The afternoon sun of Jianghai set with a copper red color that looked like a wound on the horizon. Lin Xuan stood on the second-floor terrace, watching a black wooden box lying in front of his house gate. The box was not large, but even from ten meters away, Lin Xuan could feel a cold and putrid frequency vibration emanating from it—like the smell of spirit-summoning incense burned in the middle of a graveyard.
He went downstairs, stepping calmly toward the object. When the lid was opened, a fishy smell wafted out. Inside was a childhood photo of Lin Xuan laughing with his parents. The faces of the three of them were crossed out with thick red ink that looked like dried blood, and in the middle was carved an ancient symbol that pulsed with negative energy—Delayed Death.
"What is that, Xuan? A package from your friend?"
Lin Haifeng's heavy voice broke the silence. The man had just come out of his private library, wearing a casual shirt, looking so calm and unaware that death had just knocked on his front door. His father was the type of man who believed that honesty and hard work were everything. He lived like a normal human being who believed that this world ran according to moral rules written in law books.
Lin Xuan quickly closed the box and smiled faintly. "Just a prank delivery from a jealous person, Father. Don't think about it."
"People are getting weirder these days," his father said with a light laugh, then refocused on his phone. "Oh yes, Zhang Wei just called again. He is very sorry about the cancellation this morning. He invited us to dinner at The Golden Dragon with some high-ranking officials from the Nine Heavens Consortium. He said, this is an opportunity to strengthen cooperation."
Lin Xuan stared at his father's back which looked frail. In his previous life, his father's kindness was the rope the enemy used to snare their own necks.
"Father, do you really believe that someone you just disappointed will immediately treat us to a lavish meal?"
Lin Haifeng stopped walking, turning his head with a furrowed brow. "Xuan, you are too suspicious. In business, emotional fluctuation is normal. We need them if we want the Ping'an project to keep running. Life has to be flexible, don't be too tense."
Lin Xuan took a deep breath. How to explain to a man who only saw the surface of the water that underneath there were monsters ready to swallow him whole?
"Symbols only have power if you give them meaning, Father," Lin Xuan thought while gripping the wooden box until it crumbled into fragments in his hands, without his father seeing. "And your kindness will only be a light if you know how to protect it from the darkness."
"Alright," Lin Xuan finally said. "I will come along. But one condition, let me order the menu and don't sign anything until I give you the code."
His father laughed, considering the request only his child's pampered behavior. "You, what do you want to be, a culinary observer or what? Fine, suit yourself."
The Golden Dragon was a restaurant accessible only to those with a bank balance of at least nine digits. The atmosphere inside was filled with suffocating luxury. However, when Lin Xuan stepped into private room number 001, he felt the air temperature drop drastically.
There, Zhang Wei was waiting with his wide smile that looked like a porcelain mask. Beside him sat an old man in a modern black robe with silver embroidery on his collar. The old man held wooden prayer beads, his eyes closed, yet Lin Xuan could feel the man's mental energy scanning the entire room like a sharp radar.
"Ah, Haifeng! And young Lin Xuan too!" Zhang Wei stood up, shaking hands with his father with warmth so fake it made Lin Xuan feel nauseous. "Let me introduce, this is Master Mo, the spiritual and business advisor from the Consortium."
Master Mo opened his eyes slightly. His pupils looked very small, surrounded by deep black color. He gave a pressing gaze toward Lin Haifeng. Instantly, his father looked a bit dazed, his hands moved to wipe the sweat on his forehead even though the room was very cool.
"Mr. Lin Haifeng looks very tired," Master Mo's voice sounded hoarse and had a resonance that made the chest feel tight. "You need peace of mind. Perhaps by signing this partnership document, the burden on your mind will be lifted."
Zhang Wei swiftly took out a leather map from under the table.
Lin Xuan immediately pulled up a chair and sat down with a thud sound that was intentionally made loud, breaking Master Mo's hypnosis frequency. He reached for the wine bottle in the middle of the table and poured it into his father's glass calmly.
"Father is not tired because of business, Master Mo," Lin Xuan interrupted while staring into Master Mo's eyes. "He just feels the air in this room is too... heavy. Maybe because there is too much 'intent' hanging in the air."
Master Mo flinched slightly. He increased his mental energy pressure. A low vibration wave—the frequency of fear and obedience—was sent directly toward Lin Xuan. In seconds, an ordinary person would feel nauseous, dizzy, and want to leave immediately.
However, Lin Xuan actually leaned back in his chair relaxed. He applied the Mind Mirror technique. He did not resist Master Mo's energy, but let it enter and then reflected it back with a reversed frequency.
"Often we forget," Lin Xuan said while swirling his wine glass, his voice very stable in the midst of an invisible energy storm. "The world will never give you peace by asking for it. Peace is the result of inner strength that can make the chaos around you feel ashamed to be present."
Clink!
Master Mo's glass suddenly cracked without being touched. The old man coughed, blood seeping from the corner of his lips. He looked at Lin Xuan with a look of fear that could no longer be hidden.
"Master Mo? Are you alright?" Zhang Wei panicked, he did not understand what had just happened.
"T-the air... the air here is indeed not good," whispered Master Mo, his voice trembling. He immediately stood up and excused himself out of the room on the pretext of needing to use the restroom.
Lin Xuan's father, who had been as if hypnotized earlier, suddenly became aware. "Eh? What happened? Why did Master Mo suddenly leave?"
"Maybe he realized that the dinner dish was too heavy for his stomach full of poison," Lin Xuan answered calmly. He turned to Zhang Wei who now looked pale. "Mr. Zhang, my father will not sign anything tonight. And my advice, never again try to bring an advisor to enter our family's mind. Because next time, it won't just be the glass that cracks."
Lin Xuan stepped out of the private room for a moment to let his father and Zhang Wei finish their small talk. He needed fresh air. However, in the hallway leading to the balcony, his steps stopped.
A woman was standing there, looking at the garden below. Han Seo-Ah.
Tonight she looked much more fragile than their meeting at the gallery. She wore a formal black dress, and beside her stood a handsome young man but who had an aura of arrogance that overflowed—Song Jin-Ho, the crown prince of the notoriously cruel Song family.
"Seo-Ah, stop being cold," Song Jin-Ho's voice sounded demanding. "Our marriage is a manifestation of the strength of two large families. You have no other choice."
Seo-Ah did not answer, she just stared blankly into the darkness. That was when she saw Lin Xuan walking past them.
Their gazes met again.
Lin Xuan stopped for a moment. He saw the black thread wound around Seo-Ah's wrist now creeping up to her neck—a symbol that she was being choked by the demands of destiny. Without caring about Jin-Ho, Lin Xuan stepped closer.
He took out a small piece of paper from his pocket and dropped it right in front of Seo-Ah's shoe.
"Who are you?!" snapped Song Jin-Ho, trying to grab Lin Xuan's collar.
Lin Xuan only glanced at Jin-Ho's hand. A cold vibration radiated from his shoulder, freezing Jin-Ho's hand in the air before it could touch him. Jin-Ho was stunned, a primitive fear crawling up his spine, forcing him to take a step back unconsciously.
Lin Xuan looked at Seo-Ah for the last time that night. "Happiness is not something you wait for to come, Miss Han. It is something you create by bravely refusing what destroys your soul."
After Lin Xuan left, Seo-Ah immediately picked up the paper. In it was written one short sentence that made her heart beat fast:
"The contract at the gallery this morning... you've burned it, haven't you? If not, burn it now. Don't let them own your name."
On the way home, Lin Haifeng looked confused but felt very fresh. "Strange, Xuan. Earlier my father felt very dizzy, but after you talked about that peace, my mind suddenly became very clear. Zhang Wei didn't even dare to tell me to sign the contract anymore."
Lin Xuan stared out the car window, at the flickering city lights that held a thousand intrigues. "This world works based on perception, Father. If you look like prey, the hunter will come. But if you stand as a mountain, even a storm will choose to turn away from you."
"You are talking more and more like your grandfather," his father laughed, then started to get sleepy.
Lin Xuan fell silent. He knew that Master Mo was just the entrance. The Nine Heavens Consortium had far stronger people, mental energy practitioners who could destroy a city with just a thought.
He had to start training his physical body harder. LOA alone was not enough if the opponent brought an energy sword. He needed real Energy Capital or Cultivation to support his mental manifestation.
"Zhang Wei is just a pawn," Lin Xuan thought while clenching his fist. "The real game has just begun, and this time, I will not just survive. I will pull his entire kingdom to collapse into the abyss he dug himself."
Kindness without strength is a weakness that invites oppression. Be strong enough not to oppress, but so that no one dares to oppress you and the people you love.