Night had fallen like a silk shroud over the Li Clan compound.
Beyond the high walls, the wind whispered through ancient pine trees. Somewhere in the east wing, guards patrolled with lanterns swaying, but inside Li Tian's study, all was still.
He sat cross-legged on a cushion before his father's old incense burner. Wisps of sandalwood smoke curled around him, tracing fleeting shapes that faded before they could form.
On the low table lay a single piece of parchment — plain, folded once.
Its edges were scorched, as if it had survived fire to reach him.
Xiao Chen knelt at the door, too afraid to step closer.
"Young Master," he whispered, voice hoarse. "This… was left at the back gate. No one saw who brought it."
Li Tian's gaze didn't lift from the parchment. His finger tapped the folded edge once — the air in the room seemed to grow colder with each tap.
The System's voice flickered to life, like an ember caught in a gust.
[Hidden Faction Detected: Dark Sect.]
[New Mission: Decide your terms with the Dark Sect.]
Li Tian unfolded the message.
Inside, a single line written in black, slanted ink:
"When the righteous fear you, the shadows will offer you their hand."
Beneath it, a mark: two crossed serpent fangs biting through a crescent moon.
Li Tian's lips curved into something that was not quite a smile. He knew this sign from the dusty scrolls his father had hidden away — stories whispered of assassins, poison masters, traitors exiled from every sect, gathering under the banner of the Dark Moon Sect.
He rose, the parchment still in hand, and walked to the open window. Outside, the mountain ridges were only jagged teeth under a silver moon. Somewhere out there, monsters waited — monsters who smelled blood and recognized one of their own.
Behind him, Xiao Chen's voice trembled.
"Young Master… do we answer them? Should I summon the guards?"
Li Tian turned. In the flickering lantern light, his eyes seemed darker than the night outside.
"Guards won't find them," he said. He tossed the parchment onto the incense burner — the flame caught the dry paper, consuming the mark in a hiss of sparks.
Xiao Chen swallowed hard. "Then what do we do?"
Li Tian stepped closer. He rested a hand on the boy's shoulder — a touch that made Xiao Chen flinch.
"We do nothing for now," Li Tian murmured. "If the shadows wish to serve me, they will show themselves. If they wish to test me, they will bleed trying."
He paused — then, almost absently, he tapped Xiao Chen's chest with two fingers.
"But gather a list. Every elder who ever whispered Zhao Yun's name with respect. Every steward who ever took Shen's coin. Quietly. We will see whose loyalty cracks next."
Xiao Chen bowed so low his forehead brushed the cold floor.
"Yes, Young Master."
When the boy had gone, Li Tian turned back to the window.
The wind carried a distant, broken laugh through the trees — or maybe it was just the cry of a night bird.
His fingers curled at his side, the faint hum of the Villain System like a heartbeat in the dark.
[Villain Path Updated: The Dark Sect will test you soon.]
[New Sub-Mission: Survive the Assassin's Greeting.]
Li Tian's smile was thin, cold, and real.
So be it, he thought. Let the righteous plot, let the shadows crawl. Whoever knocks first will find I open the door with a blade in hand.
Outside, a single blossom from the old plum tree drifted in through the window — pale, fragile, landing silently on the scorched parchment's ashes.
A fleeting mercy in a house that had none left.