Yun Zhen followed the elder through the narrow walkway leading to the inner courtyard. The steps felt heavier today, because his meridians kept pulsing with a tight burn. The courtyard itself was brighter than usual, filled with senior disciples and three elders gathered around a stone table. Their posture alone told him this meeting wasn't friendly.
Elder Yun Liang lifted his chin first. His expression sat between annoyance and forced politeness, the kind given to someone the clan couldn't outright throw away.
"There you are," Yun Liang said, tapping the table with two fingers. "You've been idle long enough."
Yun Zhen answered calmly, "It's been one day."
"That's long for someone with your… reputation."
Another elder, Yun Rou, gave a thin smile. "Idle hands grow weaker, and you…"
He paused as if choosing a word that wasn't too insulting.
"…shouldn't be any weaker."
"Your concern is touching," Yun Zhen remarked, folding his arms lightly.
Yun Rou's smile twitched, clearly irritated.
"We have a task suited for someone of your… ability."
"So a bad task," Yun Zhen murmured, just loud enough.
Yun Liang lifted a scroll from the table and handed it to a senior disciple, who passed it forward. Yun Zhen took it and unrolled it. The writing was old, but the meaning was clear and fast.
A forest map.
Material list.
Danger indicators are marked with red ink.
Yun Liang explained with cold patience, "The clan needs herbs from the outer forest. Low-grade but important for healing pills. Several disciples were injured retrieving these last week."
Yun Zhen asked, "And you want me to go pick flowers, is that it?"
A few disciples snickered.
One whispered, "He'll get eaten before he finds anything."
Another muttered, "Better him than one of us."
Yun Zhen let the noise roll past him.
Elder Yun Rou spoke again with mild cruelty hidden under a polite tone, "Think of this as an opportunity. Bring back the herbs, and maybe the clan will finally see you have some worth."
Yun Zhen almost laughed. He hid it behind a tired breath.
"So I'm the disposable one."
Yun Liang stiffened. "You're the one who can walk. That's enough qualification."
"Is that what we're calling talent now?" Yun Zhen muttered under his breath.
Yun Liang leaned forward. "If you're unhappy, you can always stay useless forever. But the clan needs results."
"And if I die out there?" Yun Zhen asked casually.
Yun Rou answered with a shrug. "Then you died on official duty. A noble contribution."
The senior disciples nodded like this were a completely normal statement.
Yun Zhen let his eyes drift over their faces. Fear, disdain, arrogance—they all mixed into the same dull color. His fingers brushed the edge of the scroll.
Inner thought: 'They want me dead. Good. Let them hope.'
He rolled the scroll and tucked it into his robe. "I'll go."
Some of the elders blinked in surprise.
"You accept so quickly?" Yun Liang asked.
Yun Zhen responded with a faint smile, "You said the clan needs results. I'm just trying to help."
That smile irritated Yun Liang enough that his jaw tightened.
Yun Zhen bowed—barely—and turned to leave. The whispers followed him like insects buzzing behind his ear.
"…He agreed too fast."
"…Maybe he's trying to act brave."
"He'll be beast food."
"He might not even last an hour."
He stepped out of the courtyard, letting their voices fade.
He didn't get far before a sharp voice cut through the hallway.
"Wait."
Yun Zhen turned.
Yun Xue stood beside one of the stone pillars, her arms folded and her gaze locked on him with a hard, almost angry intensity. Her hair was tied back for training, and the light hit the frost in her eyes in a way that made them glow.
"You're really going into that forest alone," she asked, voice clipped and sharp.
"That's what they ordered," he answered.
"They ordered it because they want you dead."
He shrugged lightly. "It's not the worst thing someone has wanted for me."
"That's not funny," she muttered.
"It wasn't a joke."
She walked up to him, stopping close enough that he could see the tension in her shoulders. "You can barely stand after two hours of practice. You shouldn't even be walking into town, let alone the forest."
"And yet," he said, testing his balance with a small tilt, "I'm still standing."
She exhaled through her nose, annoyed. "You really like acting fearless."
"Acting implies I'm pretending."
"You are pretending," she said sharply. "Pretending you're fine. Pretending you're not one breath away from collapsing. Pretending you're not still the Yun Zhen who—"
She cut herself off before finishing.
He tilted his head. "Who what?"
She looked away for a second, her expression tightening. "Who was supposed to stay out of trouble."
"Trouble found me," he answered.
"And you accepted it," she complained. "Why?"
He met her eyes with a relaxed stare. "Because I want to walk my own path this time."
She frowned. "You sound different again."
"Does that bother you?"
"It bothers me because it doesn't make sense," she replied and stepped even closer. "Why are you like this all of a sudden? Why are you—"
He gently touched her wrist when she jabbed a finger at his chest. She froze, startled by the contact.
"You're worried about me," he said softly.
Her eyes widened before she slapped his hand away. "I don't care! I just don't want to deal with clan trouble if you die!"
He smiled slightly. "Then hope I come back."
She glared, cheeks faintly warm. "Idiot."
Then she spun around and walked away quickly, muttering to herself.
Yun Zhen watched her leave. The annoyance in her steps almost made him laugh.
"Cute," he murmured.
[Lewd Quest: First Yin Contact — Pending.]
He muttered, "You really pick horrible timing."
[Host instability increasing.]
"I know… I know," he said under his breath. "Soon."
He left the courtyard and returned to his small room. The door groaned when he pushed it open. Inside, there were only a few items: a thin sleeping mat, a cracked basin, and a tiny chest holding barely anything worth keeping.
He crouched beside the chest and started gathering supplies.
A short rope.
Two pieces of old dried meat.
A dull dagger with a crooked handle.
A small gourd for water.
He paused when his fingers touched the dagger hilt. The metal was so worn it reflected nothing.
"This thing couldn't cut a leaf if it tried," he muttered.
Still, he tied it to his belt anyway.
He stood and stretched slowly, testing his breathing. His ribs ached, and his legs still trembled from the morning practice.
'Weak, but not useless,' he thought. 'Weak, but alive.'
He slung a small cloth bag across his shoulder and stepped outside again.
Clouds drifted overhead as he walked toward the clan's front gate. Two guards leaned against the stone walls, resting their spears. They straightened when they saw him.
One guard smirked. "Heading out, bastard?"
"Yes," Yun Zhen said calmly.
"Make sure to scream loud if something bites you," the guard joked.
The other laughed. "He won't have time to scream."
Yun Zhen didn't break stride. He passed through the gate and down the dirt path without looking back.
Behind him, he heard one last laugh.
"Goodbye, dead man."
The path ahead stretched toward the forest, a long line of trees whispering in the wind. Yun Zhen adjusted the strap of his bag and stepped into the shade of the first tree.
The air grew cooler, and the layers of leaves above dimmed the sky. Birds scattered deeper into the woods as he walked, their wings fluttering through branches.
He took a slow breath.
The forest smelled of damp earth and old roots.
"Not the worst place for danger," he murmured.
[Host condition unstable.]
"Then we'll fix it," he said.
He kept walking, deeper into the trees.
Let's see what this new life wants from me.
He smirked faintly.
If it wants a corpse, it'll need to work harder.
End Of Chapter 7