Chapter 18: The Murim Lineage
Back at the temporary safety of the observation point, Master Wei watched the two Hunters vanish into the submerged canal. He felt a deep, wrenching worry, compounded by the presence of a faint, almost invisible energy signature watching them from the distant, corrupted mountains.
"The Arbiter's coldness will be their downfall," Wei muttered, his hands moving through a complex sequence of Qi-based defensive forms.
A young woman from the Vanguard, an aspiring healer, looked up nervously. "Master Wei, what is the Arbiter's power? Why does he seem so… willing to die?"
Wei stopped his forms, his gaze fixed on the ominous, eternal twilight of the Ashen City. He decided he needed to reveal more of the truth—the Murim truth—to secure the support he needed against Aiden's dominance.
"Hunter Aiden, the Arbiter, operates under a logic that is both magnificent and terrifying," Wei explained, his voice solemn. "But it is the logic of a man fighting a fixed reality. My connection to the Murim—the true lineage of the Monkey King and the Eastern Gods like Durga and Brahma—gives me a view the Western Pantheon often ignores."
He gestured to his own black, high-collared coat. "My ancestors were hunters long before the Eclipse Tower. We fought entities like the Outer Gods before they had names. And we learned their weakness: they place Constraints on reality."
Wei closed his eyes, channeling his internal energy. "When Aiden betrayed Rin in the past life, it was not merely cold strategy. I believe, through my ancestors' warnings, that the Outer Gods—perhaps Nyx or Ahriman—placed a Fatal Constraint on Rin's soul, making his death inevitable and absolute. To save Rin's very essence from annihilation, Aiden had to shatter his love and become the necessary villain."
The healer gasped. "He betrayed him to save his soul?"
"Yes," Wei confirmed grimly. "It is the ultimate act of selfless love, masked by the ultimate cruelty. That is why I dislike him. He is a martyr, not a strategist. And martyrs are unstable."
Wei continued, explaining his own lineage. "My family line is protected by the watchful gaze of Durga, the warrior Goddess, and the primordial energy of Shiva. We, the Murim, wield Qi—the internal life force—which is a counter-force to the Outer Gods' chaos. The Naga Dragon Scale Rin used was a conduit of this Eastern power."
He looked toward the distant, twisting structure of Nyx's influence. "Rin is still carrying the anger of the betrayed, which is a powerful fuel. But if the Outer Gods can twist that anger into chaos, Rin will be lost to the void. I must pull him away from Aiden's destructive path."
As Wei spoke, a subtle tremor ran through the Ashen City—not a tectonic shift, but a spiritual one. The faint shadow of a massive, multi-armed silhouette flickered in the distant purple sky, watching. It was the immense power of Durga, the Goddess of War, her presence a silent, protective warning to the Murim Master.
Wei stood up, his gaze now firm and unwavering. "I will not let the Arbiter destroy himself, nor will I let him destroy Rin. I will save them both from this deadly dance."
He vowed, not to a god, but to the core of his Murim oath. He was a strategic rival, not just a romantic one. He saw the truth, but his desire to protect Rin made his interference just as strategically dangerous as Aiden's betrayal.