The sun rose over a battered sect.
Smoke still clung to the temple roofs. Cracks webbed through the stone of once-pristine courtyards. And the disciples, though walking and training, did so with lowered voices and glances cast sideways.
Trust had fractured.
And nowhere was that more evident than in Su Qingxue.
She sat alone in the Lotus Garden, where frost-covered lilies bloomed year-round. Her hands rested on her lap, unmoving. Her mind… turbulent.
She had watched Lin Feng fight with everything he had. She had seen the scars beneath his strength.
But she had also seen his silence.
He said nothing of the bloodline. Nothing of the Purgeborn's accusations. Nothing of her father's role.
And worst of all—he looked her in the eye… and still said nothing.
"Sometimes silence is just another mask."
She turned.
Shen Li stood by the garden's edge, not quite approaching, yet not retreating either. The breeze moved through his robe like ripples across still water.
"Were you following me?" she asked.
He smiled faintly. "No. But I knew you'd come here. You always visit the lilies when you're torn."
She blinked. "How would you—"
"I remember things," he said simply. "People think I'm unremarkable, so they talk around me. They forget I'm there. But I don't forget them."
He sat across from her, letting silence stretch between them.
Then:
"I overheard something. During the Purgeborn raid."
She looked up sharply.
Shen Li's voice was soft. "Lin Feng once accepted a forbidden transfer—Qi from a dying demon cultivator. Not to survive… but to win a duel he could've walked away from."
Su Qingxue paled.
"You're lying."
"I hope I am."
He stood. "Ask him. If he tells you the truth… I'll accept whatever judgment you give."
And with that, he left.
Later that evening, Su Qingxue stood outside Lin Feng's quarters.
The door slid open slowly.
"Qingxue," Lin Feng said, surprised. "You're hurt. You shouldn't be walking—"
"Tell me it's not true," she interrupted.
He froze.
Her eyes shimmered. "That you absorbed demon Qi. That you did it before the trial. That it wasn't survival—it was ambition."
Lin Feng opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Then whispered, "It wasn't what you think."
The pause stretched.
"I needed to prove I belonged," he added. "They wouldn't have let me stay otherwise."
She stepped back.
"So it's true."
"It was a moment. A mistake. But everything after—"
"—was built on it," she said, voice hollow.
He reached for her.
She stepped away.
"I believed in you," she said, barely above a whisper. "I defended you. Even when I doubted… I hoped."
Tears pricked her eyes. "But I can't follow someone who hides from truth. Not anymore."
She left without another word.
From a distance, Shen Li watched from beneath a willow tree.
System Update: Quest "Divide the Devout" – Complete Su Qingxue Loyalty to Lin Feng: 0% Su Qingxue Vulnerability: 37.8% (Emotional Disillusionment Active) Influence over Su Qingxue: 71.4% Sect Morale: 39.2% ↓
New Quest Unlocked: "Reforge the Faithful" Objective: Guide Su Qingxue toward new purpose—one that serves you.
Shen Li turned his gaze upward.
The heavens were quiet.
But chaos… chaos always spoke to him.
And now, its voice was hers.