The first fifty meters were easy. The next hundred and fifty nearly killed me.
I moved through servant corridors with my head down, using Cook Li's magnificent rage as cover. Her voice echoed through the compound like thunder, drowning out any sound I made.
"—SIXTEEN HOURS OF WORK! RUINED!"
[DISTRACTION EFFECTIVENESS: 94%]
[TIME REMAINING: 28 MINUTES]
At seventy meters, everything went wrong.
"You there! Servant!"
Elder Feng stood at the corridor intersection. Gray robes. Cold snake eyes. The man who'd declared my death an accident and closed the investigation in record time.
[WARNING: ELDER FENG - CORE FORMATION REALM]
[DETECTION PROBABILITY: 78%]
[DO NOT LOOK UP]
I kept my head bowed, pitching my voice lower with a rural accent. "Elder Feng. This servant greets you."
"What are you doing here? All servants should be at their posts."
"Old Guan sent this one for ceremonial incense, honored elder. The main hall's running low."
Three seconds of silence. His spiritual sense washed over me like ice water, probing my powerless body. A cripple wasn't worth suspecting.
"Go. Quickly."
I bowed and shuffled past him, feeling his gaze on my back. The moment I turned the corner, my legs nearly gave out.
[CLOSE CALL]
[+25 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 421]
No time to celebrate. The eastern storage building was visible now through a window—abandoned, moss-covered, perfect. Just fifty meters of open courtyard between me and safety.
I reached the courtyard entrance and froze.
Two guards stood in my path, staring at the ground.
"Blood here," the older one said. Squad Leader Wang, bronze badge gleaming. "Fresh blood."
My blood. From cuts I hadn't noticed, leaving a trail straight to me.
[CRITICAL ERROR: BLOOD TRAIL DETECTED]
[ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL DISCOVERY: 4 MINUTES]
"Get Captain Yang," Wang ordered his companion. "Potential intruder. After young master Chen Wei's death, the Patriarch wants every irregularity investigated."
The young guard ran off. Wang stayed, following the blood drops with methodical precision.
Directly toward me.
"System, I need a distraction. Now."
[COST: 50 LP]
[ACCEPT?]
"Yes!"
[CURRENT LP: 371]
The emergency bell rang out across the compound—harsh, urgent, demanding. Wang's head snapped toward the sound.
A servant came running. "Squad Leader Wang! Fire in the western warehouse! Captain Yang needs all guards immediately!"
Wang cursed, looked once more at the blood trail, then ran toward the warehouse.
[NOTE: NOT AN ACTUAL FIRE]
[A SERVANT KNOCKED OVER A BRAZIER]
[SMOKE ONLY, BUT THEY DON'T KNOW THAT]
[TIME WINDOW: 6 MINUTES]
I sprinted across the courtyard. No stealth, just speed. My legs screamed. My lungs burned. Fifty meters felt like fifty miles without cultivation.
Behind me: "—blood trail continues! After him!"
They'd figured out the fire was nothing. Wang was coming back.
I dove through the broken window Xiao Lan had mentioned, hit the floor hard, and crawled behind rotting crates. Blood dripped from my wounds. My shoulder felt broken.
"Search the building!" Wang's voice commanded.
The door crashed open. Three guards entered with lanterns, swords drawn.
"System—"
[EMERGENCY PROTOCOL]
[COST: 75 LP FOR TEMPORARY INVISIBILITY]
[10 MINUTES DURATION]
[ACCEPT?]
"Yes!"
[CURRENT LP: 296]
[SHADOW VEIL ACTIVE]
The world shifted. I became shadow, darkness, something eyes naturally skipped over. A guard's lantern passed inches from my face.
He looked directly at me.
And saw nothing.
"Nothing here, Squad Leader."
They searched for eight minutes before giving up.
"Damn it. Whoever it was got away. We're wasting time—the funeral starts in two hours. We'll report to Captain Yang after the ceremony."
They left.
I collapsed completely, consciousness graying at the edges.
[WARNING: PHYSICAL COLLAPSE IMMINENT]
[RECOMMEND: REST]
I managed to crawl behind abandoned grain sacks before darkness claimed me.
I woke to complete darkness and total pain.
[TIME ELAPSED: 6 HOURS, 37 MINUTES]
[YOUR FUNERAL: COMPLETED]
[STATUS: OFFICIALLY CREMATED]
"How am I cremated when I'm here?"
[XIAO LAN SUBSTITUTED A PIG CARCASS]
[YOUR CLAN BURNED PORK]
[YOU'RE OFFICIALLY ASHES NOW]
I laughed—slightly hysterical—then froze at the sound of footsteps.
Soft, careful. Someone trying not to be heard.
[DETECTING: XIAO LAN]
[INTENT: NON-HOSTILE]
The door opened. Lantern light. Xiao Lan's small figure slipped inside.
"Young Master Chen Wei? Please tell me you made it..."
"I'm here."
She nearly dropped the lantern, then rushed over. Her eyes widened at my condition—the blood, the way I listed to one side, the pallor of my skin.
"You're hurt badly." She pulled out bandages and healing salve with practiced efficiency. "Why didn't you use the medicine?"
"Busy not dying."
She cleaned and bandaged my wounds while explaining how she'd followed my blood trail, created the brazier distraction, and orchestrated the pig-corpse substitution at my funeral.
"Your ceremony was beautiful," she said, pulling out real food—mantou buns, braised pork, medicinal soup. "Your mother cried through everything. Your father looked carved from stone. Liu Yue wept decoratively. Zhao Ming gave a moving speech about his 'dear friend.'"
The bitterness in her voice was unmistakable.
"And after?" I asked, eating.
"That's the interesting part." Her voice dropped. "Zhao Ming and Liu Yue met with the man in black robes again. Eastern garden. I couldn't get close, but I heard fragments."
[ACTIVATING MEMORY PLAYBACK]
Through the System's interface, I saw it: the garden bathed in moonlight. Zhao Ming, Liu Yue, and the robed figure whose face remained hidden.
"—confirmed dead?" the figure asked.
"Witnessed the cremation myself," Zhao Ming replied coldly. "The trash is gone. No awakening. The Celestial Court's timeline proceeds unimpeded."
"Good. Chen Tianlong and Lin Yuhua must be monitored constantly. Old seals can weaken. The bloodline's full potential was sealed eighteen years ago, but if either parent begins to suspect the boy's true heritage..."
"We'll handle it," Liu Yue said sharply. "They're broken with grief."
"See that they don't recover," the figure said. "The Celestial Court invested considerable resources keeping the Chen bloodline suppressed. The Patriarch may be merely Core Formation now, but his ancestors were once... more. Much more. The young master's death prevents that legacy awakening."
[MEMORY COMPLETE]
"More?" I repeated. "What legacy? My father is Core Formation. We're respected but not extraordinary. What could the Celestial Court fear?"
[INSUFFICIENT DATA]
[YOUR HEAVEN GRADE ROOT WAS SEALED AT BIRTH]
[YOUR FAMILY'S PAST THREATENS POWERFUL FORCES]
Xiao Lan watched me carefully. "Young Master, what does this mean?"
"I don't know yet." I met her eyes. "But I need your help. Something dangerous. I need information—about my family's history, the Celestial Court, anyone involved in this conspiracy. You can move through the estate without suspicion. Will you be my eyes and ears?"
"Yes," she said without hesitation.
[QUEST COMPLETED: NETWORK OF SHADOWS]
[+100 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 396]
"What will you do?" she asked. "You can't hide here forever. Your cultivation is destroyed."
I looked at my weak, trembling hands, then at the golden text only I could see.
"I'm going to haunt them," I said. "Zhao Ming, Liu Yue, this Celestial Court—they think they killed weak Chen Wei. They think the threat is eliminated. But they created something worse. A dead man with nothing to lose. And dead men don't have enemies—until they do."
[DETERMINATION DETECTED]
[MENTAL STATE: VICTIM → PREDATOR]
[THIS IS THE CHEN WEI WHO WILL SHAKE HEAVEN]
"What do you need first?" Xiao Lan asked.
"Information on Elder Feng. He closed the investigation too quickly. I want to know what he's hiding."
"Done. I'll start tomorrow." She stood to leave. "I'll come back tomorrow night with food and information. Don't leave this building."
"Xiao Lan," I called as she reached the door. "Thank you."
She looked back. "You saved my brother when no one else would. Now I'm saving you. It's just... right."
She vanished into the night.
I sat in darkness, something fundamental shifting inside me. Not just physically—mentally, spiritually.
Twenty-four hours ago, I'd been a naive young master who believed in love and friendship.
Now I was a ghost learning to haunt.
"System, show me what 396 Luck Points can buy. Time to start my real resurrection."
[PREPARING CULTIVATION RESTORATION OPTIONS]
[WARNING: THE PATH AHEAD WILL BE PAINFUL]
[WARNING: IT WILL CHANGE YOU FOREVER]
[PROCEED?]
I thought of my mother's tears, my father's broken expression, Liu Yue's false crying, Zhao Ming's satisfied smile. Eighteen years lived under suppression. A sealed potential. A stolen life.
Death, resurrection, and a second chance.
"Proceed. Show me everything."
Golden light filled my vision, and in that abandoned storage building, my true journey began.
[STATUS UPDATE:]
LP: 396/1000
Location: Eastern Storage Building
Allies: Xiao Lan (Intelligence Agent)
Enemies: Liu Yue, Zhao Ming, Elder Feng, Celestial Court
Objective: Begin Cultivation Restoration
[THE GHOST AWAKENS]
[THE HUNT BEGINS]