Void Veins: The Forbidden Ascension

Chapter 32: Two Souls, One Body

Pain. Indescribable pain.

Lin Ye writhed across the cold, dusty stone floor, both hands clutching his head so tightly his nails dug into his skin, leaving red marks. He curled and rolled back and forth, as if thrashing his body could shake free the agony tearing his consciousness apart from within. It felt as though two heads occupied one skull—two minds, both alive, both demanding control, clashing in every corner of his awareness.

One voice was his own: filled with fear, confusion, and rage. The other—cold, calm, calculating, and steeped in unshakable arrogance—was Valerius.

"Calm yourself, young one," Valerius’s voice resonated, soft yet piercing, as if whispering right beside his ear. "Resistance only prolongs your suffering. We are no longer separate. We are one now. Your mind is mine, and my power is yours. Imagine what we could achieve together."

"Get out! Leave my head!" Lin Ye shouted—not aloud, but with a cry purely within his mind, hoping to push the presence away.

"I cannot," Valerius replied with casual ease, as though explaining the simplest fact. "The Black Jade is the bridge, and you hold its end. This bond cannot be severed. As long as you breathe, I live. Should you cease, so shall I. Our fates are woven together."

Lin Ye paused, gasping. There was a cold logic in those words he could not deny. They were not merely enemies sharing space—they were bound in a terrible symbiosis: neither could be destroyed without destroying the other.

In the distance, Shen Kui crawled closer, his body still trembling from his wounds. His usually composed face was etched with deep worry. "Lin Ye? What is happening to you? Why are you like this?"

Lin Ye slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes.

His right eye remained its familiar warm brown, brimming with confusion and hurt. But his left… had changed. It glowed deep violet, dark and profound, with a vertically slit pupil—exactly like a serpent watching its prey.

"I… do not know," he answered. His voice emerged doubled, two tones speaking as one—one shaking, one calm and cold—as if two people stood side by side speaking through the same mouth.

His father, lying weakly nearby, gazed at them with infinite sorrow. His breathing was shallow and faint. "Forgive me, Lin Ye… forgive me… I did not destroy the jade… before his spirit transferred…"

A faint, alien, cold smile touched Lin Ye’s lips—not his smile. "Thank you for your concern, old friend," the voice spoke through him. "Your sacrifice was not in vain. Now rest. Leave the world to us."

"Do not speak with my mouth, you monster!" Lin Ye cried out, struggling to reclaim control over his own lips.

"We need this body to escape," Valerius replied calmly, regaining command of the voice. "Listen to that rumbling. This mountain will collapse completely within five minutes. The cavern ceiling is cracking everywhere. Shen Kui is gravely injured and cannot walk. Your father is dying. You wish to save them, do you not? Then you need my strength."

Lin Ye fell silent. He hated to admit it, but Valerius was right. He faced only two choices: accept help from his greatest enemy, or let those he loved be buried alive.

"What… are your terms?" Lin Ye asked within his mind, striving to keep his distance.

"Shared control," Valerius answered immediately. "By day, you hold full command. By night, it is my turn. And one more pact—we shall not kill one another. At least, not yet."

Lin Ye swallowed a bitter mouthful. He knew this was a bargain with a devil, yet there was no other way. "Very well. Agreed. But mark this—should you try to take control entirely, I will end my own life. And you shall perish with me."

"An intriguing threat," Valerius sounded amused. "Now, focus on the energy within our limbs. Feel the power of the Void flowing. We must fly."

Lin Ye let himself relax, allowing the cold violet light to course down through him. Slowly his body lifted from the floor, hovering steady in the air. He reached out—one hand for Shen Kui, the other supporting his father’s frail form—and soared toward the narrowing exit as massive stones began to fall.

They had barely cleared the cavern mouth when the peak of Silent Summit Mountain shuddered violently, then erupted upward. Pillars of dust, rock, and ice blasted a kilometer into the sky, transforming the quiet mountain into a towering plume of terrifying smoke.

Lin Ye landed gently in the forest far below the ruins, setting Shen Kui down first, then lowering his father carefully. The old man smiled faintly, met his son’s gaze one last time, and breathed his last in Lin Ye’s arms—his face peaceful, finally free of the burden he had carried for decades.

Lin Ye wept, tears streaming down his cheeks—until they suddenly stopped. His expression shifted, turning cold and unyielding as Valerius took over for a moment.

"Sentiment," the voice murmured quietly. "It weakens you."

Lin Ye groaned and fought back, reclaiming control. "Silence. This is my body. And my feelings are not weakness."

He stood amidst the battered woods, breathing steady though his heart was broken. From afar, sirens wailed—Academy vehicles and Imperial forces must have seen the explosion and were coming to investigate.

They had survived the falling mountain. But the true war had only just begun. And this time, his deadliest enemy was not waiting ahead or beyond—he was sleeping, biding his time, and living deep inside his own mind.