Nights in Qinghe Village had never been this silent.
Not even during winter.
And yet, for the past two nights, the village shrine—the oldest structure in town—had begun to leak mist.
Not the ordinary kind. This one glowed faintly, too thick for fog, too spiritual for weather. It curled up from the shrine's stone base like incense from a broken censer.
And it only appeared at midnight.
Only when no one was watching.
Lin Wei watched it anyway.
He didn't approach.
He stood near the old prayer tree, just barely within range.
> Ding!
> [Mystic Phenomenon Observed: +1 Spiritual Sensitivity]
> [Passive Insight Triggered – "Shrine Seal Degradation: 8%"]
> [Linked Event Detected – Bound Beneath the Shrine: 9%]
He narrowed his eyes.
There was something down there. Something sealed. Something waking up.
Or worse... something no longer asleep.
The next morning, the village chief, Elder Huai, returned from a three-day trip with a stranger at his side.
The man wore ink-black robes stitched with golden thread and a ring of silver charms at his waist. His face was hidden behind a half-veil of folded paper talismans, and his fingers were stained with cinnabar ink.
A formation master.
Very few ever came this deep into the countryside. Lin Wei had only ever read about them in stories.
The man spoke little, but walked the shrine's perimeter with quiet authority, planting flags and whispering to stones.
And then, that evening, Lin Wei received a summons.
"You were there the night the beast attacked," said the chief, sitting in his hall with a cup of warm tea. "And Ping'er confirmed you helped her."
Lin Wei lowered his gaze. "I just did what I could."
"You've been calm through it all. Most boys would have panicked. Even the cultivator from the city arrived late."
A pause.
"The guest we brought," the chief continued, "is not only a formation expert. He's also attuned to karmic resonance."
Lin Wei's breath caught.
"So he asked to meet you."
The guest's name was Master Yunmo. He sat cross-legged on a woven mat beside a rotating disc etched with ancient script and a basin of oil.
He didn't raise his head when Lin Wei entered.
"Your karmic threads," the master murmured, "are unusually quiet."
Lin Wei stayed silent.
"Most threads buzz with need, regret, or hunger. Yours flow… like still water. Strange. Rare."
"I'm just a villager."
"No, you are not." Yunmo's fingers moved over the basin, and flames danced in response. "You have planted at least two karmic seeds—both active, one awakened."
Lin Wei's heart skipped.
> Ding!
> [System Alert: One of your karmic seeds has germinated.]
> [Location: East Ridge Orchard – Host unknown.]
"You healed something, or someone," Yunmo whispered. "And now, it is growing without you."
"What does that mean?"
"It means," Yunmo said softly, "fate has taken one of your gifts and redirected it. What it becomes… may not be yours to control."
That night, unable to sleep, Lin Wei followed his system map to the orchard mentioned.
The east ridge had always been quiet—an overgrown place with wild trees and abandoned storage huts. The land hadn't been used in decades.
But now…
> Ding!
> [Karmic Seed Detected]
> [Energy Signature: Unstable. Cultivation anomaly in progress.]
He found the tree easily.
An old peach tree, crooked and withered from age. Or it had been.
Now it pulsed faintly with golden light, and its bark had grown smooth—new.
And wrapped around its base… was a figure.
Small. Breathing slowly. Whispering in sleep.
Ping'er.
She was sleeping beneath the tree.
Lin Wei knelt beside her, gently placing a hand near her shoulder. No injuries. Just warmth. A faint pulse of spiritual energy surrounded her.
He focused.
> Ding!
> [You have located your Karmic Seed: Bound to Ping'er]
> [Effect: Minor Spiritual Affinity Unlocked – Target's fate altered]
> [New Title Acquired: "Unseen Mentor"]
Unseen… mentor?
The girl had begun cultivating—not by technique, not by teaching—but through contact with his karma.
And more than that… she was absorbing energy from the tree.
Or rather.
The tree was channeling energy through her.
> Karmic mutation in effect.
> Spiritual anomaly expanding. Estimated containment window: 3 days.
He pulled back, staring at the child—and the glowing tree—both asleep and dreaming.
My presence alone changed her fate.
The next day, villagers began whispering about the orchard again.
"Fruit returned."
"Trees regrown."
"Spirits of the land awakened."
None of them mentioned the glowing bark or the strange warmth. But Lin Wei knew what was coming.
Things were unraveling.
Fate didn't want him to stay quiet.
But he would.
Even now.
He just needed to learn how to stay invisible… even while saving lives.
That evening, the formation master drew a new seal beneath the shrine.
But when he placed the final talisman into the soil—it caught fire and disintegrated.
Yunmo froze. His hands trembled slightly.
Then, he stood and addressed the chief.
"The seal has fractured beneath," he said. "What's bound under this shrine… was never meant to stay forever."
> Ding!
> [Bound Beneath the Shrine: 11%]
> [Karmic Thread Expansion: 2 Active Seeds → 3]
> [Spiritual Affinity: Low Tier Unlocked]
> [Level 8 → Level 9]
That night, Lin Wei sat by the river again.
Not as a child.
Not as a lost soul.
But as something else now.
A whisper, quietly shaping the future of a village too blind to see what was awakening inside their homes, inside their shrine...
And inside him.