Void Veins: The Forbidden Ascension

Chapter 37: Pandora’s Box and the Forgotten Truth

Valerius stared at the wooden box with a complex gaze. Inside his mind, Lin Ye shouted, pleaded, and threatened.

“Open it! Open the box!” Lin Ye cried. “I have a right to know! It is my memory!”

“Silence,” Valerius snapped. “If I open it now, the emotional shock could shatter our mental stability. We need preparation. Protective rites.”

“There is no time!” Lin Ye countered. “Dawn is only hours away. If you do not open it now, you will lose it when control passes to me. And I will hurl it into the lake.”

Valerius growled. Lin Ye’s threat struck true. The boy was blunt and desperate—a dangerous combination for a careful planner like Valerius. Reluctantly, he seated himself cross-legged upon the cold stone, setting the box upon his lap.

“Very well,” Valerius hissed. “But if this is a trap, I shall torment you within this mental space for a thousand subjective years.”

He unfastened the clasp. No burst of light erupted. No thunderous sound followed. Only a breath of cold air drifted out, carrying the scent of rain and damp earth. Inside rested a small memory crystal, pale blue, beating faintly like a sorrowful heart.

Valerius lifted it and pressed it to Lin Ye’s forehead. “Steel yourself.”

The world dissolved. Cliff, lake, and mist faded away, replaced by a modest wooden house at the edge of a village. The evening sky blushed orange and crimson. In the yard, a man swung a five-year-old child into the air. The boy laughed, his voice clear and bright.

Young Lin Ye. And his father.

Lin Ye—his present-day self—watched breathless. He had forgotten how happy he once was. Before the jade. Before the Academy. Before the blood.

Then everything shifted. The sky darkened. The door burst open. Three robed figures stepped inside. They spoke no words—merely raised their hands, and black energy pierced Lin Ye’s father through the chest.

He fell, shielding his son with his own body. His mother screamed and fought back, only to be hurled violently against the wall.

One of the robed figures drew near the child. He lowered his mask. His face… was Valerius’s, younger, more handsome, yet his eyes were just as cold.

“This one is compatible,” the younger Valerius told his companion. “Remove the jade from the father. Bind it to the boy. Let him grow into the vessel.”

His companion—face indistinct—nodded. He extracted the black jade from the father’s still form and pressed it into the chest of the sobbing child.

Agony—indescribable agony. Little Lin Ye screamed, then fainted.

The vision shifted again. Lin Ye saw himself carried away, abandoned on the streets of Qinghe City, his memory forcibly wiped. He saw the younger Valerius standing upon a hill, watching from afar, ensuring his experiment unfolded exactly as planned.

The vision ended. Lin Ye returned to reality, gasping, tears streaming freely down his face. His body shook violently.

Valerius withdrew the crystal, his expression impassive. “Now you know. Your parents were not heroes. They were raw material. And I… I am your maker. Without me, you would never have existed.”

Lin Ye looked back at him with pure, unadulterated hatred—so intense it felt tangible, pressing against their shared chest.

“You are a monster,” Lin Ye whispered.

“I am an architect,” Valerius corrected coldly. “And now, this architect is weary. Dawn draws near. Take control, Lin Ye. Face your new reality.”

The transfer happened. Lin Ye felt the weight of his own body return. He stood, legs trembling, stared at the empty box in his hand, and cast it into the lake.

He said nothing. He simply turned and walked back toward the tower, leaving Valerius laughing softly in the quiet corner of his mind.

Yet the laughter sounded strained. For the first time, Valerius knew fear. For Lin Ye’s hatred was no longer youthful rage. It was a cold, steady fire—ready to consume everything, including them both.