Chapter 6: The First Real Death - Part 1
Day 17. Evening.
The cave system haunts me. My first clone died there—torn apart by a territorial beast—but it saw something before the end. A cave entrance, partially hidden, with markings that suggested human use.
Resources. Maybe Gu. Maybe refinement materials. Maybe nothing.
"Probability assessment: Cave system contains valuable resources (64%). Probability of danger (82%). Net risk/reward ratio: Negative. Recommendation: Avoid."
I can't avoid it. Not with an assassin hunting me. I need advantages. Need power. Need anything that tips the odds.
"Then send a clone," I mutter.
"Acknowledged. Clone deployment: Optimal strategy for reconnaissance. Host remains safe while gathering intelligence."
Day 18. Dawn.
Creating Clone #3 is easier now. Muscle memory. The essence drain is familiar—60% capacity gone in a rushing emptiness. The world splits.
The clone stands before me. Same blank eyes. Same mechanical precision.
"Scout the cave system. Two li northeast. Coordinates archived from previous clone's memories. Observe only. Engage nothing. Return within two hours. Priority: Identify resources, map interior, assess danger level."
It nods and leaves through the window.
I collapse on my mat, essence-depleted, and wait.
CLONE #3
The cave entrance was exactly where the previous clone's memories indicated. Partially hidden behind collapsed rubble, marked with scratches that could be territorial claims or deliberately carved symbols.
The clone entered. Darkness swallowed it.
Moonlight Gu activated—pale illumination pushing back shadows. The tunnel descended, widened. Signs of recent use: footprints in dust, a cleared chamber, scorch marks from Gu techniques.
Someone had been here. Recently.
The clone rounded a corner into a larger chamber.
And froze.
Fang Yuan stood in the center, studying wall inscriptions. Calm. Unbothered. Like he'd been expecting company.
He turned slowly.
"Interesting technique," he said. His voice echoed off stone. "Shadow duplication with memory transfer—Rank 2 Gu? Or something more exotic?"
The clone had no orders for this. No contingency. Just: observe, don't engage.
Fang Yuan moved.
One step. Blade Gu activated. The edge materialized from essence, sharp as broken glass.
"Let's see what else you can do."
The strike was surgical. The clone couldn't dodge—wasn't programmed for combat. The blade entered its chest, pierced through, emerged from its back.
Memory transfer initiated: Pain. Fang Yuan's eyes—ancient, calculating, curious. He knows. He knows everything. Darkness.
The pain hits me like a hammer.
I'm on my mat, gasping, clutching my chest where the phantom blade pierced. No wound. Just memory. Just the echo of dying.
"Clone #3 destroyed. Memory integration: Complete. Void Stability: 77% (15% penalty applied). Information acquired: Fang Yuan presence confirmed in cave system. Subject demonstrated: Awareness of clone technique, combat superiority, investigative interest in host capabilities. Threat assessment: MAXIMUM. Recommendation: Avoid all contact. Evacuate area if possible."
He knows. Fang Yuan knows about the clones.
Three hours pass in shaking recovery. My essence is still depleted. My head pounds. The memory of dying replays endlessly.
But he's in the cave. He's investigating something. And he knows I have abilities beyond normal cultivation.
I need to know what he wants. Need to know if he's a threat right now or just cataloging me as future data.
It's a stupid decision. I know it's stupid even as I make it.
But I'm not thinking clearly. The assassination attempt, the paranoia, the clone death—it's all piling up, and I'm making decisions from fear instead of logic.
"Warning: Host is demonstrating impaired judgment. Recommendation: Rest and recover. Delaying confrontation increases survival probability by 67.3%."
I ignore Great Sage. Grab my academy knife—barely a weapon, but something. Head toward the cave.
Just to observe. Just to see what he's doing. I won't engage.
The lies we tell ourselves.
The cave entrance looms in darkness. I approach slowly, every sense screaming danger.
Fang Yuan steps out from behind a boulder.
"I wondered if you'd come personally," he says. Conversational. Curious. "You're not the only one who pays attention to patterns."
My knife feels like a toy in my hand.
"I don't want trouble," I say. "The clone was just—"
"Reconnaissance. I know." He tilts his head. "You've been careful. Mediocre performance, strategic losses, deliberate obscurity. Smart survival tactics. But you have abilities that don't match your cultivation level. That makes you interesting."
"I'm not a threat to you."
"No," he agrees. "You're not. But you're a variable I don't understand yet. And I don't like unknowns."
He moves.
No warning. No hesitation. Just instant, brutal action.
I try to dodge—Shadow Step Gu activating on pure instinct—but he's already compensated for it. His blade intercepts my dodge path. Enters my chest. Pierces my heart.
The pain is overwhelming. Real. Different from clone memories. This is my body dying.
I fall. Blood fills my mouth. Copper taste. Fading vision.
Fang Yuan crouches beside me, watching with clinical interest.
"Let's see what else you can do," he says quietly.
Darkness takes me.
FANG YUAN
The body collapsed. Blood pooled. Standard death.
Fang Yuan waited, blade ready, watching for any unexpected reaction.
The Spring Autumn Cicada's memories contained no reference to Mo Bei possessing resurrection abilities. But the shadow clones were already unexplained. Best to be thorough.
Five minutes passed. No movement.
Fang Yuan nodded to himself. "Just human after all."
He returned to the cave. The wall inscriptions were more important than a dead variable.
—and I wake up screaming.
Dormitory. Evening. My mat. Four days earlier.
The phantom blade in my heart burns like it's still there. I clutch my chest, gasping, searching for the wound that doesn't exist.
"Return by Death: Activated. Timeline reset confirmed. Current date: Day 14, evening meditation period. Previous timeline: Archived. Void Stability: 67% (25% death penalty applied). Great Sage recalibration: Complete. Host status: Alive, traumatized, functional."
Day 14. Four days before I died.
Four days before I made the stupidest decision of my life.
I curl into a ball on my mat, shaking. The memory won't stop. Fang Yuan's blade. The pain. The darkness. His voice: Let's see what else you can do.
"Recommendation: Avoid cave system entirely. Avoid Fang Yuan proximity. Prioritize stability recovery and strategic recalibration. Fang Yuan threat assessment: Updated to EXTREME."
Three hours. I shake for three hours before I can think clearly.
Return by Death worked. I'm alive. But I'm broken.
The cost: 25% of my soul's stability. The knowledge that Fang Yuan will kill me without hesitation if I become interesting enough to threaten.
And the understanding that I just experienced my first real death.
Not a clone's memory. Mine.
And I'll carry it forever.
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