Chapter 23: Eyes in the Shadows
The Misty Shadow Mountains were supposed to be a place where Han Feng could disappear.
The dense fog concealed movement. The cliffs disrupted spiritual perception. The poisonous mist made most cultivators avoid the region entirely.
Yet, for the past three days, Han Feng had felt the same sensation.
Someone was watching him.
At first, he dismissed it as instinct.
After everything that had happened—the cave, the mysterious Gu, the cultivator searching for it, and the appearance of the Black Moon Sect—his mind had every reason to remain cautious.
But the feeling didn't disappear.
It became more precise.
Someone wasn't merely passing through the mountains.
Someone was observing him.
Han Feng sat motionless inside his temporary shelter, his eyes closed.
The Celestial Diagram slowly rotated within his consciousness.
He activated the Celestial Veil Art.
His Qi contracted.
His spiritual fluctuations weakened.
Even the presence of the Celestial Transmutation Gu became almost impossible to detect.
Then Han Feng extended his perception outward.
Ten meters.
Nothing.
Twenty meters.
Nothing.
Thirty.
Still nothing.
He continued.
The surrounding vegetation swayed gently in the wind.
Insects moved through the grass.
A distant spiritual beast cried somewhere among the cliffs.
Everything seemed normal.
Too normal.
Han Feng opened his eyes.
"Someone experienced enough to hide from my perception wouldn't approach carelessly."
That was the problem.
If the enemy were powerful enough to observe him without being detected, Han Feng couldn't simply search the mountains and expect to find them.
He needed to make the enemy reveal themselves.
Han Feng left the shelter.
Instead of heading deeper into the mountains, he deliberately walked toward a small clearing.
It was an exposed location.
A foolish place to cultivate.
Which was exactly why he chose it.
He sat beneath an old tree and began circulating his Qi.
For nearly half an hour, nothing happened.
Then—
A faint disturbance.
Han Feng's eyes remained closed.
A leaf fell from a nearby branch.
There was no wind.
His breathing didn't change.
There.
Something had moved.
Not toward him.
Away from him.
Whoever was watching had noticed that Han Feng was testing the surroundings.
A cautious opponent.
Han Feng almost smiled.
"Then let's see how patient you are."
He returned to his cultivation.
But this time, he deliberately made a mistake.
The Dual Chaos Larva trembled inside his spiritual sea.
Han Feng allowed a small amount of conflicting energy to leak from his meridians.
His aura became unstable.
A few drops of sweat appeared on his forehead.
From a distance, it looked as if he were struggling to control his cultivation.
He even allowed his breathing to become slightly irregular.
The reaction was immediate.
A faint spiritual fluctuation appeared approximately sixty meters away.
Han Feng didn't move.
Got you.
The hidden observer didn't attack.
Instead, the person slowly moved closer.
Ten meters.
Then another five.
Han Feng could now faintly sense their presence.
The concealment technique they used was impressive.
Their aura was almost completely suppressed.
But they had made one mistake.
They had become too confident.
Han Feng continued pretending to struggle with his cultivation.
Another five meters.
The figure finally emerged between two trees.
A black hood concealed most of their face.
There was no sect emblem.
No obvious weapon.
No recognizable aura.
Han Feng remained completely still.
The stranger crouched behind a rock and carefully observed him.
Not attacking.
Not searching the area.
Watching.
That confirmed something important.
This wasn't an assassin.
At least, not yet.
They had been sent to gather information.
Han Feng waited.
The stranger reached into their robe and removed a small object.
A black crystal.
The moment Han Feng saw it, his expression nearly changed.
A Black Soul Crystal.
The same type used during the Black Moon Sect's recruitment trial.
Black Moon Sect?
But there was something different.
A thin silver crescent had been carved into the crystal.
Han Feng remembered the symbol from the hidden passage.
The reversed crescent.
His suspicion deepened.
So the symbol wasn't random.
The stranger raised the crystal.
A faint light spread through the surrounding fog.
Han Feng immediately understood what was happening.
The crystal wasn't being used to attack him.
It was recording spiritual fluctuations.
The person was trying to determine his cultivation level.
Han Feng made a decision.
He allowed his apparent cultivation to rise slightly.
Then he deliberately coughed.
The stranger relaxed.
Apparently, the result matched what they expected.
A weak cultivator.
A young one.
Probably alone.
The stranger slowly stood.
That was enough.
Han Feng activated the seal he had prepared earlier.
The ground beneath the stranger suddenly released a cloud of pale green mist.
The figure reacted instantly.
They covered their mouth and nose and retreated several meters.
But Han Feng had no intention of fighting.
He wasn't even trying to capture them.
He only needed them to move.
The moment the stranger jumped backward, Han Feng saw their face for less than a second.
Young.
Perhaps twenty years old.
A thin scar crossed his left eyebrow.
And around his neck—
A silver crescent pendant.
Han Feng's pupils contracted.
Not Black Moon Sect.
The symbol was similar.
But not identical.
The stranger suddenly threw three black needles toward Han Feng.
Han Feng tilted his body.
Two passed beside his shoulder.
The third struck the tree behind him.
Poison.
Han Feng didn't counterattack.
Instead, he turned and ran.
The stranger hesitated.
Then followed.
The chase lasted less than a minute.
But Han Feng had prepared for it.
He deliberately chose routes where the fog was thickest.
He crossed a shallow stream to erase his tracks.
Then climbed over a rocky slope where ordinary footprints would be difficult to identify.
Behind him, the stranger followed carefully.
Too carefully.
Han Feng realized something.
The stranger wasn't trying to catch him.
They were trying to determine where he was going.
That meant the real objective wasn't Han Feng himself.
It was his location.
His shelter.
His resources.
Perhaps even the identity of the people he was connected to.
Han Feng's expression became serious.
They are mapping my movements.
He suddenly changed direction.
Instead of returning to his shelter, he headed toward an abandoned hunting cabin several kilometers away.
The stranger followed.
Exactly as he expected.
Han Feng slowed down.
Then stopped.
The stranger hid behind a tree.
Neither moved.
For several seconds, the mountains became completely silent.
Finally, Han Feng spoke.
"You can stop following me."
No response.
"I already know you're there."
Silence.
Then the stranger's voice came from the darkness.
"You aren't what you appear to be."
Han Feng's expression remained calm.
"Neither are you."
A pause.
The stranger laughed softly.
"Fair."
Han Feng didn't attack.
"Who sent you?"
The figure remained hidden.
"Someone who wants to know whether the Celestial Pattern has appeared again."
Han Feng's heart stopped for half a beat.
He kept his expression unchanged.
But internally, his thoughts exploded.
They know about the Celestial Pattern.
Before Han Feng could ask another question, the stranger crushed the Black Soul Crystal in his hand.
A dark pulse spread through the forest.
The figure disappeared into the fog.
Han Feng immediately pursued.
But after fifty meters, he stopped.
There was no trace.
No footprints.
No Qi residue.
Nothing.
The stranger had prepared an escape method beforehand.
Han Feng returned slowly.
His mind was racing.
This was no longer a simple pursuit.
Someone had recognized the existence of the Celestial Pattern.
And they had deliberately sent someone to confirm whether Han Feng possessed it.
Back at the abandoned cabin, Han Feng examined the tree where the stranger had stood.
There was a tiny mark carved into the bark.
A reversed crescent.
Beneath it was a single line of writing.
"The Pattern has awakened."
Han Feng stared at the words.
For the first time in a long while, he felt genuine unease.
The Black Moon Sect knew something.
The mysterious organization searching for the Gu knew something.
And now another group had appeared, specifically searching for the Celestial Pattern.
These events couldn't be unrelated.
He slowly clenched his fist.
"I thought I was hiding from the world."
He looked toward the distant mountains.
"But it seems the world has already started looking for me."
Han Feng erased the mark from the tree.
Then he burned the abandoned cabin.
Not because he feared being followed.
Because he had learned something more important.
A hiding place was only safe until someone knew it existed.
From this moment onward, Han Feng would no longer maintain a single refuge.
He would establish several.
He would leave false trails.
He would cultivate in different locations.
And, most importantly, he would never again assume that concealment meant safety.
Deep within his spiritual sea, the Celestial Diagram suddenly pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then a faint silver symbol appeared on one of its hexagonal edges.
Han Feng froze.
That symbol had not been there before.
The reversed crescent was slowly forming inside the diagram.
His expression changed.
Someone outside had recognized the Celestial Pattern.
But now he had to wonder something far more frightening.
Had the Celestial Diagram recognized them first?