Lin Feng's small residence felt smaller tonight. The cracked walls seemed to press in, echoing the screams that had faded from the outer courtyard but not from his mind. He sat on the edge of the hard wooden bed, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor where a single drop of Xiao Qing's blood had dried into the grain after he'd helped her stand.
The system panel hovered silently, waiting.
[Ding! New Main Quest Issued: "First Harvest"]
[Objective: Fully devour the essence of one marked target (Wei Shun) before sunrise. Extract the names of all who ordered the needle. Do not allow personal emotion to influence the speed or method.]
[Reward: Unlock Devour Echo (ability to temporarily relive a target's memories as your own) + 300 Dominion Points + Minor Bloodline Fortification]
[Penalty for Failure or Emotional Interference: Temporary suppression of Sovereign's Mask (24 hours) + Random Stat Drain (-20% to all attributes) + Emotional Resonance Overload (intensified feelings toward marked bonds)]
[Time Limit: 6 hours]
Lin Feng read it twice. His jaw tightened.
The system had never been gentle, but this felt personal. Like it knew the crack Yue Li and Xiao Qing had opened in him tonight and wanted to seal it before it widened.
He closed his eyes. The image of Xiao Qing's bruised face wouldn't leave. Sixteen years old. Healer's hands that had trembled while offering him a bandage after the gate fight. She had looked at him—not with pity, but with the quiet courage of someone who still believed kindness mattered.
In his first life, no one had shown him that.
He had let her suffer tonight because he walked away.
A bad decision already. One he could feel lodging in his chest like a splinter.
A soft knock at the door pulled him out.
Yue Li stood outside, lantern lowered, face pale in the moonlight. Her eyes were red-rimmed. She had clearly been crying.
"I couldn't stay away," she said before he could speak. "Xiao Qing… they locked her in the outer punishment cell. She keeps whispering your name. Like you're the only one who can fix this."
Lin Feng's throat tightened. He fought the urge to reach for her.
"You shouldn't be here. Lin Hao will use it against you."
"I know." Her voice cracked. "But watching you kneel in front of her… the way you spoke to her… it reminded me of my father. The last time he looked at me before they sent him to die."
She stepped inside without invitation, closing the door behind her. The small space suddenly felt too warm.
"I'm scared, Lin Feng." The admission came out raw. "Not of the gates. Of this. Of feeling something for someone who looks at the world like it already owes him blood."
He wanted to tell her to leave. To protect herself.
Instead he took her hand. Her fingers were cold.
"I'm not good at this," he confessed, voice low. "Every time I let someone close, the system… it pushes back. Like it wants me alone."
Yue Li searched his face.
"Then fight it. For once. Don't let it win tonight."
The words hit harder than any punishment could.
He pulled her closer. Their second kiss was different—desperate, tasting of salt from unshed tears. Her hands clutched his robe like she feared he would vanish. For a moment the Sovereign Path felt distant. Just a man holding a woman who saw past the mask.
Then the system chimed coldly.
[Warning: Emotional Resonance with Yue Li at 28%. Devour Instinct rising in conflict. Suppress or face minor backlash.]
A sharp pain lanced through his temples—his first punishment for hesitation. He winced but didn't let go.
Yue Li noticed. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing you can fix."
She stepped back, hurt flashing across her features.
"That's the problem, isn't it? You keep choosing the path that leaves everyone else bleeding."
The words stung because they were true.
She turned to leave, but paused at the door.
"Xiao Qing doesn't deserve to be another regret. Neither do I."
The door closed softly behind her.
Lin Feng stood alone again. The pain in his head faded, but the ache in his chest didn't.
He had made another bad decision—pushing her away when she offered warmth.
He knew he would regret it.
The system knew too.
[Ding! Penalty Applied for Delayed Quest Acceptance: -50 Dominion Points. Current total: 138]
He exhaled shakily.
"Fine."
He left the residence and moved through the shadows toward the outer barracks where Wei Shun slept.
The man was curled on his mat, sweating despite the chill, murmuring in his sleep. The black mark had spread beautifully—dark veins visible now only to Lin Feng's eyes.
Lin Feng knelt beside him.
He placed two fingers on Wei Shun's forehead.
Devour began.
Memories flooded in—not full yet, but fragments. The bribe from Lin Hao. The sneer when the needle went in. The casual cruelty of it all.
But then came something unexpected.
A memory of Wei Shun's younger sister—sick, needing spirit herbs Wei Shun could never afford. The reason he had taken the bribe.
Pity rose unbidden.
Lin Feng fought it. Ruthlessness was survival. Pity was weakness.
He pushed harder.
Wei Shun convulsed once, eyes flying open in terror.
"P-please… I didn't want—"
The words cut off as essence began to flow.
But the system wasn't satisfied.
[Ding! Emotional Interference Detected. Quest parameters violated by hesitation.]
[Additional Penalty: Devour Echo unlocked prematurely and partially corrupted. You will now experience 30% of the target's final regrets as your own for the next hour.]
Pain exploded behind Lin Feng's eyes.
He saw the sister's face. Heard her coughing. Felt Wei Shun's shame—the same shame Lin Feng had carried when his own mother suffered.
A tear slipped down his cheek before he could stop it.
He hated himself for it.
Wei Shun's body went limp. Essence fully absorbed.
[Ding! Quest "First Harvest" — Completed (with emotional penalty)]
[Reward Delayed 50% due to interference: Devour Echo (corrupted version) + 150 Dominion Points]
[New Revelation Unlocked: Bloodline Fragment — "Echo of Lost Kin" (Hidden). Your mother's slow death was not only Lin Hao's doing. A deeper hand pulled the strings—someone inside the clan who benefits from the coming apocalypse.]
The fragment burned into his mind: a shadowy elder figure handing Lin Hao the poison vial. Face obscured. But the ring on the hand… Lin Clan inner vault seal.
A secret. One that could tear the entire clan apart if revealed too soon.
Lin Feng staggered back, breathing hard.
He doubted himself then—truly doubted.
Was the system turning him into a monster who couldn't even feel grief without punishment? Or was he the monster for letting grief slow his revenge?
He fought the doubt the only way he knew—by turning it into resolve.
Xiao Qing was still in that cell. Yue Li was pulling away. His mother's true killer still walked free.
He would fix this.
But fixing it might cost the fragile connections he had just begun to form.
As the corrupted Echo faded, leaving behind a hollow ache, Lin Feng whispered to the empty barracks.
"I won't let them break anyone else."
But even as he said it, he wondered if he was already too late to save himself from becoming the very thing he hated.
The night deepened.
Somewhere in the clan, Su Mei lay awake, jealousy stirring as rumors of Yue Li and the "trash" reached her ears.
Somewhere deeper, the first true conspirator smiled in the dark, unaware that a regressed sovereign had just tasted their shadow.
And in his small room, Lin Feng sat alone again, staring at the system panel, wondering how many more bad decisions it would take before the emotions finally consumed him instead.
The fragments of other people's regrets settled into his bones like old fractures that would ache louder with every new storm to come...