The rain started before dawn.
Not a drizzle, but the kind that fell in sheets — silent, steady, and soaking everything with a chill that clung to the bone.
Rael moved through the forest, his steps muffled against the sodden roots of the Rainwood Grove.
His cloak stuck to his back, heavy with water and dried blood. The forest loomed tall around him — trees with bark the color of ink, leaves like wet glass, and branches curved like reaching hands.
He hadn't slept.
The Lunar Burn made dreams too dangerous.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her again — the girl in silver — sitting in a cage of starlight, whispering words he couldn't remember.
So he walked.
---
[System Update: Navigating Region – Rainwood Grove]
Classification: Mid-tier Wild Zone
Threats: Qi-Touched Beasts, Rogue Cultivators
Natural Resources: Rainwood Sap (Qi Conduction), Bloodshroom Spores, Spirit-Drip Moss
[Status: Low Core Density – Optimal for Recovery & Training]
[Note: Scouting Pulse Detected – Unknown Source]
[No Lock-On. Suggest Caution.]
Rael froze.
Not because of the system's ping — but because something felt wrong.
The birds had stopped singing.
And Rainwood birds never shut up. They screamed, warbled, hissed — anything to prove they were alive.
But now, the woods were silent.
Rael crouched and pressed a hand against the wet bark of a nearby tree.
His Qi flared subtly — Shadow Bloom layering over his presence like a silk veil. His footsteps blurred. His presence thinned.
---
Skill Activated – Severing Step I + Shadow Bloom
Result: Silent Presence Mode
Detection Resistance: +30%
Energy Drain: Low
---
Through the mist, ahead, something moved.
A figure. Slender. Barefoot. Walking the path slowly, like it belonged here.
Rael narrowed his eyes.
A cultivator?
The figure wore white — not silver. Robes lined with blue feathers at the cuffs and collar. Rael couldn't tell if it was a man or woman at first — the face was partly veiled.
Then... a flicker of Qi rolled off the figure.
Cold. Deliberate. Noble.
Not beast Qi. Not wild. Trained.
And dangerous.
Rael didn't move. He waited.
The figure paused beneath a twisted rainwood tree, turned — and spoke softly into the air:
"No need to stalk me like a forest ghost. I saw your trail three turns ago."
Rael's mind sharpened. His shadow cloak was flawless. His steps had been severed clean. But this person had seen him?
"Your kill scent gave you away," the figure added, tilting her head. "A beast core that fresh still clings to the soul."
Rael stepped out of the mist.
Face calm. Eyes cold.
"You're not a local."
The figure pulled down her veil.
And smiled.
"Neither are you."
She was beautiful — but not softly so. Her beauty was precision-carved, like blade-work. Pale skin kissed by faint moonlight. Black hair tied in a long braid threaded with silver beads.
And her eyes...
They were blue, clear as ice on glass.
She looked young — maybe sixteen or seventeen — but her gaze was ancient.
Rael felt his muscles tense before he even noticed it.
"Name?" he asked flatly.
"Yue Qingshi," she said with a mocking bow. "Inner Disciple of the Yue Clan, bearer of the Lunar Emotion Veins, seventh cycle student of the Eastern Moonlight Court."
Rael blinked.
She sounded like a noble.
But she was here, in the wilds?
"That's a long title for someone lost in the woods."
"And yours?" she asked, chin tilted.
Rael didn't answer.
"No clan?" she asked, raising a brow. "No sect? A rogue cultivator?"
"None of your business."
She stepped closer, expression unreadable.
"Then let me guess," she said. "You're the kind of boy who stumbles into things above his station. Who steals from dying beasts and forgets the price of power."
Rael's eyes narrowed.
"You've been following me."
"I felt the pulse of the Ravener's death from ten li away," she said, voice cool. "And then I felt the Lunar Fragment flare."
A pause.
"That fragment was Yue Clan property."
Rael's hand slid toward his belt.
She saw the motion.
And laughed.
"Relax. I'm not here to kill you."
She turned her back to him and walked a few steps, arms behind her back.
"I'm here to test you."
---
System Alert – [Soul Pulse Incoming]
Target: Yue Qingshi
Intent: Emotional Qi Probe – Mild
[Trait Shadow Bloom – Auto Defense Activated]
Resistance Roll: 81% – Partial Success
[Soul Link: No Bond Formed]
[Emotional Signature Detected: Curiosity | Threat-Assessment]
---
She turned again.
"You don't smell like most rogues. You don't flinch when probed. And your Shadow Trait isn't natural. Someone gave it to you."
Rael didn't speak.
"A girl, maybe?" she teased. "One who left a bloom inside your soul? How tragic."
His expression stayed flat, but something darkened in his gaze.
She noticed.
And smiled wider.
"Don't worry, stranger. I'm not here to take your core. I just wanted to see who dared wake the Ravener."
A flick of her sleeve.
Something floated toward him.
A folded piece of paper. Sealed with a petal-shaped wax emblem.
"If you want answers," Yue Qingshi said, "come to the Moonlight Court. Or stay in the forest and die with your secrets."
She turned, then paused.
"Oh... and next time you stalk someone, check your kill scent first."
Then she vanished — faster than Rael could track.
No step. No flash.
Just silence.
---
Rael stood in the mist, fingers trembling slightly as he caught the paper.
He opened it.
Inside, a hand-written line in graceful, feminine script:
"Those who bear cursed bloom must eventually face the Moon."
Below, a symbol.
An ancient map. A mountain peak. A moon eclipse crest.
---
Rael's grip tightened.
So she knew about the bloom. About the girl.
And she hadn't attacked.
Not yet.
But the game had begun.
And Rael hated games.
---
Scene Shift – System Update
[New Questline Unlocked – Path of the Eclipse Moon]
Objective: Reach the Eastern Moonlight Court
Distance: ~200 li
Optional Path: Northern Outlands – Ravaged Pass
Estimated Travel Time (Unhindered): 3 days
[Emotion Anchor Strengthening: 9% – Conflict | Unknown Affection Detected]
Rael turned toward the northern rise.
The rain still fell.
But now...
He had a direction.
And someone to outwit.