The path leading away from the riverbank was not a path at all; it was a wall of tangled vegetation. The Bone-Eating Forest lived up to its name, with thorny vines that looked like barbed wire and ancient roots that coiled across the ground like sleeping pythons.
They walked in silence.
The ghost of Su Qing drifted effortlessly, her feet hovering inches above the rotting leaf litter, passing through low-hanging branches as if they were made of smoke. Kai, however, had to physically push his way through, his boots sinking into the soft, mossy earth.
The silence stretched on. It wasn't the peaceful silence of a library, but the heavy, oppressive silence of the wilderness where noise meant death.
Kai felt the awkwardness crawling up his neck. He was following a dead woman into the unknown, carrying a fox on his shoulder, with no weapon and no plan. The adrenaline of the panther fight had faded, leaving behind a nervous energy that needed an outlet.
He cleared his throat, the sound startling a nearby crow into flight.
"I..." Kai started, then paused. "I forgot the pleasantries."
The ghost stopped drifting and turned slightly, her translucent robes shimmering.
"My name is Kai," he said, tapping his chest. "I actually came here from the stream. The waterfall, specifically."
He let out a short, dry chuckle, shaking his head. "Honestly, looking back at that fall... I was lucky I didn't drown to death. Or smash against a rock."
The ghost smiled, a faint expression that barely touched her eyes. "Hmm, yes. I saw your arrival. You fell from the sky like a discarded stone. It is rare for the Heavens to grant such luck in the Bone-Eating Forest. Usually, the river beasts wait at the bottom for such... snacks."
Kai shivered slightly at the thought.
"My name is actually Su Qing," the ghost continued, resuming her drift forward. "In my life, I was a scholar. I specialized in Arrays and Formations."
"Arrays?" Kai raised an eyebrow. That was a prestigious and difficult path. Array Masters were rare, valued by every major sect for their ability to create defensive barriers and traps.
"Tell me, Kai," Su Qing asked without looking back. "What is your family title? A boy with a Blood Awakening Realm cultivation did not grow up in the mud of the wilderness. You have the bearing of a clan disciple."
Kai froze mid-step.
Family title.
The name 'Lin' rose to his throat, automatic and ingrained. It was the name he had carried for fifteen years. The name of the Peak Clan. The name of his father, a majestic War Saint.
But then, other memories surged. The harsh treatment as the clan leader's nephew. The sneer of Deacon Lin Quan. The laughter of Lin Bo. The cold, dismissive gaze of the Elders as they branded him 'Grade Zero Trash'. The hut where he had rotted for seven years while the 'Lin' family feasted in their golden halls.
The name didn't feel like pride anymore. It felt like a shackle. It felt alien.
'Why should I carry their name?' he thought bitterly. 'They threw me away like garbage. If I keep calling myself Lin, I am just a runaway slave. But if I am just Kai...'
He realized that outside the pocket dimension, nobody knew his face. If he dropped the name, he dropped the target on his back. There would be absolute safety if he didn't get recognized.
He stood there for a long time, staring at the ground, lost in the turbulent waters of his identity crisis.
Su Qing, feeling his sudden absence, stopped and turned around. She saw the boy staring blankly at a patch of moss, his fists clenched.
"Hmm?" she whispered softly. "Are you there, child?"
On his shoulder, Xiao Bai sensed his distress. She nudged his cheek with her wet nose, letting out a soft whine.
Yip.
Kai blinked, waking up from his internal thoughts. He looked at the ghost.
"No," Kai said, his voice firm. "I left behind my title. It is only Kai."
Su Qing watched him for a moment, her ancient eyes seeming to peel back the layers of his soul. She nodded slowly. "Names have power. Sometimes, shedding one is the only way to grow another. Just Kai... it is a good name."
They resumed walking. The acknowledgment seemed to break a dam inside Kai. He had spent years in isolation, speaking only to a fox. Now, faced with a spirit who had no stake in the politics of the living, he felt a sudden, overwhelming urge to unburden himself.
"To tell you the truth," Kai said, keeping his eyes on the ghost's floating back. "I ran away from my clan. It... it is a powerful one. Up in the sky."
"I don't have any parents," he continued, the words tumbling out faster now. "They vanished when I was young. And my relatives... my uncle, my cousins... they detest me. They looked at me like I was a stain on their floor. For several years, I felt like I was in a cage. A golden, suffocating cage."
Su Qing slowed down. Her expression softened into genuine pity.
"Oh," she murmured. "It is sad to hear. The politics of high clans are often bloodier than the wars they fight. I know that feeling of entrapment well."
She turned to look at him, her gaze serious.
"Now you are free, Kai. But do not mistake freedom for safety. The world is ruthless and dangerous. The cage protected you from the wolves, even if it starved your spirit."