Lin Yue's POV
The demon wolf's red eyes locked onto me from across the clearing, and my heart hammered against my ribs.
Not good. Not good at all.
I pressed my back against the rough tree bark, trying to stay invisible in the shadows. Moonlight made the beast's black fur shine like oil, and drool dripped from its fangs—fangs that had already killed three cows and Mr. Chen's favorite horse this week.
The village elders wanted to call the cultivation sects for help. That would've been the smart thing to do. The normal thing.
But I wasn't normal, and I definitely couldn't let any sect discover what I really was.
The wolf sniffed the air, its massive head swinging toward my hiding spot. My spiritual energy buzzed under my skin, begging to be released. I'd been hiding my Golden Core cultivation for five years—ever since I turned fifteen and realized what happened to rogue cultivators like me.
The sects didn't train people like us. They enslaved us. Turned us into cultivation furnaces, draining our power to make their disciples stronger. I'd rather die than become someone's battery.
The demon wolf growled low, a sound that made my bones vibrate. Then it charged.
I didn't think. My body moved on instinct, spiritual energy flooding my legs as I leaped fifteen feet straight up into the tree branches. The wolf slammed into the trunk below me with a thunderous crack, shaking the entire tree.
"Okay, big guy," I whispered, pulling my hidden sword from the leather strap on my back. "Let's make this quick."
I dropped from the branch like a falling star, my blade glowing with ice-blue spiritual energy. The wolf spun faster than something that size should move, but I was faster. My sword sliced through the air, and frost spread from my blade in beautiful, deadly patterns.
The Severing Frost technique my mother taught me before she died worked perfectly. Ice crystals exploded across the demon wolf's chest, freezing it mid-lunge. For three heartbeats, the beast stood perfectly still, encased in sparkling ice.
Then it shattered into a thousand pieces.
I landed in a crouch, breathing hard. Where the wolf had stood, a glowing red demon core rolled across the grass—the concentrated spiritual energy that had turned a normal wolf into a monster. It was about the size of my fist and pulsed with power.
"Yes!" I snatched it up quickly, feeling the warmth of the core through my gloves. This one was strong, probably worth six months of secret cultivation. I tucked it into my pouch with the three others I'd collected this month.
The eastern sky was starting to turn gray. Dawn was coming, which meant I needed to get home before anyone noticed I was gone. I gathered the broken ice chunks—evidence I couldn't leave behind—and melted them with a quick burst of fire spiritual energy.
My secret cave wasn't far, just a ten-minute run through the forest. I'd discovered it three years ago, a hidden space behind a waterfall where I stored my demon cores and cultivation manuals. No one knew about it. Not my father, not my betrothed Zhang Wei, and definitely not my stepmother and her devil daughter Mei Ling.
I scaled the rocks beside the waterfall easily, my enhanced strength making the climb feel like walking up stairs. Inside the cave, I added tonight's demon core to my collection—twenty-three cores now, all different colors and sizes, arranged on a flat stone like precious jewels.
"Just a few more," I told myself, running my fingers over them. "Then I can break through to the next level and maybe, finally, be strong enough to protect Father properly."
My real mother died when I was twelve, and Father remarried too quickly. Madam Qin seemed nice at first, but her daughter Mei Ling was spoiled and mean. They both hated that Father loved me more, that he taught me how to catch bandits and protect villagers instead of teaching me embroidery and music.
If they knew I was a cultivator? They'd sell that information faster than I could blink. Cultivation secrets were worth fortunes to the right people.
I slipped out of the cave and ran home through the forest as the sun rose. The demon wolf problem was solved, and no one would ever know I was the one who did it. Perfect.
I climbed through my bedroom window just as the morning bell rang in the village square. My dark hunting clothes came off fast, replaced by my normal simple dress. I hid my sword under the loose floorboard beneath my bed and checked my reflection in the small bronze mirror.
Just Lin Yue, the officer's daughter. Nothing special. Nothing dangerous.
I smiled at myself, pleased with another successful hunt.
Then I heard it—a soft creak from the hallway outside my door. Someone was standing there. Had been standing there. Listening.
My blood turned to ice.
I yanked open my door and caught a flash of green silk disappearing around the corner. That color—Madam Qin only wore green silk robes.
How long had she been there? What had she heard?
I ran to the corner, but the hallway was empty. My stepmother's bedroom door was closed, and everything looked normal. Too normal.
My hands started shaking. I was probably being paranoid. She couldn't have seen me climb through the window—it was barely dawn, and normal people were still sleeping. She definitely couldn't know where I'd been.
Right?
I walked back to my room slowly, my mind racing. Maybe I was imagining things. Maybe it was just a servant walking by. Maybe—
I stepped into my room and froze.
My bronze mirror sat on my dresser exactly where I'd left it. But reflected in its polished surface, I could see my window. And on the windowsill, clear as day in the morning light, was a single black hair.
Demon wolf hair.
I'd been so careful to remove all the ice, to clean my sword, to hide everything. But I'd missed one tiny hair stuck to my sleeve, and it had fallen onto my windowsill when I climbed inside.
And if I could see it in the mirror's reflection, then anyone standing in my doorway could have seen it too.
My door creaked open behind me. I spun around.
Madam Qin stood there with her daughter Mei Ling, both of them wearing identical cold smiles.
"Good morning, Lin Yue," my stepmother said softly, her eyes flickering to the windowsill. "Did you sleep well last night? Or were you perhaps... busy with other activities?"
Mei Ling giggled, a sound like breaking glass. "Mother, look at her face. She's so pale. Is something wrong, dear sister?"
My heart stopped beating.
They knew.