Li Feng and Mei stood in the aftermath of the battle, the silence of the cavern broken only by the soft crumbling of stone as the remains of the beast settled into dust. The air was thick with the lingering presence of ancient power, and though the immediate threat had passed, the weight of their journey was far from lifted.

Li Feng felt a deep exhaustion creep over him, but there was no time to rest. He wiped the sweat from his brow, his grip on his sword loosening slightly. He turned toward Mei, whose pale face had not yet recovered from the battle, but her gaze was steady, focused.

“We must keep moving,” Mei said, her voice a whisper, as if she feared disturbing the mountain’s fragile calm. “The mountain won’t give us another chance.”

Li Feng nodded in agreement, but there was a question burning in his mind. “Mei,” he began cautiously, “what did you mean when you said the blossoms consume everything?”

Mei’s expression darkened. She looked away, her eyes tracing the ancient carvings on the walls of the chamber, as if searching for an answer herself. “The blossoms… they are not the gift they appear to be,” she said softly. “They are a curse, one that binds the mountain and those who seek its power. It feeds on the ambition, the desire to conquer, to control. But in the end, it consumes the very soul of the one who wields it.”

Li Feng felt a chill run down his spine. The vision of the woman holding the blossom in the carvings flashed in his mind, her face hidden, her fate sealed. He realized now that the power of the blossoms wasn’t something to be coveted, but feared.

“And you?” Li Feng asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “Are you… bound by it?”

Mei’s eyes flickered, a shadow passing over them. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I feel its pull. The deeper we go, the stronger it becomes.”

Li Feng’s heart sank. He had come this far to save Mei, but now it seemed as though the very mountain he was fighting was pulling her away from him. He clenched his fist, determination hardening his resolve.

“We’ll find a way to break the curse,” Li Feng said firmly. “I won’t let it take you.”

Mei looked at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then, she gave a small, sad smile. “You always were stubborn,” she said softly, though there was a warmth in her voice that had been missing since they entered the mountain.

Without another word, they continued their journey deeper into the heart of the mountain. The path ahead was narrow, with steep drops on either side, but the silvery light that had guided them so far continued to glow faintly, illuminating their way.

As they walked, the air grew colder, and the distant sound of wind howling through unseen cracks in the mountain walls filled the tunnel. The once solid ground beneath their feet began to feel less stable, as if the very earth was shifting beneath them.

Li Feng’s senses were on high alert, every step measured and cautious. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something—or someone—was watching them. The shadows seemed to move of their own accord, and the walls of the tunnel seemed to close in tighter the further they went.

Just when he thought the silence would drive him mad, a soft voice broke through the quiet.

“Li Feng…”

He froze, his heart racing. The voice was faint, barely more than a whisper, but it was unmistakable.

Mei turned to him, her eyes wide. “Did you hear that?”

Li Feng nodded slowly. He wasn’t imagining it. The voice had called his name, but it was not Mei’s voice. It was softer, colder, like the wind itself had spoken.

Before they could react, the ground beneath them began to tremble. The walls of the tunnel groaned, and cracks appeared in the stone. Li Feng grabbed Mei’s arm and pulled her back just as a section of the ceiling collapsed, blocking the path behind them.

“We need to move!” he shouted, pulling Mei forward as the tremors intensified. The tunnel began to collapse in sections, the ground cracking and shifting beneath their feet.

They ran, the wind howling louder, carrying with it the eerie, disembodied whispers that seemed to echo their every move.

“Li Feng…”

The voice grew louder, more insistent, as if it were chasing them.

Li Feng’s mind raced as he and Mei sprinted through the tunnel. The path was narrowing, and the shaking earth threatened to swallow them whole if they didn’t reach the next chamber soon.

Suddenly, the tunnel opened up into a vast cavern, and they stumbled into the open space just as the final section of the tunnel collapsed behind them. They were safe—for the moment.

But as Li Feng looked around, his breath caught in his throat.

The cavern was unlike anything he had ever seen. Towering pillars of stone rose from the ground like the spines of a great beast, and in the center of the chamber, a massive, intricately carved stone altar stood, glowing with a faint blue light. Around the altar were hundreds—no, thousands—of blossoms, their ethereal light casting strange, shifting shadows on the walls.

At the center of the altar, suspended in mid-air, was a single blossom, larger and more radiant than any they had seen before. Its petals shimmered with a strange, otherworldly light, and its presence seemed to fill the entire cavern with an overwhelming sense of dread.

Mei gasped, her hand instinctively reaching out toward the blossom.

“That’s it,” she whispered. “The source.”

Li Feng felt his heart pound in his chest. This was what they had been searching for—the heart of the mountain, the source of the blossoms' power. But as he looked at the glowing flower, a cold realization washed over him.

The whispers had grown silent, but the danger had not passed. If anything, they had only just begun to face the true horror of the Moonlit Peaks.