Chapter 15: The Pact Beneath Shadows
Rain fell softly the next morning, veiling the Ji estate in a pale mist. The sound of droplets tapping the old tiles formed a gentle rhythm, but within Lin Ma's chest, unease thundered.
He hadn't slept.
The vision of the sealed chamber, the sarcophagus, and Ji Yanyu's confession refused to fade.
He dressed in silence.
The robes given to him since joining the estate were clean, high-quality—stitched with thread no commoner could afford—but it felt like wearing another man's skin.
> [Mind State: Fragmented Calm]
> [System Suggestion: Confront Ji Yanyu—Resolve Emotional Rift to Stabilize Skill Advancement]
He stepped out.
Across the veranda, Ji Yanyu stood by the plum trees, her gaze lost in the fog.
She turned as if she had sensed him coming.
"I wasn't sure you'd show," she said, voice low.
"You lied to me," Lin Ma replied. Not an accusation. A fact.
Her eyes narrowed. "I told you the truth. Just not all of it."
"You led me into a sealed tomb with a cursed sarcophagus and didn't warn me."
She flinched at the sharpness in his tone but didn't retreat.
"That tomb… was locked by the elders long ago. My mother tried to undo the curse, and she vanished. They told me she was protecting the bloodline. I had to see if you were worthy."
"Worthy?"
She pulled something from her sleeve.
A pendant—obsidian rimmed with phoenix feathers.
"It reacts to celestial blood," she said. "It didn't glow in your hand. But when you touched the sarcophagus…"
"It pulsed," he muttered, realization dawning.
She nodded. "You're connected to it, Lin Ma. I don't know how, or why, but you are. And the elders—if they learn you went down there, they won't hesitate to erase you."
> [New Trait Progression: "Hidden Heir" - 8% Synchronicity with Forbidden Bloodline]
His thoughts spun.
Why was he syncing with an ancient relic meant for the Ji bloodline?
"I'm not part of your clan," he said. "My name isn't even Ji."
"It doesn't matter anymore." Her gaze sharpened. "What matters now is survival. And we need each other to get it."
A moment of silence passed.
Finally, he asked, "Why me?"
"Because you're the only one who questions everything. The rest follow blindly. You're not from here, not molded by the estate's chains. That makes you dangerous—to them. And valuable—to me."
Lin Ma looked at her.
For once, she didn't wear her usual mask.
No arrogance. No cold nobility.
Just a girl—standing under a gray sky, holding onto hope like a sword.
He sighed.
"All right," he said. "But no more half-truths."
She stepped forward and extended her hand.
"Then let's form a pact."
He hesitated only a moment, then clasped her wrist.
Their fingers locked.
> [New Pact Formed: Ji Yanyu & Lin Ma]
> [Dual Task Tree Unlocked: "Tomb of the Phoenix Curse – Phase II"]
> Task 1: Recover the Eight Celestial Keys
Task 2: Uncover the Elders' True Motive
Task 3: Reforge the Broken Seal Before the Awakening
> [Bonus Skill Unlocked: Pact Sense (You can sense Ji Yanyu's emotional state if within 100 meters)]
The rain intensified slightly, and with it came a sense of tension in the air—like something ancient stirring.
---
Later that evening, Lin Ma found Hei Gou nosing at the edge of the north garden, where the earth was disturbed.
Beneath a layer of wet leaves was an old sigil stone—marked with the same runes as the tomb.
> [Skill Activated: Linguistic Memory]
> [Translation Imprinted: "First Key lies where the traitor's heart was turned to ash."]
He looked up sharply.
That could only mean one place: the old altar site where Ji Yanyu's uncle was burned alive during the clan rebellion twenty years ago.
He returned to Yanyu's chamber and relayed the discovery.
She went pale.
"My uncle… He was the first to try and break the pact with the seal. The elders called him insane. They said he turned demonic."
"What if he didn't?" Lin Ma said. "What if he just got close to the truth?"
They exchanged a glance.
No more speculation.
They needed evidence.
---
That night, cloaked in black and using [Silent Step], Lin Ma and Yanyu crept through the estate grounds toward the ruins of the ancestral altar.
There was no ceremony here anymore. Only broken pillars, moss, and forgotten incense ash.
Lin Ma moved to the center.
> [Warning: Presence Detected]
> [Two Cultivators – Concealed. Affiliation: Ji Clan Elder Enforcers.]
He turned sharply. "We're not alone."
Yanyu raised her hand—light pulsing in her palm.
But before they could act—
A voice rang out.
"You shouldn't be here."
An old man in gray robes stepped from the shadows.
Eyes like stone. No emotion.
"Leave, or die."
Yanyu stepped forward, steel in her voice. "This is clan land. I have every right—"
"You had every right," he interrupted coldly. "Until you started digging up graves best left sealed."
Lin Ma moved between them.
"No need for threats," he said. "We're not here for a fight."
The old man smiled—crooked and cold.
"Good. Because you wouldn't win."
---
End of Chapter 15