CHAPTER 33 — The Woman Who Waited (Part Two)
He didn't move.
"I'm not even a disciple."
"You are now."
Zheng Wen Te looked up sharply.
Lian's expression was unreadable.
"The Ancestor made it official."
"He said the sect will sponsor your path…"
"…because if your karma explodes here, it will destroy us all."
Zheng Wen Te gave a bitter smile.
"So I'm a walking disaster."
Lian didn't deny it.
She placed the jade slip into his hand.
The moment his fingers touched it—
The slip lit up.
A projection formed.
A map.
Mountains.
Rivers.
And one location marked in crimson.
FALLING PETAL VALLEY
Below it, words appeared:
A disciple has been reported with an abnormal soul resonance.
Female. Unknown origin.
Zheng Wen Te's heart stopped.
Lian whispered:
"The sect thinks she's connected to a demonic technique."
Zheng Wen Te could barely breathe.
"But the Ancestor…"
Her voice softened.
"He thinks she's connected to you."
The night suddenly felt too small.
Too thin.
Zheng Wen Te stared at the glowing mark.
A woman.
Somewhere.
Alive.
Reincarnated.
Waiting.
Or hunting.
His fingers clenched.
"I don't want to go."
Lian's eyes flashed.
"You don't get to want."
That blunt truth shattered him.
Zheng Wen Te's voice cracked.
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to say to her."
Lian stood.
Her robes fluttered.
"You don't say anything."
"You survive."
Zheng Wen Te looked up.
"…You're coming?"
Lian paused.
Then, quietly:
"If your karma is a storm…"
"…someone needs to make sure it doesn't swallow the sect."
Zheng Wen Te laughed weakly.
"That's your reason?"
Lian's gaze turned away.
"For now."
Then she added, almost inaudible:
"And maybe…"
"I want to see what kind of woman can follow a man across lifetimes."
Before he could speak—
A bell rang.
Deep.
Ancient.
Echoing across the mountains.
Emergency.
Lian's face sharpened instantly.
"That bell…"
Zheng Wen Te stood.
"What is it?"
A disciple came sprinting through the darkness, panicked.
"Senior Sister Lian!"
"The scripture hall—!"
"It opened by itself!"
Lian's eyes widened.
"What?"
The disciple gasped:
"And… and a voice came out…"
Zheng Wen Te's blood turned cold.
The disciple swallowed hard.
"It said…"
"She has noticed him."
The world tilted.
Zheng Wen Te's hand tightened around the jade slip.
Far away…
beyond Falling Petal Valley…
something had awakened.
Not Heaven.
Not Shangdi.
But the unresolved heart.
And it was coming.