The sect did not return to normal after that night.
Even as the moon shifted and the pressure dispersed from the air, something inside the disciples remained frozen. The training grounds were quieter than usual. Footsteps were lighter. Conversations died the moment they began.
At the gates, no one drank anymore.
The drunkard who nearly suffocated under my hand had been reassigned to kitchen duty. Not as punishment.
As mercy.
At night, he still woke up gasping for breath, hands clutching his throat as if the air itself had betrayed him.
He did not remember the tapping.
But his body did.
.
The following morning, Tan Wei summoned me to the inner hall.
When I entered, he was already seated behind the long wooden table, his back straighter than I had ever seen it. The sunlight spilling through the side windows cast his scarred face in sharp contrast, one half calm, the other etched with tension.
The moment he noticed me, he stood up instinctively.
Then caught himself, cleared his throat, and sat back down.
For several breaths, neither of us spoke.
Finally, Tan Wei broke the silence.
"Elder Xu… what you did last night… it was effective."
His tone was measured, but his fingers remained tightly interlocked on the table.
"But it frightened them far more than I expected."
I remained standing where I was, my masked face tilted slightly downward.
I did not respond.
Tan Wei's scarred eye flickered.
"If this continues, they may begin to fear you more than the sect itself."
I lifted my gaze slowly.
"If they fear only me,"
I said calmly,
"they will cling to you."
His brows drew together.
"And if they fear both of us?"
"They will eventually revolt against both."
The words settled heavily into the room.
Tan Wei exhaled slowly, shoulders sagging just a fraction.
After a moment of silence, he looked back at me and asked quietly,
"Then what comes next?"
"Reward."
That single word made him pause.
"Reward?" he repeated.
I turned and walked toward the open window at the side of the hall. Below us, the outer training grounds were already alive with movement, dozens of disciples practicing their drills with rigid discipline, every motion stiffer than it had been yesterday.
"Fear breaks them," I said. "Reward binds them."
Tan Wei followed my gaze.
"What do you intend to reward?"
"Today, you will announce three beast-hunting missions."
His expression shifted.
"Just the eastern ridges?" he asked. "The strongest beasts there are only mid Qi Gathering."
"Yes."
"And the compensation?"
"Double it."
His eyes widened.
"Double? For minor beasts?"
"Yes."
Silence stretched between us.
Then he asked hesitantly,
"…And the conditions?"
"Only those with discipline may go."
Understanding dawned slowly on his face.
"You will choose the squads."
"Yes."
Tan Wei studied me for several breaths, his scarred eye tracing the contours of my mask as if trying to read what was hidden beneath it.
At last, he nodded.
.
Less than an hour later, the entire sect was gathered at the outer plaza.
Rows upon rows of disciples stood in uneven formation, whispers passing quietly through the crowd as they waited.
Tan Wei stepped forward, his Qi surging into his voice.
"Tiger Peak disciples!"
The sound echoed between the stone walls.
"Three special beast-hunting missions will be issued today. The rewards are doubled."
A visible ripple ran through the crowd.
Gasps. Murmurs. Suppressed excitement.
"But these missions will only be available to those deemed disciplined."
The murmur swelled louder.
I stepped forward, my boots scraping softly against the stone.
Tap.
My finger met the surface of the mask.
The sound carried, neither sharp or loud, yet it cut through the plaza like a thin blade. A few disciples flinched too late, as if their bodies reacted before their thoughts.
Tap.
A ripple moved through the formation. Backs straightened in uneven waves. Shoulders drew tight. Several breaths hitched mid-breath, trapped in silent panic.
Tap.
The air itself felt thinner.
[You've gathered 74 points of Fear]
"Those whose names are called," I said calmly, "will step forward."
The first name left my lips.
A disciple stiffened, hesitated, then moved.
The second.
Another stepped out, slower this time.
With every name, the crowd shifted.
Quiet excitement flickered in some eyes, quickly buried under discipline. Others grew visibly pale, sweat forming at their temples. A few trembled so violently that their comrades had to steady them with discreet hands.
[You've gathered 34 points of Fear]
And then...
I saw it.
One gaze that did not waver.
Bright.
Alert.
Unrestrained.
Excited.
One of the five.
He did not swallow. Did not flinch. Did not avert his eyes.
He watched me as one watches an unopened blade.
Just enough for the crowd to miss it.
Just enough for only me to see.
Interesting.
.
The squads were assembled beneath the shadow of the outer hall.
Nine disciples each.
Maps were unrolled across stone tables, corners weighted down with dagger sheaths. Supply seals were stamped and pressed into trembling palms. Time limits were recited once, never repeated.
No threats were spoken.
Yet every disciple knew the rule.
Return before the second watch.
Tan Wei moved among them personally, placing the mission tokens into their hands one by one. His expression was firm, his posture controlled, but I could feel the unease beneath it.
As the squads bowed and turned to depart, I felt the shift ripple outward through the sect.
Not fear.
Expectation.
.
They left before noon.
Their figures slipped between the mountain paths, swallowed by stone and pine.
An elder leaned close to Tan Wei and murmured under his breath,
"Sect Master… something about this feels wrong."
Tan Wei's gaze drifted, almost unwillingly, toward me.
I did not acknowledge it.
.
The beasts waiting in the eastern ridges were not supposed to be problematic, nor difficult to handle.
That was wrong.
By dusk, the first squad returned.
Seven silhouettes emerged from the forest path, armor dented, robes dark with blood.
Two were missing.
Their captain stepped forward, fists cupped tightly together, knuckles pale.
"Reporting to Sect Master."
His voice trembled despite the effort to steady it.
"We encountered a mutated Scale Boar. It ignored standard behavioral patterns… charged directly into our rear formation. Two disciples were impaled before we could reposition."
He lowered his head.
"The remaining members maintained formation and eliminated the beast."
Tan Wei's jaw tightened.
"And the carcass?"
"Retrieved, Sect Master."
A pause.
"Rewards will be issued."
[You've gathered 94 points of Fear]
The seven survivors released their breaths as one, shoulders slumping with delayed exhaustion.
Fear flickered through the onlookers, followed by expectations.
.
The second squad returned near the first watch.
Only five figures approached.
Four were missing.
One was carried between his comrades, legs twisted at angles that no longer belonged to the human body. Every shallow breath rattled in his throat like broken glass.
Their leader took one step forward, lips trembling.
"A pack of Moon Wolves… they attacked without territorial markers. Those who broke formation were the first to be torn apart…"
Tan Wei closed his eyes for a single heartbeat.
"Rewards will be issued."
Gasps rippled through the plaza, sharper this time.
[You've gathered 84 points of Fear]
[You've inflicted Permanent Trauma on 6 people.]
Hands clenched.
Teeth ground quietly.
.
The third squad did not return.
Second watch passed.
Then the third.
Whispers crept through the stone corridors like insects.
At last, a lone figure staggered through the gates.
Blood soaked his robes. His eyes were unfocused. His steps were uneven, as if the ground shifted beneath him.
He collapsed at Tan Wei's feet.
"They didn't listen…" he sobbed, fingers clawing at the stone. "They laughed… they rushed ahead…"
Tan Wei knelt slightly.
"No bodies?"
The survivor shook violently.
"Nothing left."
[You've gathered 316 points of Fear]
[You've inflicted Permanent Trauma on 11 people.]
Silence swallowed the plaza whole.
Even the wind seemed to pause.
After a long moment, Tan Wei straightened and spoke,
"Rewards will be issued."
Some gasped.
Some trembled.
Others stared in mute disbelief.
I looked for only one thing.
The excited one stood frozen in the crowd, his gaze locked on the broken survivor.
He's a good seedling...
.
Later that night, I reviewed the casualty ledgers alone.
Eleven dead.
One crippled.
Twelve permanently altered.
I stared at the numbers in silence.
"…Managed to turn a tutorial mission into a graveyard. Well done me."
Sigh.
My fingers closed the ledger without ceremony.
"It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it's acceptable result."
Fear had spread exactly as intended, while tomorrow's reward will keep them in line.
Efficiency though, is an issue.
The pattern worked, that was never in question. What bothered me was the waste. Death was useful only when it multiplied outcomes.
I walked to the window and looked down at the dim courtyards.
"Some might call this result unavoidable. Death in battle..."
They always did.
"And tomorrow, I would correct that. I don't need tools that break after one use."
.
Few moments later, on the inner balcony, Tan Wei rested both hands on the cold stone railing, watching torches flicker through the courtyards below like uneasy stars.
After a long silence, he spoke without turning.
"Elder Xu… are we walking the right path? It's not that I don't trust you, but this is different from what I expected."
I stood beside him, the flames reflected faintly in my mask.
"Paths do not matter, Sect Master Tan" I said.
"Only destinations."
He did not reply.
.
.
.
[STATUS]
[Name: Han Ye]
[Age: 18]
[Cultivation: Terror Manifestation Realm - Late Stage ▸ Qi Condensation - Early Stage]
[Fear Points: 5 063]
[Trauma: +553/day]
[Infamy: +24/day]
[Fear Points needed for the next stage: 6 000]
[Techniques: Shadowless Step, Thousand Faces Arts (incomplete), Silent Pulse Breathing, Crow Shroud Technique]