The cave was shallow, damp, and hidden behind a waterfall of icy run-off from the mountain peaks. It was a temporary haven, not home. Home was a tomb. Here, Lin Feng laid the shuddering form of Han Wei on a bed of dry moss.
The boy's skin was clammy, his lips tinged with blue. The poison from Lin Tao's arrow was a vicious, spiraling corruption in his Qi pathways, a creeping death.
Lin Feng had no antidote. He had no healing arts.
He had Death Qi.
He placed a hand over the wound, ignoring Han Wei's weak flinch. He didn't push the cold energy in to heal. He willed it to consume. Death Qi was the end of all things. It could end the poison, too. It was a brutal, scorched-earth remedy.
He focused, letting a thin, precise stream of energy flow into the wound. The reaction was immediate. Han Wei's back arched off the ground, a strangled scream tearing from his throat. The flesh around the arrowhead sizzled, not with heat, but with a rapid, localized decay. The vibrant green poison darkened, crystallized, and crumbled to ash. Healthy tissue blackened and died with it, leaving a clean, if ugly, cauterized wound.
The pain was immense, but the poisoning stopped. Han Wei collapsed, unconscious but breathing in deep, ragged pulls. He would live. He would bear a scar of necrotic flesh—a mark of Lin Feng's power, and his mercy.
Lin Feng sat back, his own energy depleted. His three skeletons and the shadow-panther stood at the cave entrance, silent sentinels. He waited.
When Han Wei's eyes fluttered open hours later, the first thing he saw was the ribcage of Skeleton #1, standing over him. He jolted upright with a gasp, scrambling back until his shoulders hit the cave wall. His eyes darted from the skeleton to the panther's shadowy form, then to Lin Feng, who sat cross-legged nearby.
"Y-You… you're dead," Han Wei stammered, his voice hoarse. "They buried you."
"They buried a body," Lin Feng said, his tone flat, devoid of emotion. "The poison, 'Soulbane,' induces a death-like coma. They were too eager to declare me gone." He reached over and tossed the broken arrow at Han Wei's feet. The green residue on the tip was still visible. "Recognize the work?"
Han Wei stared at the arrow, then at Lin Feng. Fear warred with dawning understanding. "Lin Tao."
"He tried to erase me. He tried to erase you. For an advantage. For convenience." Lin Feng leaned forward, the pale light from the waterfall catching the cold determination in his eyes. "I am not dead. And I am not the demon you think I am. These," he gestured to the skeletons, "are tools. Salvaged from dishonor. Just as you were left for dead."
Han Wei's breathing slowed. He was a branch disciple. He understood being discarded. He looked from the arrow to his own bandaged side, the memory of the betrayal clear in his eyes. The panic receded, replaced by a hard, simmering anger. "What do you want from me?"
"Silence," Lin Feng said simply. "And information. You are inside the clan. I am not. You are oppressed by Lin Tao's faction. My father's faction is weakened by his schemes. Our interests align."
"You want me to spy." It wasn't a question.
"I want you to survive. And to help me ensure Lin Tao does not become the heir who would grind your branch family into dust." Lin Feng's voice was low, compelling. "In return, when this is over, your family's standing will be secured. You have my word."
Han Wei was silent for a long time, his gaze fixed on the skeletal soldier. He saw no malice in it. Only a hollow obedience. He looked at Lin Feng—alive, but marked by a coldness that hadn't been there before. A survivor, like him.
"He meets with Elder Hong," Han Wei said finally, the words leaving him in a rush. "Late, in the old archive tower. My cousin serves there as a cleaner. She's seen them twice this week. Elder Hong has never supported your father. He thinks him too weak, too merciful."
A thrill, cold and sharp, went through Lin Feng. A senior elder. This was bigger than a jealous cousin. This was a coup in the making.
[First Human Alliance Formed.]
[System Function Unlocked: Soul Oath.]
[Description: A binding pact of mutual secrecy or promise, enforced by soul energy. Breach results in severe spiritual backlash for the offender.]
The knowledge flowed into him. It was a simple, profound magic. An exchange of terms, sealed with a wisp of soul essence.
"There is a way to secure our agreement," Lin Feng said. "A Soul Oath. It would bind us both to secrecy and to our stated terms. No coercion. A voluntary pact."
Han Wei's eyes widened. Soul magic was deep, dangerous lore. But it was also absolute. He nodded, his jaw set. "Do it."
Lin Feng extended his hand. Han Wei took it. Their grips were cold and firm.
"Speak your terms," Lin Feng instructed.
"I, Han Wei, vow to keep the secret of Lin Feng's survival and his… methods. I will share information on Lin Tao and his allies. In return, Lin Feng vows to aid in the protection and elevation of my branch family once his position is secure."
A shimmering thread of silver-blue light, visible only to them, spiraled from their clasped hands, wrapping around their wrists before sinking into their skin. A gentle, unbreakable pressure settled in their chests.
[Soul Oath Sealed.]
The alliance was forged. Not in warmth, but in necessity and cold steel trust.
Lin Feng led Han Wei to the cave mouth as night fell, pointing him toward a hidden game trail that would bring him to the clan's outer fields. "Go. Recover. Act normally."
Han Wei gave one last, lingering look at the shadow-panther, then nodded and disappeared into the twilight.
Alone again, Lin Feng returned to the heart of his true home—the Forbidden Catacombs. The oppressive Death Qi was a comfort now. He gathered his skeletal squad and the panther around him in the central chamber, at the very spot where the energy converged.
He sat, and he cultivated.
With the Soul Oath made, with an ally in place, with a clearer picture of the enemy, his mind was focused. The Death Qi flooded into him, a torrent compared to the trickle he'd first managed. It scoured his meridians, burning away the last vestiges of Lin Feng's natural blockages, reforging them into channels for icy power.
[Cultivation Breakthrough: Qi Condensation (Death-Aspected), Stage 3.]
Strength, profound and unsettling, vibrated through him. His senses expanded further. He could feel the individual echoes of every set of bones in the chamber. A new understanding of his minions clicked into place.
[Skill Unlocked: Bone Reinforcement.]
[Effect: Expend Death Qi to temporarily enhance the density and durability of a skeleton's bones.]
He rose and approached his damaged vanguard. He placed a hand on its cracked rib. He pushed Death Qi into it, not to raise, but to fortify. The bone darkened, taking on a glossy, obsidian sheen. The cracks sealed. The skeleton stood taller, its grip on its rusted sword firmer.
He repeated the process on the shield bearer's fractured arm, on the swordsman's chipped blade.
He had an informant. He had a pact. He had grown stronger. But knowledge and defense were not enough. He needed more tools.
That night, he gave a new order. To Skeleton #1, now reinforced, and to the swift, silent shadow-panther.
"The clan library's restricted section. The third floor. Bring me manuals on foundational combat. On Qi theory. On anything regarding poison antidotes and spiritual corruption."
The skeleton mounted the panther. The two beings, one of bone, one of bone and shadow, merged with the darkness, heading not for the cemetery, but for the very heart of the clan compound.
Lin Feng watched them go. He was no longer just surviving. He was learning. He was planning. He had a man on the inside, and now, he would have books from the forbidden shelves.
The game had changed. He was no longer a ghost hiding in a grave.
He was a scholar, preparing for war, in a library of the dead.