The blind man hadn't drawn his sword. He didn't need to. The pressure radiating from him froze Lin Mo's blood. Not the volcanic rage of Chen Bailong. This was the cold of deep space. Absolute. Patient.
"Name," the man demanded. His voice scraped like stone on stone.
"Lin Mo." No point lying. The ring's alarm screamed silently. [EVASION PROBABILITY: 0.8%]
"Mine is Wu Gen," the blind man said. "That stone feeds the wards keeping worse things than spiders asleep in this gorge. Take it, and you wake them."
Lin Mo's grip tightened on the radiant stone. 50 Units? 100? Power to crush Chen Bailong. To save Yu. "What's worse than spiders?"
Wu Gen's milky eyes seemed to focus past him. "Things that remember when we were the prey." He tapped his sword hilt. A discordant chime echoed, making Lin Mo's teeth ache. "Leave the stone. Or draw your blade."
[OPTION: ABSORB STONE (GAIN 85 UNITS. WARD COLLAPSE 99.7%)]
[OPTION: NEGOTIATE]
Negotiation required leverage. Lin Mo had none. Except…
"Chen Bailong is here," Lin Mo said flatly. "Martial Master. He tears down mountains looking for me. He'll find this stone too. Or break your wards trying."
Wu Gen's head tilted. "Chen Bailong… The noisy one beneath the rocks?" He almost sounded amused. "Annoying gnat."
A roar of pure fury shook the gorge. "LIN MOOOOO!" Golden light erupted as Chen Bailong blasted free of the rubble tomb, bleeding but incandescent with rage.
Wu Gen sighed. "Noise pollution." He turned his blind gaze toward the explosion of light and sound. "Disturbs the sleepers."
He took a single step. Not toward Chen Bailong. Toward Lin Mo. Fast. Impossibly fast. Lin Mo saw the rusted sword move, a blur of decayed metal.
He braced to absorb, to dodge–
The sword didn't strike him. It struck the air beside him.
SHIIIIINK!
Space itself seemed to tear. A black rip, silent and freezing, opened beside Lin Mo. He felt its pull – not gravity, but entropy.
Wu Gen shoved him. Not hard. Just precisely.
Lin Mo stumbled backward… into the tear.
Cold. Absolute. Silent. Then he was spat out onto hard stone, the roar of Chen Bailong instantly muffled. He was in a side tunnel, the Spirit Stone still clutched in his hand. Wu Gen stood before him, sword already sheathed.
"Chen Bailong hunts vibrations," Wu Gen rasped. "The Void Cut leaves none. He'll think you were pulverized." He gestured to the stone. "Take it. Quickly. Feed your ring. Then leave Blackwind. Wake the sleepers, and I'll carve that ring from your corpse myself."
He vanished, melting into the shadows like he'd never been.
[ENERGY +85 UNITS!]
[TOTAL ENERGY: 172 UNITS]
[WARNING: EXOTIC ENTITY SIGNATURES DETECTED DEEP SUBTERRANEAN. STASIS FIELD AT 89.3%]
Lin Mo ran. Not from Chen Bailong. From what Wu Gen guarded.