"Open the door! By order of the Patriarch!"
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The sound was a rhythmic hammer blow against Jin Hao's skull. He groaned, rolling over on the hard wooden pallet and burying his face in the musty pillow. The euphoria of the previous night had faded into the heavy fog of sleep.
"Quiet," he mumbled into the pillow. "The protagonist is resting. Come back when I've conquered the world."
BANG. BANG.
"Open up! Every room must be searched! No exceptions!"
The shouting was coming from the neighboring hut. Jin Hao's eyes snapped open. He sat up, blinking against the harsh morning light filtering through the cracks in the wooden walls. The silence of the guest compound was gone. In its place was a cacophony of heavy boots, shouting voices, and the clanging of metal on metal.
"What is that racket?" Jin Hao hissed, rubbing his temples. "Did Bolin hire a marching band?"
He swung his legs off the bed. The wood floor creaked under his weight. The energy of the Late Stage Foundation Establishment rolled inside him like a dormant ocean. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Right. He wasn't trash anymore. He was a powerhouse.
He stood up and walked to the door, throwing it open with an annoyed huff.
The courtyard outside was a scene of organized chaos. Squads of guards in blue armor were moving from room to room, kicking open doors, dragging sleepy disciples and terrified servants out into the open. They were holding glowing paper talismans in their hands, waving them over people like lanterns.
Jin Hao frowned. A servant boy was scurrying past, looking terrified. Jin Hao reached out and grabbed him by the collar, effortlessly lifting the boy onto his toes.
"You," Jin Hao barked. "What is going on? Why is everyone screaming?"
The boy's eyes went wide, his bucket splashing water onto Jin Hao's boots. "Y-Young Master Hao! Please, don't hurt me!"
"I asked you a question," Jin Hao said, shaking him slightly. "Speak."
"It's... it's a thief, Young Master!" the boy stammered. "The warehouses! The Patriarch's vault! They've been emptied! Someone stole everything!"
Jin Hao fought back a smirk. Emptied. I like that word. "And? Why are they tossing the rooms? Do they think a servant hid an entire warehouse under his bed?"
"No! It's the spiritual residue!" the boy squeaked. "Elder Han... he made tracking talismans! He said the thief broke through cultivation inside the vault. He left a specific energy signature. They... they are scanning everyone to match the frequency! If the paper turns red, that person is the thief!"
Jin Hao's grip on the collar loosened. The smirk died instantly.
"Scanning... energy signature?"
"Yes! They are checking everyone! Even the branch families! Young Master, please let me go, the Captain is coming!"
Jin Hao dropped the boy. The servant scrambled away, splashing through the mud.
Jin Hao stood frozen in the doorway. A cold sensation pierced through his newfound arrogance.
Energy signature. Residue.
He looked down at his hands. The power coursing through him, the power he was so proud of... it was a fingerprint.
"System," he hissed, retreating back into his room and slamming the door shut. "Why didn't you tell me they could do that?"
[Query: Host did not inquire about forensic methodologies of the lower realm.]
"I'm inquiring now!" Jin Hao paced the small room, his mind racing. "Can you hide it? Can you mask my signature?"
[Cultivation Concealment is active. However, the 'Resonance Talisman' operates on the principle of Karmic Causality and Elemental Composition. It does not measure the level of power, but the flavor of the Qi. Because the Host consumed the specific materials from the vault, your Qi vibrates at the same frequency as the missing items. To mask this would require a complete purge and reconstruction of your cultivation base.]
"Purge?!" Jin Hao grabbed his hair. "You mean lose my power? No! I just got it!"
[Then evasion is the only viable strategy.]
"Evasion," Jin Hao muttered. He rushed to the window and peered through the slat.
A squad of five guards was three doors down. They were led by a Captain whose aura was of Middle Stage Foundation Establishment. He held a yellow paper talisman in his hand. As he passed a trembling maid, the paper remained yellow. He shoved her aside and moved to the next person.
They were coming.
"Panic is for side characters," Jin Hao whispered to himself, his voice trembling slightly. "I am the protagonist. I just need to get out of the estate before they scan me."
He grabbed his few belongings and shoved them into his pockets.
"System," he commanded. "Map. Show me the gaps in the perimeter."
[Warning: Perimeter is sealed. Tier 3 Defensive Formation 'Golden Turtle Shell' is active. All gates are locked.]
"Of course they are," Jin Hao snarled. "Fine. I'll find a hole."
He slipped out the back window of his hut, dropping into the narrow alleyway used for waste disposal. It smelled of rot, but it was empty. He crouched low, letting the shadows swallow him.
"Guide me," he told the System. "Keep me away from those talismans."
[Hostile Unit detected 50 meters North. Suggest heading South-East towards the Servant's Garden.]
Jin Hao didn't use a movement technique, in fact he didn't know any. He just ran, his legs pumping with the raw power of a Late Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. He was fast. Surprisingly fast. The wind rushed past his ears.
He darted across a walkway, ducking behind a stone pillar just as a pair of guards marched past.
"I heard the Patriarch is furious," one guard said. "He said he wants the thief alive so he can skin him slowly."
"Who could eat an entire vault?" the other replied. "It must be a monster. A beast in human skin."
Jin Hao waited until their footsteps faded. A beast? No. A dragon, he thought, boosting his own morale. And dragons don't get skinned.
He moved again, cutting through the Servant's Garden. The foliage here was dense, providing good cover. He was making progress toward the outer wall.