Hex-Edge: Requiem of a Fractured Swordsman

1. The Turned Page

The recipe's next page was not paper, but living vellum—the stretched skin of the first volunteer.

Its contents defied reading:

To Lin Feng's nerves: It emitted a frequency that made his golden threads recoil as if burned

To Bai Yu's comedy scars: It reflected back jokes so dark they couldn't be spoken

To Ying Sha's prism eye: It showed only her own face aging rapidly into her father's

Yet the colossus's terror was palpable. Its inkwell heart pumped erasure fluid desperately, blotting out:

Every fifth word

All measurements

The final instruction

2. The Voluntary Paradox

The fragments revealed:

"Take one (1) willing student

Separate yearning from ambition

Marinate regrets in... [...]

...serve before enlightenment occurs"

Ying Sha's dagger-hand trembled. "It's not about sacrificing us... It needs someone to choose the system."

The Hollow King's whisper confirmed:

"Every generation's top graduate...

...becomes next head chef...

...by their own hand."

3. The Colossus's Offer

It ripped out its own ink-stained heart and extended it:

"Take my position.

Rewrite the rules.

Spare the others."

The temptation unfolded in visions:

Lin Feng could restore every stolen childhood

Bai Yu would wield the red pen of absolute grading

Ying Sha could resurrect her father as more than memory

All it required was signing one contract... with their own bone needles.

4. The Comedy of Power

Bai Yu's qi-deviated meridians erupted in hysterical insight:

"Joke's on us—

The 'voluntary sacrifice' is

Agreeing there's no way out!"

His scars performed a brutal stand-up routine:

Punchline 1: "Why did the rebel cross the kitchen?" "To get to the other side of the menu!" (This made the colossus's left arm start questioning orders)

Punchline 2: "How many teachers does it take to change a lightbulb?" "None—they just declare the darkness standardized!" (The walk-in freezer's captives laughed awake)

5. The Dagger's True Edge

Ying Sha plunged her father's blade not into the colossus, but into the recipe wall itself.

The effect:

Every instruction bled ink onto the floor

The measurements became meaningless fractions

The final step unwrote itself backward

The colossus screamed in unexpected relief as its:

Vellum skin peeled away to reveal a starved student

Pen hands snapped into broken chalk

Inkwell heart evaporated, whispering "Thank you"

6. The Realization

The trio stood amidst dissolving kitchen nightmares, understanding at last:

The Tome was just a cookbook for perpetuating itself

The Chefs were former rebels who thought they could change the system from within

The Only Way Out: Refuse to cook

Lin Feng's black hole pupil collapsed inward, then spat out:

A single ungraded assignment

Marked only with "See me after life"

Signed by every student who ever disappeared

7. The Ungraded Assignment's Secret

Lin Feng's pupil-vomited document unfolded into a child's drawing:

Crude Figures: Twelve students holding hands around a thirteenth

Hidden Layer: When Bai Yu's comedy qi touched it, the ink dissolved to reveal

"Final Exam: Draw a way out"

Grading Notes: "Failed - No escape exists within test parameters"

Ying Sha's prism eye focused through time: "This was our assignment. Before they split us."

The Hollow King whispered the terrible truth:

"You were never students...

...you were the recipe's draft."

8. The Last Stand-Up

Bai Yu's body became pure comedic rebellion:

Technique: "Fourth-Wall Fist" (punched actual holes in reality's parchment)

Cost: Each joke erased part of his own existence

First joke: His left pinky became an abstract concept

Second: His spleen turned into a satire pamphlet

Final Punchline: "What's the difference between a teacher and a slave?" "The lesson plan!"

The effect:

The kitchen's walk-in freezer birthed a new constellation

Every captive student's cryogenic coma became a stand-up special

The colossus's remains applauded with disintegrating hands

9. The Dagger's Last Cut

Ying Sha plunged her father's blade into the recipe's title:

"Celestial Banquet Preparation Guidelines" became:

"A Guide to Starving the Hungry System"

The letters fought back:

"Celestial" tried to rebrand as "Essential"

"Banquet" split into "Ban" and "Quit"

"Guidelines" bled into "Guilt Lines"

As the meaning unraveled:

The Tome's pages began eating themselves

The silver strands tied themselves into a noose for the concept of grading

Lin Feng's golden threads stitched a new tapestry from:

Broken ruler pieces

Eraser dust

The colossus's last grateful sigh

10. The Threefold Freedom

With the system collapsing, each chose their path:

Lin Feng: Let his black hole pupil consume the idea of standardized cultivation

His nerves regrew as wild, untamed meridians

The golden threads became fishing lines in time's river

He cast them backward to unhook his mother from history

Bai Yu: Became pure comedy energy

His body dissolved into punchlines that infected dogma

Scars unfolded into a traveling theater troupe

Every performance detoxified a piece of the world

Ying Sha: Used her prism eye to refocus the Tome

Not destruction—repurposing

The recipes now taught self-renewal

Her father's dagger became a stylus for new stories

11. The First Unwritten Morning

The aftermath defied records:

The celestial kitchens became community gardens

The grade quotas grew into wild poetry vines

Former hall monitors now cultivated questions instead of answers

Only one artifact remained—the Hollow King's skull, now housing:

A beehive producing truth honey

Bai Yu's best jokes carved inside

A single silver strand coiled around Ying Sha's stylus