Li Meiyu woke to sunlight filtering through woven leaves and the soft chirp of unknown birds. The pain in her ankle was gone, replaced by a fluttering warmth that ran through her limbs like honey. She sat up, blinking at the little hut Fengyu had built: neat, practical, and oddly comforting.
He was in the small garden, hands deep in soil, planting a row of slender herbs.
"Morning," he said without turning. His voice was calm, like a warm blanket.
She swallowed. "Thank you… for saving me."
He smiled briefly and handed her a bowl of congee. "Eat. You need strength."
She obeyed, fingers trembling, the earlier terror slowly folding into something else—astonishment, gratitude, and a fragile spark of trust.
When she finished, she looked up. "Lin Fengyu… you didn't have to risk yourself. I—" Her words faltered.
He studied her for a moment, then stepped closer. "I did because no one should die alone."
Something in his eyes made her chest lift. A soft chime sounded, invisible to her but clear to Fengyu.
[Li Meiyu – Favorability +5 → Total: 70]
[Reward Unlocked: Divine Blessing Mark Ready]
Fengyu's heart thudded. He kept his expression neutral, though his breath hitched a fraction. He had promised himself to be careful; the Sanctuary's rules were absolute. Still, the first mark… meant everything.
"Meiyu," he said softly, "there's something I need to show you."
She followed him without hesitating. They walked to the center of the Sanctuary, where the Holy Tree of Blessings stood—titanic and serene. Its bark shimmered with veins of pale light; leaves like jade whispered with a wind that seemed to come from another age.
Meiyu's mouth parted. "This tree… it's beautiful."
Fengyu placed a hand against the trunk. Warmth spread through him like a tide.
"Holy Tree: Evaluating candidate…" the system murmured in his mind.
A faint glow wound from the tree's roots and curled up, touching Li Meiyu lightly at the crown of her head. She gasped, but her eyes held no fear—only awe.
A mark bloomed on her palm like a stamp of moonlight. It was delicate, an interlocking pattern of a tree and a small spring.
"Divine Blessing Mark," Fengyu whispered, proud and reverent.
Meiyu felt a soft, pervasive calm sink into her bones. Where panic had been, clarity rose. Her mind felt cleansed, as if a veil had been lifted. Her gaze found Fengyu's and hung there, earnest and trembling.
"What does it mean?" she asked.
"It means you can come and go from this Sanctuary. It means you are bound to it—and to me—in a way. It also means you cannot betray what you see here." He chose his words carefully, not disclosing the system's mechanics. "The mark is not a prison. It protects. It asks for loyalty."
Her fingers brushed the mark as if to reassure herself. "I won't tell."
"Good." He watched her face closely; in the micro-expressions he had trained himself to read, there was honesty.
A panel flickered for him, private and silent.
[Divine Blessing Mark Granted: Li Meiyu]
[Privileges: Enter/Exit Sanctuary; Teleport Permission; Secrecy Protocol Active]
[Secrecy Protocol: Prevents bearer from betraying or revealing Sanctuary information under threat of fatal backlash]
Fengyu swallowed. The secrecy clause was harsher than he expected; the system protected the Sanctuary fiercely. He couldn't let anyone be hurt by it.
Meiyu's lips trembled. "Why me?"
He crouched to her level and met her eyes. "Because you trusted me when most would not. Because you needed help. Because I will build a family, and I need honest people to start with."
She blinked, slowly letting a smile form. It was small but genuine. "I… I want to help."
That simple sentence made something inside Fengyu unclench. The first follower. The first act of genuine loyalty. It was more precious than any treasure.
"Tomorrow we'll begin small training," he told her. "Time inside runs faster. You can recover and grow here far quicker than outside. But we must be careful. Outside, the clan's trial is brutal. You must never reveal this place."
She nodded solemnly. "I understand."
He tapped the tree's bark gently. "There's more. Once you are marked, you can bring others here. But only someone who has received the mark or I myself can summon people into the Sanctuary."
A flicker of determination crossed Meiyu's face. "Then I'll find them. I'll bring them here. If you save me, I'll repay you with my loyalty and by bringing anyone I can find."
Fengyu's lips twitched. This was better than he imagined. A marked follower who could recruit others would multiply his reach—slowly, safely, without raising suspicion.
"Good," he said. "But be cautious. Do not invite the proud or the violent. Bring those who will accept shelter, who need a chance—a child, a wounded cultivator, a woman with talent. We'll build steady, not recklessly."
Meiyu's little hand tightened on the bowl she still held. "I won't fail."
Fengyu felt a warmth he had never experienced for another human in a long time—one that was not lust or rallying ambition but the quiet growth of responsibility. This warmth pulled at his chest and steadied his voice.
"You won't have to," he said. "You're part of this now."
She blinked up at him, cheeks flushing faintly. The sunlight through the leaves painted her skin with gold.
There was a moment then—soft, unexpected and fragile—when the distance between them felt smaller. Fengyu could have reached out, touched her hair, eased a stray strand behind her ear. He restrained himself, conscious of boundaries and the many paths this budding loyalty could take.
"Rest," he said instead. "Tomorrow you will help me plant more herbs. We start with food and medicine. Then, when you're stronger, we'll begin simple cultivation exercises. The Sanctuary will help you."
She bowed her head in gratitude, a small, sincere gesture. "Thank you, Fengyu."
He straightened and walked away to prepare a small lesson plan. The system hummed in the recesses of his mind, a reminder that each move counted.
[System Note: Marked members increase host's recruitment ability. Host Favorability Influence: Active]
[Sanctuary Time Log: 1 day inside = 2.5 hours outside]
As he arranged herbs and planned training routines, Fengyu allowed himself a rare smile. The first mark had been given. The first promise of secrecy secured. From a chance rescue by a lone soul in a forest, the seed of a clan had taken root.
Outside, the wilds still roared and the Lin Clan's trial mercilessly whittled down youth to ruin. Inside the Sanctuary, warmth and purpose grew—quiet, steady, and unstoppable.
Lin Fengyu closed his eyes for a heartbeat and whispered to the hollow valley, to the Holy Tree and to the tiny flicker of fate that had found him.
"Build."