The fires of war had faded, but the scars remained.
Amberlight City was quieter now. The air, once heavy with the scent of ash and blood, carried the soft fragrance of damp earth and healing herbs. Broken walls were being patched by earth cultivators. Farmers returned from the hills with their families, faces pale but alive. Merchants resumed their stalls, though their goods were meager. Children no longer hid under beds—they chased each other around open courtyards, wooden swords in hand, shouting, "Su Yang! Su Yang!"
From the top of the city walls, Su Yang watched the scene unfold. His robes fluttered in the cool mountain breeze. Max lay stretched out at his feet, lazily licking his paw. The green snake beast spirit was coiled nearby, sunning itself on a stone warmed by residual formation energy.
Wei Zhen walked up behind him, armor scratched and dusty.
"It's strange," the city captain said. "Three days ago, I feared we wouldn't last the week. And now… now look at them. Rebuilding like it's just another spring storm we survived."
Su Yang nodded but said nothing.
In his heart, he wasn't celebrating.
> "Victory means little if the root still survives."
---
Down below, Elder Shan—the city's alchemy specialist—handed out injury recovery pills Su Yang had refined during the nights leading up to the battle. They weren't rare, but their purity reached nearly 90%. Even low-level cultivators and injured mortals recovered faster with a single dose.
"Here," Elder Shan said, handing a pill to a young boy with a bandaged arm. "You're lucky the one who refined this cares about purity."
The boy nodded shyly and looked up at Su Yang on the wall.
"Is he a sect master?" he asked.
"No," Elder Shan chuckled. "But maybe someday."
---
Later that evening, Su Yang sat inside the governor's residence—a small but elegant stone building built into the cliffside. City Lord Yin bowed politely.
"You've done more for my people in a week than I could have in a year, Su Yang. If you ever need aid, Amberlight will stand with you."
Su Yang poured tea into the city lord's cup. "You protected your people long before I arrived, City Lord Yin. Don't dismiss your own efforts."
Yin's eyes gleamed. "Even so… these bandits didn't strike like thugs. They were too coordinated. I've had my suspicions for months."
Su Yang's gaze sharpened. "You think there's a hand behind them?"
"I don't think. I know."
The city lord slid a scroll across the table. Su Yang unrolled it—it contained merchant routes, patrol logs, and strangely timed supply shortages. Certain food caravans were always attacked before large formations were due for inspection.
Yin tapped a mark on the scroll. "A noble family—the Zhao Clan. On the surface, they're just one of the city's leading merchants. But I believe they've been aiding the bandits. Smuggling goods. Giving them routes."
"Why not expose them?"
"I couldn't prove it. And if I tried without evidence, they'd claim slander and drag the city into civil chaos. They've grown too bold."
Su Yang leaned back.
> "The battle's won, but the war isn't over."
---
That night, Su Yang didn't return to his quarters.
Instead, he wandered the city rooftops under moonlight, stepping lightly between tiles like a shadow. He arrived at the Zhao estate just past midnight.
He didn't sneak inside—he stood calmly in the central courtyard.
A moment later, cultivators rushed out. The leader, a middle-aged man with a hawk-like gaze and veins of dark qi under his eyes, stepped forward.
"You have nerve, boy."
Su Yang folded his arms. "You sent supplies to the bandits. You used your merchant network to smuggle spirit ores, weapons, and pills. You thought no one would notice after the main force was destroyed?"
The man's eyes narrowed. "You have no evidence."
Su Yang smiled.
Then he took out a token—a small jade badge that pulsed with the seal of Valley Master Mei Yuling.
"Then you won't mind if I investigate?"
The cultivators hesitated. Even a hidden Zhao informant from the inner sect couldn't interfere with a direct mission bearing the Valley Master's seal.
The leader's jaw clenched. "Get out of here, sect dog."
"I'll leave," Su Yang said. "But if I find even one spirit ore missing tomorrow, I'll return. And next time, I won't talk."
He turned away, calm and unshaken, but behind him, the Zhao clan members watched with narrowed eyes full of hatred.
---
Back at the governor's residence, Su Yang stared at the night sky.
> "They're dangerous. The kind who poison from within."
Max curled up beside him, tail twitching.
"I can't fight them directly. Not yet. But I can uncover their rot and expose it."
He took out the jade scroll Mei Yuling had given him.
It glowed faintly now, reacting to something in the city.
Su Yang frowned. "It's reacting to corrupted qi. There's something deeper buried here."
He stood and looked toward the mountain beyond the city.
> "If the bandits were pawns… what's hiding in the shadows?"
---