The path to the Glass-Burnt Temple crossed a field of melted statues.

Each statue had once been humanoid, but the Shattered Sun had burned them into translucent shapes. Some knelt. Some reached upward. Some covered their faces. Their shadows remained intact beneath them, too dark against the pale glass ground.

Qin Yuheng ordered everyone not to step on the shadows.

Qin Mo approved strongly.

"I like rules that sound paranoid."

Lu Sheng’s military squad marked a safe path with black iron stakes. Jiang Yuexuan used star-river light to test each shadow before crossing. Several shadows reacted faintly when exposed to her aura, but none rose.

Qin Lian moved ahead and returned with a warning.

"Temple has living echoes. Not fully hostile. Not safe."

The Glass-Burnt Temple stood at the center of the statue field. Its roof had collapsed inward, and its pillars were fused into glass. At the entrance, two giant sun discs hung broken above the door.

One was natural gold.

One was red-black.

False sun and true sun side by side.

The temple floor was covered in old ritual diagrams.

Qin Mo stopped at the entrance.

"I need time."

Qin Yuheng raised a hand.

The coalition halted.

Jiang Rui crouched beside Qin Mo. Together, they studied the diagrams.

Jiang Yuexuan looked toward the central altar.

"This was not originally evil."

Qin Yuheng noticed the same thing.

The temple had once been used for solar purification or seasonal rituals. Later, something had overwritten it. Red-black lines had been carved across older golden patterns, turning blessing channels into domination channels.

Qin Mo pointed.

"Original ritual: light distribution, purification, crop blessing, maybe protective sun barrier."

Jiang Rui added, "Overwrite: authority concentration, shadow submission, living key recognition."

Living key again.

Wei Chen frowned.

"Can we erase the overwrite?"

"Not fully," Qin Mo said. "But we can expose the structure."

The primary objective required identifying corruption pattern, not cleansing the entire ruin. Still, exposing the structure safely would increase evaluation.

At the center altar, they found three glass tablets.

The first was safe.

[Tablet One]

The sun gives light to all beneath it.

No shadow bows; it only proves light has direction.

The second was corrupted.

[Tablet Two]

The false sun gives order.

All shadows bow.

All keys turn.

All seals sleep.

The third was cracked.

[Tablet Three]

If the moon refuses collapse,

bind it as counterweight.

If blood refuses obedience,

turn command into anchor.

Silence fell.

Qin Yuheng’s eyes darkened.

Moon counterweight.

Command into anchor.

This directly matched Qin Zhengyuan’s map.

Qin Mo’s face became pale.

"This is too relevant."

Jiang Yuexuan said quietly, "Still pattern. Not full answer."

Qin Yuheng nodded.

"Record, do not absorb."

The Living Record Quill copied the tablets through a filtered projection.

But as it copied Tablet Three, the temple reacted.

The red-black sun disc above the entrance began to spin.

Glass statues outside turned their heads toward the temple.

[Temple Overwrite Defense activated.]

[Shattered Sun Glass Devotees awakening.]

Dozens of glass figures moved.

Some crawled through broken windows. Others rose from the floor. Their chests carried tiny false sun marks.

Lu Sheng barked military orders.

Wei Chen’s defense line formed.

Qin Yuheng planted the Chosen Road Banner Field again but kept its radius efficient.

"Do not destroy altar. Hold perimeter."

The battle inside the temple was dangerous because every strong impact could damage evidence. Duan Xirong would have hated this fight. Qin Yuheng’s coalition was better suited.

Wei Chen’s shields blocked glass claws.

Lu Sheng’s squad used spear formations to push devotees away from the altar.

Jiang Yuexuan created water-star curtains that softened reflected solar blasts.

Qin Lian moved between pillars, cutting false sun marks from devotee chests.

Qin Yuchen defended Qin Mo and Jiang Rui.

Qin Yuheng struck only cores.

The devotees were not individually powerful, but each one whispered phrases as it attacked.

"All shadows bow."

"All keys turn."

"All seals sleep."

The phrases carried subtle compulsion.

Chosen Road Banner Field resisted.

The Anti-Domination Authority Crystal in Qin Yuheng’s hidden storage warmed faintly, reinforcing his personal resistance.

Coalition corruption rose.

[Coalition Corruption Exposure: 9% → 17%]

Still manageable.

Then the red-black sun disc released a stronger pulse.

A domination command spread through the temple.

"Kneel."

Several weaker expedition members staggered.

Wei Chen slammed his shield into the ground.

"Stand!"

Lu Sheng shouted, "Military squad, brace!"

Qin Yuheng raised the banner.

"This is not your sun."

The Chosen Road Banner Field flared.

Jiang Yuexuan’s river-star aura flowed around the banner, not submitting to it but reinforcing the anti-domination boundary.

The kneeling pressure broke.

Qin Mo and Jiang Rui found the disc’s anchor point.

"Left pillar root!" Qin Mo shouted.

Qin Lian was already moving.

She cut the pillar root mark.

The sun disc cracked.

Qin Yuheng struck the disc with controlled thunder.

It shattered into red-black glass fragments.

[Temple Overwrite Defense suppressed.]

[Glass-Burnt Temple corruption structure exposed.]

[Evidence integrity preserved.]

The glass devotees collapsed.

Qin Mo collected a sealed fragment of the red-black disc.

[Evidence Candidate: False Sun Disc Fragment]

Status:

High relevance.

Requires layered containment.

Jiang Yuexuan inspected it carefully.

"This is better evidence than the glass soldier fragment."

Qin Yuheng agreed.

"Mark as primary evidence candidate. Do not finalize yet."

There was still the Submerged Archive Vault.

They rested briefly inside the temple after confirming no further reaction.

During rest, Jiang Yuexuan spoke quietly to Qin Yuheng.

"The third tablet confirms moon counterweight use."

"Yes."

"It may not refer only to your father."

Qin Yuheng looked at her.

She continued, "Crimson Eclipse framework may have been used on other bloodlines. If so, your case is one expression of a larger method."

That matched what Qin Zhengyuan suspected.

"Do your clan records mention victims?"

"Fragments only. Some ancient seal families. Some moon-reflection lineages. Some command bloodlines."

Qin Yuheng’s expression remained calm.

Command bloodline.

Qin family.

Possibly others.

Jiang Yuexuan looked at him. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"If you find an answer for one anchor, others may come seeking it."

"Or seeking me."

"Yes."

Neither of them spoke for several breaths.

Then Qin Mo announced that the next Shattered Sun Pulse would arrive in forty minutes.

The coalition moved.

The path to the Submerged Archive Vault descended beneath cracked glass stairs into darkness.

Water shimmered below.

Red-gold light flickered under the surface like a drowned sun.

Qin Mo looked down and whispered, "An archive underwater again."

Jiang Yuexuan said, "This one is not a library. It is a vault."

Qin Yuheng tightened his grip on his sword.

The first two sites had given patterns.

The third site might contain the hook.