The Ledger was hungry.
Ren felt it at the edge of his consciousness, a presence that wanted to be used, to consume, to reveal. Three days had passed since his last assessment, and the green interface flickered occasionally, almost impatiently, reminding him of its existence.
He ignored it.
Four copper coins had bought him a week's worth of rice, a slightly better shelter (an abandoned crate against a wall, just large enough to lie flat), and the luxury of not starving. He'd spent the past three days observing, learning, and staying alive. No Ledger use. No life force spent.
But curiosity gnawed at him.
What else can it do?
The basic Value Assessment was useful, but expensive. The locked functions-Debt Visualization, Karma Futures, Audit-hinted at capabilities he couldn't even imagine. How did one unlock them? The system had said "ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS UNLOCK WITH USE." But use cost life, and life was the one resource he couldn't replenish.
Catch-22 again. Need to use the Ledger to make it more useful. Using the Ledger shortens the time I have to benefit from that usefulness.
He needed a target worth the cost. Someone important enough that the information gained would outweigh the hours lost. Someone like...
Liu.
The thought surfaced and refused to leave. One-Eyed Liu was his employer, his protector, his only connection to the world beyond starvation. Knowing more about Liu-his history, his weaknesses, his secrets-could only help Ren navigate their relationship.
But it was dangerous. If Liu ever discovered Ren had spied on him with supernatural means...
He won't. Not if I'm careful.
Ren made his decision.
---
The next morning, he found Liu at his usual spot by the well. The old beggar was alone for once, leaning against the stone wall with his one eye half-closed, basking in the weak morning sun.
"Liu," Ren said, approaching.
Liu's eye opened. "Ren. You look less dead than last week. The rice agrees with you."
"It does." Ren hesitated, then played his prepared card. "I've been thinking about Knife Huang."
Liu's expression didn't change, but something in his posture shifted. "What about him?"
"The debt you owe. Two hundred credits, due in... four days now?" Ren had done the math from the original Ledger assessment. "I've been watching his operation. Learning patterns. There might be angles you haven't considered."
Liu studied him for a long moment. "You're a strange one, Ren. Most beggars my age can't think past their next meal. You're thinking about loan sharks and debt strategies."
"Starving focuses the mind. And I want to stay useful."
"Useful." Liu chuckled. "Alright. Walk with me."
They moved through the market, Liu's presence clearing a path as always. Ren kept his eyes down, observing peripherally, letting Liu lead.
"The pill," Liu said quietly, when they were away from other ears. "You mentioned it that first night. How did you know?"
This is it. The dangerous question.
"I saw you touch your side," Ren said, which was true-he had, during that first confrontation. "I saw the shape under your clothes. And I saw the desperation in your eyes when anyone mentioned Huang's name. It wasn't hard to connect."
Liu was silent for a moment. "You're a better observer than most cultivators I've known."
"I've had practice."
"Hmm." They walked further, into a part of the market Ren hadn't explored-older, more run-down, with fewer stalls and more shadows. "The pill is my only hope. I was Qi Condensation once, you know. Almost made it to Foundation Establishment. Then my meridian channels collapsed during a breakthrough attempt." He touched his clouded eye. "Took this eye, most of my cultivation, and any chance I had at a real life."
Ren listened, storing every word.
"Now I'm a beggar lord, which sounds impressive until you realize it just means I'm the biggest fish in a pond full of starving minnows. Huang owns me. Has for years. The interest alone..." Liu shook his head. "The pill is stolen from a sect courier. If I can sell it, I can pay off half the debt. Buy myself time. Maybe find a healer who can fix my channels."
"What kind of pill?"
"Qi Condensation grade. For breakthroughs. Worth maybe four hundred credits to the right buyer." Liu's hand drifted to his side again, unconsciously. "But it's degrading. I don't have the right storage, and it's been weeks. Another few days and it'll be worthless."
Four days until the debt is due. Four or five days until the pill spoils. Liu's timeline is collapsing.
Ren filed the information away, matching it against what the Ledger had shown him. The system had mentioned the pill was "spoiling rapidly-worthless in 5 days." That had been six days ago.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow the pill becomes worthless.
Liu didn't know. Or if he knew, he wasn't showing it. The pill was his only hope, and that hope was about to die.
Should I tell him?
The question burned. Telling Liu would prove his value beyond doubt-observing a secret even the man himself hadn't fully grasped. But it would also reveal that Ren knew more than he should. That he'd been tracking the pill's timeline from that very first night.
Knowledge is power. Timely knowledge is profit. But knowledge that reveals your own capabilities... that's a different kind of currency.
Ren made his choice.
"Liu," he said carefully, "when did you steal the pill?"
"Three weeks ago. Maybe four. Why?"
"The degradation rate. You said it's Qi Condensation grade. Those need special storage-jade containers, or spirit-nullifying wrappings. What did you keep it in?"
Liu's step faltered. "A leather pouch. Inside my robe."
"Leather breathes. Spirit energy leaks through leather. If it's been weeks..."
Liu stopped walking. His one eye fixed on Ren with an intensity that made Ren's skin crawl.
"How do you know about degradation rates?"
Careful. Careful.
"I listened," Ren said. "To merchants. To cultivators talking in the market. To anyone who mentioned pills or cultivation or spirit stones. I don't have cultivation, so I have to learn other ways. Degradation comes up when merchants complain about losses."
A long pause. Then Liu's hand went to his side, withdrawing a small leather pouch from inside his robe. He opened it, peered inside, and went pale.
"It's... it's cracked. The surface. It's..." He looked at Ren. "How long?"
"A few days, I think. Maybe less. I'm not an expert."
Liu stared at the pill, then at Ren, then back at the pill. His jaw worked silently.
"Four hundred credits," he whispered. "My only chance. Rotting in my pocket while I walked around like a fool."
Ren said nothing. He'd told the truth-the pill was degrading. He hadn't revealed that he'd known from the beginning. That he'd watched Liu's hope dwindle day by day without saying a word.
That was a secret he'd keep.
---
Liu dismissed him shortly after, needing time to think, to plan, to despair. Ren returned to his shelter, heart pounding, mind racing.
I told him enough to be useful. Not enough to be dangerous. He'll remember that I warned him. He'll trust me more.
But the Ledger's revelation haunted him. Liu's full history, seen in that first assessment, was even more pathetic than the man himself knew.
A failed cultivator, yes. Indebted, yes. Hiding a stolen pill, yes.
But also: a man who'd once had a family. A wife who'd died of a fever he couldn't cure because his cultivation was too weak to reach the healers in time. A daughter sold to a brothel to pay his early debts. A son who'd run away and never returned.
Liu wasn't just desperate. He was broken. Every decision he made was colored by grief and guilt and the knowledge that he'd failed everyone who ever depended on him.
Ren hadn't known any of that from observation. Only the Ledger could have shown him.
And the Ledger had shown him something else, too-something he hadn't shared with Liu.
The pill isn't just degrading. It's poisonous.
The assessment had said "stolen pill." What it hadn't said was that the pill was stolen from a demonic cultivator, not a regular sect. The energy inside it was tainted, corrupted. Anyone who took it wouldn't advance-they'd transform. Become something less than human. A monster.
Liu didn't know. He thought the pill was his salvation. In reality, it was a slower, more horrible death than Huang could ever deliver.
Do I tell him?
Ren lay in his shelter, staring at the wooden slats above him, and wrestled with the question.
If he told Liu, he'd save the man from a terrible fate. But he'd also reveal that he knew more than any normal observer could. He'd expose the Ledger's existence, or at least hint at capabilities that would make him valuable-and dangerous.
If he didn't tell Liu, the man would try to sell the pill. Someone would buy it. That someone would transform, rampage, die-or worse, survive and become a demonic threat. Liu would be connected to that disaster. He'd be hunted, killed, and anyone associated with him—including Ren-would be at risk.
Not telling him could get me killed. Telling him could get me killed faster.
The calculus was brutal. Liu's life versus Ren's safety. A man's salvation versus a boy's survival.
This is what the Ledger does. It shows you truths you can't unsee. And then it forces you to choose.
Ren closed his eyes, the green glow of the interface flickering behind his lids.
RELATIONSHIP UPDATE: ONE-EYED LIU
CRITICAL INFORMATION PENDING: PILL TOXICITY
DISCLOSURE POTENTIAL OUTCOMES:
- DISCLOSE: LIU INDEBTED, TRUST INCREASED, BUT SUSPICION RAISED (67% PROBABILITY)
- DISCLOSE: LIU DISBELIEVES, TRUST DECREASED, RELATIONSHIP DAMAGED (22% PROBABILITY)
- DISCLOSE: LIU REACTS VIOLENTLY TO PERCEIVED THREAT (11% PROBABILITY)
- CONCEAL: LIU SELLS PILL, VICTIM TRANSFORMS, INVESTIGATION TRACES TO LIU, RISK TO YOU (73% PROBABILITY WITHIN 30 DAYS)
- CONCEAL: PILL SPOILS BEFORE SALE, NO TRANSFORMATION, NO RISK (27% PROBABILITY)
RECOMMENDATION: DISCLOSE WITHIN 24 HOURS, FRAME AS OBSERVATION OF "UNUSUAL ENERGY" NOT SUPERNATURAL KNOWLEDGE.
Ren stared at the probabilities.
Seventy-three percent chance of disaster if he stayed silent. Twenty-seven percent chance the pill spoiled first and saved everyone the trouble.
Twenty-seven percent wasn't good enough.
I have to tell him. But I have to be careful.
He spent the night planning his approach.
---
The next morning, Ren found Liu in a wine shop-one of the few places in the slums that served anything stronger than water. The old beggar was hunched over a cup, his one eye red-rimmed, the leather pouch sitting on the table before him.
"Liu."
"Go away."
"I need to talk to you. About the pill."
Liu's eye focused on him with dangerous intensity. "What about it?"
Ren sat across from him, keeping his voice low. "Last night, I was thinking about what you said. About the degradation. And I remembered something I heard once-a merchant talking about pills that glowed wrong. Pills that felt... off. He said sometimes demonic cultivators hide their energy in regular pills. Poison them, so anyone who tries to use them transforms."
Liu stared. "You're saying my pill is demonic?"
"I'm saying it might be. I don't know for sure. But you stole it from a courier, right? Do you know which sect that courier worked for?"
Liu's face went pale. "I... I didn't check. I just saw the pouch, grabbed it, ran. It could have been anyone."
"Can you feel the energy inside? Even with your damaged channels?"
Liu hesitated, then reached out and laid his hand on the pouch. His eye closed. For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then he flinched.
"There's... something. A coldness. I thought it was just the degradation, but..." He pulled his hand back like he'd been burned. "It feels wrong. Dead wrong."
Ren nodded, keeping his face carefully neutral. "That's what the merchant described. A cold wrongness."
Liu looked at the pouch with naked horror. "I was going to sell this. To some struggling cultivator. I would have killed them."
"You didn't know."
"I would have killed them." Liu's voice cracked. "Another failure. Another death on my hands." He looked at Ren. "How did you know? Really know?"
This is the moment.
"I didn't know," Ren said. "I suspected. The way you described the degradation, the timeline, the fact that a sect courier was carrying it alone-it didn't add up. Sects don't send couriers with valuable pills unguarded. So either it was a trap, or it wasn't valuable in the way it seemed. I took a guess."
Liu studied him for a long, terrifying moment. Then he laughed-not the rusty sound from before, but something darker. Bitter.
"A guess. You took a guess that saved my life and kept me from becoming a murderer." He shook his head. "You're fourteen."
"Fifteen soon."
"Fifteen. And you see clearer than any man I know." Liu picked up the pouch, held it over his cup, and emptied the pill into the wine. They watched it dissolve, murky colors swirling in the cheap alcohol.
"There goes my last hope," Liu said quietly. "Four hundred credits. Down a hole."
"You still have four days until Huang's deadline."
"Four days to find two hundred credits. From nothing." Liu laughed again, even darker. "I'm dead, Ren. We both know it. Huang will break my legs, then my arms, then my neck. And you'll need a new employer."
Ren said nothing. There was nothing to say.
Liu finished his wine-pill and all-and stood. "Get out of here. Go find someone else to work for before I drag you down with me."
He walked away, leaving Ren alone at the table with a cup of poisoned wine and a head full of calculations.
---
Ren sat for a long time after Liu left.
The Ledger had shown him the truth, and he'd used it to save Liu from a demonic transformation. But Liu was still doomed. Knife Huang would kill him in four days, and all Ren's information-all his careful observation-couldn't change that.
Unless...
He thought about Liu's debt. Two hundred credits. A fortune he couldn't imagine.
But Liu had something else. A territory. A network. Information. Power, at this level.
If Liu died, that territory would be up for grabs. Ratface would take it, or someone worse. Ren would lose his protection, his access, his tenuous foothold in this world.
Liu alive is worth more to me than Liu dead.
But how could a fifteen-year-old beggar help a failed cultivator escape a loan shark?
He didn't know. Not yet. But he had four days to find out.
Ren left the wine shop and headed back to his shelter, mind already racing through possibilities. The Ledger glowed softly at the edge of his vision.
RELATIONSHIP UPDATE: ONE-EYED LIU
STATUS: ENDANGERED
DEBT TO HUANG: 200 CREDITS
TIME REMAINING: 4 DAYS
YOUR CURRENT RESOURCES: 4 COPPER COINS, OBSERVATION SKILLS, LEDGER (PARTIAL)
PROBABILITY OF LIU SURVIVAL WITHOUT INTERVENTION: 8%
PROBABILITY OF LIU SURVIVAL WITH OPTIMAL INTERVENTION: UNKNOWN (INSUFFICIENT DATA)
RECOMMENDATION: GATHER MORE INFORMATION ON KNIFE HUANG
Ren smiled grimly.
The Ledger and I think alike.
He had work to do.
---
END OF CHAPTER 4