The hut smelled of decay and desperate hope.
Lin Feng leaned against the wall as Xia Ling bolted the wooden door behind them. The interior was one room—a packed-earth floor, a small fire pit with a struggling flame, and two sleeping mats in the corner. On one mat lay an old woman so thin she seemed to be merging with the blankets.
"Grandmother," Xia Ling whispered, rushing to the woman's side. "I have the medicine."
The old woman's eyes opened. They were milky with cataracts but held a strange, piercing clarity. They didn't look at Xia Ling. They looked directly at Lin Feng.
"You brought a storm into our home, child," Grandmother Lan said, her voice like dry leaves rubbing together.
"He helped me," Xia Ling said, preparing the medicine—a paste of crushed spirit herbs that even from across the room made Lin Feng's damaged dantian throb with longing. "The serpent-blood boys were—"
"I know what they were," the grandmother interrupted. She pushed herself up on bony elbows. "Young master of the fallen Lin Clan. You should be dead."
Lin Feng stiffened. "How do you know who I am?"
"The wind still clings to you," she said cryptically. "And the dead whisper in the rain. Sit. You're leaking blood on my floor."
He looked down. A crimson droplet had fallen from his torn sleeve. He slid down the wall to sit, the movement sending fresh agony through his ribs. The jade pendant pulsed warmly against his chest.
Xia Ling applied the paste to her grandmother's chest, her movements gentle and practiced. The old woman closed her eyes, breathing deeply as the medicine's energy seeped into her.
[SYSTEM OBSERVATION: SUBJECT 'GRANDMOTHER LAN']
[BLOODLINE ANALYSIS: HUMAN WITH TRACES OF ANCIENT DIVINATION BLOOD (0.001% PURITY)]
[STATUS: TERMINAL SPIRIT POISONING - 14 DAYS REMAINING]
[NOTE: HER DEATH WILL TRIGGER XIA LING'S BLOODLINE SEAL TO WEAKEN FURTHER]
Lin Feng's breath caught. The System was giving him information he shouldn't have. And that last line... was it suggesting he wait for her to die?
No. He pushed the thought away. That wasn't who he was. Was it?
"Your injuries," Xia Ling said, turning to him. She'd finished with her grandmother and now approached with a clay bowl of water and a clean(ish) rag. "Let me see."
"I'm fine," he said automatically.
"You're not." She knelt beside him, her gold-flecked eyes serious. "You helped me. Let me help you."
He hesitated, then nodded. The noble pride could die with the rest of his clan. Survival required accepting help.
As she cleaned the cut on his face, her fingers surprisingly steady, the System whispered again.
[BOND FORMATION PROGRESS: 3%]
[PHYSICAL PROXIMITY: +1%]
[ACT OF RECIPROCAL CARE: +2%]
[NOTE: BOND MUST REACH 30% BEFORE MARRIAGE PROPOSAL CAN BE CONSIDERED 'GENUINE' BY SYSTEM STANDARDS]
So it wasn't just about saying vows. The System measured emotional connection. Good. That meant...
"Your bloodline," Lin Feng said suddenly, looking at the feather-like birthmarks on her neck. "Why do they call it cursed?"
Xia Ling's hands stilled. Across the room, Grandmother Lan spoke without opening her eyes.
"Because when she was born, the midwife died. Spontaneous combustion. Just... ash." The old woman's voice was flat. "When she turned five, a spirit beast attacked our caravan. It got within ten feet of her and burst into flames. When she bleeds, her blood smells like cinnamon and smoke. The clans tested her. Said her bloodline was impure, chaotic, dangerous. A curse."
"But it's not a curse," Lin Feng said, the System's words echoing in his mind. "It's a phoenix bloodline. Dormant. Sealed."
The hut went utterly silent except for the crackle of the fire.
Grandmother Lan's eyes snapped open. "Who told you that?"
"No one told me. I can... sense it." He touched the jade pendant. "My clan heirloom reacts to powerful bloodlines."
It was half-truth, half-lie. But it worked.
The old woman studied him for a long moment. Then she sighed, a sound of profound exhaustion. "Her mother was a wanderer from the Southern Wastes. Beautiful, with eyes like yours—gold-flecked. She died in childbirth. Before she did, she whispered to me: 'When the last wind meets the first flame, the seal will break.' I never understood what it meant."
"Until now," Lin Feng whispered.
The Last Wind. The Lin Clan's wind affinity. The First Flame. Xia Ling's dormant phoenix blood.
[BOND FORMATION PROGRESS: 8%]
[SHARED SECRETS: +5%]
[NOTE: CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE DISCOVERED A 'DESTINED PAIRING.' BONUS: PURIFICATION COST REDUCED BY 50%]
Lin Feng's mind raced. Destined pairing? Was the System saying they were fated? Or was it just recognizing compatibility?
Xia Ling finished cleaning his wounds. She'd gone very quiet. "So I'm not cursed?"
"You're the opposite of cursed," Lin Feng said, meeting her eyes. "You're a treasure that ignorant people were too afraid to understand."
Her cheeks colored. She looked away. "Even if that's true, it doesn't matter. My bloodline is sealed. The clan testers said it would never awaken. And even if it did... who would want someone who accidentally burns people?"
"I would," Lin Feng said, and immediately regretted how that sounded.
She stared at him.
"I mean—" he scrambled. "As an ally. A... partner. In building something new."
Grandmother Lan chuckled, a dry, rasping sound. "Young master, you have the subtlety of a mountain bear in mating season. But your heart is in the right place." She coughed violently, and this time, flecks of black appeared in the phlegm. Spirit poisoning. Advanced.
"Grandmother!" Xia Ling rushed to her side.
"I'm fine, child. Fine." But her breathing had become shallow. "Listen to me, both of you. The Zhang Clan won't stop until every Lin is dead. And when they realize Xia Ling has a rare bloodline—dormant or not—they'll come for her too. Either to use or to destroy."
Lin Feng pushed himself up. "Then we leave. Tonight."
"Where?" Xia Ling asked, despair creeping into her voice. "They're hunting everywhere. And Grandmother can't travel far."
"I have an idea," Lin Feng said. "The Lin ancestral lands. There's a hidden valley—my father showed me once. It's protected by natural formations. The spiritual energy is thin, which is why we never developed it, but that means no one else wants it either."
"And how do we get there? It's twenty miles through hunted territory."
Lin Feng looked at the jade pendant. It was warm, almost humming. "I have... a plan. But I need to recover first. And your grandmother needs to stabilize."
As if on cue, a notification appeared in his vision.
[EMERGENCY MISSION: SAVE GRANDMOTHER LAN]
[OBJECTIVE: USE YOUR BLOOD TO NEUTRALIZE SPIRIT POISON]
[REWARD: BOND +15%, XIA LING'S LOYALTY ASSURED, 'COMPASSIONATE PATRIARCH' TITLE (FAMILY HEALING +10%)]
[WARNING: THIS WILL WEAKEN YOU FURTHER AND REVEAL YOUR LOCATION TO BLOODLINE-SENSING TRACKERS FOR 1 HOUR]
Risk versus reward. The System was testing him. Was he the kind of patriarch who would sacrifice for family, even prospective family?
He made his decision.
"Xia Ling," he said, voice firm. "Bring me a knife. A clean one."
"Why?"
"Your grandmother's poisoning. I think I can help. But I need to bleed."
She stared at him like he'd gone mad. Grandmother Lan, however, nodded slowly. "The old texts speak of it. Noble blood, willingly given, can purify. But you're weak already. This could kill you."
"Not if we're quick." He held out his hand. "Knife."
Xia Ling fetched a small, sharp utility knife. Lin Feng took it, hesitated for only a second, then drew the blade across his palm. Blood welled up—bright red, but as it pooled, he saw faint silvery streaks in it. The last vestiges of the Lin wind affinity.
"Hold her mouth open," he instructed.
Xia Ling did. Lin Feng let three drops of his blood fall onto Grandmother Lan's tongue.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the old woman gasped. Her back arched. Black smoke began to seep from her pores—the spirit poison being forced out. The smell was foul, like rotting eggs and burnt metal. But as the smoke cleared, her breathing eased. The gray tinge left her skin.
[MISSION COMPLETE]
[BOND FORMATION PROGRESS: 23%]
[XIA LING'S LOYALTY: SECURED]
[NEW TITLE UNLOCKED: COMPASSIONATE PATRIARCH - ALL FAMILY HEALING EFFECTS +10%]
[WARNING: BLOOD SIGNATURE DETECTED. ESTIMATED TIME TO PURSUIT: 47 MINUTES]
Lin Feng swayed. The bloodletting, small as it was, had taken the last of his energy. Darkness crept at the edges of his vision.
"Lin Feng!" Xia Ling caught him as he slumped.
"Listen," he whispered, fighting to stay conscious. "They're coming. The blood... called them. We have maybe an hour."
"Then we run," she said, already gathering their meager supplies.
"Not fast enough. Not with your grandmother." He looked at the fire. An idea formed—desperate, dangerous, but possibly brilliant. "The rain. It'll mask our scent. But we need a distraction."
"What kind of distraction?"
He looked at her. At the dormant phoenix bloodline. At the System's note about her seal weakening when her grandmother died.
But Grandmother Lan wasn't going to die now. Not immediately.
Unless...
"Your bloodline," he said slowly. "You said when you bleed, it smells like cinnamon and smoke. How much blood would it take to make that smell carry on the wind?"
Xia Ling's eyes widened. "You want me to bleed on purpose? To lead them away?"
"It's the only way. They're tracking my blood signature. If they catch a stronger, stranger scent—a phoenix blood scent, even dormant—they might follow it instead."
"She's right, young master," Grandmother Lan said, struggling to sit up. She looked better, but still frail. "But there's another way. A better way."
She reached under her sleeping mat and pulled out a small, intricately carved wooden box. Inside, nestled on faded velvet, was a single crimson feather. It glowed with inner light.
"This was her mother's," the grandmother said, handing it to Xia Ling. "She said to use it when all hope was lost. Break it, and it will release a phoenix cry that will echo for miles. Every bloodline hunter in fifty miles will come running."
"But that would—"
"Lead them away from us, yes. To wherever the feather's energy is strongest when it breaks." She looked at Lin Feng. "You said you knew a hidden valley?"
"I do."
"Then take this." She pressed the feather into Xia Ling's hand. "Go to the ridge above Witherwood. Break it there. Then run south, into the marshes. Leave a trail they can follow. We'll go north, to your valley. Meet us there in three days."
Xia Ling stared at the feather. "But if they catch me—"
"They won't," Lin Feng said, finding strength from somewhere deep. "Because I'm going with you."
"What? No, you can barely stand!"
"And you've never evaded hunters before." He pushed himself upright, using the wall for support. "We do this together. Your grandmother heads north alone. It's the least suspicious path—an old woman traveling slowly. We create the distraction, then circle around."
Grandmother Lan nodded slowly. "It could work. But you'll have to move fast. And you, young master... you'll have to protect my granddaughter with your life."
"I will," Lin Feng said, and meant it.
Not just because the System wanted him to marry her. Not just because her bloodline was valuable.
But because in this cold, brutal world where bloodlines determined everything, she had helped a stranger without asking for anything in return. That was rarer than any phoenix blood.
[BOND FORMATION PROGRESS: 28%]
[SHARED DANGER: +5%]
[PROTECTIVE VOW: +3%]
[NOTE: 2% REMAINING UNTIL MARRIAGE PROPOSAL BECOME VIABLE]
Xia Ling looked between them, then nodded resolutely. "Okay. Let's do this."
They moved quickly. Grandmother Lan took a small pack with the remaining medicine and some food. Xia Ling helped Lin Feng bind his wounds tighter. They had one advantage: the relentless rain would hide their movements and confuse scent trails.
At the door, Grandmother Lan paused. She looked at Lin Feng, her milky eyes suddenly sharp.
"Last wind," she whispered. "First flame. The prophecy is in motion. Don't just survive, young master. Build something that will make the heavens tremble."
Then she slipped out into the rain and was gone.
Lin Feng turned to Xia Ling. "Ready?"
She held up the crimson feather. It pulsed in time with her heartbeat. Or maybe with his. "Ready."
They left the hut, moving into the storm.
Behind them, in the darkness, a pair of scaled boots stepped into the mud where Lin Feng's blood had fallen earlier. A Zhang hunter knelt, touched the diluted blood, and smiled.
"Found you."
[SYSTEM STATUS UPDATE]
[LINEAGE POINTS: 0]
[WIVES: 0]
[CHILDREN: 0]
[BONDS IN PROGRESS: 1 (XIA LING - 28%)]
[CLAN TRAITS UNLOCKED: 1 (COMPASSIONATE PATRIARCH)]
[TERRITORY: PROSPECTIVE (HIDDEN VALLEY)]
[IMMEDIATE THREATS: ZHANG HUNTERS (3), SPIRIT POISON RESIDUE, PHYSICAL COLLAPSE RISK: HIGH]
[DYNASTY STATUS: A SEED PLANTED IN BLOODIED SOIL]