Chen Yuan returned to his inn with footsteps softer than usual.
Not because he wished to be quiet—
but because his mind was too heavy, too full, too shaken.
Gu Long had left for the academy, carrying scrolls like trophies of war.
Lu Fu had returned to his dormitory, exhausted but triumphant.
They had fought their battle.
But Chen Yuan…
Chen Yuan had seen it.
Elder Zhao—
the man who had tormented Zhao Ming,
the man who had crushed countless disciples,
the man who had buried the Chen family in debts—
reduced to nothing.
Not even a corpse remained.
Only the memory of his terrified scream before the ground swallowed him whole.
Chen Yuan sat on the edge of his bed.
Hands clasped.
Breathing shallow.
He expected guilt.
Or fear.
Or revulsion.
Instead…
He felt peace.
A quiet, unshakable calm.
As if a weight he had carried since childhood had finally been lifted.
"Zhao Ming…" he whispered to the empty room.
"You're free now."
He closed his eyes for a moment.
No Elder.
No clan hunters.
No threat from within the Sect.
Only The Owl still hunted him—but Elder Zhao's death was one less chain around the boy's neck.
Chen Yuan exhaled deeply.
"For the first time…"
"…I feel like I did something right."
The Conquest hummed faintly at his side, its crimson aura dim but warm—
almost satisfied.
The System chimed in his mind:
"Arc II: Strife, comple—"
The voice cut off.
A shadow crossed the window.
Chen Yuan snapped upright.
He hadn't sensed qi.
He hadn't sensed footsteps.
He hadn't sensed anything.
The window slid open without a sound.
A figure slipped inside—
tall, elegant, silent.
A black robe falling like ink.
A fox mask of pale bone covering his face.
Chen Yuan froze.
He had seen the Owl.
He had seen the Bear.
He recognized the aura immediately.
A Hunter of The Tree.
The masked figure tilted his head, as if amused.
When he spoke, the voice was clear and smooth—
neither deep nor high, but unsettlingly calm.
"I am The Fox,"
he said,
"From The Tree."
Chen Yuan's pulse stuttered.
The Fox—the one who hunts lies.
The manipulator.
The schemer.
The mind behind the deals the Owl enforced.
Chen Yuan stood slowly, muscles tight.
"…Why are you here?"
The Fox raised one hand, silencing him gently.
"We can speak outside," he said lightly, as if inviting a friend for a walk.
"There are ears in this inn that I find distasteful."
He stepped onto the windowsill, effortless, relaxed.
"But come, Chen Yuan."
A hint of amusement entered his tone.
"We have much to discuss."
The Fox's mask glinted in the moonlight.
"After all…" he added softly,
"Elder Zhao was only the beginning."