Discipline Peak returned to silence very quickly.
As if nothing unusual had happened.
Punishments continued.
Rules were enforced.
Disciples lowered their heads and walked carefully.
Only one thing was different.
Ji Chenqing did not collapse again.
Yan Mochen returned to his quarters.
Calling it "quarters" was generous.
A narrow stone room. One window. A thin mat. A low wooden table with a cracked leg. Cold air slipped in easily, especially at night.
This was standard treatment for outer disciples.
Especially those from unclear backgrounds.
Yan Mochen sat down slowly, pressing his palm against the ground to steady himself.
The seal on his spiritual veins still restricted his circulation, leaving his body heavy and dull.
Pain pulsed quietly.
He ignored it.
Instead, he replayed the scene at the Punishment Platform.
Ji Chenqing's voice.
Ji Chenqing's pause.
That single word—however.
He hesitated.
The thought settled deeply.
Yan Mochen had lived carefully for many years.
He was used to reading expressions, weighing danger, memorizing patterns.
Ji Chenqing had always been consistent.
Cold.
Strict.
Predictable.
Until today.
At the same time, Ji Chenqing stood at the edge of Discipline Peak.
Below him, clouds rolled endlessly.
Sword light passed in the distance. From here, the entire sect looked orderly, calm, untouched.
An illusion.
Inside his mind, unfamiliar memories still had not fully settled.
Not pain.
But overlap.
Lin Qinghe's thoughts lay quietly beneath Ji Chenqing's consciousness, like a second shadow.
He understood the situation very clearly now.
He had transmigrated.
He was a villain.
The plot was already moving.
And the male protagonist was watching him.
That was the most dangerous part.
Ji Chenqing reviewed the punishment records.
His handwriting was neat.
Precise.
Yan Mochen's name appeared often.
Too often.
Each time, the punishment was justified.
Each time, the result pushed the protagonist a little further.
In the novel, this accumulation would later explode.
Ji Chenqing closed the register.
So this is how it starts,
death by "reasonable actions".
Inside his consciousness, the system stirred.
[Reminder:]
[Excessive deviation will reduce points.]
Ji Chenqing replied silently.
I know.
He was not trying to be kind.
He was trying to not die.
Night fell.
Discipline Peak became colder.
Yan Mochen lay on his mat, eyes open, staring at the ceiling.
Sleep did not come easily.
Pain was one reason.
Another reason was memory.
He remembered the way Ji Chenqing had looked at him that afternoon.
Not with disgust.
Not with anger.
But—
Assessment.
Like looking at a weapon.
Or a flaw.
Yan Mochen turned slightly, suppressing the ache in his limbs.
He didn't add punishment.
He didn't pretend to be merciful.
He simply… stopped.
That was unusual.
Dangerously unusual.
The next morning, Discipline Hall convened again.
Routine.
Cold.
Orderly.
Ji Chenqing sat above the hall, expression unchanged.
Disciples knelt.
Accusations were read. Punishments were given.
Everything followed the rules.
Too perfectly.
Yan Mochen stood among the outer disciples, head lowered.
But his attention never left the high platform.
Ji Chenqing noticed.
He noticed everything.
So he's watching,
and not hiding it.
That was also unusual.
Most disciples avoided eye contact.
Yan Mochen did not.
After the session ended, Ji Chenqing dismissed the hall.
As the disciples filed out, a mechanical sound rang quietly in his mind.
[Points adjusted.]
[Current points: 93.]
Two more points lost.
No explanation.
Ji Chenqing accepted it calmly.
So merely existing differently costs points.
Unfair.
But expected.
Yan Mochen lingered at the edge of the courtyard after everyone left.
He did not approach.
He waited.
Ji Chenqing noticed him immediately.
"Speak," Ji Chenqing said.
Yan Mochen stepped forward and bowed.
"This disciple thanks shizun for today."
The words were polite.
Too polite.
Ji Chenqing looked at him.
For a moment too long.
"You should be resting," he said.
"Yes," Yan Mochen replied.
But he did not leave immediately.
Ji Chenqing raised an eyebrow.
Yan Mochen hesitated, then spoke carefully.
"Shizun… will Discipline Peak always judge without intent?"
That question landed quietly.
And dangerously.
Ji Chenqing answered without emotion.
"Rules exist to prevent chaos."
Yan Mochen nodded.
"I understand."
But his eyes said something else.
Then I will learn the rules.
And use them.
Yan Mochen left.
Ji Chenqing remained standing where he was.
Inside his mind, Lin Qinghe's thoughts surfaced briefly.
He's already thinking ahead.
That was bad.
Very bad.
Because in the novel—
This was how the protagonist began to change.
High above, the clouds drifted slowly.
Below, Discipline Peak stood unchanged.
But something subtle had already shifted.
And once the plot noticed—
It would not forgive easily.
End of Chapter 3