The faint rustling of leaves did little to disturb the sleepy quiet of the Azure Sky Sect's outer region. In a shaded corner of the disciple compound, three figures loomed over a fourth, their voices low but heavy with menace.
"Come on, Wei Zhi, just hand it over. You've got pills, right? You always do."
Wei Zhi kept his gaze low, clutching a small cloth pouch against his chest. "I need them. I earned them."
One of the taller boys stepped forward, his foot slamming into the ground beside Wei Zhi's. "You? Earn? Please. You sneak around like a worm. You don't fight, you don't compete. You don't even train in the open. The sect's being too soft letting you stay."
A second one chimed in, laughing. "You really think being a rat will take you far? You'll die the moment you're out on a real mission."
A third snatched at Wei Zhi's shoulder, but before he could act further, a voice cut through the scene.
"Yong Shan."
Liang Fu approached the edge of the scene, his lean figure barely casting a shadow in the midmorning light. He crossed his arms and stared calmly at the three.
"You ever stop to think how someone like Wei Zhi keeps getting missions done? Maybe it's because he's good at what you're too dumb to try."
Yong Shan turned, lips curling. "Oh, it's the pet friend. Always coming to defend him."
Liang Fu didn't flinch. "I'm just wondering how you plan to explain harassing a sect member over contribution rewards. Want me to invite an inner sect senior to hear it too?"
Yong Shan hesitated. One of his friends nudged him, clearly less interested in continuing.
"Tch. Fine. Keep your garbage, Wei Zhi. But next time we see you out of bounds, don't expect your shadow to save you."
The trio walked off, tossing a final glare over their shoulders.
Wei Zhi's shoulders sagged with the weight of tension. He turned to Liang Fu, his voice quiet. "Thanks. Again."
Liang Fu waved a hand. "You need to stand taller. They're cowards. Push back once, and they scatter."
"You always say that."
"Because it's true."
They walked side by side down a shaded path leading toward the mission board. A comfortable silence stretched between them, broken only by the distant chatter of other disciples.
After a while, Liang Fu glanced sideways. "You've been weird lately."
Wei Zhi's head snapped up. "What?"
"You don't talk as much. You disappear for hours. You flinch when someone comes up behind you."
"I've just… been practicing stealth."
Liang Fu raised a brow. "Practicing stealth doesn't make someone jumpy, Wei. Something happened, didn't it?"
Wei Zhi hesitated, then looked away. "It's nothing."
"Liar."
He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't remember it exactly. It's like I saw something strange, but the memory's fuzzy. Like it's buried under fog."
Liang Fu frowned. "You hit your head or something?"
"No. Just... a weird sense that something big happened and I forgot it. But I can't stop feeling like it mattered. Like I'm being watched, or like I've seen something I shouldn't have."
They stopped beside a pond where turtles basked on stones. Liang Fu squatted down and picked up a stick, poking at the water.
"You think it was a dream?"
Wei Zhi shook his head. "No. I don't think I'd feel this off from a dream. I don't remember much, but I know it's not normal. It's like there's a thread in my head pulling at something I can't see."
Liang Fu stood up slowly. "Then stay out of trouble. Don't go wandering near the forests unless you have to. And if this thread pulls too hard, come to me first. Not the elders. Not anyone else."
Wei Zhi's lips twitched. "Even if I'm going mad?"
"If you're going mad, I'll be the first to know. And I'll still cover for you."
They shared a quiet laugh before moving on toward the assignment hall. Liang Fu threw an arm around Wei Zhi's shoulders.
"You know, I've been thinking," he said. "Maybe next mission, we take one that goes near that merchant outpost. I heard the stalls sell decent gear."
Wei Zhi gave a slight smile. "You think I'd survive a trip that far?"
"With me around? I'm offended you even asked."
Wei Zhi chuckled under his breath.
...
Later that night, under a sky heavy with stars, Wei Zhi sat cross-legged in a clearing behind one of the outer compound storage halls. He wasn't training, nor was he on a mission. He simply sat in stillness, trying to grasp something half-forgotten.
Fragments of sensation surfaced—heat against his skin, the sight of something crimson moving like mist, the weight of a gaze that made his spine freeze. But when he tried to focus, it slipped away.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping.
Wei Zhi turned quickly, heart leaping.
No one was there.
He stood, scanning the darkened trees. Paranoia or memory?
Still on edge, he began walking back toward his quarters. But the moment he crossed the tree line into a dense stretch of forest, a figure appeared in front of him.
Wei Zhi stumbled backward with a gasp.
Xue Mo.
The older disciple's face was unreadable, his presence still as ice.
"I didn't... I wasn't following you!" Wei Zhi said immediately. "I didn't see anything—"
"I know," Xue Mo replied, tone flat.
Wei Zhi blinked in confusion. "You do?"
"You don't remember anything. That's good."
The words chilled Wei Zhi. "What... what do you mean by that?"
"You saw something before. Something you shouldn't have. But you've forgotten, haven't you?"
Wei Zhi opened his mouth, then closed it again. His hands trembled slightly. "I—I guess? I've had weird dreams. No, not dreams. Feelings. I thought I was going mad."
"You're not mad. Just connected to thing's you shouldn't be."
Xue Mo took a slow step forward.
"I erased the memory because it was dangerous. For both of us."
Wei Zhi's breath caught. "Then why are you telling me this now?"
"Because you may still be useful. But that depends on how tightly you control your curiosity."
Wei Zhi looked down. "I won't pry. I swear."
Xue Mo regarded him in silence for a moment, then turned away.
"If anything resurfaces, if anything feels wrong, tell only me. No one else. Understood?"
Wei Zhi nodded quickly. "Yes. I won't say a word to anyone."
"Good."
The forest swallowed Xue Mo's figure a moment later.
Wei Zhi stood alone, trembling in the dark.
He didn't understand what had happened.
But deep inside, he knew he'd just been reminded of something buried.
And of the shadow that had buried it.
...
Far away, Xue Mo entered his cave. He lit a candle, its flame casting long shadows across the stone.
He pulled a parchment from his robes—an old diagram of meridian flows, used to study secondary paths around the dantian. He marked a section near the liver channel, frowning slightly.
Wei Zhi had been clean—too clean. His reaction was honest. But the connection still lingered. If someone like her used him again, she might stir the fog. That could not be allowed.
Xue Mo set the paper aside and stared into the flame.
He would need to act soon. But with care.
Too much force invited scrutiny. Too little invited betrayal.
Balance was best.
He blew out the candle.
And in the silence that followed, he planned his next step.