The moment I stepped out of the Hall of Forbidden Records, the night felt heavier than before. The air was cold. Too cold. As if someone was trying to freeze the entire sect into silence.
Someone was waiting outside.
I could feel it.
I walked slowly along the stone path. Mist drifted around my ankles. Torches flickered weakly. Every sound in the sect had vanished—no disciples talking, no elders moving, nothing.
Even the wind felt like it was holding its breath.
I stopped walking.
A few steps ahead, a man was standing in the shadows.
His posture was straight. His hands were clasped behind his back. His robe fluttered lightly in the breeze.
He didn't hide his presence.He didn't need to.
Sect Master Yue Shuhai.
In my past life, he destroyed the sect with his own hands.
He smiled faintly when I approached.
"Lián Zhen," he said. "Awake at such a late hour? You should be resting."
His voice was soft. Polite. Gentle.
The voice of a father figure.
A lie.
"You're awake too," I answered.
He nodded slowly. "Someone tampered with the sect's protection formation. I sensed assassins. I came to investigate."
He spoke calmly, as if the truth did not touch him.
But I had seen the Fate Ledger.His name was written clearly.He was part of the plan.
I stared at him quietly.
He tilted his head. "Why are you at the forbidden hall, Zhen? That place is not meant for disciples."
"I was looking for answers," I said.
He chuckled softly. "At your age? The hall contains records far beyond your understanding. You should leave these things to the elders."
My hand tightened around my sleeve.
This man destroyed countless lives while hiding behind a gentle smile.
I remembered seeing him years later, surrounded by corpses, devouring fate threads like a starving beast.
"It's dangerous here," Yue Shuhai continued. "Let me send someone to escort you back."
"No."
The refusal came out colder than I intended.
He blinked slowly.
"Zhen… something is different about you tonight."
"You're right," I said. "Something is."
He stepped closer.
"Did you see something in the hall?"
Sometimes, truth is a blade.Sometimes, silence is sharper.
I said nothing.
He observed me, eyes narrowing slightly.
Then he smiled again.
"A child wandering forbidden places… how troublesome."
His tone didn't match his smile.There was no warmth in it at all.
He walked past me toward the hall door, as if confirming something.
Then he spoke softly without turning around.
"You should sleep, Zhen. The sect will be very… busy tomorrow."
Busy.
Tomorrow was the massacre.
He knew.
I watched his back disappear into the mist.
For a long moment, I stood there quietly.
Then I whispered:
"Tomorrow, I will see what you truly are."
I left the path and returned to the outer courtyard. But instead of going to my room, I circled around the training grounds, keeping to the shadows.
I needed time to think.
The Fate Ledger revealed Yue Shuhai as a collaborator with the Crimson Fate Temple. But the instigator was hidden by a higher authority. Someone more powerful than the sect master.
A cultivator strong enough to bend fate-lines.
Someone the heavens protected.
Someone who had destroyed me in my last life.
I clenched my jaw.
This time, I would peel them out of their hiding place.
The night grew colder.
As I moved deeper into the sect grounds, I sensed another presence watching me.
Not Yue Shuhai.
Someone smaller. Lighter. Trying to hide.
I sighed. "You can come out now."
Silence.
Then Jin Rouya stepped out from behind a willow tree.
Her expression was stubborn.
"I told you not to follow," I said.
"And I told you no," she replied.
I rubbed my forehead. "Why are you here?"
"You left suddenly. You didn't answer my questions. And assassins attacked the sect." She crossed her arms. "I won't just sit and wait."
"Rouya—"
"No. This is not normal. Everyone fainted but you stayed standing. Something's happening."
She stared into my eyes.
"You're hiding something. Please trust me, just a little."
Trust.
An easy word for someone who had never died by betrayal.
I looked at her quietly.
She was one of the few people who stood by me in my previous life. She sacrificed herself to stop a deadly formation that would have killed me.
Her death haunted me for years.
She breathed softly. "Zhen… say something. Anything."
I turned away.
"You shouldn't get involved."
"I already am," she said. "When you saved me from those assassins, you involved me."
I paused.
Her eyes were bright, filled with courage and fear both. She wasn't strong. She wasn't prepared. But she refused to run.
I spoke slowly.
"Tonight, the sect will face danger. Tomorrow will be worse. If you stay close to me, you will die."
She stepped next to me.
"If I leave you alone, you will die."
Her voice shook, but she didn't back down.
I stared at her for a long moment.
Then I exhaled.
"You're stubborn."
"So are you."
I looked up at the moon.
The truth was simple: I didn't want her near me. Not because she was weak…
But because she mattered.
And anything that mattered to me became a target for fate.
Still, I needed someone I could trust even a little. Someone to observe the sect while I handled the hidden traitors.
"Fine," I said. "If you follow, you follow silently. And you obey me without questions."
She nodded instantly.
I began walking.
She followed without hesitation.
We headed toward the inner gardens. During the massacre in my past life, this place became covered with corpses. But tonight, it was calm. Lanterns glowed gently. The sound of water trickled from the nearby stone fountain.
Then I saw it.
A thin line of light floating above the ground.
A fate thread.
Only people like me—truth seekers—could see them.
Blue meant harmony.Green meant opportunity.Yellow meant caution.
Red meant danger.
This thread was red. Bright red. Fresh.
Someone recently altered fate.
And the thread was leading toward the elders' residence.
I followed it silently. Jin Rouya stayed close but didn't speak, just as I instructed.
The thread led us behind a storage building.
Then it stopped.
I scanned the dark corner.
Someone stood there.
It was Elder Han.
A kind-looking old man with white hair and gentle eyes. He taught basic cultivation techniques to young disciples. He healed injuries. He handed out spirit herbs.
He had never harmed anyone.
At least, not openly.
He turned when he sensed us.
"Oh… Zhen. Rouya. Why are you two wandering at this hour? It is dangerous after the disturbance earlier."
I stared at him.
The red fate thread wrapped tightly around his body.
He wasn't the mastermind.
But he had made a choice tonight.
He was working with the traitor.
He smiled kindly at us, like a grandfather worried for his children.
But beneath that smile was fear.
Fear of being discovered.
Rouya stepped back. She felt something was wrong.
Elder Han spoke softly.
"You two should return to your rooms. The sect will be safe soon."
I stepped forward.
"Who gave you orders?"
His face froze.
Then he sighed quietly.
"So… you saw."
His expression changed—not into anger, but into deep regret.
"I didn't want to get involved," he whispered. "But we… we were given instructions. Threats. Promises. The sect's fate has already been decided."
I locked eyes with him.
"So you lured disciples into the eastern dorms earlier."
He didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
His hand trembled slightly.
"I truly liked you, Zhen," he said. "You were quiet. Intelligent. But I cannot allow the plans to be disrupted."
He moved his sleeve.
A thin blade slid into his hand.
Rouya gasped. "E-Elder Han?!"
He stepped forward gently.
"It will be quick."
I exhaled slowly.
"I don't want to kill you."
He smiled sadly.
"But you must."
He lunged.
His movements were sharp for an old man—much faster than any normal elder. He wasn't strong, but this child body of mine was weaker.
He slashed toward my throat.
I dodged barely, feeling the blade graze my skin.
Rouya cried out.
"Zhen!"
"Stay back," I snapped.
Elder Han attacked again. I sidestepped, letting his momentum carry him. I moved behind him quickly and struck his wrist.
The blade fell.
He staggered.
I pushed him to the ground, pinning him.
His breath came hard.
"Zhen… forgive me…"
"How many did you help kill?" I asked.
His lips trembled.
"Four…" His eyes watered. "I… I didn't want to… I…"
Truth was painful.But lies were lethal.
I tightened my grip.
"Who is the instigator?"
His eyes darkened with fear.
"I cannot say. If I speak it, fate will punish me."
Punish.
So the mastermind was shielded by the heavens.
I released Elder Han's collar. He fell back, shaking violently.
Jin Rouya stepped beside me.
"What do we do with him?" she whispered.
Before I could answer—
A shadow shifted behind Elder Han.
A line of red light flashed.
A blade cut through the darkness and sliced Elder Han's neck cleanly.
Blood sprayed.
Rouya screamed.
I didn't move.
A new figure stepped forward.
Someone wearing a crimson mask.
Someone I recognized instantly.
The Crimson Fate Temple assassin.
The same one who killed Elder Han in my past life.
He bowed his head.
"Correction complete," he said softly. "Loose ends must not remain."
I stepped between him and Rouya.
His masked eyes studied me.
"You again disrupt the timeline," he whispered. "You are an error that should have died."
He lifted his blade.
"Shall I correct you now, regressor?"
I stared at him coldly.
I wasn't strong.I wasn't cultivated.I wasn't ready.
But I wasn't afraid.
"Try."
The assassin moved.
And the night swallowed us both.