CHAPTER 28 — No Longer Helpless
The mist outside did not move.
But Zheng Wen Te knew the sect was watching.
Waiting.
The assassin had retreated…
Not because they feared him.
Because they feared her.
Zheng sat against the pavilion wall, breathing shallowly.
His shoulder still stung.
A reminder.
A simple truth:
He was weak.
Too weak.
He looked down at his trembling hands.
In his old life, he had lost everything because he couldn't hold on.
Now…
He would lose everything again because he couldn't fight back.
Zheng whispered bitterly:
"So this is my fate."
Lian stood nearby, silent as stone.
Zheng lifted his head.
"Is this what you want?"
Lian's eyes flickered.
"What I want is irrelevant."
Zheng's voice tightened.
"No."
"It matters."
He pushed himself upright, despite the pain.
"I was a businessman."
"I worked until my bones ached."
"I tried to protect my family."
"And I failed."
His fists clenched.
"Then I begged Shangdi for sleep."
"And even that was denied."
Lian watched him without expression.
Zheng took a shaky breath.
"But I understand something now."
"This world…"
"This pavilion…"
"This karma…"
"It doesn't care if I'm tired."
"It doesn't care if I'm broken."
He looked at the lotus seal over his heart.
"And neither does the sect."
Lian's voice was quiet.
"Then what will you do?"
Zheng's gaze sharpened.
Something hard formed inside him.
Not hope.
Not courage.
Resolve.
"I will cultivate."
Lian's eyes narrowed slightly.
Zheng continued, voice steady:
"Not to soar."
"Not to become some immortal legend."
"But so that when the next blade comes…"
"I won't be on the floor waiting to die."
The orb in his palm pulsed warmly.
As if approving.
Zheng stared at it.
"This is my last chance."
He looked at Lian.
"And you…"
"If you truly are my consequence…"
Then his voice softened.
"…Then I will face you properly."
For the first time…
Lian's expression shifted.
A faint crack in the ice.
Almost unreadable.
"Properly?"
Zheng nodded.
"I don't remember everything."
"But I know this…"
"If I owe you…"
Then he swallowed.
"I will repay it with my own hands."
Silence filled the pavilion.
Then Lian turned away.
Her voice was cold again.
"Then sit."
Zheng blinked.
"What?"
Lian's tone sharpened.
"Sit down."
"Breathe."
"Cultivate."
Zheng hesitated.
"…You'll teach me?"
Lian did not look back.
"I am not teaching you."
"I am accelerating your punishment."
Zheng sat anyway.
Cross-legged.
Heart pounding.
Outside…
The sect waited.
Above…
Shangdi watched.
And within the Heart Pavilion…
The first true cultivation step began.