Chapter 20: The Blood Oath Beneath the Library
Rain tapped steadily against the ancient temple's rooftops, weaving a rhythm of unease across the quiet corridors. The Echo Pendant lay still now—its glow faded, its hunger seemingly fed.
But Lin Ma's heart had only begun to burn.
He stood alone in the forbidden records chamber beneath the eastern wing, where tomes were sealed in chains and knowledge cost more than coin. Yunhua had gone to keep watch upstairs, her face pale after seeing the truth Lin Ma reclaimed.
His fingers trembled as he touched the old parchment spread across the dusty desk.
It detailed forbidden rituals, soul splits, and puppet reincarnations—evidence the elders once dabbled in soul-binding. This wasn't just a school. It was a cage where potential was experimented on and prodigies became sacrifices.
His memory of Elder Zheng's betrayal echoed like footsteps in a tomb.
"I was a vessel," he muttered. "Chosen. Not saved."
The pendant around his neck pulsed faintly again, reacting to the chamber. It vibrated with a sickly warmth, as if drawing power from the knowledge sealed here.
Then a whisper.
Not a voice. A feeling. Like grief wrapping around his spine.
> Page 307.
His fingers moved instinctively, flipping through a thick codex bound in phoenix-hide until he reached the page.
Blood Oath Ritual: Binding the Mind to the Truth
Instructions were vague, but the purpose was clear. It allowed the user to protect a recovered truth by binding it to the soul using their own blood—at a cost.
Cost: Permanent loss of one emotion.
Lin Ma stared.
The knowledge he reclaimed was precious. Elder Zheng's betrayal could shift everything. But if he didn't protect it, the cult—whatever organization backed the teachers—could erase it again.
Just like before.
His breath slowed. "What emotion can I afford to lose?"
Joy? Fear? Hope?
Then he remembered the cold feeling in his chest these past weeks—the numbness that let him keep fighting, even when everything inside screamed to stop.
"I'll sacrifice my ability to feel safety," he whispered. "I no longer need to feel safe. I need to be dangerous."
He slit his palm with a ritual knife stored nearby, and blood dripped onto the page.
The pendant flared. A searing heat surged through his body.
> Blood Oath Accepted.
Emotion Removed: Sense of Safety.
Truth Bound: Elder Zheng's allegiance lies with the Cult of the Hollow Moon.
He collapsed to his knees.
Yunhua arrived moments later, eyes widening at the glowing script around him.
"What did you do?"
"I made sure they can't take it from me again," Lin Ma said, standing slowly. "Even if they tear me apart, this truth is part of my soul now."
Yunhua touched the pendant, her face tightening. "You're not the same."
"No," he said. "And neither is the mission."
Outside, the storm grew louder.
That night, Lin Ma stood on the rooftop of the eastern pagoda, looking down on the sleeping school grounds. Every light below seemed sinister now. Every flickering torch held the shadow of a watcher. Every teacher could be a spy.
But he was done hiding.
He pulled out the small leather notebook his mother had left him—a relic from the other world that had, oddly, survived the reincarnation. Inside were encrypted prayers, journal notes, and scribbled affirmations.
Hidden between two pages was a photograph.
His real family. His real life. Before transmigration. A reminder that there had been a time before all of this madness.
That photograph had been missing for weeks.
Yet here it was.
A tremor ran down his spine.
Someone had been in his room. Someone had returned it.
Yunhua returned, face pale. "I went to the outer courtyard. There was a message on the stone lantern. Marked with cult glyphs."
"What did it say?"
She held up a folded note, written in crimson ink:
> "You've remembered. Good.
But remember this: You were chosen for a reason.
And we're not done with you yet.
— The Hollow Moon Rises."
Lin Ma's grip tightened.
"They're watching us," he said.
"No," Yunhua whispered. "They're testing you."
A distant gong rang from the direction of the inner sanctum.
A student screamed.
And then another.
The night broke open as the ground beneath the temple shook, and black-robed figures emerged from the darkness near the boundary wall—silhouettes marked by silver masks and flickering red auras.
The cult had arrived.
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End of chapter