Feng Tianlei woke slowly, not to pain but to the strange awareness that he was being observed.
At first it was only a sensation at the edge of consciousness, a pressure that did not touch his skin yet weighed heavily on his nerves.
The air smelled clean carrying a faint herbal sharpness that reminded him of medicine rooms and old incense burned in forgotten temples.
His ears caught the soft rhythm of another breath that did not belong to him close enough that he felt it in the space between his thoughts.
He opened his eyes.
For a breath he thought he was still dreaming . Then he shifted and the world shifted with him and reality settled into place with a quiet, merciless certainty.
A girl sat beside the bed.
She was close, far too close, her knees drawn together, her hands folded neatly in her lap . Her head was slightly tilted, dark hair falling forward in a smooth curtain that framed a pale, unreadable face. Her eyes were the first thing he truly saw, wide and unblinking, reflecting him with unsettling clarity.
She had been watching him sleep.
Tianlei's body reacted before his mind did.
He jerked upward with a sharp intake of breath, muscles tensing as his instincts flared too late to be useful.
The movement sent the thin blanket sliding down his body .
Naked.
The realization struck him with a heat far stronger than fear.
He froze mid-motion, shock locking him in place as his gaze dropped and confirmed what his skin already knew. No bandages, no clothes, no dignity.
His heart stumbled violently in his chest as he grabbed the edge of the blanket and yanked it back up with clumsy panic, wrapping it around himself like a shield.
The girl did not flinch.
A faint curl appeared at the corner of her lips .
"Oh, you're awake . Your reaction is slower than I expected. I was beginning to wonder if you'd sleep through sunset too."
"Who are you," Tianlei demanded .
His grip tight on the blanket as if it alone kept the world from collapsing further.
"Where am I."
She blinked once, slowly, as though the questions surprised her.
"That's two questions. You should pace yourself. You've only just come back from the edge."
"The edge of what," he snapped.
Her smile widened just a fraction.
"That depends on who you ask."
His stomach twisted.
He scanned the room without fully releasing his defensive posture. The bed was larger than any he remembered sleeping in . The walls curved upward into the glowing ceiling without corners or visible seams.
This was not his home or anywhere he recognized.
His thoughts slammed immediately into the one person who should have been here with him.
His eyes snapped back to the girl.
"Where is my aunt. Where did she go?"
The girl watched him for a few seconds longer than necessary, evaluating rather than answering. Then she shrugged.
"No idea. When you arrived, you were alone."
Arrived.
The word sank into him like cold water.
" I don't remember anything"
His voice broke against the memory of splintering wood and shadows moving through firelight.
The room remained silent.
The girl regarded him with something that might have been curiosity, or might have been boredom
"Whatever happened before, it doesn't matter now. You're at Golden Earth Academy."
He stared at her. "At what."
She leaned back in her chair as if settling into a lecture she had given many times before.
"Golden Earth Academy. One of the greatest cultivation and combat institutions in eastern Asia, possibly the world depending on who you argue with. Heroes are forged here, legends sharpened, destinies redirected, all that dramatic nonsense people love to repeat."
Her tone was casual, dismissive, as though she spoke of a marketplace rather than a place that sounded impossibly distant from his reality.
Tianlei shook his head.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't choose to come here. I don't even know how I got here."
That statement finally, drew a flicker of interest from her
"You really don't remember."
"Remember what."
"That complicates things for me and you ."
His chest tightened.
"Stop talking in circles. If you know something, say it."
She rose from her chair in one smooth motion, the fabric of her dark uniform shifting soundlessly against her legs. Only then did he properly register what she wore, a fitted jacket traced with subtle gold embroidery, slim trousers, boots that had never touched mud or dust.
"Rest for now . You'll get answers later."
Tianlei frowned .
She hesitated at the door, glancing back at him with an unreadable look.
" And please , stop frowning like an old man ."
Before he could argue further, she slipped out through the door .
Silence settled heavily over the room.
Tianlei remained sitting, the blanket still clutched around him, his heart gradually slowing as the seconds passed without interruption. His thoughts raced in disordered spirals, circling the same questions without landing on any solid truth. Where was he. What had happened after the attack. Why was he naked in a place that defied all logic he knew. And why did the girl speak as if this were all part of some structured design rather than a catastrophe.
The mention of his aunt echoed within him like a bruise.
After several minutes, movement returned to his limbs. He swung his legs over the side of the bed carefully, testing the strength of his body. There was an odd lightness to him, as though exhaustion had been peeled away and replaced with something sharper .
No lingering weakness from injury or shock.
Another unsettling discovery.
He stood slowly, keeping the blanket wrapped around his waist as he approached the nearest wall. At his touch the surface rippled faintly .
A soft tone sounded behind him.
"Impressive, You are awake" a new voice said.
Tianlei turned sharply.
A man stood near the foot of the bed, tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in the same dark uniform as the girl though worn with far less precision. His hair was streaked with gray despite a face that did not look old .
"Who are you," Tianlei asked again, the question now edged with fatigue rather than fear.
"Li Jian," the man replied. "Senior instructor of the outer division. And for now, the one responsible for explaining why you're here."
Tianlei exhaled slowly.
"Then start explaining."
Instructor Li regarded him steadily.
"You were found unconscious at the outer gate array shortly before dawn. No identification, no companions, no visible injuries. Your internal condition, however, was… unstable."
"Unstable how."
"Like a vessel cracked but not yet shattered . Energy attempting to circulate without understanding its own boundaries. A condition that kills most who experience it."
"And yet I'm standing."
"Yes . Which is why you are here and not buried."
Tianlei absorbed that in uneasy silence.
"My aunt."
Li's gaze softened just slightly.
"No idea"
The words landed like stone.
"So she's dead," Tianlei said quietly.
"We do not speak in absolutes without proof," Li replied. "But we prepare for the worst."
Grief did not explode within him as he had expected. It settled instead like a cold weight behind his ribs, heavy and difficult to breathe around. His fingers tightened in the blanket until his knuckles ached.
"Why me," he asked at last. "Why bring me here."
Li studied him for a long moment before answering.
The door behind Li opened again, and the girl from earlier stepped back inside as if she had never left, her composure unchanged.
"You forgot to give him clothes," she said.
Li blinked once. "So I did."
She tossed a folded set of academy robes toward Tianlei, who caught them awkwardly with one hand while trying to keep the blanket from betraying him.
As he dressed, neither of them turned away.
The lack of embarrassment on their part made his discomfort feel both pointless and unavoidable.
"Her name is Xue Ren," Li said once Tianlei had finished. "She is assigned as your temporary guide."
"Twelve days as a punishment rather than willingly . So I am stuck with you , but happy I am the sexiest girl who will make you survive orientation"
Tianlei frowned.
"Orientation for what."
" Welcome to Golden Earth Academy, Feng Tianlei."
Hearing his full name spoken here, in this place that should not exist, sent a strange shiver through him.
His past felt suddenly very far away.