The night was unusually still, a heavy silence settling over the narrow alleyways of Wuhong City. Xia Wei moved through the quiet streets with practiced ease, her eyes scanning her surroundings with a detached curiosity. The air smelled faintly of rain and old stone, a combination that always reminded her of forgotten things—unread books, unsolved riddles, unanswered questions.

It wasn't the rain or the stone that drew her tonight. It was the rumor.

Three days ago, a man had been found unconscious in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. He was alive but incoherent, muttering about glowing symbols and a door that wasn't a door. The police dismissed him as delusional, a casualty of stress or substance abuse. But the photographs—the ones quietly leaked online—showed something else.

Symbols. Patterns. A room that didn't fit the rest of the warehouse.

Xia Wei had seen those symbols before.

She pushed open the heavy metal door of the warehouse, her flashlight cutting through the darkness. The air inside was damp and cold, and the faint smell of mildew lingered in the corners. The warehouse was vast, filled with rusting machinery and piles of debris, but her attention was drawn to the far end, where a faint glow pulsed like a heartbeat.

The rumors had not lied.

The wall was marked with symbols, faintly luminescent and shifting as if alive. She stepped closer, her hand brushing against the cool surface. It was stone, but it hummed beneath her fingertips.

"Only the curious survive."

The words echoed in her mind, unbidden. She didn't know where they'd come from—an old memory, perhaps, or something she'd read long ago. Her curiosity flared, sharp and insistent, and she began tracing the symbols with her fingers.

The room responded.

The wall dissolved, and Xia Wei stumbled forward into a space that defied logic. The air shimmered like water under sunlight, and the ground beneath her feet felt solid yet fluid. The walls were adorned with intricate carvings, glowing softly, and at the center of the room stood a pedestal.

On it lay a key, its surface etched with the same shifting symbols.

She hesitated, her mind racing. She had no idea what this place was or how it existed, but she knew it was important. Every instinct screamed for caution, yet her curiosity pushed her forward.

The moment she touched the key, the room changed.

The air grew colder, and the carvings began to move, rearranging themselves into a new pattern. A faint sound, like distant whispers, filled the space. Xia Wei turned, searching for the source, and found herself staring at a door that had not been there before.

It was carved from the same glowing stone, its surface smooth and seamless except for a single symbol at its center. The same symbol as the one on the key.

She slid the key into the door, and it opened without a sound.

Beyond was darkness, but not the kind that came from the absence of light. This darkness felt alive, pressing against her like a physical force. For the first time, fear crept into her thoughts.

She stepped back, her heart pounding, and the door slammed shut.

When she turned, the room had returned to its original state. The glow had faded, and the key was gone.

By the time she left the warehouse, dawn was breaking over the city. Xia Wei stood on the empty street, the sunlight doing little to chase away the chill that lingered in her chest.

She didn't know what she'd found, but she knew it wasn't over.

And she wasn't going to walk away.