The wind whirled around the wellhead, stirring half a dead leaf.
I stood in the Wutong Tree's shadow, the lingering warmth of that thread of golden light still in my palm. The Medicine Hut's door stood slightly ajar, its candle still burning, illuminating a slender figure standing motionless before the table, as though she had been waiting for a long time.
I knew she would not leave.
With a light tap of my toes against the ground, I slowly entered the Medicine Hut. The wooden door silently closed behind me, and the scent of medicine washed over me, mixed with an almost imperceptible bitterness—the scent left behind by the Blood Phoenix Body being overworked. She had forcibly activated her bloodline perception just now; her meridians still trembled faintly, her fingertips tinged blue. Those were traces of medicinal power entwining with spiritual senses.
She did not turn around, yet her voice rang out. "You can't hide from this."
I did not answer. I merely flicked my sleeve lightly, letting the last wisp of golden radiance sink beneath my skin, completely concealing the aura of the Pseudo-Primordial Body.
"That black qi wasn't ordinary demonic poison." She turned, her gaze sharp as a blade. "It was devouring Divine Souls, and the power you used... it wasn't suppression. It was sealing. You could sever the source of the upheaval and even make it flow backward. That wasn't healing. That was changing fate."
She approached step by step, then suddenly raised a hand and gripped my wrist.
The instant our pulse gates touched, her pupils contracted slightly. The Blood Phoenix Eye had opened, allowing her to see the flow of spiritual mechanisms unseen by ordinary people. Yet what she saw within me was utter stillness—empty meridians, a heavy spiritual platform, as though I truly were a cripple with not the slightest fluctuation.
But she did not believe it.
"You're hiding something." Her voice lowered. "Not your cultivation, but your 'origin.' The power in your body is like a well. Dry on the surface, but with hidden currents surging below. It doesn't travel through ordinary meridians or return to the dantian. Instead... it fuses directly into your bones."
I let her hold me without struggling free.
"You think I'd drag myself down with him just to kill him?" I asked in return.
"You weren't trying to kill him." She stared at me. "You were afraid that after he became a puppet, he would reveal something he shouldn't."
The air fell silent for an instant.
I smiled, then suddenly clasped her wrist in return. My grip was not strong, yet she could not pull away. My palm was slightly warm as a pale golden glow slowly surfaced beneath my skin, spreading like a thin mist. The medicinal fragrance in the hut congealed; even the candle flame paused faintly, as if an invisible force had pinned down its flickering.
Her breath caught.
"In three months, the Primordial Ruins will open." I spoke softly. "There is an ancient stele there, engraved with the words, 'Those with broken bones may not enter.' But I will go in anyway."
She frowned. "Have you gone mad? That kind of restriction will crush your Sea of Consciousness outright."
"That's why I need someone who can protect my Divine Soul." I looked at her. "And you are the only one who has seen through my disguise and is still alive."
She abruptly yanked her hand back and retreated half a step. "You want to use me as a shield?"
"I want to take you in with me." I stepped forward, trapping her between the medicine cabinet and my arm. "Haven't you always wanted to know my secret? The answer isn't here. It lies deep within the secret realm. There is a skeleton there, dressed in robes identical to mine, with a crack split across its chest—exactly where my Dao Bone was shattered."
Her expression changed.
"What did you say?"
"I said that three years ago, it wasn't just my Dao Bone that was destroyed." I leaned close to her ear, my voice extremely soft. "There was another person who died in the same place at the same time. And his corpse has never been found to this day."
She bit her lip, her knuckles whitening slightly.
"What makes you think I'd believe you?"
"Because you're still standing here questioning me." I stepped back. "If I truly wanted to silence you, I wouldn't have pulled you away from the rooftop last night."
She fell silent for a moment, then suddenly sneered. "So you're using the truth as bait, making me scout the way for you?"
"It's cooperation." I took a crystal from my robes and held it out before her.
It was pale gold throughout, fine patterns flowing within it like a frozen vortex—it was a Remnant Dao Crystal condensed from the Heaven-Slaying Origin, one of nine.
"It can protect the Divine Soul and also trigger resonance with the ancient stele," I said. "If you don't trust me, take it. If I deceive you in there, this thing will backlash and burn straight through my heart on the spot."
She stared at the crystal without reaching for it.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
"I want to know who made the move three years ago." I put the crystal away, my gaze calm. "My cousin was merely a chess piece. The one who truly ordered my Dao Bone destroyed is still sitting in the Elders' Hall, drinking tea and watching me live like trash."
She finally spoke. "Then why don't you take revenge now?"
"Because I don't just want his life." I looked out the window. "I want him to kneel and watch with his own eyes as I step through the door he sealed with his own hands."
The Medicine Hut sank into brief silence.
The wind lifted a corner of the curtain, and the candle flame swayed.
She suddenly raised a hand, her fingertips brushing over the faint red scar on my left cheek. Her touch was light, like a test—or as though she were confirming something.
"This wound... wasn't left from a sword match, was it?"
I did not move.
"It was from the day I awakened," I said slowly. "The price of the system recognizing me as its master."
She withdrew her hand, a flicker of golden light flashing through her eyes. "You said 'system'? What is that?"
I paused.
"It's something you will never read about in any ancient text." I avoided her gaze. "It doesn't teach people how to cultivate. It only teaches them how to 'survive.' The weaker you are, the safer you are; the more you endure, the stronger you become. It made me pretend to be useless for three years, all to wait for a single chance to strike."
She stared at me for a long time before suddenly saying, "Aren't you afraid I'll tell someone?"
"You won't." I said, "Because you and I are alike. We saw this Lineage's true face long ago. You think you've hidden yourself well? You know perfectly well how your mother died. And the reason you never dared to act is because you were waiting too—waiting for someone who could break the rules."
Her pupils suddenly shrank.
I said nothing more and merely placed the pale golden crystal gently on the medicine table.
"It will disappear tonight," I said. "If you don't want to miss this, meet me at the cliff behind the mountain at midnight three days from now. I won't force you to come, but remember this—once you enter the secret realm, there will be no turning back."
She did not look at the crystal. She only stared at me.
"Are you certain you can come out alive?"
"I'm not certain." I turned and walked toward the door. "But I am certain that if I don't go, I'll remain a cripple for the rest of my life."
My hand rested on the door bolt when she suddenly spoke. "You said that skeleton was wearing robes identical to yours?" I stopped. "Yes."
"Were there... patches on those robes?" I looked back at her.
"On the left shoulder was a cloud pattern embroidered with blue thread. It looked like a woman's handiwork."
Her fingers suddenly clenched around the medicine pestle, her knuckles turning white, her lips trembling faintly.
"That was my mother..." Her voice was very soft. "When she was alive, she sewed winter clothes for every Young Master of the Ji Clan's Direct Lineage."
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