[Vol. 1] Chapter 8 - Severed Signal
She stared at the crumbling walls and the faded dragon sigils. The future version of herself, bleeding and desperate, had come to this specific ruin for a reason.
The message had said to stay on the main plot. This had to be part of it.
A hidden plot? But from whose character lore?
Her mind, still buzzing from the adrenaline crash and the surreal reality of receiving a note from her own future, latched onto the words: Don't waste charge points. A stable save lasts a month.
She looked at her current save, the one she'd just made during the confrontation. Was it stable?
Maybe stability wasn't about location, but about time. The message was clear: A stable save point lasts a month.
First, she needed to secure her position. She was injured, alone, and deep in the fog.
"Save," she uttered.
[Target (1000 Charge points) amount not met. Debt issued to restore Save attempt.]
[1 Save attempt restored and expended.]
[Charge points -100]
Blood trickled from her nose and eyes.
[Save points used: 2/2
Load points used: 2/2
Charge Points: 65]
The screen in front of her flickered with a notification:
[You have used 3/3 slots:]
- Node 1: North West Peak, Lin Compound, Lin Xiaolan Residence
(Early Morning / March 15, 0907 / 6:46 AM)
- Node 2: High North Mountain Peak, The Azure Lin-Lao-Chen Trial Proving Grounds, Heaven-Devouring Mist
(Early Afternoon / March 15, 0907 / 7:12 AM)
- Node 3: High North Mountain Peak, The Azure Lin-Lao-Chen Trial Proving Grounds, Heaven-Devouring Mist
(Evening / March 15, 0907 / 6:23 PM)
Her eyes widened.
Evening? Node 3, the one she'd just saved, was already marked as evening.
She looked up.
Of course she saw nothing. The mist was unaffected by outside time, too thick to reveal even the sky, as if this place existed in a world of its own.
She turned her gaze toward the eerie, dilapidated building. Whoever wants to investigate can investigate, she thought, my life matters more…
But this was about her future, something long-term and vital. With a sigh of resignation, she stepped further into the broken-down house.
The interior was thick with dust and scattered with broken furniture. Her eyes caught the faint gleam of a jade slip. She moved toward it, her fingers closing around the cool stone.
If she remembered correctly, jade slips were items a "player" could use. But the key difference was that here, there was no "use" button to click…
Could she activate it with qi? She closed her eyes, trying to recall the familiar sensation from her meditation in the lotus position.
Warm qi flowed through her meridians and into the jade slip. A sudden rush of information shot into her mind
—messages and memories, as though the owner had been desperate to convey something.
"...Moonfire fruit!"
Countless images flashed before her: the ruin's destruction, secret plans, a contingency left by the slip's owner.
A final backup.
It was too much. Overwhelming. Xiaolan's own cultivation was far too weak, and the backlash forced a trickle of blood from her nose.
Still, she clung to consciousness, seizing one critical piece of information from the cascade: a countermeasure, a last resort if all else failed…
"Hidden treasures!" Xiaolan muttered, a sudden spark of energy cutting through her fatigue.
The setup felt deeply familiar, like a questline from her gaming past. High risk, high reward. Opportunity and danger always walked together.
"So this must be what 'I' was trying to find," Xiaolan hummed to herself, tucking the jade slip away as she turned to leave.
—Ssshhhk—CRUNCH.
A low rumble of shifting rubble. Two figures emerged from the fog, dust clinging to their robes.
"We made it! This is the place," one boasted, a sneer in his voice. "Heh. Lu Haiyang never expected us to track the slip all the way out here, did she?"
"Just their last, desperate attempt to hide it," the other replied. "Who knew they'd be so stubborn?"
"Thankfully that Yao beast did the hard work for us. Now, where's the—"
He froze. His companion followed his gaze to the empty pedestal where the slip should have been.
Xiaolan had already slipped from the ruins, completely unaware she had just single-handedly destroyed their entire scheme.
"You idiot!" his companion roared. "What are we going to do now?"
"Wait—maybe it was destroyed?"
"No, no, no!" His companion groaned in frustration. "Do you even realize how important that slip is? That thing is the map to the Moonfire fruit. The only proof it ever existed!"
"We know the Lu family protects shrines, so maybe—"
"Do you have any idea how many shrines there are? By the time we find the right one, it'll already be too late! So either we find that slip now, or the boss feeds us to the dogs!"
The fog curled, thick and gray, mingling with the smoke of a small campfire. The flames crackled as another dry twig was fed into them.
Xiaolan had long since given up hunting beasts for points. Now, her only goal was survival. She held her hands over the flames, soaking in the fragile warmth.
Twang.
The sound of a single string being plucked rang out which were so sharp and distinct that Xiaolan was jolted awake, her breathing turning ragged.
Suddenly, the air felt thick and suffocating. Thump. Her heart pounded heavily, syncing with the ghostly echo of pipa strings.
Two figures came into view, clad in black, their attire seeming to announce: we are evil.
"Counting this one, how many have we targeted?"
"Four. But one escaped. The other groups must be handling the aftermath. Kill cleanly. No witnesses. We are moving under the noses of the Shadow Guards."
Their attention shifted to where Xiaolan had been resting. She was already gone. They didn't look surprised.
Twang. Another strum.
Huff, huff, huff—
Xiaolan had already fled the scene, sprinting through the mist.
"Over there!"
This voice came from another direction, a third member of the same group.
"Catch her!"
She weaved through a graveyard of dead trees, each trunk scarred with countless beast marks and deep claw grooves. She dodged and ducked until she skidded to a sudden halt, blocked by a solid mountainside.
Two groups of pursuers merged, surrounding her. They exchanged a silent nod.
"The jade slip inheritance of the Lu family… did you take it?" A voice cut through the stillness, followed by another sharp twang of a string.
Xiaolan's breath hitched, her toes curling in dread. She gulped and forced out a lie—
"Yes, I have taken it."
Her hand flew to her mouth. The words had come out before she could stop them, and they weren't something she wanted to say. That was the truth…
It's the pipa instrument!
"Heh." They were well-trained. The moment Xiaolan answered, they moved as one.
But before their blades could touch her, a figure dropped from the trees above...A body in black attire identical to theirs, landing with a heavy, deliberate thump.
Chen Mingyuan stood beside the corpse. "Wusheng Yin Sect," she stated, her voice colder than the deepest fog. Her ruqun was torn, clearly having been targeted by the same group.
They didn't talk, moving directly for a swift end. Blades flashed, talismans ignited, and the sound of instruments filled the air.
Mingyuan met them blow for blow, her movements sharp and efficient, before a faint, grin touched her lips.
Using qinggong, she leaped backward, landing beside Xiaolan. In her raised hand, she held something dark and gruesome, a severed hand. Wenhui's hand.
She enunciated each word slowly, clearly: "What do you think will happen… if I use qi now?"
The entire group froze.
She tapped the talisman on the severed hand. A striking smile still on her lips, though only she knew she couldn't last much longer in a prolonged battle.
Xiaolan could clearly see Chen Mingyuan's forehead glistening with sweat. Will pouring qi into a talisman on a severed hand even work?
The group had only halted briefly before continuing. Their goal was clear, even if it meant exposure to the Shadow Guards. They needed to drag the two along with them!
Chen Mingyuan's pupils trembled. Psychopaths can't be reasoned with! She swiftly sent qi into the talisman, and the symbols glowed brightly.
Elsewhere, Wenhui was trying to blend in among Lin Zheng's surviving group, when all of a sudden, he vanished from the spot, causing immediate tension.
Everyone grew even more wary, until someone came forward to explain that directly forfeiting would transport one out of the fog.
Wenhui, now outside the fog, stared bewildered before he was given a bone-rejuvenating pill… "Huh?"
"Wenhui, 10 points," Bai Yu graded him, before narrowing his eyes at the severed hand. A smile appeared on his face. For something like this to happen was excellent; the prospects of the Lin-Lao-Chen Clan would soar.
Who could it be? Though he could ignore the signals, curiosity won out.