hated that it felt good.
Helian Feng didn't laugh.
But his aura eased slightly, like he'd accepted a compromise: the boy was not a threat, only a nuisance.
Helian Feng's gaze turned toward the fracture. "Enough. It's opening."
The shimmer in the air sharpened. The slit widened by a hair.
Heat breathed out.
Not scorching. Not yet. But it carried a strange purity that made Shen Lu's skin prickle.
Little Root's leaves shook in the jade space like the plant was vibrating with hunger.
Yuan's voice went low. Master… fire that can grow.
Shen Lu swallowed.
Gu Li spoke, practical. "We go in or we leave. Standing here is stupid."
Xie Han flicked his fan, impatient. "We go in."
Pei Xun muttered, "We're all going to regret it."
Tang Ye's friend raised a hand enthusiastically. "I vote we go in."
Tang Ye's rude fox snorted into Shen Lu's mind. Everyone is stupid.
Shen Lu stared at the fracture.
He didn't want to be stupid.
He wanted to live.
But living meant taking risks before the world decided for you.
Shen Lu exhaled and said quietly, "We go in."
Helian Feng's gaze cut to him immediately. "You stay close."
Shen Lu's mouth twisted. "I'm always close."
Helian Feng didn't deny it.
They approached the shimmer together.
The air near the fracture tasted like metal and clean heat. Shen Lu's pendant warmed hard enough to be distracting.
Tang Ye's friend—Whatever—took one step forward, then hesitated, suddenly less cheerful.
He glanced back at Shen Lu. "If I die, can you tell Tang Ye I was brave."
Tang Ye with the rude fox scoffed. "You're not brave."
Whatever grinned weakly. "Then tell him I was funny."
Pei Xun's tone was dry. "That's also untrue."
Whatever sighed. "Then just tell him I died dramatically."
Gu Li's voice was stern. "Stop talking and move."
Whatever nodded quickly.
And then the fracture widened.
A breath of heat rolled out like a sigh from something ancient.
The ruined shrine stones glowed faintly along their cracks.
Shen Lu's pendant pulsed once, hot and eager.
And deep inside the jade space, Little Root's leaves shook so hard it felt like laughter.
The fire was awake.
And they stepped toward it anyway.