The mountain path behind us remained untouched.
Before the stone platform had even cooled, I shifted my stance and spoke quietly,
"We won't return through the main gate."
Tan Wei glanced at me once, then nodded without argument.
"You intend to avoid eyes."
"Yes. Disciples can never see me in this state."
"What about me?" he asked.
I don't answer him.
Using what little Qi remained to each of us, we moved along the lesser mountain routes, narrow ridges used only by foragers and scouts. No torches. No escorts. Only the wind and the sound of strained breathing.
By the time Tiger Peak's outer defensive formations came into view from below, the sky was already dim with approaching dusk.
I adjusted my breathing and activated Silent Pulse Breathing fully. My presence dulled into nothing, and I extended a stabilizing thread of Qi to Tan Wei without letting it flare outward. To any external perception, the mountains remained undisturbed.
We passed through the auxiliary ward at the rear cliffs unseen.
No sentries stirred.
No talismans flared.
The sect continued on as it always had, ignorant of the cracked bones and rewritten balance returning to its heart.
Only when we were safely behind the inner formations did I finally release my support on Tan Wei.
"We separate here," I said. "You enter through the inner infirmary passage. I will move unseen."
Tan Wei hesitated for the briefest moment.
"Three days ago," he said quietly, "I would have argued against this much secrecy."
"And now?" I asked.
"Now I couldn't be bothered anymore."
We parted without ceremony.
.
I returned to my chambers without a single disciple noticing the door open.
Only after stepping inside did I allow my body to finally falter.
I lowered myself onto the side of the bed slowly, ribs grinding faintly beneath my robes. The regeneration was still active, but it had slowed to a crawl now, as if whatever hidden reservoir had fueled the rapid closure earlier was nearly spent.
Interesting.
Not limitless.
Good to know.
I removed the blood-soaked outer layer of my robes and exhaled, the movement pulling faint streaks of pain through my back and chest.
Sensing a figure approach my doors, I speak out.
"Wu Chi."
Within half a breath, a cautious knock came at the chamber door.
"Enter."
Wu Chi stepped inside and closed the door behind him immediately, his posture straight, his eyes lowered. One glance was all it took for him to notice the blood.
He did not speak.
"Vitality medicine," I ordered. "Strong. Not sect-issued junk."
"Yes, Elder Xu."
No hesitation. No questioning.
Before the door closed again, I added,
"And tell no one why."
With a nod, he left.
.
When he returned, he brought four bottles, two pills, two liquid brews. They smelled sharp and bitter, packed with condensed life essence meant for severe injuries. Expensive. Rare.
I took one of each and dismissed him without further words.
Only after the chamber sealed again did I consume them.
The effect was immediate.
Warmth spread through my limbs in slow waves, pressing against the deeper chill left behind by the Fear Qi's restructuring. The regeneration responded almost at once, flesh tightening, bone stabilizing further, though nowhere near the violent speed from earlier.
So it really does have a ceiling.
I leaned back against the headboard and closed my eyes.
For the first time since entering Tiger Peak, I allowed myself to think without an immediate objective in front of me.
Wu Chi had been successfully embedded.
Tan Wei had accepted restraint rather than resistance.
The sect was restructuring itself around discipline rather than chaos.
And I…
I had just crossed into something unfamiliar.
Not a realm.
A threshold.
I exhaled slowly.
"Tan Wei is beginning to grow on me..." I murmured, "Though, I won't let it affect what's to come."
Fear Points would continue to accumulate.
Trauma would deepen.
Influence would spread.
And yet, the most dangerous variable was still the same as it had always been.
Unknown.
"If a leader of a small sect can hurt me this much... What about large, influental sects?"
I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling.
"With the Trauma I'm getting now, I could sit back and relax..." I said quietly. "But then, I will hurt my future."
The candle flickered.
Outside the barrier, Tiger Peak continued to breathe in ignorance of the quiet recalculation happening at its core.
And I rested, not in peace, but in preparation.
.
.
.
[STATUS]
[Name: Han Ye]
[Age: 18]
[Cultivation: Dread Core Realm – Early Stage ▸ Qi Condensation - Late Stage]
[Fear Points: 4 152]
[Trauma: +795/day]
[Infamy: +24/day]
[Fear Points needed for the next stage: 12 000]
[Techniques: Shadowless Step, Thousand Faces Arts (incomplete), Silent Pulse Breathing, Crow Shroud Technique]