The five hundred contribution points were a heavy, clinking weight in Ren Wei's pouch. It was
the price of three lives, the reward for their perfect, ghastly performance. He felt no guilt. Guilt
was a 21st-century luxury. What he felt was... potential.
Their new, fearful reputation was an invisible fortress. In the lecture halls, other disciples left a
small, empty radius around them. In the dining hall, no one sat at their table. They were the
"Survivors," the "Cistern-Rats," the couple that had walked into a spider's nest and emerged
untouched while three "geniuses" had been consumed.
The rumors were wild, dark, and perfectly wrong. They said Li Mei was a "curse-worker." They
said Ren Wei had "sacrificed" the other three to a dark entity.
Ren Wei did nothing to dispel them. He nurtured them.
This was his new, twisted psychological practice, and the entire Inner Sect was his patient. He
was no longer just the "Head" of his and Li Mei's tiny, two-person unit; he was the "Head" of
their public relations. He was the "Voice" of the monster that was, at that very moment,
humming as she tended the moss garden in their courtyard.
They walked to the Resource Hall, not as victims, but as clients. The clerk who had once
sneered at them, the one who had given them the "dregs," didn't even look up. He just
stammered, "S-Senior Brother Ren... Senior Sister Li... what can I do for you?"
Ren Wei smiled. A calm, warm, reasonable smile. It was the most terrifying weapon he had.
"Junior Brother," he said, his voice pleasant, "we've had a difficult time. We're looking for...
'comfort.' And 'knowledge.'"
He didn't just spend the 500 points. He invested them.
He didn't buy flashy swords. He bought manuals. He bought "A Study of Qi-Resonance in
Non-Combat Applications." He bought "The Alchemist's Compendium of Natural Toxins" (he slid
that one to Li Mei, who took it with a small, secret smile). He was building his arsenal.
Then, he used his psychology.
"You look tired, Junior Brother," Ren Wei said, leaning in. "This job... it's stressful. So many
arrogant people. So many demands."
The clerk looked up, stunned. "I... yes, Senior Brother. It is."
"We're not like them," Ren Wei said, his voice a conspiratorial whisper. "We're quiet. We
appreciate hard work." He pushed twenty points back across the counter. "For your trouble."
The clerk's eyes went wide. A bribe? A tip? "I... I can't..."
"It's just appreciation," Ren Wei said, his smile unwavering. "We like friends. Friends who hear
things. Friends who see things. Friends who know when a... 'special' shipment of 'Silken-Heart'
herbs arrives."
The clerk understood. This wasn't a bribe. It was an investment. He smiled, a small, real
expression. "I will keep an ear out, Senior Brother."
They walked out, their arms full of manuals, their new web of influence just a single thread, but it
was a thread.
Li Mei was vibrating with a quiet, happy energy. She was proud. That night, she sat behind him
as he read, wrapping her arms around his chest, her chin on his shoulder.
"You did it again," she whispered, her voice full of awe.
"Did what?" he asked, his eyes on a page about Qi stagnation.
"You didn't hurt him," she breathed. "You didn't need me. You made him a 'friend.' You wove a Ren Wei closed his eyes. He had wanted to manage her, to contain her. Instead, his cold,
analytical manipulation... it was her ultimate aphrodisiac. He was no longer just her 'treasure' or
her 'handler.'
He was her ideal. And that was a far more dangerous cage than any he'd been in before.