The sun never reached the Root Quarters.
Built into the lower east cliffside, this forgotten storage ward was originally intended to house rare herbs and sealed poisons. Now, it was mostly used for things the sect didn't want to deal with.
Lin Tian's instructions were simple: retrieve a secondary crate labeled with Elder Hu's personal mark. The path was unguarded. The paperwork minimal.
That was what made it dangerous.
"Hu doesn't send people into shadowed vaults without an angle," Chen Mu muttered. "And he certainly doesn't do it politely."
"I know."
Lin Tian held a lantern infused with spirit flame—just enough to ward off rats and spiritual mold. The flame flickered as they passed into the tunnel, casting long shadows across the glyph-covered walls.
Something was watching.
No, not something. Someone.
They reached the chamber without incident. The door was ironwood, marked with burn-ins from old defensive talismans. Lin Tian knocked once, then twice.
Nothing.
He opened it.
Inside: silence. Crates stacked in neat rows. Dust. The faint scent of crushed lotus bark. One crate near the back glowed with a faint red talisman—Hu's mark.
He stepped forward.
Halfway there, the shadows moved.
A shape detached from the wall.
Slim. Quiet. Smiling.
"Outer Disciple Lin Tian," the woman said. "At last."
Lin Tian didn't speak.
She wore robes that didn't belong to the outer sect. Nor the inner. Her sleeves were marked with foxfire script—an old script, winding, subtle. Her eyes were gray.
Not like Guo's pride. Not like Mei's ambition.
These eyes listened.
Chen Mu's voice went flat.
"Don't talk. Just observe."
The woman stepped closer. She didn't reach for a weapon.
"I was sent here to study root poison convergence. Imagine my surprise when the famed 'ghost disciple' walked into my storeroom."
"I'm just here for the crate."
"Oh, I know," she said. "But I wanted to meet the boy who shouts with fire and bows with ice."
[+3 BP for receiving folk reputation upgrade.]
BP: 65 → 68
Lin Tian didn't move.
"Do you know how rare it is to hear about a cultivator who fakes their way upward in this sect?" she asked, circling him. "It's beautiful. A scam that became real. A story born from nonsense. I admire it."
"I'm not scamming anyone."
"No, of course not. You're just enlightened differently."
Chen Mu hissed. "She's baiting you. She wants you to admit something. Don't give her anything."
"Who are you?"
She stopped moving.
"I'm someone who also doesn't belong here," she said. "Someone who knows the rules were written by the wrong people. But you—you're breaking them. And you're not even trying."
"Do you work for Hu?"
"I work for opportunity."
Chen Mu whispered, "This one's dangerous. Not because she lies. But because she doesn't care about the truth."
"What do you want?" Lin Tian asked.
"I want to watch," she said. "And I want you to know that you're not the only one climbing the wrong ladder."
Then she stepped aside.
"The box is yours. For now."
Lin Tian retrieved it.
She didn't follow.
Back at the hut, Chen Mu vented.
"She wasn't from any official faction. That was a free agent. One of those quiet powers. The kind the sect tolerates because they can't control them."
"Do you think she'll act?"
"Not now. She's the type that doesn't move until the net's already closed."
Lin Tian placed the crate on the floor and broke the seal.
Inside: three black-lacquered pouches. Labeled with alchemy glyphs. Spirit-reactive ingredients—potent and rare.
And beneath them… a note.
"You are being watched by more than you know.
This is your last clean task.
Choose your next move wisely."
No signature. But the writing was Hu's.
That night, Lin Tian didn't sleep.
He sat under the ring's faint glow, cycling his Qi slowly, evenly, watching the shadows shift outside.
"Master," he asked. "What would you do if you were me?"
Chen Mu paused.
"I'd build something of my own."
"Where?"
"Not here."
"Then where?"
"…We'll find it."
[+2 BP for ideological foundation planting.]
BP: 68 → 70
[System Status Panel – Chen Mu (Ring State)]
Bluff Points: 70
Soul Strength: 8
Current Vessel: Refined Jade Core Ring (Stabilized)
Abilities: Voice of Authority Lv.1, Soul Tap (1/day), Resonant Presence (Passive)
Manual Access: Beginner Cultivation Manual (Simulated)
Current Objective: Survive sect entanglements and plan future departure
Disciple Status: Qi Initiation – Mid Stage (Stable)
Legacy Flag: Awakening – Hidden Flame Echo (Suppressed)
Known Array: Spiral Fire Refinement (Unstable, Fragmented)