Silence. Cold, wet, suffocating silence.
Ren Bai's eyes fluttered open in the dark, his ears ringing, his limbs sprawled across uneven stone. His head throbbed—dull at first, then sharp. He sat up slowly, wincing.
No broken bones. Maybe cracked ribs. Probably a concussion nothing series for a martail artist like him after all the pain he came to his senses his eyes in disbelief and denial that his own brother did….
He pressed a hand to the back of his head—sticky with blood.
"…fuck."
The sound of his own voice was grounding. He liked it. It meant he was alive. It meant he could move even a little.
He stayed still for a moment, gathering and comprehending what happened . His mind began to move—slowly at first, then faster. Faster than the pain. Faster than the fear.
The fall. The push. Xian.
Not an accident.
Ren Bai's lips curled—not in anger. In disbelief.
The fucking bastard had actually done it.
He leaned back against the cold wall and let out a breath that felt too long, too old for someone his age. And then he laughed. Quietly. Bitterly.
"You dramatic shit," he whispered. "You really did it."
He wiped the blood from his brow with his sleeve. The silk soaked fast, staining like ink on paper. He stood, staggered once, caught himself, then lit the small flame sigil etched onto his finger ring. A soft yellow light bloomed, throwing jagged shadows against the stone.
The place wasn't a pit. It was a tunnel.
An old one. Ancient, by the looks of it. The walls weren't just stone—they were carved. Not elegantly.but it looked like some animal carved it open very precise just like any other cave but the edges were smooth. Like a hidden servant path built under a palace. Someone had wanted to be forgotten down here.
Ren Bai didn't hesitate.
He walked.
One hand on the wall, the other ready to draw the bone dagger hidden inside his robe, he moved forward .
He was thinking now. Not panicking. Calculating
Even in this dire situation he could only think why why did that bastard push him just why. Before he got pushed of the clif he saw that the push from the brother was precise calm and even though he seen it coming there was nothing he could to a cultivator at that level
So why ? Lingered in his mind
Something had happened while Xian was in the capital. Something that changed the boy who used to scold him for skipping sword drills and stealing steamed buns.right then
In the cave he saw almost purple looking barrier. The air was thicker here, colder. The light from his ring dimmed slightly.
He didn't hesitate he stepped inside other than than what else can he do he tried to climb out of the pitt but its edges were very smooth a wet. Rather than dying here there was only the option of moving forward
He touched the barrier his hands went right through it when entering inside the barrier he saw that
There was a corpse in the side of the cave leaning against the cave.
Almost skeletal. Little rotten..
The man—or what was left of him—sat cross-legged, back straight, arms resting on his knees. He was dressed in gray robes, utterly plain, with a single talisman pasted across his chest—black script on red paper, long faded.
And yet… the corpse was not silent.
Ren Bai could feel something.
It wasn't Qi.
It was pressure. Like walking into a room where someone had just finished shouting. The echo of something vast and angry.
He took a cautious step forward.
Then another.
The corpse didn't move. But the air shimmered around it, like heat rising from stone.
And then he looked at the corpse right the. A image of a person sneaked slightly behind him a cold wind blew towards his ear making him quickly back up and run toward the entrance he was scared he knew there was only a corpse ther he suspected it was a ghost
He ran but when he tried to pass through the barrier he couldn't he realised that he was stuck here with a corpse and its ghost.
He attacked the barrier several times but it didn't even budge .
Meanwhile above the entrance of the trail ground
There was a spatial crack in the came a girl elegant and beautiful Floating high above the entrance where the elders are waiting no one noticed . She wore robes the color of winter, her hair tied back with a single jade pin. Her presence didn't ripple the mirage—but everything beneath her felt smaller somehow. Like the air bowed to her. She slowly sneaked intonm the trail ground right infront of so many experts but no noticed when entering the trail ground it was almost like the repulsive foce was non existent she saw the magic artifact in her hand was pointing in the direction near the pitt she was fast and in an instant she was infront of the mirage
Ren Bai stared right then he could see what exactly was on the other side of the barrier clearly but the women couldn't see through the barrier Ren bai stared.
out of lust.
Out of fear.
Who the hell is that?
Her eyes darted across the boundary of the mirage—then locked on his.
Just for a second.
She blinked. Tilted her head.
And smiled.
It wasn't a warm smile.
It was the kind you gave a puzzle. The kind you gave a rat in a cage.
Then she stepped forward attacked with mighty force it didn't do anything she realised that the barrier was set up by a person with higher cultivation than her.
She frowned.
She looked at the mirage like it had just insulted her.
And she tried again.
Still nothing.
She wasn't allowed in.
Ren Bai saw it in her face. That flicker of irritation. The way her fingers clenched, then released.
Then—an eye technique. Something subtle, but ancient. Her pupils glowed faintly.
Ren Bai didn't flinch.
He stared back.
She saw him.
Saw the corpse.
Her expression shifted. Curiosity. Then disappointment. Then a shrug.
She realised that it was a type of inheritance that is triggered only for the first person it is set up only when the person is near death and someone finding the inheritance is very low and cannot be picky with tge inheritor.she also thought that it was not worth her effort fighting for the treasure of a cultivator who she can catch up within an year of her cultivation even her without trying
She turned, stepped backward through space like it was nothing—and vanished.
Just like that.
Gone.
Ren Bai exhaled, long and slow.
"…beautiful and terrifying," he muttered. "That's going to be a problem."
A low chuckle echoed behind him.
"You noticed," a voice said.
Ren Bai spun, dagger half-drawn.
The corpse was still dead.
But the will had awakened.
The space shimmered again—and beside the corpse, a projection flickered into shape. A faint, hazy silhouette of the same man, younger now. Alive. Smiling.
Not kindly. But… knowingly.
"Welcome," he said. "To the inheritance of a coward who ran his whole life."
Ren Bai didn't speak.
Not yet.
He just listened.
Because he was already thinking—already planning.
If this was a gift, he'd take it.
If it was a trap…
He'd find a way to steal from it anyway.