Chao Lun Hui firmly believed that happiness was temporary.
This was not pessimism but experience, carefully gathered through repeated encounters with ancient inheritances, mysterious artefacts and senior brothers who regarded private food supplies as communal property.
Whenever life became enjoyable, something usually exploded near him.
Occasionally, it exploded because of him, though Chao Lun Hui considered the distinction extremely important.
The River Lantern Festival continued long into the evening.
Golden lanterns hung above the crowded streets, music drifted between the buildings, and the scent of roasted meat followed every passing breeze.
Children ran beneath the lights carrying paper rabbits and painted fish, while cultivators and townspeople gathered near the river to write wishes for the coming year.
After finally completing Shen Yan Ting’s additional sword practice, Chao Lun Hui had returned to the inn with sore arms, wounded dignity and the firm belief that he deserved an uninterrupted meal.
Everything outside looked peaceful.
Naturally, this made him suspicious.
Chao Lun Hui had read enough of the original novel to know that peaceful festival scenes rarely remained peaceful.
They existed to lower everyone’s guard before the author introduced fire, blood or an inconvenience with spiritual pressure.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Shen Yan Ting sat opposite him with a cup of tea resting between his fingers.
He did not look up, though the faint movement of his gaze showed that he was listening.
Shen Yan Ting : “Hm.”
Chao Lun Hui glanced towards the open windows.
Lantern light spilled across the wooden floor, and nothing more threatening than festival music entered the dining hall.
Luo Yanhe : “This disciple senses danger.”
Shen Yan Ting raised the teacup towards his lips with the patience of someone who had heard similar declarations many times before.
Shen Yan Ting : “You always sense danger.”
Chao Lun Hui turned back to him with complete seriousness.
His recent experiences had proven that caution was merely wisdom wearing worried robes.
Luo Yanhe : “Because danger always finds me.”
Shen Yan Ting considered the argument for a moment before taking another sip of tea.
Shen Yan Ting : “Reasonable.”
Chao Lun Hui immediately pointed towards him, nearly striking the dish between them with his sleeve.
Luo Yanhe : “Master agreed.”
Shen Yan Ting lowered his cup and met his disciple’s triumphant expression without visible concern.
Shen Yan Ting : “Yes.”
Chao Lun Hui leaned back, pleased that the heavens had finally granted him support in a matter of great personal importance.
Luo Yanhe : “Master admitted my life is difficult.”
Shen Yan Ting’s answer came with enough calm certainty to destroy that victory before Chao Lun Hui could properly enjoy it.
Shen Yan Ting : “No.”
Chao Lun Hui stared at him, his expression shifting from satisfaction to betrayal in less than a breath.
Luo Yanhe : “What?”
Shen Yan Ting placed his cup down with quiet precision.
His voice remained unchanged, which only made the correction more offensive.
Shen Yan Ting : “I admitted you attract problems.”
The betrayal had returned.
Across the table, Mu Qingyu laughed into her tea while Pei Wuchen concealed a smile behind his cup.
Gu Zhen noticed none of it because he was occupied with his fifth meat skewer of the evening.
It might have been his sixth.
The empty plates surrounding him had made accurate counting impossible.
Pei Wuchen : “Senior Brother Gu.”
Gu Zhen stopped chewing and looked towards the White Crane Sect disciple.
His hand remained protectively wrapped around the skewer.
Pei Wuchen : “Is that your dinner?”
Gu Zhen looked down at the food in his hand, then towards the dishes covering the table.
His gaze finally settled upon the pile of empty plates beside him as though he had only just noticed them.
Gu Zhen : “No.”
The table became quiet.
Even Shen Yan Ting paused with his fingers resting against the side of his teacup.
Gu Zhen : “This is my appetiser.”
Mu Qingyu slowly closed her eyes.
Her expression carried the exhaustion of someone who had accepted that some problems could not be solved through cultivation.
Mu Qingyu : “One day, you are going to eat an entire spirit beast.”
Gu Zhen considered the possibility with far more attention than the remark deserved.
He examined the remaining skewer as though calculating how much preparation such an achievement might require.
Gu Zhen : “I have been trying.”
Chao Lun Hui nearly choked on his drink.
He placed the cup down before pointing at Gu Zhen in alarm.
Luo Yanhe : “That was a joke.”
Gu Zhen frowned, genuinely confused by the correction.
Gu Zhen : “It sounded like encouragement.”
A scream tore through the street outside before Chao Lun Hui could explain the difference.
Every conversation inside the dining hall stopped.
A second scream followed from closer to the river.
When the third rose above the festival music, the amusement around the table vanished.
Every cultivator stood.
The shift happened without discussion, the comfortable atmosphere replaced by the sharp attention of people accustomed to danger.
Shen Yan Ting was already moving towards the entrance when Chao Lun Hui reached for his sword.
The two White Crane formation specialists appeared from the adjoining room.
One carried a bundle of paper seals while the other drew a short formation rod.
White Crane Formation Disciple : “The eastern bridge seal has destabilised.”
Pei Wuchen : “Reinforce the bridge.
Keep the northern road closed until we know what entered the town.”
Both disciples bowed and left through the rear passage towards the river.
The streets outside had fallen into controlled chaos.
Townspeople pushed towards side roads and the eastern bridge, merchants abandoned their stalls, and burning lanterns rolled across the stones where they had fallen.
Parents called for their children while local cultivators tried to stop the crowd from crushing itself.
Hearing fear in a written scene had once required imagination.
Hearing real people scream required none.
Chao Lun Hui saw a boy fall beside an overturned stall and understood, with sudden clarity, that nobody here could be restored by turning back a page.
At the centre of the river road stood a creature large enough to reach the lower rooftops.
Its body resembled twisted black stone, with crimson veins glowing beneath its rough surface.
Madness burned in its eyes as it roared, sending shattered lantern frames tumbling from the nearby buildings.
Mu Qingyu assessed the street in one glance.
Mu Qingyu : “Move the crowd through the eastern side street.
Keep them away from the bridge supports.”
Pei Wuchen released three paper cranes.
They shot above the crowd, unfolding into pale lines that marked the safest route towards the eastern bridge.
Pei Wuchen : “Follow the cranes.
Do not stop in the central road.”
Local cultivators repeated the order.
The White Crane specialists activated a barrier along the bridge approach, preventing the panicked crowd from flooding into the damaged formation all at once.
Chao Lun Hui looked towards his master.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Shen Yan Ting’s hand rested upon the hilt of his sword.
His attention remained fixed upon the creature.
Shen Yan Ting : “Hm.”
The Luo Clan jade hidden beneath Luo Yanhe’s robes gave a faint pulse.
Its warmth turned towards the demon beast, then slid past it, following a thin thread of foreign spiritual energy towards the northern end of the street.
For one instant, Chao Lun Hui saw two choices.
The foreign trace might lead towards whoever had released the beast.
Following it now could reveal the source before it disappeared.
Then a lantern arch collapsed.
Several civilians remained trapped beneath its falling frame, including the boy who had stumbled beside the stall.
The demon beast was already charging along the same route.
Chao Lun Hui abandoned the fading trace.
Chao Lun Hui moved.
His body found the correct angle before conscious thought completed the plan.
He drove his sword into the street, released a broad wave of spiritual energy and caught the collapsing arch before it struck the crowd.
The wooden frame shuddered above him.
Burning lantern paper scattered across his shoulders.
Luo Yanhe : “Move!”
The nearest adults pulled the children into the side street.
Chao Lun Hui turned the blade and forced the arch away from the escape route.
A local cultivator caught the far end, allowing the final civilians to pass.
Only when the route was clear did Chao Lun Hui release the structure and turn towards the beast.
The foreign trace had already weakened.
High above the river road, beneath the shadow of a tiled roof, a hooded figure watched without moving.
The demon beast crushed an overturned stall beneath one claw.
Its burning eyes passed over the other cultivators before stopping on Luo Yanhe, and the crimson veins across its chest brightened.
Luo Yanhe : “Please tell me that is not a demon beast.”
Shen Yan Ting studied the lines beneath its stone-like hide.
The creature possessed the shape and spiritual pressure of a demon beast, but its movements were too direct.
Something had stripped away every instinct except aggression and forced a foreign current through its veins.
Shen Yan Ting : “It is.”
Chao Lun Hui drew his sword with a sigh.
Luo Yanhe : “I dislike being correct.”
Without warning, the creature charged.
Luo Yanhe : “Why is it coming here?”
Nobody answered.
They were too busy moving as the beast struck the street, breaking stone and sending pieces of a food stall across the road.
Shen Yan Ting cut through the largest fragments before they could reach the crowd.
Mu Qingyu landed near the blocked side street and drove two silver seals into the ground.
Mu Qingyu : “The evacuation route is secure.
We can engage.”
Gu Zhen landed several steps away and tightened his grip around his spear.
His usual foolish excitement appeared immediately, though for one short moment his gaze sharpened when he looked past the creature’s physical form.
Whatever he saw beneath its spiritual shell made his smile disappear.
Then the expression returned.
Gu Zhen : “Finally.”
Chao Lun Hui recognised that tone and reached towards him, already certain that the next few seconds would end badly.
Luo Yanhe : “Gu Zhen, no.”
Gu Zhen lowered his stance, spear angled towards the creature.
Gu Zhen : “Gu Zhen, yes.”
Before anyone could stop him, he charged with the confidence of a man who had never allowed experience to interfere with enthusiasm.
His spear struck the creature’s shoulder, and the impact shook the street hard enough to crack the stones beneath their feet.
For one glorious breath, Gu Zhen forced it backwards.
The demon beast answered by striking him with the side of one massive claw.
Gu Zhen vanished into a vegetable stall.
The shattered awning collapsed around him, followed by several baskets and a small mountain of cabbages.
One rolled slowly across the street before stopping near Luo Yanhe’s boot.
Chao Lun Hui pointed towards the ruined stall.
Luo Yanhe : “That is what happens when Senior ignores teamwork.”
A cabbage flew from beneath the broken wood and struck Luo Yanhe in the shoulder.
He looked down at it, then towards the stall, offended by the accuracy of the throw.
Gu Zhen : “I can still hear you.”
Mu Qingyu moved before the creature could attack again.
Silver light followed her sword as three arcs cut through the air and struck the glowing veins along its side.
The beast roared and turned towards her, giving Pei Wuchen enough time to approach from the opposite direction.
His sword style was elegant, controlled and precise.
Each movement flowed into the next without wasted effort, and pale spiritual light followed the edge of his blade as he cut through the creature’s hardened skin.
His paper cranes circled above the beast, marking the rhythm of the crimson veins.
Chao Lun Hui watched him force the demon beast away from the fleeing townspeople.
Luo Yanhe : “Junior Brother Pei is really strong.”
Nearby, Shen Yan Ting’s sword paused inside its sheath.
The interruption lasted less than a breath, but Mu Qingyu saw it before turning away to cut another glowing channel.
Pei Wuchen’s next strike broke the outer shell around the creature’s shoulder.
Pei Wuchen : “The crimson lines are carrying the control.
Break the junctions, not the stone.”
Mu Qingyu : “Three on the left side.”
Chao Lun Hui shifted towards the opening.
His sword met Pei Wuchen’s attack from the opposite angle, splitting a second crimson junction.
The beast staggered, but the foreign current tightened through its chest and forced it upright again.
Shen Yan Ting did not attack the body.
His golden gaze followed the current itself, searching for the point where the foreign spiritual force entered the creature.
The demon beast suddenly changed direction.
Instead of following Mu Qingyu, it lunged towards Pei Wuchen, moving with a speed its massive body should not have possessed.
Pei Wuchen dodged left.
The creature adjusted at once.
Its claw descended before he could regain his footing.
Chao Lun Hui reached him first.
His body crossed the distance with a reflex Chao Lun Hui had never learnt.
Chao Lun Hui placed himself between Pei Wuchen and the attack, raised his sword and caught the claw against the flat of the blade.
The collision sent a shockwave through the street.
Lanterns shattered overhead, and Luo Yanhe’s boots slid several feet across the stones before he forced the creature’s claw aside.
Pei Wuchen : “Senior Brother Luo!”
Chao Lun Hui steadied himself and kept his sword raised.
Pain burned along his arm, but the cut beneath his sleeve felt shallow.
Luo Yanhe : “I am fine.”
Pei Wuchen’s gaze dropped towards the blood darkening the fabric near Luo Yanhe’s elbow.
Pei Wuchen : “You are bleeding.”
Chao Lun Hui glanced down.
Luo Yanhe : “That is inconvenient.”
Pei Wuchen looked at him, then at the claw mark running across the torn sleeve.
His concern was genuine, but caution had not disappeared from his eyes.
It had simply been forced to share space with a new assessment.
Pei Wuchen : “You should not have taken that strike.”
Luo Yanhe : “Junior Brother Pei almost lost a leg.”
Pei Wuchen : “That does not make your arm less injured.”
Chao Lun Hui considered this an unnecessarily reasonable response.
The demon beast roared again.
Shen Yan Ting’s sword left its sheath.
His gaze moved once towards the blood on Luo Yanhe’s sleeve.
Cold spiritual pressure spread across the street, extinguishing several fallen lantern flames without touching the civilians gathered beyond the barrier.
The beast turned towards him.
Shen Yan Ting stepped forward.
Mu Qingyu struck the remaining crimson junction along its left side.
Pei Wuchen’s paper cranes tightened around the creature’s head, forcing the foreign current into a visible line.
Luo Yanhe drove his sword into the damaged shoulder, and Gu Zhen emerged from the ruined stall long enough to ram his spear into the creature’s foreleg.
The demon beast dropped to one knee.
The foreign spiritual force pulled hard towards the northern street.
Shen Yan Ting cut through it.
His sword moved once.
The pale arc passed through the controlling current, severed the final crimson channel and struck the centre of the creature’s chest.
The demon beast stopped.
Its glowing veins dimmed from crimson to dull grey, and the massive body collapsed onto the stones with enough force to shake the nearby stalls.
No blood followed.
Only black dust drifted from the cracks in its stone-like hide.
A child peered from behind the bridge barrier.
Child : “Woah.”
The child’s mother immediately pulled him back.
Gu Zhen climbed out of the vegetable stall with cabbage leaves caught in his curls and one broken basket hanging from his shoulder.
He looked at the defeated creature, then at Shen Yan Ting.
Gu Zhen : “This senior had it under control.”
Mu Qingyu : “The cabbages disagree.”
Gu Zhen removed the basket with dignity.
Shen Yan Ting had already reached Luo Yanhe.
He caught Luo Yanhe’s wrist before the injured arm could be moved out of reach and drew the torn sleeve aside.
The cut was shallow, but a thin line of blood ran towards the elbow.
Luo Yanhe : “Master, it is only a scratch.”
Shen Yan Ting placed two fingers above the wound and sent a controlled thread of spiritual energy through the surrounding meridians.
Shen Yan Ting : “Be quiet.”
Chao Lun Hui obeyed for almost two breaths.
Luo Yanhe : “Junior Brother Pei almost lost a leg.”
Shen Yan Ting did not look towards Pei Wuchen.
Shen Yan Ting : “He did not.”
Luo Yanhe : “Because this disciple intervened.”
Shen Yan Ting’s gaze lifted to him.
Luo Yanhe : “Why is Master looking at this disciple?”
Shen Yan Ting returned his attention to the wound without answering.
He checked twice for foreign spiritual energy before releasing Luo Yanhe’s wrist.
Mu Qingyu watched from beside the demon beast.
Her expression remained carefully neutral.
The street began to recover around them.
Local cultivators extinguished fallen lanterns and helped merchants move damaged stalls.
The White Crane specialists kept the eastern bridge stable while families searched for anyone separated during the attack.
A woman whose son Luo Yanhe had pulled from beneath the lantern arch bowed to him with tears in her eyes.
Woman : “Thank you, Cultivator Luo.”
Before he could answer, another parent guided her daughter farther away.
Two local cultivators stood near the fallen beast, speaking in low voices while glancing between its dark body and Luo Yanhe.
Local Cultivator : “It came directly for him.”
The second cultivator looked towards the side street Luo had cleared.
Local Cultivator : “He also kept it away from the crowd.”
Neither conclusion erased the other.
Chao Lun Hui had inherited Luo Yanhe’s reputation without remembering how it had been earned.
Protecting several civilians did not remove forbidden cultivation, frightening rumours or ancient artefacts responding to his blood.
It only gave the witnesses one more truth to argue over.
Before the group could leave the street, another woman pushed through the crowd near the river.
Her hair had come loose, and both hands clutched a paper lantern crushed along one side.
Woman : “Please.
Has anyone seen my younger brother?”
Mu Qingyu stepped towards her.
Mu Qingyu : “When did you last see him?”
Woman : “Before the attack.
He went to release his wish lantern near the river.
We found this beside the lower steps, but he is gone.”
She held out the lantern.
One of the painted sides had been torn.
A strip of white paper remained tied beneath its frame, the handwriting blurred by river water but still readable.
[I wish to change what awaits me.]
The ordinary wishes Chao Lun Hui had seen throughout the festival asked for health, safe travel or a better year.
This was different.
The missing man had not asked for good fortune.
He had asked for a different future.
The Luo Clan jade warmed beneath Luo Yanhe’s robes.
Its pull turned towards the river.
Chao Lun Hui carried the lantern carefully.
The paper carried no ancient authority and no visible formation, yet the wording felt too close to the mysteries following him north.
Luo Yanhe : “What is your brother’s name?”
Woman : “Chen Yu.
He is nineteen.
He would not leave without telling me.”
Pei Wuchen released a paper crane over the lantern.
It circled once, then drifted towards the river before losing the trace.
Pei Wuchen : “There is residual spiritual energy, but the festival formations have disturbed it.”
Gu Zhen approached.
Several cabbage leaves still remained in his hair.
He reached towards the lantern, then stopped before touching it.
His foolish expression disappeared.
His eyes followed something beyond the wet paper, beyond the river steps and northwards through the darkened streets.
Gu Zhen : “He is alive.”
The woman’s hands tightened together.
Woman : “You know where he is?”
Gu Zhen did not answer at once.
Gu Zhen : “His body has not died.”
Chao Lun Hui looked at him.
There was no evidence available to an ordinary cultivator that should have allowed such certainty.
Gu Zhen studied the faint residue above the lantern as though reading a trail invisible to everyone else.
Gu Zhen : “But something belonging to him has already gone north.”
Pei Wuchen’s expression sharpened.
Pei Wuchen : “A spiritual imprint?”
Gu Zhen : “A soul trail.”
Mu Qingyu : “How do you know?”
Gu Zhen looked down at the cabbage leaf caught on his shoulder.
He removed it carefully.
Gu Zhen : “Experience.”
It was not an answer.
Chao Lun Hui recognised the evasion and chose not to challenge it while the woman stood waiting for news.
Gu Zhen had spent most of the day treating roasted duck as a sacred calling.
Now he had identified a living man’s soul trail without touching the lantern.
The contradiction joined the growing list of things about Gu Zhen that did not fit his public role.
Shen Yan Ting looked towards the river.
Shen Yan Ting : “We begin at first light.
The town guards will close the northern road tonight.”
Pei Wuchen : “I will have the White Crane disciples preserve every formation record before anyone repairs the bridge.”
Mu Qingyu : “I will organise the witnesses and confirm whether anyone else is missing.”
Chao Lun Hui returned the lantern to the woman.
Luo Yanhe : “We will find him.”
The promise left his mouth before Chao Lun Hui considered whether Luo Yanhe had the right to make it.
Yet leaving the woman with only uncertainty felt worse.
Above the street, the hooded watcher stood behind a row of unlit lanterns.
A faint grey thread rested between gloved fingers.
It no longer searched for Luo Yanhe’s bloodline.
It carried the memory of a decision made when the foreign trail remained within reach.
The watcher unfolded a narrow piece of black paper inside one sleeve.
Pale writing appeared across its surface.
The heir protected another before pursuing the source.
The black paper folded itself and disappeared beneath the dark robe.
The hooded figure stepped from the roof into the moving festival crowd.
By the time Shen Yan Ting looked towards the upper lantern frames, nothing remained there.
Chao Lun Hui stood near the river steps, watching Pei Wuchen’s paper crane make another unsuccessful circle over the water.
The wish lantern trembled in the woman’s hands.
Gu Zhen’s unseen soul trail continued north.
Chao Lun Hui did not know that his choice had been measured.
He only knew that Chen Yu was still alive, and that something had carried part of him towards the same road the Luo Clan jade had been trying to follow.
The chapter has now been updated to the latest revised version.
I truly appreciate everyone who waited and continued supporting this story while I worked on improving it.
I hope this updated version gives you a smoother and more enjoyable reading experience.
Thank you for staying with me.
Happy reading!