The hovel, which had felt like a sanctuary moments before, was now a cage. Xiong's massive frame filled the doorway, a mountain of muscle and menace.
The two men behind him fanned out, their hands resting on the hilts of rusted, wicked-looking blades.
Their eyes, hard and hungry, were fixed on the scrolls spread out on the floor.
Yang Kai's blood ran cold. He scrambled backwards, pressing himself against the far wall of the shack, his mind a blank slate of terror. He had escaped the sleeping dragon of his clan only to run straight into the waiting jaws of the wolves of the Dregs.
"What… what do you want?" he stammered, his voice a pathetic squeak.
Xiong took a step into the hovel, his presence sucking all the air out of the small space. He wasn't the philosophical laborer from the Grinder anymore.
In his own territory, surrounded by his own men, he was a different creature entirely. He moved with a slow, confident power, the candlelight catching the scarred knuckles on his massive hands.
Look at him, Xiong thought, his gaze sweeping over the scene with a practiced, appraising eye. The little clan pup. Scared as a rabbit. But not stupid. He stole these scrolls. From his own clan? From another? Doesn't matter. They look old. Important. More valuable than a few coppers from a fixed fight.
"What do I want?" Xiong rumbled, a low, dangerous laugh in his chest. "I want to know what a pampered little clan master is doing hiding in a rat-hole in my Dregs, with what look to be very old, very valuable maps." He gestured to the scrolls with his chin.
"Those don't look like they came from the public library, pup. They look like they came from a private collection. A very private one."
Yang Kai's mind raced, desperately searching for a lie, an escape. But there was none. He was caught, red-handed.
"I found them," he said, the lie weak and unconvincing even to his own ears.
Xiong's smile widened. "You 'found' them. Of course you did." He took another step, looming over Yang Kai.
"You know, my friend One-Eyed Crow was very interested in you the other night. He doesn't like it when people listen to his private conversations. He put a bounty on you in the Shadow Market. A small one. Just ten Low-Grade Star-Jades. Enough to make someone slit your throat for the pocket money."
The words struck Yang Kai with a new kind of terror. A bounty. His life had a price.
Star-Jades, his mind latched onto the term, a piece of knowledge recalled from the dusty scrolls of the library.
The true currency of cultivators.
Not mortal gold, but crystals of condensed, pure Star Essence, mined from the deep earth. Low-Grade Star-Jades were the most common, milky and opaque, often the size of a man's thumb.
They were used for everyday transactions between cultivators—a single pill, a night at an inn. Ten of them. A pittance to a real expert, but a fortune to a commoner. Enough to buy a life. My life.
Ten jades, Xiong thought, watching the boy's face pale. Crow is a fool. A short-sighted one. This boy, these scrolls… they smell of bigger things. The information on them could be worth a hundred times that. Or the boy himself could be a hostage worth a ransom. He saw the look of utter despair on the boy's face as he stared at the map. This was not a simple thief. This was a desperate man. And desperate men were a business opportunity.
One of Xiong's men spoke, his voice a harsh rasp. "Let's just take the scrolls and be done with it, boss. He's just a cripple. No one will miss him."
"Patience, Li," Xiong grunted, not taking his eyes off Yang Kai. "This one is… interesting. He's a fool, but he's a bold fool. And bold fools sometimes stumble into interesting places." He knelt, his joints cracking, bringing his face level with Yang Kai's.
"So, tell me, little pup. What's so important about these scrolls that you'd risk your life stealing them and hiding out in the Dregs?"
Yang Kai stared into Xiong's hard, intelligent eyes. He saw no pity there now. Only cold, calculating self-interest. He had nothing to bargain with. No power. No strength. He only had the truth. A carefully selected piece of it.
"A cure," Yang Kai whispered, his voice trembling with a genuine desperation. "I'm looking for a cure."
Xiong's brow furrowed. "A cure for what? Your weakness?"
"My blood," Yang Kai said. "My bloodline is… flawed. I can't cultivate. The clan says it's impossible.
These journals… they belong to a scholar who studied the strange energies of the mountains. He was looking for a legendary treasure. A catalyst. Something that could fix a flawed foundation."
It was a perfect half-truth. He mixed the reality of his own situation with the story of Madam Xue's brother, creating a narrative that was both believable and sympathetic.
He was not a thief who had stolen clan secrets for power; he was a desperate boy searching for a miracle.
Xiong was silent for a long moment, studying Yang Kai's face, searching for a lie. The story was fantastical, but the boy's desperation was real.
A legendary treasure. A fool's quest. But the part about the scholar… that felt true. These were not just maps; they were research. And research meant information.
"A legendary treasure," he finally rumbled, a thoughtful, speculative gleam in his eyes. "There are many such legends in the Titan's Tooth. Most are children's stories. Fairy tales to frighten disciples."
"This one is real," Yang Kai pressed, his courage returning in a rush. "The Governor is looking for something in the mountains. Something near the Old Pits. He's using blasting powder. Master Lin is there. This map… it shows the location."
He had just given Xiong his most valuable piece of information. He had laid his one good card on the table.
Xiong's eyes widened slightly. He knew the value of that information.
Any secret related to the Governor's mysterious, high-stakes project was worth a fortune in the Shadow Market. So that's it, he thought. The boy isn't just chasing a legend. He's chasing the same legend as the Governor. He's a rival player.
He looked from the map to Yang Kai's face, a slow, cunning smile spreading across his lips.
"I see," he said softly. "So, you are not just a bold fool. You are a useful one."
Xiong stood up, a decision made. He glanced at his two men. "Li, Gao. Wait outside. And make sure no one else comes sniffing around this hovel."
The two thugs looked disappointed—their hopes of easy plunder dashed—but they obeyed without question, melting back into the darkness of the alley. The hovel was suddenly quiet, the air thick with tension. It was just him and the giant.
"You've put me in a difficult position, pup," Xiong said, pacing the small space. "On the one hand, I could take these scrolls, kill you, and claim the bounty from Crow. Clean. Simple. Profitable."
Yang Kai's heart hammered against his ribs.
"On the other hand," Xiong continued, "the information about the Governor's true target is worth far more than ten Star-Jades. And a living boy who knows how to find such secrets might be a more valuable asset than a dead one." He stopped pacing and looked down at Yang Kai. "So, we're going to make a deal."
"A deal?" Yang Kai whispered.
"I'm a businessman, pup. I run the Rat's Nest in this part of town. I deal in goods, services, and information. You have provided me with some very high-quality information. In exchange, I will provide you with a service." He leaned in, his voice a low rumble.
"First, I will call off the bounty. I'll tell Crow you're working for me now. He won't like it, but he won't cross me over a ten-jade bounty. Your life is safe. For now."
Relief, so potent it was dizzying, washed over Yang Kai.
"Second," Xiong said, tapping the map with a thick finger, "you want to go into these mountains. You want to chase your ghost. You are a mortal. You would not survive ten steps into the Whispering Shadow Forest. The weakest Shadow-Phase Lynx would make a meal of you before you even knew it was there."
"So, I will provide you with a guide. An escort," Xiong said. "My people run goods through those woods every night. They know the paths. They know which beasts to avoid. For a price, they will take you where you want to go."
"A price?" Yang Kai asked, his hope sinking. He had nothing.
"Of course, a price," Xiong grunted. "Nothing in this world is free. Especially not safety." He pointed to the journals. "I want the originals of these. All of them. The maps, the notes. Everything you stole."
Yang Kai's heart clenched. The journals were his only hope.
"And in exchange," Xiong continued, seeing the despair on his face, "I will not only give you safe passage. I will give you this." He reached into a pouch at his belt and pulled out a small, flat, leather-bound book.
It was thin, no thicker than his finger. He tossed it to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai caught it. The leather was smooth and worn. There was no title. He opened it. Inside, the pages were filled with simple, elegant diagrams of a human figure, lines tracing the flow of movement. It was a martial arts manual. But a mortal one.
There were no notes on Star Force, no complex cultivation chants. It was a simple, brutal, efficient system of fighting. Grappling, joint-locks, nerve strikes.
The art of a weak man overcoming a stronger one through technique and leverage.
"It's called the 'Silent Coil Scripture'," Xiong said. "A common enough Mortal Grade art. Worthless to a true cultivator. But for a cripple like you… it might be the difference between a quick death and a slow one. It will teach you how to fight without Star Force. It will teach you how to survive."
He was offering a trade. Knowledge for knowledge. A path for a path.
Yang Kai looked from the mortal martial arts manual in his hands to the priceless journals on the floor. It was an impossible choice. But he knew it wasn't a choice at all. The journals were useless to him if he was dead.
"I need copies," Yang Kai said, his voice surprisingly steady. "I need the information in them."
Xiong smiled. "I am a reasonable man. The Scribe's Nook is in my debt. I will have him make you a complete, perfect copy of every scroll by tomorrow night. I will keep the originals. The information remains yours. The proof of it becomes mine."
It was a good deal. A dangerously good deal.
"And the escort?" Yang Kai asked.
"When you are ready to go, you come find me at the Silent Pavilion," Xiong said. "Bring payment. Twenty Mid-Grade Star-Jades for a one-way trip to the Old Pits. No less."
Twenty Mid-Grade Star-Jades. An astronomical sum. It might as well have been a million. But Xiong had just given him a way to earn it. The Silent Coil Scripture. The secrets in the journals. And a new, terrifying purpose.
"We have a deal," Yang Kai said.
Xiong nodded, satisfied. He scooped up the journals and the map from the floor. "Good. Stay here tonight.
My men will watch the alley.
No one will bother you. Your copies will be delivered tomorrow. After that, you are on your own." He turned and left the hovel, disappearing into the night, taking Yang Kai's stolen secrets with him.
Yang Kai was left alone in the flickering candlelight, clutching the small, leather-bound manual. It was a thin hope in a world of overwhelming power.
But it was his.
He had survived. And he had just taken his first real step on his own, desperate path.
[Cycle of the Azure Emperor, Year 3473, 5th Moon, 20th Day]