Gaining access to the Yun family's training grounds was surprisingly easy. Yun Ming's authority, while weakened, was still sufficient to assign her as a "special consultant" to the junior disciples. She was introduced as a distant cousin with a unique gift for healing, a story that was met with curiosity and skepticism.
The disciples, ranging from teenagers to young adults, were a mix of arrogant scions and dedicated ascetics. They practiced in a secluded courtyard behind the residence, meditating under ancient trees and practicing forms with disciplined grace. To Ye Xia's enhanced senses, the air hummed with their collective Kai, but beneath the surface harmony, she could feel discordant notes—sharp, acidic strains of energy that felt wrong.
She spent days observing, using the Spirit Gathering Stone to subtly probe the energy fields of the disciples. She identified three who showed the early signs of deviation: their Kai was sluggish, their meridians felt inflamed, and a faint, corrosive energy clung to them like a parasite.
The source wasn't in their food or drink. It was in the environment. She focused her investigation on the courtyard itself. The trees, the pond, the stones... she examined everything. Finally, her attention settled on the well at the center of the courtyard. It was an ancient structure, said to be the primary source of water for the training grounds.
That night, under the cover of darkness, she returned alone. She lowered a bucket and drew up water. Holding the Spirit Gathering Stone over it, she pushed a thread of her Kai into the water. The reaction was immediate. The water seemed to recoil, and a vile, dark energy lashed back at her senses. It was a subtle poison, designed to act slowly over time, corrupting the Kai of those who drank from the well.
But who could have poisoned it? Access to the well was restricted to senior family members.
As she pondered this, a voice spoke from the shadows. "I knew you would find it."
Ye Xia spun around, falling into a defensive stance. Yun Zhong stepped out from behind a tree, his face grim in the moonlight.
"You," Ye Xia said, her Kai coiling ready.
"Not me, you foolish girl," Yun Zhong snapped, his voice low and furious. "Do you think I would sabotage my own family's future? Even I am not that shortsighted."
"Then who?"
"Follow the trail," Yun Zhong said, his eyes gleaming. "The poison is not of our world. It is alchemical. Complex. Expensive. It requires resources and knowledge that few possess."
A cold realization dawned on Ye Xia. The Leng family. They were masters of aggressive techniques. Poisoning a rival clan's next generation was a classic, insidious tactic.
"But they would need an inside accomplice," Ye Xia said.
Yun Zhong gave a grim smile. "Indeed. Someone with access, and someone with a grudge. Someone who felt overlooked and was promised power by an outside force."
He was pointing the finger, but not at himself. He was implying another faction within the family, one that had been sidelined by Yun Ming's line. The pieces were falling into place. The internal sabotage was part of a larger external attack.
"Thank you for the... insight," Ye Xia said warily.
"Don't thank me," Yun Zhong said, turning to leave. "I am not doing this for you. I am doing it for the Yun family. My brother is a dreamer. He thinks alliances will save us. I know that only strength will. And right now, you represent a strange, unpredictable strength. Use it to purge this rot. Then we will see what happens."
He disappeared into the night, leaving Ye Xia with more questions than answers, but with a clear target: find the traitor and neutralize the poison.