Hex-Edge: Requiem of a Fractured Swordsman

The gongs' vibrations shook dust from the temple rafters. Before Lin Wufeng could react, Bai Yu's whisper cut through the clamor:

"Netherworld assassins. They've breached the outer sanctum."

Elder Wen's crow staff clattered to the stones. His blind eyes rolled back, revealing bloodshot whites. "Six blades...six fates...but only one will pierce the Patriarch's heart." The old man's prophecy dissolved into a wet cough.

Li Feng snarled in Lin Wufeng's mind: "Enough riddles! Let's gut these intruders—"

Jing Xin interrupted: "Wait. The monks aren't drawing weapons. This is a test."

Three black-clad figures dropped from the maple branches—but their daggers remained sheathed. The lead assassin removed his hood, revealing Ying Sha's smirk. "Our Patriarch sends greetings, Broken Sword." He tossed a silk-wrapped bundle at Lin Wufeng's feet. The cloth fell away, exposing a finger bone carved with Celestial Strategy Pavilion sigils.

"That's...Elder Wu's," Bai Yu choked out. "He guarded the Tome's location!"

Ying Sha licked his pointed teeth. "He sang beautifully before the end. The Tome now rests in the Blood Marsh Fortress." A pause. "The Patriarch offers you this: retrieve it together. Share its power."

Lin Wufeng's personalities erupted:

Li Feng: "Lies! They'll ambush us in the marshes."

Yan Jiu (suddenly awake): "But the Fortress holds the Sky Swallower treasure too...could finally track my sister's—"

Xiao Qi: "The marsh waters are hungry. They eat memories..."

Elder Wen's gnarled hand seized Lin Wufeng's wrist. His whisper carried the weight of tombs: "The sixth soul slumbers still. Wake it before the Blood Marsh, or all is lost."

Then—chaos.

A monk's thrown whisk blade severed Ying Sha's earlobe. The assassin laughed even as blood sheeted down his neck. "Three days, Broken Sword. Come armed with more than madness." Black smoke erupted from his sleeves. When it cleared, the Netherworld agents had vanished.

Alone in the suddenly silent courtyard, Lin Wufeng stared at the finger bone.

"Well?" Li Feng demanded. "Do we hunt or hide?"

Deep in their shared mindscape, something new stirred—a presence like a half-remembered dream. The sixth personality.