Exhaustion gave him no chance to argue. The moment his feet crossed the threshold of his cave, the Elder Tianmo placed her hand gently but firmly on his uninjured shoulder.
"Lie down. Now."
Ling Hua tried to open his mouth to object, or maybe to thank her, or to ask at least one question about the fate of the tree they had just planted, but his tongue felt too heavy to move. He gave a faint nod and stumbled inside.
He didn't bother taking off his torn clothes, still stained with the dust of battle and traces of blood he could no longer tell apart—his own, or that man's, the masked one. He collapsed onto the bed, and for a moment the image of that final scene came back to him: the green arrows piercing the man's forehead, the dry thud of the fall, the silence that followed.
He tried to think about it, to feel something toward it—regret, or terror, or even numbness—but exhaustion moved faster than all of that. Sleep swallowed him like a great wave, without even granting him the mercy of a dream.
On the other side of the mountain, no one was thinking of sleep yet.
The six elders gathered around the long table in their usual hall, while Patriarch Sui Ming Zhao sat silent at its head. Elder Tianmo stood before them, still bearing traces of dirt and blood on her green robe.
She recounted everything without omitting a single detail: the emergency signal that had reached her token, the scene of destruction on the mountain road, the bodies of the masked guards scattered about, and finally that sight which had frozen her in place—Lingxing Hua sitting calmly amid a swarm of obedient Silver Cloud Bees, before a rare tree she never imagined could exist in this forest.
Hunting Elder Ming Ying struck the table with his fist, but this time without his usual shouting—only barely restrained fear.
"Who in the hell are they? Did you identify any of them?"
All eyes turned to the Inheritance Elder, who had laid before him on the table a few small metal pieces—unmarked rings, a cracked pendant, taken from the bodies of the attackers before they were burned.
He examined them slowly with his fingers, as though reading a story their owners had never told.
"No family crest. No sect symbol. I examined the residual qi traces left in their weapons and equipment... They're free farmers. No allegiance, no homeland but the money paid to them."
A heavy silence fell.
"Mercenaries?" Treasury Elder whispered, frowning deeply, as though the word itself did not sit right in his mind. "Not from Sun family? Not from Beng?"
"Not a single piece of evidence ties them to either family," the Inheritance Elder replied calmly, though his tone carried genuine unease this time. "And that, in truth, is far more dangerous than if they had belonged to someone."
Trade Elder Ming Tong leaned forward, his fingers still stroking his beard with unusual nervousness.
"Explain further, Elder. I don't understand how an unknown enemy could be more dangerous than a known one."
"Because a known enemy has a clear motive, and we know how to negotiate with him or deter him." The Inheritance Elder's voice was calm but heavy. "These men, however, acted on purely personal motive, unrelated to the grand politics we've been discussing these past days."
He paused, then raised one of the metal pieces before everyone's eyes.
"I interrogated one of the secret guards who was wounded but survived. He said he heard one of the masked men whisper to his companion right before the attack: 'I saw him squandering dozens of spirit stones in the market without a second thought—a boy that age with that much wealth, and no visible force guarding him? He's a fat sheep handed to us on a golden platter.'"
Tianmo's eyes widened in shock.
"You mean... they targeted him only because they saw him spending without restraint? Not because of his spiritual roots, not because of his identity as a potential heir?"
"Exactly," the Inheritance Elder replied bitterly. "They knew nothing of his true worth. They saw a young boy, alone as far as they could tell, squandering spirit stones like pebbles on extravagant talismans, then buying expensive spirit beasts without haggling, then leaving the market carrying what looked like a valuable box. They assumed he was the son of some wealthy family with insufficient guards, and decided to strip him of everything he owned... and perhaps his life too, so he couldn't testify against them."
The Hunting Elder struck the table again, this time with a mixture of anger and bitter mockery.
"So all of this—all the terror that boy went through—was because of a stupid miscalculation by a bunch of greedy thieves?! No conspiracy, no real enemy, just idiotic greed that thought it had found easy prey?"
"I'm afraid that's exactly what happened," the Inheritance Elder answered quietly.
Patriarch Ming Zhao finally rose from his seat, having remained silent through the whole discussion, listening more than speaking as was his habit. He walked slowly to the stone window overlooking the dark mountain, and stood contemplating the darkness for a few moments before speaking.
"A false alarm." He said it in a low voice, as though speaking more to himself than to those present. "This wasn't an attack from Sun, nor from Beng, nor from any power scheming against us politically. It was merely a passing incident, a miscalculation by a few greedy men who didn't know who they were targeting."
He turned to the elders, his features now set with a gravity they hadn't seen on him in a long time.
"But a false alarm like this is no less dangerous than a real conspiracy. Had our guards not been silently following him, had Elder Tianmo not reached him in time, had luck not favored him in that battle with the spirit bees..."
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to; the silence that followed his words was heavier than any description could convey.
Treasury Elder let out a long breath, and spoke in his usual sharp tone, though this time carrying real concern.
"So what's the lesson in all this? That any greedy fool in any alley might one day decide the boy is easy prey, simply because he looks young and unguarded?"
"Exactly," the Patriarch answered. "And so, from tonight, his secret guard is to be doubled whenever he leaves the family's lands. And we must teach him another lesson too—how to conduct himself in the outside world without drawing attention this crudely. Visible wealth without wisdom attracts wolves faster than any scent of blood."
He looked at the Treasury Elder specifically.
"Have him report to the treasury hall in the morning. I want two things from you: first, hear his full account of his first trip to the market—what he bought, how he behaved, what he learned—for this is a tradition we must maintain with everyone who leaves for the first time. And after that... reward him for what he accomplished with that tree and those bees. He earned it, despite all the small follies he committed along the way."
The Treasury Elder smiled faintly, the first genuine smile since the meeting began.
"I'll see to it, Patriarch. And I'll make sure he understands the meaning of 'wise spending' before he ventures out again."
The Patriarch raised his hand, signaling the meeting's end, and the elders dispersed one by one, while he remained standing by the window a while longer, gazing toward the direction of his son's cave, as though reassuring himself that peace had finally returned.
Ling Hua opened his eyes slowly to sounds he wasn't used to hearing with such richness before.
A harmonious hum rising from the direction of the field, as though a whole choir of bees were playing a single tune. Small bubbles rising now and then from the nearby stream, where the four Red Agate Crabs bounced energetically among the pebbles, their shells clacking together in soft, playful clicks. And the morning breeze caressed the stalks of spirit rice, swaying its fragrant white flowers left and right, as if dancing to welcome a new day.
He lay still a few moments, listening to this quiet symphony he never imagined his field would one day be filled with. A strange feeling crept into his chest; life had gone on, despite everything that had happened the night before.
He finally rose and stepped out of the cave, and the moment he breathed in the cold morning air, he felt a faint ache still lingering in his shoulder, though far milder than it had been the previous night.
Before he could take his second step, a small shadow blocked the sun from his face for a moment. A silver-colored bee, semi-crystalline in body, hovered directly before his eyes, then lingered in the air without pulling away, as though waiting for something from him.
Ling Hua stared at it in astonishment mixed with curiosity.
"Do you... want me to follow you?"
As if it understood his question perfectly, it flew a few steps toward the tree, then stopped and turned back to him with a precise gesture resembling a nod.
He followed it with hesitant curiosity at first, then growing fascination, crossing the rows of rice until he reached the trunk of the strange tree, glowing with its faint purple patterns. The hive buzzed with activity he hadn't seen before—ordinary bees going in and out loaded with rice nectar, other spirit bees hovering like silent guards around the tree's perimeter, while the Silver Queen stood on one of the lower branches with dignity, as though overseeing something important.
Between her front legs, she carried a small golden slab, sticky and gleaming, giving off a thick, aromatic scent unlike anything he had ever smelled.
The queen flew down slowly and approached him, then lowered the slab carefully into his outstretched palm.
Ling Hua's eyes widened.
"Spirit... honey?"
The slab looked like a fabric of liquid gold suddenly frozen, laced with thin silver veins that shimmered whenever he tilted it slightly. He understood immediately what this gift meant: after the spirit bees had devoured the remaining traces of the spiked-shell beetle pest still scattered at the edges of the field, and fed on the thick spirit fluid the tree secreted in response, the hive had produced its first batch of spirit honey.
And this batch, quite simply, was a gift for him.
He smiled warmly and bowed slightly before the queen, in a sincere gesture of respect.
"Thank you. Thank you all."
The queen buzzed in a calm, steady tone, then turned and made her way back to the hive with royal confidence.
Ling Hua wrapped the golden slab carefully in a clean cloth and headed toward the treasury hall, finding the Treasury Elder behind his desk crowded with ledgers as usual, reviewing some figures with focus.
The elder raised his head and looked at him with that familiar sharp gaze.
"Ah, the troublesome little one. Sit. We have two matters to discuss today, not just one."
Ling Hua sat down cautiously, wondering about the first matter.
"First, before anything else: your trip report. This is a tradition we follow with everyone who leaves family lands for the first time, so tell me, what did you do with those hundred and twenty points you earned through such hard work?"
Ling Hua felt his cheeks flush slightly, and began recounting the story with some embarrassment: being deceived in the free-trade area, his heavy spending at the Golden Talisman Tower just because he was charmed by a girl's smile, then having to buy cheap crabs after going nearly bankrupt.
The Treasury Elder listened to all this in silence, his face betraying nothing clear, until Lingxing Hua finished his account, then let out a long sigh followed by a faint laugh that wasn't without fatherly mockery.
"Hmph. The first lesson you've learned in the outside world, then, is that beauty is far more expensive than you imagine, and that spirit stones evaporate faster than steam from boiling water when there's a pretty smile on the horizon."
Ling Hua laughed shyly, but the elder quickly regained his seriousness.
"But this very extravagance, my boy, is exactly what brought that attack upon you last night."
Ling Hua froze.
"What do you mean?"
"The second matter I wanted to discuss with you." The elder explained gravely. "We investigated the attackers' identities. They weren't affiliated with Sun, nor with Beng, nor with any political power scheming against us. They were simply greedy mercenaries who saw you squandering your spirit stones carelessly in the market, and saw you as a young boy with no visible guard, so they assumed you were an easy prey worth robbing... and perhaps killing, so you couldn't testify against them."
Ling Hua's eyes widened in genuine shock this time, and he felt a coldness spread through his body as he absorbed the reality that everything he'd gone through that night, all the terror and all the blood, hadn't been because of some grand conspiracy targeting his talent, but because of a small folly he himself had committed.
"So... I'm the reason?"
The Treasury Elder noticed the guilt creeping into his voice, and hurried to ease the mood.
"Don't burden yourself more than you should. You didn't know the outside world is full of wolves waiting for any opportunity. This is a lesson, and harsh lessons are sometimes the ones that stick most firmly in memory. What matters is that you survived, and came out of this experience stronger than you went in."
Ling Hua extended his hand and placed the carefully-wrapped golden slab on the desk.
"I wanted to give you this as a thank-you gift, Elder. The hive's first production of Silver Cloud Bee honey."
The elder unwrapped the cloth with curiosity, and the moment his eyes caught the gleam of liquid gold laced with silver veins, his eyebrows rose slightly in silent admiration. He reached out to touch it, but stopped suddenly midway, his gaze fixing instead on Ling Hua's wrist, and on the hidden qi pathways flowing beneath his skin.
His eyes narrowed as he examined him with unusual focus, as though reading something no one else could see.
"Stop. Don't give me this honey."
Ling Hua froze in place, not understanding what was happening.
"Take it with you, and eat it yourself when you return to your field, today, before you do anything else."
"But Elder, wouldn't it be better if the family kept it, or—"
The elder cut him off with a raised hand, and a stern look that allowed no argument.
"Your energy pathways have been unusually disturbed since last night, but it's not a pathological disturbance as I first suspected... it's maturation. Listen carefully: a full year of grueling farming, day after day, without rest or pause, built you a foundation you didn't realize the size of. Then an adventure like this in a single day drained your soul and body to their utmost limits, forced you into real combat, real killing, and decisions you weren't prepared for."
He paused, then added in a more serious, decisive tone.
"All of this has left its mark on your dantian. I see clear signs of a breakthrough to the second level of Qi Refining forming within you now. You only need one final spark, a small push to break the thin remaining wall. And this honey, with its high spiritual density and the unique nature resulting from that rare tree, might be exactly that spark."
Ling Hua felt his heart pound with a different kind of intensity this time, far removed from the fear and exhaustion that had overwhelmed him the entire previous night.
"The second level...? So soon?"
The Treasury Elder smiled a rare smile, completely free of his usual sarcasm, carrying instead something closer to silent fatherly pride.
"You didn't arrive at this so soon, my boy. You arrived at it through a full year of sweat and patience, and then a single night of terror and courage finally pushed you to the edge. Go back to your field, sit beside your new tree, and eat that honey with your own hand, calmly, without rushing. And let's see if you truly deserve everything you've earned."
Ling Hua rose, holding the honey slab with more care than ever before, as if he were carrying his entire future between his fingers. He bowed to the elder in silent gratitude, then left the hall with quick steps, heading toward his field, toward his tree, toward that long-awaited spark.