The wind had not eased when Wu Chi was called back.
I lifted my gaze toward him without turning my body from Tan Wei.
"Return to the sect," I said. "What you witnessed here does not exist."
Wu Chi's lips parted as if to speak.
Then he closed them just as quickly and bowed deeply.
"Yes, Elder Xu."
His eyes lingered on the two of us for only a heartbeat longer before he turned and descended the mountain path alone, his back straight, his steps steady. By the time his figure disappeared beyond the bend, the only sounds left were the wind and rough, uneven breathing.
Only then did I move.
Each step toward Tan Wei sent a dull wave of pain through my body. The damage was extensive now, deeper than anything I had taken before without immediate collapse. My vision trembled faintly at the edges, and the warmth soaking my robes told me more than enough about the state of my ribs and back.
I stopped beside him and let myself sink down against the rock a short distance away.
For the first time since stepping onto the platform, I reached up and removed the mask.
Cold air washed over a face caked in blood.
Tan Wei looked at me sidelong from where he knelt.
"Been a while since I've seen you without the mask," he murmured.
I let out a slow breath. "You know there's a purpose behind it..."
A brief, strained huff escaped him. It might have been a laugh.
We sat in silence for a short while after that, the mountain bearing witness to nothing more than two injured men trying to breathe without showing how much it hurt.
Finally, I spoke.
"What I am doing to the sect… is not orthodox."
Tan Wei did not answer at once.
"It is not how sects are built,"
I continued.
"And it is not how disciples are normally brought up. Fear is not used as a foundation. It is avoided. Suppressed. Circled carefully with rules and lectures."
I glanced down at my blood-soaked hands.
"But those methods produce mediocrity. At best, they produce stability. Tiger Peak does not need stability."
Tan Wei's voice was quiet.
"It needs survival."
"And then strength," I said. "Not borrowed influence. Not temporary alliances. Real strength. Power that does not bow its head whenever a larger sect passes by."
I lifted my gaze to him.
"I will not take the sect for myself. I have no interest in ruling mountains and disciplining children for the rest of my life. When the foundation is set, when the core of Tiger Peak is unbreakable, I will leave it in your hands."
Tan Wei studied my face, long and carefully.
"And what will you take with you when you leave?" he asked.
"Some benefits," I replied honestly. "Resources. Disciples who choose to follow me. And the freedom to move without dragging a sect behind me."
His brow tightened slightly.
"And you swear that when that day comes, you will not hollow out what remains?"
"I swear that if Tiger Peak survives what I am building now," I said, "it will be stronger without me than it ever was with only you."
He closed his eyes.
For several breaths, he said nothing.
When he opened them again, the resistance that had always lived there was no longer rigid. Still present, but no longer defiant.
"You truly believe this is the only path," he said.
"I do," I answered. "I am not playing at cruelty. I am not indulging in it. If another way existed that could produce the same result, I would take it. It doesn't."
He exhaled slowly.
"Then I will walk beside you," Tan Wei said quietly. "Even if I do not fully understand the road."
A pause followed.
Then his gaze drifted to my chest.
The torn flesh beneath my robes had already begun to close.
Not rapidly, but visibly.
Blood slowed.
Edges of shattered tissue knit together with faint, unnatural precision.
Tan Wei stared.
"…Your regeneration,"
He said at last.
"This is not normal. Even with body cultivation. Even with pills."
My attention followed his.
For the first time, I truly watched it.
The healing was happening without my conscious guidance. Slower now than it had been minutes ago, as if something had expended most of its strength earlier, but undeniably active.
"I knew my recovery was faster than average,"
I admitted slowly.
"But this… this is new to me as well."
His eyes narrowed.
"And that pressure you radiate," he continued. "That... dread... You held it back today. I could feel it struggling against your control. What is it?"
"A special constitution," I said. "Nothing more that I am willing to explain."
Tan Wei did not press further.
He only shook his head faintly, half in disbelief, half in resignation.
"Are you sure you are not a monster?" he asked.
I allowed myself a small, tired breath that might have passed for a laugh.
"Just a man far away from home..."
With effort, I pushed myself to my feet and extended a hand toward him.
"I did not come here to leave you broken on a mountain."
He accepted the hand without hesitation.
It took both of our strength to rise fully.
Each step back toward the mountain path was slow, uneven, supported by the other's weight as often as by our own legs. Blood stained the stone beneath our feet in a single, trailing line that the wind quickly scattered into dust.
Two injured figures descended the western ridge together.
Not as enemies.
Not as rivals.
But as uneasy allies bound by a future that neither of them could afford to turn away from.
.
.
.
[STATUS]
[Name: Han Ye]
[Age: 18]
[Cultivation: Dread Core Realm – Early Stage ▸ Qi Condensation - Late Stage]
[Fear Points: 4 152]
[Trauma: +795/day]
[Infamy: +24/day]
[Fear Points needed for the next stage: 12 000]
[Techniques: Shadowless Step, Thousand Faces Arts (incomplete), Silent Pulse Breathing, Crow Shroud Technique]
Author's note: Officially caught up to the newest chapter. Releases will be slowing down from this point onwards. If you enjoy the story so far, please consider adding my work to your collections, and every power stone is much appreciated. Reviews as well, of course :)