The distance between the Back Mountain woods and the Outer Sect Enforcer Hall was roughly two miles.
To a cultivator, this was a short sprint. To a mortal, it was a tiring jog.
Li Fan ran it like a man possessed.
He didn't use his Qi to enhance his speed. Instead, he purposely stumbled over roots. He let thorny branches whip against his face, leaving thin, stinging scratches on his cheeks. He tore the hem of his robe on a jagged rock.
He controlled his breathing, not to calm it, but to make it ragged and hyperventilated. He forced his heart rate to spike, flushing his skin with a frantic, red heat.
Acting, Li Fan thought as the lights of the sect came into view, is not about pretending. It is about becoming.
In Life 600, Li Fan had lived as a mortal spy in an enemy empire for twenty years. He had learned that the best lies are 90% truth. You give people the facts they expect, and you only change the one detail that matters.
He burst out of the tree line and onto the paved stone path leading to the Enforcer Hall.
"Help! Someone help!"
His scream tore through the quiet night air, shrill and terrified.
Disciples patrolling the area froze, turning their heads. They saw a disheveled, bleeding boy sprinting toward the Hall of Justice, waving his arms like a madman.
"Murder! Desertion! Help!"
He crashed into the heavy wooden doors of the Enforcer Hall, not stopping to knock. He threw his weight against them, tumbling inside and sprawling onto the cold stone floor.
The Enforcer Hall
The Hall was silent and imposing, lit by the harsh white glow of luminous pearls. At the far end, behind a high desk made of black ironwood, sat Deacon Liu.
Deacon Liu was a Foundation Establishment cultivator (Early Stage). He had a face like a dried bark and eyes that had seen every lie a teenager could invent. He was currently reviewing a ledger of minor infractions when Li Fan crashed into his sanctum.
Liu frowned, putting down his brush. The spiritual pressure in the room spiked, pressing down on Li Fan like a heavy blanket.
"Silence!" Liu's voice boomed, amplified by Qi. "Who dares make such a ruckus in the Hall of Justice?"
Li Fan scrambled to his knees, pressing his forehead against the floor. He was shaking violently—a reaction caused by physically exhausting his muscles during the run.
"Disciple Li Fan... greets the Deacon!" Li Fan sobbed, his voice cracking. "Please... you have to stop him! He's gone crazy!"
Deacon Liu narrowed his eyes. He recognized the name. Li Fan—the trash of the sect.
"Stop who? Speak clearly."
"Senior Brother Zhao! Zhao Dahu!" Li Fan gasped, looking up with wide, tear-filled eyes. Blood from a scratch on his forehead trickled down his nose, mixing with snot and tears. "He... he forced me to take him to the woods... he wanted my grandfather's legacy..."
Deacon Liu's expression shifted from annoyance to interest. "Legacy?"
"Yes! I told him I buried a Jade Pendant there," Li Fan stammered. "But... but when we dug it up... it wasn't a pendant!"
This was the pivot. The point where truth became fiction.
"What was it?" Liu leaned forward.
"It was a box! A black iron box!" Li Fan gestured wildly with his hands. "I didn't know! My grandfather never told me! Zhao opened it... and inside... inside was a map!"
"A map?"
"A map made of golden silk!" Li Fan cried out. "It glowed! I saw words on it... 'Cave of the Rogue Sword Immortal'... and 'Foundation Establishment Pill'!"
The atmosphere in the hall changed instantly.
Deacon Liu stood up. Foundation Establishment Pill. Those three words were enough to make even a calm Elder burn with greed. For an Outer Disciple like Zhao, that pill was a ticket to heaven.
"Continue," Liu commanded, his voice sharp. "Where is Zhao Dahu now?"
"He... he went crazy!" Li Fan curled into a ball, hugging himself. "When he saw the map, he started laughing. I asked him to give it to the Sect... I said the Elders would reward us... but he kicked me!"
Li Fan pointed to the bruise forming on his ribs (from where Zhao had kicked him yesterday, which was conveniently still visible).
"He said: 'Give it to the Sect? And get a few merit points while they keep the pill? Never!' He said he was going to find the cave himself. He said he would become a Foundation Establishment expert and never return to this trash heap!"
Li Fan buried his face in his hands. "Then he hit me with a rock and ran toward the deep forest! I... I ran back as fast as I could! Deacon, please, you have to catch him! He stole my grandfather's legacy!"
Deacon Liu stood silent for a long moment.
He was analyzing the story.
Was it plausible?
Yes.
Zhao Dahu was known for being a bully and greedy.
A hidden legacy from a dying grandfather was a common trope in the cultivation world.
And the reaction? 'Give it to the Sect vs Keep it for yourself.'
Deacon Liu knew exactly what he would do in Zhao's shoes. He would keep it. Every cultivator would keep it. The desire for immortality outweighed loyalty every single time.
"Men!" Deacon Liu shouted.
Two enforcers in black armor stepped out from the shadows.
"Go to the Outer Disciple dorms. Find Zhao Dahu's roommates. Verify if he left with Li Fan tonight. And bring me the two lackeys Zhao hangs around with."
"Yes, Sir!"
Deacon Liu looked down at Li Fan, his gaze softening slightly. Not out of kindness, but out of pity. The boy was clearly a victim—a weakling who had lost his fortune to a stronger predator.
"Stay here," Liu ordered. "If you are lying, I will crush your dantian."
"I wouldn't dare!" Li Fan wept.
Li Fan kept his head lowered. Hidden by his sleeves, his pulse was steady. His expression was a mask of terror, but his mind was coolly calculating the Deacon's reaction.
Greed validates the lie, Li Fan thought. Because Liu wants the map to exist, he subconsciously believes the story. He is already thinking about catching Zhao and taking the map for himself.
Fifteen Minutes Later
The two lackeys—the ones Zhao had left guarding the room—were dragged in. They looked terrified, seeing Li Fan bleeding on the floor and the Deacon glaring at them.
"Did Zhao Dahu force Li Fan to leave the dorms tonight?" Liu demanded.
"Yes! Yes!" The lackeys nodded frantically. "Boss... I mean, Senior Brother Zhao... he said Li Fan had a treasure buried in the woods. He told us to wait and make sure nobody snitched."
"Did he say what kind of treasure?"
"He said it was a family heirloom. Something valuable."
Deacon Liu slammed his hand on the desk. "That fool!"
The corroboration was perfect. Zhao had indeed dragged Li Fan out for treasure. And Zhao had not returned.
"Deacon!" One of the black-armored enforcers returned. "We checked the perimeter. The guard at the North Gate reported sensing a fluctuation near the barrier an hour ago, but saw no one. It matches the direction of the Deep Forest."
There was no such fluctuation. Li Fan knew the guard at the North Gate was lazy and often slept on duty. When pressed by a superior, lazy guards always invented "suspicious activity" to make it look like they were alert. Li Fan had banked on this incompetence.
"He has deserted," Liu declared, his face dark. "He took a suspected Foundation Establishment opportunity and fled the sect."
He looked at Li Fan. "Disciple Li, you did well to report this. You showed loyalty to the Sect over your own safety."
"Thank you, Deacon," Li Fan sniffled. "But... my grandfather's map..."
"If we catch the traitor, the Sect will consider returning a copy to you," Liu said dismissively. "Go back to your quarters. Clean yourself up. Speak of this to no one."
"Yes... yes, Deacon."
Li Fan stood up on shaky legs. He bowed deeply, looking like a broken, grieving child.
He turned and limped out of the hall.
As he stepped out into the night, he heard Deacon Liu barking orders behind him. "Send a pursuit team to the Deep Forest! If Zhao resists, kill him on sight! Bring me that map!"
Li Fan walked into the shadows.
The corners of his mouth twitched upward.
Chase him, Li Fan thought. Chase the ghost. Search the deep forest. While you hunt for a phantom map, I will be counting my winnings.
Back in the Dorm
Li Fan returned to the small room. Wang and Little Fatty Zhang were sitting on their beds, awake, staring at the empty doorway where Zhao used to stand.
When Li Fan entered, covered in dirt and dried blood, they jumped.
"Li Fan!" Wang gasped. "You... you're alive? Where is Zhao?"
Li Fan walked to his basin of water. He began to wash the "blood" (chicken blood mixed with a little of his own from the scratch) off his face.
"Zhao is gone," Li Fan said quietly.
"Gone? Where?"
"He found what he wanted," Li Fan said, wringing out the towel. The water turned red. "And he decided the Sect was too small for him. He ran away."
"Ran away?" Little Fatty Zhang's jaw dropped. "But... he's an Enforcer! Why would he desert?"
Li Fan turned to look at them. His face was clean now. The terrified, sobbing boy from the Enforcer Hall was gone. In his place was the calm, indifferent youth from before.
"Greed," Li Fan said. "It makes people do stupid things."
He sat on his bed and pulled the blanket over his legs.
Inside his robe, pressed against his chest, was the heavy pouch containing 18 Spirit Stones.
He closed his eyes.
He had survived the first day. But 18 stones were not enough. Not nearly enough.
To break the curse of the heavens, he needed thousands. He needed millions.
He recalled the image of Su Ling, the City Lord's dying daughter.
Tomorrow, Li Fan thought as sleep finally overtook his exhausted teenage body, we go from murder to medicine. The Invisible Demon needs a new mask.