Rael walked for a full day without rest.
The Rainwood thinned as the terrain changed — damp moss giving way to harsh shale and twisted roots. The trees grew darker here, their leaves narrower, glistening like oiled iron. Cracked totems began appearing in the undergrowth: bone stakes carved with crude symbols, long since forgotten.
The air tasted bitter.
Not just Qi-rich — corrupted.
"This isn't part of any safe route," he muttered.
---
[System Notification: Bordering the Hollow Soil Zone]
Status: Blighted Wildlands
Energy Composition: Twisted Yin Qi – 46%, Fragmented Vital Qi – 21%, Unknown – 33%
Threat Level: Moderate to High
Presence of Bone-Cursed Entities: Confirmed
[Warning: Long-term exposure without internal tempering will lead to Soul Decay]
Current Resistance: 18%
Suggested Duration: < 8 hours
---
Rael exhaled, slow and steady.
He could feel it already — a subtle pressure dragging at the edge of his bones, like invisible threads pulling him downward. His Qi responded sluggishly. The Lunar Bloom in his soul flickered dimly, like a flame smothered by wind.
He needed to move fast.
But not without a plan.
So Rael climbed a broken ridge and knelt atop a dead tree's remains. He gathered a portion of his internal Qi, condensing it into a Void Map — a rudimentary sensory web.
A technique stolen from a dead soul six days ago.
---
Technique Activated: Shadow Vein Pulse – Tier I
Range: 50 meters
Result: Terrain Mapping & Hostile Detection
Drain: Moderate
Success: 84%
---
The forest changed.
Everything beneath him blurred into silhouette — the map unfolding like black veins on white paper. Shapes moved beneath the trees.
Two beasts. One large. One… broken.
Rael focused.
The larger was a four-legged creature — sinewy, with Qi-spikes rising like spears along its spine. A predator. Probably a Crimson Howler.
The other?
A humanoid shape… slumped. Shackled?
Rael frowned.
"A prisoner?"
That was rare in wild zones.
Even rogue sects didn't take captives out here.
Unless...
His thoughts snapped into place.
"Slave traders," he whispered.
He lowered his breathing. Stepped silently along the ridge's blind side.
---
Skill: Severing Step – Success
Noise Signature: Null
Visual Presence: Suppressed
Shadow Bloom Trait Engaged
---
Rael crept closer, through broken ferns and brambles scorched black.
Then he saw them.
A beast cage — steel bars chained between two dead trees, reinforced with bone talismans. Inside, a girl.
Young. Maybe twelve.
She had dirt-caked hair, shallow breath, bruises blooming along her arms. A collar etched with Qi-suppressing runes hung heavy around her neck.
Rael's jaw clenched.
Beside her, three men lounged near a campfire. One sharpened a jagged spear. Another held a scroll. The third…
Was watching.
Not the girl. But the trees.
"Something's off," he muttered.
Rael moved around the ridge.
Then acted.
---
His blade flashed — not in light, but in absence.
A severing arc of Void Qi split the space between trees. The nearest man didn't even cry out before falling.
The second spun, too slow. Rael was already there — driving his palm into the man's throat, twisting the scroll from his grip before he collapsed in a bubbling heap.
Only the third resisted — Qi flaring, shouting something unintelligible as he drew a hooked blade.
Rael didn't wait.
He lunged, sweeping his leg low.
The man crashed onto his back.
Rael's foot pinned his arm as he drove his elbow into the man's ribs — once, twice — until the bone cracked.
Then silence returned.
---
The girl in the cage stared at him, wide-eyed.
"You… you're not one of them?"
Rael sheathed his blade.
"Do I look like one?"
She shook her head quickly.
He crouched by the cage, examining the talismans. Sloppy work. Someone had used beast blood instead of pure ink. He snapped one and twisted the lock.
The girl stumbled into his arms.
She was shaking — skin cold, eyes darting toward the trees as if expecting more.
Rael steadied her.
"Name."
"...Wei Lin."
"Age."
"Twelve."
"Clan?"
"None. My village was… they took everyone."
Rael's expression didn't change, but inside, something twisted.
"Anyone else survive?"
She shook her head, tears threatening to rise.
"Don't cry," Rael said sharply. "Tears are a luxury for the dead."
She sniffled. Nodded.
He placed a small beast core in her hand.
"Hold this. Absorb it slowly. You'll feel warmth. Let it spread."
"Will it heal me?"
"No. But it'll keep you from breaking."
She obeyed.
---
System Notice: Karma Thread Detected
Wei Lin – Survivor Thread Linked
Status: Minor Soul Imprint Created
Emotional Anchor: Trust | Dependency
[Warning: Prolonged bond may affect cultivation path]
Suggestion: Sever within 7 days unless Intent Confirmed
---
Rael frowned.
"Always a cost," he muttered.
He didn't want threads. Not yet.
He had no time to protect strays.
But…
The girl gripped his sleeve, eyes wide.
"Are you going to the Moonlight Court?"
Rael paused.
"Why?"
"Because my sister went there. Before… before everything. She said they take in orphans."
That gave him pause.
"Your sister's name?"
"Wei Minghua."
Rael's breath caught.
He had seen that name.
It was on the Moonlight Invitation Scroll Yue Qingshi had tossed him.
---
Fate, then.
Or something crueler.
He sighed.
"Fine. You'll come with me. But if you slow me down, I leave you."
She nodded. Too quickly.
---
As they moved, Rael kept to the shadows, guiding her carefully between twisted paths and broken talismans.
By nightfall, they found a ruined shrine — half-buried in roots, its roof cracked, but dry.
Rael built a small fire. Just enough to dry their clothes.
The girl leaned against the stone wall, chewing dried fruit from Rael's pouch.
He sat apart, watching the flame dance.
"You're not like the others," she whispered.
"Others?"
"Cultivators. They never stop for anyone. They only take."
He said nothing.
The firelight cast flickering shadows along his cheekbones. His eyes were distant — fixed on some far-off point she couldn't see.
"Why did you help me?"
Rael finally spoke.
"Because I saw myself in your cage."
---
Outside, the wind howled through the trees.
But for once, the darkness didn't close in.