The Phoenix of the Slums

Chapter 35: Fire Beneath Cold Ash

The safehouse was a forgotten warehouse tucked between the ruins of Denghai’s industrial zone its windows were shattered its rooftop rusted but inside it was fortified steel walls reinforced floors and a makeshift war room lit by buzzing halogen lights.

Tianming sat cross-legged in the center his eyes locked onto the data drive while the others patched their wounds in silence the room smelled of old oil and burnt gunpowder.

Fang dropped beside him handing over a wet towel for the cuts on his forehead.

“That Liang Feihong guy wasn’t normal He moved like wind but struck like stone”.

“He’s one of the Root Guard” Dr Jin said from the other side of the room hunched over an ancient scroll and several digital overlays.

“They’re not soldiers They’re relics of the Sealed Clans bodyguards of the bloodlines trained in ancient martial scripts combined with modern weapons training And the tattoo… that curve on his face That’s the mark of Lotus Origin lineage”.

Tianming closed his eyes he could still feel the echo of the fight Liang’s strikes had felt precise surgical each one meant to test his limit not kill him he was holding back but why?

Zhao limped into view a bag of medical tools slung over one shoulder "I pulled a cracked rib Xu’s got worse. Three maybe four broken ones We need a real clinic soon or someone’s gonna drop dead”.

“We’ll last” Tianming said voice cold “Right now we need to unlock that drive”.

Xu Liang groaned from the corner where Fang had propped him against a wall.

“Don’t tell me we bled for nothing”.

Tianming inserted the drive into the old rig on the steel table lines of code and encrypted files began streaming Dr Jin leaned in typing frantically.

"Most of this is scrambled clan history name logs inheritance records rituals But here—here’s what matters”.

He tapped the screen and a projection flared to life showing a circular formation of glowing dots arranged like petals surrounding a central flame.

“This is called the Ember Wheel It’s a seal matrix used by the Origin Line to conceal vaults of power not just relics but techniques martial codices bloodline keys and more.

There are eight known across the mainland but this one—the center one—it’s marked with your father’s bloodprint Tianming It’s his vault and it’s still intact".

Zhao’s eyes widened “So what You just walk in and say open sesame”.

Dr Jin laughed without humor “You’d need a key forged from the bearer’s essence. And a guide from the Lotus Clan willing to betray them”.

Everyone looked at Song Rui who was nursing his shoulder quietly in the shadows.

“You were one of them” Tianming said not accusing just calm.

Song Rui didn’t flinch “I was raised by them not born from them I saw what they did to villages children outsiders anyone who stood in the way of their greed I may have followed orders but I never believed in their bloodlust”.

“Then help us” Tianming said “Guide me in”.

Song Rui nodded “You’ll need to pass the Lotus Passage it’s a trial cave built under Mount Nanyun twisted terrain illusions traps even worse—it awakens your worst fears if you survive it you’ll earn the right to touch the Ember Wheel”.

Dr Jin frowned “That cave hasn’t been entered in twenty years The last person who went in—died screaming before he reached halfway”.

“I’ll go” Tianming said without hesitation.

Zhao raised a brow “What if it kills you”.

“Then I wasn’t meant to win this war” Tianming answered.

At dawn they left the warehouse traveling east by smuggler routes and back roads Mount Nanyun loomed like a silent titan in the distance its peaks veiled in mist like smoke curling from ancient incense burners by dusk they reached its base covered by dense forest and a field of silvergrass that shimmered under the moonlight.

The entrance to the Lotus Passage was hidden beneath an old stone shrine Fang found the switch in a broken statue’s mouth pressing it with a flick of her blade a low rumble shook the ground and the stone slid aside revealing a staircase descending into darkness.

“You can’t take anyone else in there” Song Rui warned “It’s your trial alone”.

Tianming turned to them all “Wait for me at the outer cliff If I’m not back in two days seal the entrance and move to the northern point Contact no one”.

Fang grabbed his wrist her voice low “Don’t die down there Tianming You’re not just carrying your past anymore You’re carrying ours”.

He gave her a faint smile then descended into the shadows.

The Lotus Passage was colder than the tomb even though no air should’ve flowed inside the walls glistened with an unnatural dew and symbols glowed faintly underfoot as if reacting to his presence deeper he walked until the light vanished completely and the silence grew thick then it began.

A flicker of fire to his left then a whisper to his right then they emerged.

Visions.

A younger version of himself trembling in a cage as masked men laughed outside.

His mother’s scream echoing in the distance.

Lu Qingshan standing in flames reaching for him saying “Why didn’t you protect her”.

He clenched his fists “None of this is real”.

But the pain in his chest felt real when a blade stabbed through him the fear in his lungs as the passage filled with smoke was real he dropped to one knee vision blurring breath shallow his body screaming to retreat but a memory pierced the fog.

His father’s voice from the archive “You must rise”.

He stood ignoring the blood dripping from his hands pushing forward step by agonizing step until the illusions cracked like glass and the path cleared the final chamber opened with a low hum.

There it was.

The Ember Wheel.

Floating above a stone dais runes spinning slowly around a core of violet flame.

Tianming stepped forward and the mark on his chest blazed like a sunrise the flame in the Wheel answered reaching toward him with threads of light the chamber shook then calmed the Wheel sank into the ground leaving only a single glowing scroll behind.

He picked it up the seal on the scroll pulsed and a voice whispered through his mind.

“The First Gate opens with blood The Second with truth The Third with sacrifice”.

He smiled faintly and turned back toward the exit.

The war had just changed.