Void Veins: The Forbidden Ascension

Chapter 55: Skies of Fengshui and Shadows of the Past

The airship The Iron Wing sliced through heavy grey clouds above the borderlands between the Central Empire and the autonomous city-state of Fengshui. In the cockpit, Ratna leaned forward, scanning the horizon with eyes sharp and watchful. The wind at this altitude bit deep, carrying fine magical dust that made skin prickle and itch. Yet the true danger did not come from the elements—it came from the shadow they carried with them, unseen but ever-present: Valerius.

Trapped within his own mind, Lin Ye felt every vibration of the ship’s engines as a distant, rhythmic echo from beyond the walls of his prison. He could not see the sky, but he could sense it through the emotional bond he still shared with Ratna. Her anxiety was a compass; Goran’s unyielding resolve was fuel. In the endless dark of his inner world, Lin Ye kept training—not with sword or spell, but with will and spirit. He was learning to separate his true self from the raging flood of Void energy tearing through his frayed meridians, to stand apart even as the torrent rushed past.

“Still wasting your strength?” Valerius’s voice rolled through his mind like thunder beneath storm-clouds. “This body flies toward ruin. Old Rat will not help you. She trades information, not miracles. And the secret to unmaking a god? That is a price no one can afford.”

“You forget something,” Lin Ye replied, calm and steady. “I was born with Cursed Meridians. Leakage is what I know best. I do not try to dam your flood—I let it flow. And before it vanishes into emptiness, I catch what matters most: the essence, the spark, the part that is still mine. Every moment you think you are consuming me, I am taking myself back—drop by drop.”

Valerius fell silent, then laughed—a cold, sharp sound. “Clever. But will it be enough? We arrive in Fengshui soon. And I have eyes there. More than you can imagine.”

Back in the world, Elara stepped into the cockpit, her face drawn and pale. “Ratna—something is wrong. Navigation shows active signal suppression ahead. Not natural interference. Someone is jamming us. Deliberately.”

Ratna frowned, studying the flickering displays. “A jammer of this strength? Only the Great Trade Clans could build something like that—or…”

“Or Valerius’s network, already rooted here,” Goran said from the doorway, checking his weapons belt. “We can’t land where we planned. We go dark. The Underground Black Market District—natural lead strata blocks all magical signals there. No one can track us.”

Krog looked up from sharpening his axe, his expression grim. “That is a den of thieves and cutthroats. No clan protection, no law. We’d be torn apart before we find an ally.”

“It is also the only place they cannot watch us,” Ratna said firmly. “Prep for emergency descent. No lights. No comms. We go in as ghosts.”

Deep within, Lin Ye felt the shift—tension, caution, resolve tightening in the bond. He knew Fengshui. Before everything fell apart, he had heard stories: a city of masks, where gold held more power than honour, where a smile could hide a blade. If Valerius truly had agents here, then nowhere was safe.

“Be careful, Ratna,” he whispered in the quiet of his mind, hoping she would feel it as intuition, as a sudden shiver of warning. “In Fengshui, every face is a mask. And the most dangerous masks are the ones that smile.”

The airship banked sharply, diving into a thick swirling mist that clung to the mountains surrounding the city. Below, scattered lights glowed faint and dim, as if the whole place held its breath. The landing would be rough, unseen, unannounced. And the war waiting for them would be dirtier than anything they had faced—for here, enemies did not always carry swords. Sometimes they carried contracts, polite smiles, and poison in a cup of tea.