Liang Yu did not take the pill.
He held it in his palm for a long time that night, feeling its faint warmth, imagining the way it would feel to have his meridians open just a little—to breathe properly for the first time since arriving in this body. The temptation was almost physical. A hunger he hadn't allowed himself to acknowledge.
One step. Just one step forward.
But he put it back in the small cloth pouch he'd scavenged and tucked it beneath his pallet.
Not yet. Not until I know what it's worth.
The next morning, he found Zhang Hu at the well.
The older disciple looked terrible—dark circles under his eyes, hands trembling slightly as he drew water. He hadn't been sleeping. The weight of what he'd agreed to was pressing down on him.
Liang Yu approached slowly. Casually. The same way he'd approached Zhao Ming weeks ago—a body moving through space, nothing special.
"Morning."
Zhang Hu flinched. Recovered. Grunted.
Liang Yu filled his own jug. Leaned against the well. Looked at the sky.
"Busy day?"
"Same as always."
"Must get tiring. Same thing, every day, for five years."
Zhang Hu's hands stilled on the rope. He looked at Liang Yu—really looked—for the first time since they'd met.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing. Just talking." Liang Yu met his gaze, then looked away, casual. "I've been here a month. Already sick of weeding. Can't imagine five years."
"Then leave."
"Can't. Nowhere to go." He paused. "You ever think about leaving?"
Zhang Hu's jaw tightened. "Sometimes."
"What stops you?"
Nothing. Just the sound of wind in the pines.
Liang Yu nodded as if he'd received an answer. Picked up his jug. Started walking.
At the edge of the well, he stopped. Turned back.
"The herb gathering mission next week. I heard you're on support."
Zhang Hu went very still.
"I'm supposed to help with the sorting when you get back. Shen Wei volunteered me—says I need experience with raw herbs." Liang Yu smiled, small and meaningless. "See you then."
He walked away without looking back.
That was dangerous.
Yes.
You just told a would-be murderer that you know about the mission. That you'll be present when it happens. That you're connected to the aftermath.
I told him I know about the mission. Nothing more.
He'll be watching you now.
Good. Let him watch. Let him wonder what I know and who I've told. Let him imagine consequences he can't predict.
A pause.
You're learning.
The next three days were a study in tension.
Zhang Hu avoided him. Not obviously—they simply never crossed paths. But Liang Yu felt the weight of attention, the sense of being observed. Someone was watching. Probably more than one someone.
He went about his routine. Weeded the gardens. Ate his meals. Meditated at night, still unable to draw more than that single thread of qi. The drop in his dantian remained unchanged, a tiny spark in endless darkness.
On the fourth day, Lin Qiu found him again.
"Zhang Hu's been asking about you."
They were in the garden, working separate rows. She hadn't looked up when she spoke.
"Asking what?"
"Who you are. Where you came from. Who you talk to." A pause. "He's scared of something."
Good.
"Maybe he's just curious."
Lin Qiu glanced at him. Her eyes were very sharp. "Maybe. But Zhang Hu hasn't been curious about anything in years." She pulled a weed, tossed it aside. "Be careful."
"Always."
She didn't look convinced. But she didn't press.
The night before the herb gathering mission, Liang Yu made his choice.
He sat in his room, the pill still hidden beneath his pallet, and reviewed what he knew.
Lin Fei will be ambushed tomorrow. The plotters are Zhang Hu, Wu Chen, and two unknowns. They'll stage it as a demon beast attack. If it works, Lin Fei dies. The sect loses its rising star. Wu Chen gains nothing directly, but he eliminates a rival. Zhang Hu gains... what? Revenge? Satisfaction? A moment of feeling powerful?
If it fails, the plotters are exposed. Executed, probably. Or worse—cultivation crippled, thrown out, left to die in the mortal world.
If I warn Lin Fei, I gain his gratitude. Access to an inner disciple. A powerful ally who owes me a debt.
If I warn the sect, I gain reputation. But I also gain enemies—the plotters' friends, anyone who resents informants. And Lin Fei's gratitude would be diluted, shared with the elders who handled it.
If I do nothing, Lin Fei might die. The sect might change. Chaos might create opportunities.
If I help the plotters—
He stopped there. Held the thought. Examined it.
If I help them succeed, I'm complicit in murder. I become someone who kills for advantage. That's a line. Once crossed, it doesn't uncross.
But if I help them fail in a way that benefits me—
He thought about it for a long time.
Then he stood, left his room, and walked toward the inner sect quarters.
The path was guarded. Not heavily—just a single disciple at the entrance, bored and half-asleep. But enough to notice.
Liang Yu didn't try to sneak past. He walked directly to the guard.
"I need to speak with Lin Fei. It's urgent."
The guard—a young man with a pockmarked face and suspicious eyes—looked him up and down. Outer disciple robes. Dirt under his fingernails. Nothing special.
"Lin Fei doesn't take visitors. Especially not at night."
"It's about tomorrow's herb gathering mission. He's in danger."
That got his attention. The guard straightened, eyes sharpening.
"What kind of danger?"
"I need to tell him directly. Please."
A long moment. Then the guard nodded. "Wait here."
He disappeared into the inner sect. Liang Yu waited, heart beating steadily, mind calm.
This is the moment. This is where it changes.
Lin Fei was taller up close.
That was Liang Yu's first thought as the inner disciple approached, torchlight painting his features in gold and shadow. He was seventeen, but he moved with the ease of someone much older—shoulders back, head high, eyes direct and unafraid.
He looked at Liang Yu the way a hunter looks at an animal. Assessing. Curious. Unworried.
"You have something to tell me."
It wasn't a question.
Liang Yu met his gaze. Held it.
"Tomorrow's herb gathering. Someone's planning to kill you."
Lin Fei's expression didn't change. But something shifted behind his eyes—a flicker of interest, perhaps. Or calculation.
"Who?"
"Wu Chen. Zhang Hu. Two others I don't know. They'll stage it as a demon beast attack. Zhang Hu is on support—he'll confirm the timing and location."
Silence. Lin Fei studied him.
"And you know this how?"
"I overheard them. In the meditation grove. Six days ago."
"You didn't come forward immediately."
"No."
"Why?"
Liang Yu had prepared for this question. He'd turned it over in his mind a hundred times, looking for the angle that would work best. Truth? Partial truth? Fabrication?
He chose something in between.
"Because I'm new here. Because I'm nobody. Because if I'd run to the elders with a story about murder, they'd have asked why I was eavesdropping, who I was, why they should believe me. The plotters would have denied everything. And I'd be the one in trouble."
Lin Fei's eyes narrowed slightly. "And now?"
"Now the mission is tomorrow. Now there's no time for denials. Now you can verify it yourself—watch Zhang Hu, watch Wu Chen, see if they act guilty. Or you can go prepared. Either way, you're alive tomorrow, and I've done what I could."
Another long silence. The torch crackled. Somewhere in the inner sect, a bell tolled the hour.
"What do you want?" Lin Fei asked.
What do I want?
I want to survive. I want to grow strong enough that no one can kill me for a bowl of rice. I want to never again feel the helplessness of being hit by a truck I couldn't see coming.
But I can't say that.
"I want to not be nobody forever," Liang Yu said. "I want someone to owe me a favor. I want—" He paused, letting the words feel real. "—I want a chance. That's all. Just a chance."
Lin Fei watched him for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"You'll have it. If what you say is true."
"It's true."
"Then go back to your room. Stay there until morning. Don't talk to anyone." He turned, then paused. "What's your name?"
"Liang Yu."
Lin Fei nodded once and disappeared into the darkness.
The guard looked at Liang Yu with new eyes—curious, slightly respectful. "Guess you're not nobody anymore."
Liang Yu walked back to his room without answering.
Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Calculated Revelation
You have warned the protagonist without revealing your full knowledge or motivations. You have positioned yourself as helpful without appearing eager. You have created a debt without specifying its terms.
Reward: Minor meridian cleansing pill (duplicate)
Bonus: +5 reputation with Lin Fei (hidden)
Liang Yu sat in his room, two pills now hidden beneath his pallet, and stared at the wall.
He believed me.
He'd be a fool not to. The information is verifiable. And you gave him no reason to doubt.
Now what?
Now you wait. Watch. See what happens tomorrow.
And if Lin Fei dies anyway?
Then you've learned something about the limits of warning people. And you still have two pills.
Liang Yu lay back on his pallet and stared at the stone ceiling.
He should have felt guilty. He'd just sent men to their deaths—because that's what would happen when Lin Fei exposed the plot. Zhang Hu would be executed. Wu Chen would be executed. The two unknowns would share their fate.
But all he felt was a cold, distant satisfaction.
I made a choice. I chose survival. I chose advantage. I chose me.
That's what villains do.
Is it? Or is that what anyone does, when the alternative is death?
He didn't have an answer. He wasn't sure he wanted one.