Wan Lihan slowly hauled his heavily injured, blood-drenched body up the steep stone shafts, finally stepping out from the subterranean mouth of the abyss. The waiting inner disciples instantly gasped, their faces turning completely pale as they looked at his shattered, swollen knuckles and the sheer volume of black tiger gore caking his clothes.
Without a single word, the inner guards guided him back up the winding stone paths of the inner peaks, escorting him directly into the Hall of Elders.
Elder Mo Vane sat upon his elevated stone throne. The Foundation Establishment master leaned forward, his sharp, analytical gaze sweeping over Lihan's tattered black robes and the severe physical trauma cutting across the teenager's torso.
Elder Mo Vane let out a heavy, solemn sigh
. "Hyst... you walked through a lot of horror down there. I am truly sorry for your loss."
Lihan kept his head low, his face a perfectly flat, unreadable stone marker. He did not say a word about how he had broken the skull of a 1st Layer Iron Bone alpha with his bare hands, nor did he explain the deep grave he had dug for his brother.
"The law has been satisfied,"
Elder Mo Vane declared, his voice carrying a calm authority. "Your past actions are fully wiped clean. Furthermore, since the lower peak lacks leadership, you are hereby appointed as the newly designated supervisor of your courtyard housing. Take these official supervisor robes. Go take a shower, heal your wounds, and assume your duties.
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"An inner disciple stepped forward, handing Lihan a bundle of reinforced brown supervisor garments and a heavy iron command token.
Lihan performed a short, silent bow and returned to the lower mountain on foot. The moment his tall, blood-stained figure passed through the wooden gates of the residential pavilion, a suffocating silence fell over the yard. All 19 outer disciples stopped their movements, staring at him with expressions of sheer terror and profound sadness.He walked straight into his old room, meeting the wide eyes of his remaining roommates, Rou Zhou and Chu Tang. They looked at his mangled hands, their lips trembling.
"Is... is Brother Fe Tian with you?"
Rou Zhou whispered, his voice cracking.Lihan remained completely quiet. His flat, hollow gaze provided all the answer they needed. Turning his back to the empty cot that once belonged to his friend, Lihan grabbed a clean wooden basin, descended to the lower mountain bathhouses to thoroughly wash the blood from his skin, and immediately dropped into a cross-legged meditative stance to let his 7th Layer Qi begin binding his broken bones.
By the time dawn broke the next morning, an official inner messenger knocked on his door, delivering a fresh ledger of daily contracts.Lihan dressed in his clean supervisor garments and walked out into the courtyard plaza, placing the mission scrolls neatly across the grand wooden table. The 19 outer disciples gathered around, staring at their feet in absolute fear, expecting the same brutal tyranny and forced labor that Supervisor Meng used to inflict upon them.Lihan looked at the crowded ranks, his voice dropping into a flat, neutral whisper as he held out the metal tokens."Take a token that fits your capability,
" Lihan commanded smoothly, his expression completely blank. "Do what you can handle. I will not force you."