By the time Lin Chen returned to his shack, the moon had already passed its zenith.
He closed the door and stood against it for a long time, not moving.
"Jing Lao," he said quietly.
"Yes."
"Is the thing the Cangyun Sect is looking for really you?"
"It should be." Jing Lao's voice was strangely calm. "The Xuan Tian Fragment may be broken, but it remains an ancient divine artifact. Not just in the Tiannan cultivation world—even in the Immortal Realm, countless would fight over it."
"What should I do?"
"Hide it," Jing Lao said. "Your seal hasn't fully broken, but part of your Chaotic Spirit Root has awakened. You can use the power of Chaos to mask the Fragment's presence. As long as you don't actively reveal it, ordinary cultivators won't detect it."
Lin Chen took the bronze mirror from his robe and held it in his palm.
Moonlight streamed through the broken window, falling on the clouded surface, making the ancient runes flicker in and out of visibility.
"But…" he hesitated. "If the Cangyun Sect searches and finds nothing, will they harm the Lin family?"
Jing Lao was silent for a moment.
"You worry about the Lin family?"
"Lin Xue is still there," Lin Chen said. "She's been good to me."
Jing Lao sighed.
"You, young man, are too soft-hearted," he said. "On the path of cultivation, too many attachments are dangerous. But… very well. If the Cangyun Sect truly means to harm the Lin family, there is one thing you can do."
"What?"
"Give them the fake mirror."
Lin Chen blinked. "Fake mirror?"
"Do you think your father left you only one mirror?" Jing Lao's voice held a hint of amusement. "In that pile of junk in the corner of your room, there's another bronze mirror. An ordinary mirror your father used for grooming. It's clouded over and looks much like the one you hold. Give them that."
Lin Chen walked to the corner and rummaged through a heap of odds and ends. After a moment, he found a bronze mirror.
It was strikingly similar to the Xuan Tian Fragment in size, shape, and color. But it lacked the ancient runes, and there was no trace of spiritual light on its surface.
"This…"
"Your father was a clever man," Jing Lao said. "He foresaw this day."
Lin Chen held the ordinary mirror in his hands, silent for a long time.
"Jing Lao," he suddenly said. "My father… who was he, really?"
Jing Lao didn't answer.
"An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't have obtained an artifact like the Xuan Tian Fragment," Lin Chen's voice was tight. "He couldn't have prepared a fake mirror in advance for a search. He knew someone would come looking for this mirror—he knew from the very beginning."
Silence.
A long silence.
Then Jing Lao spoke, his voice more serious than ever before.
"I can't tell you your father's secrets yet," he said. "Not because I don't want to, but because the time isn't right. You've just broken through to the first layer of Qi Condensation. Knowing too much now will only harm you. There's only one thing you need to know—"
He paused.
"Your father isn't dead."
Lin Chen's pupils contracted sharply.
"What?"
"I said, your father isn't dead." Jing Lao's voice fell like a stone into a deep pool, sending ripples through Lin Chen's mind. "At least eight years ago, when he entered the Northern Wasteland Secret Realm, he was alive. The Xuan Tian Fragment still carries traces of his presence—not death energy, but life. He may be trapped somewhere, or he may have chosen to conceal himself. But he is alive."
Lin Chen's hands trembled.
His father—the man believed dead for eight years—was alive.
The news struck like lightning, shattering everything Lin Chen had believed for sixteen years.
"Where is he?" Lin Chen's voice was hoarse. "How do I find him?"
"I don't know," Jing Lao said. "But I do know one thing—he left you this mirror for a reason. Perhaps to protect you. Perhaps so you could grow strong enough to find him. Either way, your task now is not to look for him. It's to survive, and to grow strong."
Lin Chen closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.
When he opened them again, the excitement was gone, replaced by a deeper, more profound resolve.
"I understand," he said.
He secured the Xuan Tian Fragment close to his body and placed the ordinary mirror in a visible spot on his bed. Then he sat back on his bed, crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and began circulating the Chaos Art.
Spiritual energy flowed through his meridians—warm, quiet.
Outside, the night was deep as ink.
In the distance, a few dogs barked. Then silence.
The next morning, the Cangyun Sect arrived.
Not one person, but a full contingent.
Over a dozen disciples in green robes formed ranks before the Lin family gates. Leading them was the middle-aged Taoist Inspector Zhao, followed by two younger Taoists at Foundation Establishment early-stage. Their demeanor was not that of guests, but of soldiers come to ransack a house.
Lin Canghai, with the Lin family elders behind him, waited at the gate with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Inspector Zhao, did you rest well last night?"
"Well enough." Inspector Zhao's gaze swept over the Lin compound. "Patriarch Lin, let's begin. Start with the main house. Search every room."
"This…" Lin Canghai's smile wavered. "The main house contains the Lin family's women. An extensive search might be…"
"Might be what?" Inspector Zhao cut him off, his triangular eyes narrowing. "Patriarch Lin, the Cangyun Sect's orders don't entertain 'might be.' Search."
His disciples surged forward like wolves, pouring into the Lin compound.
The Lin family members were herded into the courtyard, faces pale, too frightened to protest.
Lin Chen stood among them.
He was at the very back of the crowd, head bowed, cowering. But one hand remained pressed against the mirror in his robe, Chaotic energy silently enveloping it, suppressing its presence to near nothing.
"Don't be nervous," Jing Lao's voice sounded in his mind. "To them, you're still a waste. No one will notice you."
The search continued all morning.
Cangyun Sect disciples overturned everything, turning the Lin family grounds inside out. Precious ceramics shattered. Ancestral tablets toppled. Women's chambers invaded—no one dared stop them.
Lin Chen's shack was not spared.
Two disciples kicked in the broken wooden door, rummaged briefly, and found the ordinary bronze mirror by the bed.
"Found one!" one of them called out.
Inspector Zhao strode over, took the mirror, and examined it carefully.
The surface was clouded, reflecting nothing. There were no runes on its edges, and its material was ordinary bronze.
Inspector Zhao's expression darkened.
"Only this?"
"Only this."
He turned the mirror over several times, then probed it with his spiritual energy. Nothing. It was an ordinary mirror, unrelated to what the Cangyun Sect sought.
"Useless." He tossed the mirror aside and walked away.
It clattered across the ground and broke into pieces.
Lin Chen stood in the crowd, watching the shattered mirror, his face expressionless.
It had been his father's.
And his father had prepared it—as a decoy.
"Jing Lao," he said silently.
"Yes."
"My father… is he truly alive?"
"Yes."
"Then why… why didn't he come back?"
Jing Lao was silent for a long time.
"Perhaps he had reasons he couldn't," he said at last. "Perhaps he didn't want to burden you. Perhaps he was waiting for you."
Waiting for me to grow strong.
Waiting until I am strong enough to go to him.
Lin Chen clenched his fists.
I will come, he said silently. Wherever you are, I will find you.
When the search ended, the Cangyun Sect did not leave.
Inspector Zhao announced that the sect would "temporarily station" at the Lin compound until the bronze mirror was found.
The Lin family members were confined to the grounds. Their home had become a prison.
Lin Chen returned to his shack. He silently began tidying the room they had ransacked.
Shattered pottery. Torn books. Fragments of the broken mirror…
He crouched down and picked up the pieces one by one, gathering them in his palm.
The mirror shards caught the afternoon light, glinting faintly.
"Father," he whispered. "Wait for me."
He wrapped the fragments in cloth and tucked them into his robe beside the Xuan Tian Fragment.
Then he sat on his bed, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.
Spiritual energy flowed through his meridians, steadier and more certain than ever before.
Outside, Cangyun Sect disciples patrolled the Lin compound, their footsteps heavy and grating.
But Lin Chen no longer heard them.
His entire being was immersed in that chaotic darkness, walking step by step toward the sealed door.