Choice

The light at the cave entrance stabbed painfully at their eyes.

Li Xuan squinted and was the last to squeeze through the crevice.

His foot landed on loose gravel, and he staggered. He grabbed the rock wall before he could steady himself.

Behind him, Xu He bent over, gasping for breath. His face was greenish, and his lips were still trembling.

Su Ying collapsed onto the ground, her hammer tossed aside. Supporting herself with both hands, she let out suppressed, ragged breaths from her throat.

Shi Yong stood in the very center of the cave entrance, his back to everyone as he stared in the direction from which the mountain road came.

His heavy saber was planted on the ground, black slime clinging to its blade and dripping down drop by drop.

No one spoke.

There was only the sound of their breathing and the mournful whine of the mountain wind passing through the cracks in the rocks.

After a long while, Xu He raised his head.

"Whatever happened just now... don't tell anyone after we get back."

His voice was hoarse, as though something had scraped his throat raw.

After swallowing, he added, "Especially the part about the corpse opening its eyes. Just say we encountered a Demonic Beast, couldn't beat it, and withdrew."

Shi Yong turned around and looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"That corpse was wearing the robes of a barbarian shaman."

Shi Yong's brows knitted tightly.

"I know."

"There was a wolf-head totem embroidered on its chest—the mark of the Blood Wolf Tribe," Xu He said. "The battlefield in the Northern Territory has been raging for three years, yet the corpse of a barbarian shaman has never appeared this deep in the rear. Do you know what that means?"

Shi Yong said nothing.

Xu He stared at him.

"It means that thirty years ago, someone brought this thing back. They hid it at the bottom of this mine and sealed it with runes."

He paused.

"It means someone in the sect knows about this. Maybe more than one person."

The mountain wind rushed in, whipping everyone's robes loudly.

Su Ying raised her head. Her eyes were rimmed red as she asked softly, "Then... what will happen if we report it?"

Xu He sneered.

"Report it? To whom? The Enforcement Hall? Elder Heiyan?"

He kept his voice low, but every word seemed squeezed out through clenched teeth.

"What if the person who sealed this thing back then is still in the sect? What if he's in the Enforcement Hall? If you report it, will the first thing they think be, 'You've done a meritorious deed'? No. They'll think, 'How was this unearthed?'"

Shi Yong stared at him.

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't want to do anything," Xu He said. "I'll pretend I saw nothing. Did the corpse open its eyes? I didn't notice. What did the runes look like? The fog was too thick; I couldn't see clearly. Was there a hidden compartment beneath the stone platform? I didn't find one."

He looked toward the others.

"You'd better pretend you saw nothing, too."

Shi Yong fell silent.

His fingers tightened around the heavy saber until his knuckles turned white.

After a long while, he spoke, his voice thirty percent lower than before.

"Do you have evidence for what you're saying?"

"No," Xu He said. "But having a brain is enough."

"I'm telling you not to go looking for death."

The two confronted each other.

Su Ying raised her head. Her eyes were red as she looked from Shi Yong to Xu He, her lips moving, though she did not dare make a sound.

Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu stood to one side like two stone statues, their faces utterly expressionless.

Li Xuan leaned against the rock wall and watched them.

His gaze moved from Shi Yong's face to Xu He's, then to Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu, and finally landed on Shadow—

Shadow stood at the very edge, his back to everyone, his head lowered as he fiddled with something.

His movements were very light, and he had deliberately hidden his hands inside his sleeves.

Li Xuan saw only his wrist move once before something was tucked into the depths of his sleeve.

It was a small piece of stone.

It was black, with irregular edges, as though it had been scraped off something.

Shadow put the object away, turned around, and met Li Xuan's gaze.

His expression did not change at all.

He merely gave a slight nod.

Then he spoke, his voice as flat as if he were commenting on the weather.

"Someone's coming."

Everyone looked up at once.

Five figures were rapidly approaching from below the mountain road.

They were all dressed in black, long swords hanging from their waists, their steps so uniform they seemed like a single person.

They were Enforcement Disciples!

The person in front raised a jade slip and waved it at them. A red glow shimmered across its surface.

"The sect's Soul Lamp has shown an anomaly. We've been ordered to investigate." He swept his eyes over the seven of them. "You lot, stay where you are. In half an hour, the Enforcement Hall will question you."

Shi Yong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end only two words came out.

"...Understood."

The five spread out. Two guarded the cave entrance, while three inspected the area around it.

Xu He's expression changed several times, and he quietly took half a step back.

Shi Yong stood where he was, watching the Enforcement Disciples' backs. Then he suddenly spoke.

"Li Xuan."

"You'll do the talking when they question us later." Shi Yong paused. "Your head works better than ours."

"If they question us separately, use Xu He's story from just now—encountered a Demonic Beast, couldn't beat it, and withdrew. We don't know anything else."

Su Ying heard him and said softly, "I also think Senior Brother Li Xuan's explanation sounds appropriate."

Xu He snorted without responding.

Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu remained silent.

Li Xuan nodded.

"If they question us separately, remember three things." His voice dropped extremely low. "First, the corpse didn't open its eyes. You didn't see it. Second, you couldn't make out the runes because the fog was too thick. Third, the thing beneath the stone platform—"

He looked at Shadow.

Shadow's face was expressionless.

"...You didn't find it," Li Xuan finished. His gaze swept across everyone. "If anyone can't remember that, ask now."

No one spoke.

Shi Yong patted him on the shoulder without saying anything else.

Suddenly, Li Xuan remembered the stone fragment Shadow had tucked into his sleeve earlier.

His heart inexplicably gave a little throb.

But he pressed the matter down into the depths of his heart, intending to ask Shadow when the right opportunity came.

"Get some rest," he said. "There's still a hard battle ahead."

Everyone found a place to sit.

Su Ying hugged her hammer and curled up in a corner. Xu He squatted behind a rock, while Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu sat back-to-back with their eyes closed, recuperating.

Shi Yong remained standing.

He looked at Li Xuan and suddenly asked, "When you were inside just now, did you feel... that thing recognized you?"

Li Xuan raised his eyes.

"What?"

"I can't really explain it." Shi Yong scratched the back of his head. "It's just that when the corpse opened its eyes, I saw it look toward you. You..."

The mountain wind rushed in and drowned out Shi Yong's voice.

Li Xuan did not answer.

He lowered his eyes to the layer of black slime on the blade, watching it dry little by little in the wind.

Did it recognize me?

He did not know.

But the Wolf Soul aura that had lain dormant within his body for so long had indeed stirred at that moment.

Like meeting an old friend again.

Or like enemies coming face-to-face.

A faint sound of footsteps came from behind.

Shadow walked past him and stopped three paces away.

The two stood side by side, gazing at the same stretch of sky.

Neither spoke.

Yet the cuff of Shadow's sleeve drooped, unintentionally revealing an old scar on his wrist.

Li Xuan glanced at it from the corner of his eye.

The pattern of the scar looked like the mark of wolf claws.

The mountain wind howled, scattering the last wisp of chill carried out from underground at the cave entrance.

In the distance, birds startled into flight, flapping toward the farther mountain forests.

After half an incense stick's time, an Enforcement Disciple walked over with a roster in hand.

"Shi Yong, come with me."

Shi Yong rose. As he passed Li Xuan, his footsteps paused for a moment, and he gave him a meaningful glance.

"Act according to plan."

Then he followed the man down the mountain road.

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