The Stargate is closed, but the cost was enormous.
Quetzal sacrificed itself, Chan Dan was sucked into the stargate, and countless Star Marked perished. Human civilization regressed by thousands of years, reverting to a primitive state.
The ancient Shu kingdom vanished, the pyramids were abandoned, and Mayan cities grew over with weeds. Only the words carved in stone remain, telling tales of past glory.
Xingyuan survived.
He traveled alone to every corner of the world. He visited Egypt and carved the story of the Enlightened Ones into the pyramids. He went to the Maya civilization and discovered the prophecy stone left by Kukulkan. He traveled to Sanxingdui, where he buried the corpse of Chan Dan in an underground palace. He climbed every mountain recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas and witnessed the descendants of those mythical beasts.
He left a message in every place:
When the star across the sea rises, hope arrives.
He didn't know why he left this note, but he believed that someday, someone would see it and understand its meaning.
Many years passed.
Xing Yuan is old. His hair has turned white, his body bent, but the cinnabar mark on his forehead remains vividly red.
One day, he stood atop a high mountain, gazing at the sky. The star on the other shore remained dim.
He let out a soft sigh.
Quetzalcoatl, when will the one you're waiting for arrive?
No one answered.
Only the wind blows, stirring his white hair.
He closed his eyes, leaned against the rock, and waited quietly.
Wait for that day.
At the foot of the mountain, a suspicious figure was stealthily tailing him. The ancestor of the Yanshi Tong had waited decades for this very moment.
"The old one is dying..." he whispered, his eyes gleaming with an indecent red light. "His Cinnabar... is mine now..." He crept up the mountain, drawing closer to the Star Abyss.
But just as he reached out, a golden light erupted from Xingyuan's body, knocking him flying.
"You..." the ancestor of the Nightmare Lion looked at Xingyuan in terror.
Xing Yuan opened his eyes and looked at him, his gaze calm.
"This cinnabar isn't for you," he said. "It's for the one who is meant to wait."
Then, his body transformed into a golden light and dissipated in the wind.
Only a single red cinnabar bead remained, lying quietly on the ground.
The ancestors of the Dream Lion, consumed by greed, lunged forward and reached out to grab.
But the moment his hand touched the cinnabar, a tremendous force sucked him in as well.
He vanished into the void, leaving only a scream behind.
He was never seen again.
Some say he was sucked into a spacetime vortex, drifting forever in the void.
Some say he was reborn as countless greedy souls, chasing what never belonged to him across lifetimes. Others claim he merely changed his name and continues to wander in the dark.
But no matter what, that traitor who once terrified countless people has finally vanished from the world.
Only the cinnabar remained, lying quietly on the ground, waiting for its owner.