Three days had passed since the meeting at the Winter Palace.
Wang Tao was cultivating inside his cave, compressing his Qi at the second level of Qi Absorption, when he felt it.A familiar burning sensation.Not in his meridians. Deeper. In his blood.The poison.
He opened his eyes, cold sweat running down his forehead.They're here.
A hooded figure waited in the shadows, among the trees at the foot of the mountain.
Wang Tao descended in silence, suppressing his Qi so he would not be detected.
— You took long enough. — The Shadow's voice was cold, indifferent.
Wang Tao clenched his fists.
— I can't move freely anymore. I have a master now.
— Master. — The Shadow spat the word. — You have only one owner, Wang Tao. And it isn't that golden-haired boy.
— I have a mission for you.
Wang Tao took a slow breath.
— What is it?
— Elder Lin Yu. — the Shadow said simply. — Seven days. He will die.
For an instant, silence stretched between them.
Then Wang Tao laughed softly.
— A central Elder… — he murmured. — You really never get tired of gambling with my life.
— You are already at the second level of Qi Absorption. That is more than enough for a properly executed assassination.
Wang Tao narrowed his eyes.
— How do you know my cultivation?
The Shadow stared at him from beneath the hood.
— The Invisible Hand knows everything that matters.
Wang Tao felt his stomach twist.
— I gained a few opportunities, — he said coldly.
— A spiritual treasure? — the Shadow asked, probing.
— A fruit. There was only one. — he lied without hesitation.
Silence lingered for a moment.
— In any case. With this breakthrough, the mission has become even simpler. — the voice turned mechanical. — We are assassins. Do not fight. Poison. Ambush. Do what you always do.
Wang Tao exhaled slowly.
— And if I say no?
The Shadow raised a hand.
The pain came before he could finish speaking.
The poison exploded through his veins.
Wang Tao dropped to his knees, his body convulsing, teeth grinding as if a thousand needles were tearing through his blood from the inside.
He did not scream.He did not beg.He only endured.
— Seven days. — the Shadow repeated.
When the pain finally subsided, Wang Tao was still kneeling, his body trembling, his eyes burning with hatred.
— Continue standing out in the sect, — the Shadow added. — The higher you rise, the more useful you'll be.
Wang Tao slowly lifted his head.
— Useful… for what?
— That's not for you to know yet.
The Shadow leaned forward slightly.
— Ah, and one more thing. A spiritual treasure has appeared in the mountains. Find it. And bring it to us.
— That's just a rumor.
— Find it. — the voice allowed no refusal.
And then it vanished.
Wang Tao remained alone in the darkness, trembling.Not from fear.From rage.
Seven days.Seven days before the poison burned again.Seven days before the leash was pulled tight.
He looked at his own hands.Hands that had killed before. That would kill again.
Killing was never the problem.The problem was not being allowed to choose.
Lin Yu would die.Wang Tao felt nothing about it.Only… indifference.
Just another target. Another order.But one day…
One day, he would hold the blade not because he was commanded to.But because he chose to.
And on that day...the Invisible Hand would bleed.
With a hardened expression, he returned to Mount Four Streams.
---
At the peak of the mountain, hidden among the bamboo, a figure watched.
Sai remained motionless, golden eyes fixed on the trail.
There was no surprise.Only… calculation.
For a brief moment, he considered intervening.
It would be simple.The Shadow would die.The poison could be removed.
But…
Sai closed his eyes.
He turned away, hands clasped behind his back, and walked back to his cave.