The Martial Emperor

Chapter 14 - Mystery

Lin Feng blinked several times. The ceiling of the room where he lay was made of old wood, and the surrounding air carried the scent of herbs and dry earth. The morning sunlight streamed through the gaps in the window, feeling both warm and blinding.

He tried to get up, but every muscle in his body screamed in protest. It felt as if his entire body had just been crushed by a giant horse-drawn carriage.

"Argh..." Lin Feng hissed, clutching his head, which was still throbbing intensely.

"Eh? You are finally awake?"

The sound of footsteps approached from the door on the right. Gu Yanfeng stepped in, carrying a clay bowl that emitted a plume of bitter steam. Upon seeing Lin Feng sitting up on the bed, the usually stiff smile of his Senior Brother now spread wide.

"Rest first, Feng. Do not push yourself too hard," Gu Yanfeng said while placing the medicine bowl on a small table.

Lin Feng turned with a confused face. "Senior Brother, where are we? And... what happened? How long have I been unconscious?"

"Slow down, one question at a time," Gu Yanfeng chuckled, pulling up a wooden chair to sit beside the bed. "You were unconscious for a full day and night. We brought you to the home of the Chenglai Village Head after that crazy battle ended."

Lin Feng’s eyes widened. "A full day? No way. I felt as if I had only closed my eyes a second ago."

"For us, it was an incredibly tense day," Gu Yanfeng took a deep breath, his gaze turning into one of pure admiration. "The village doctor said you suffered from severe spiritual exhaustion. But honestly, seeing what you did yesterday... I am surprised you did not die on the spot."

Lin Feng fell silent. He held his temples, trying to recall the scattered fragments of memory. "I remember... we were surrounded. Then... then I felt a sharp pain in my head."

"You did not just have a pain, Feng!" Gu Yanfeng interrupted with overflowing excitement. "You stood there like a god descended from the heavens! You painted a rune with a pattern I could not even understand. Then... Boom! Two fire koi fish, red and blue, appeared and devoured everything! Those two level nine men from the Ghost Crow Sect... they did not even have time to scream before they turned to ash."

Gu Yanfeng shook his head as if still in disbelief over what he had witnessed. "Although the crow controller managed to escape with half his body scorched, this is a miracle. A level two Marrow Refinement defeating three level nines? If I had not seen it myself, I would think the person telling this story was insane."

Lin Feng stared at his own palm, which was trembling slightly. "Twin koi fish... level seven rune..."

"Level seven? Are you sure it was level seven?" Gu Yanfeng leaned forward. "No wonder the power was so destructive. But Feng, explain to me... how did you do it?"

"That is the problem, Senior," Lin Feng furrowed his brow intensely. "I remember very clearly at that moment I could paint it. The pattern, the flow of Qi, everything was in my head. But now... when I try to remember the shape of that rune, it is all blank. Dark. I would not even know where to start if you told me to repeat it."

Gu Yanfeng observed Lin Feng’s face closely, looking for any signs of a lie. However, he found only genuine confusion.

"But why did you not release it from the start?" Gu Yanfeng asked again. "And how could your low spiritual strength withstand the burden of a level seven rune? Your soul should have shattered when the first line was drawn."

Lin Feng shook his head weakly. "I do not know, Senior Brother. Truly, at that moment I felt so desperate, and then suddenly that memory just appeared. It felt as if someone was guiding my hand. After I released it... everything was gone. The memory evaporated like mist."

Gu Yanfeng remained silent for a long time. He felt something was very strange, but he also knew that in the world of cultivation, there were things known as 'momentary enlightenment' or 'ancestral protection.'

"Well, never mind," Gu Yanfeng finally let out a long sigh, patting Lin Feng’s shoulder gently. "Whatever the secret is, I will not force you to tell. The most important thing is that you saved all our lives."

Gu Yanfeng stood up, then suddenly he pressed his hands together and bowed deeply toward Lin Feng. "Feng, I want to thank you sincerely. And... I also want to apologize for my behavior and that of our friends at the sect all this time. We often looked down on you because you were considered slow in cultivation. It turns out, we were the blind ones."

Lin Feng was stunned to see Gu Yanfeng’s attitude change so completely. "Senior, there is no need for this..."

"No, it is necessary. Honor must be given to whom it is due," Gu Yanfeng smiled sincerely. "Drink your medicine. Once you feel strong enough, we will set out."

A few hours later, after Lin Feng felt his strength return slightly, they bid farewell to the Chenglai Village Head. The old man bowed repeatedly, thanking them because their village had been freed from the terror of those demonic beasts.

The journey back to the Cloud Sword Sect began. Lin Feng walked in the middle of the line, surrounded by his comrades who now looked at him with respect, no longer with disdain.

However, within his mind, an internal war was raging.

"That rune does not belong to me," Lin Feng thought while feeling the Yin-Yang necklace hidden beneath his robes. "The Twin Koi Fish Rune... I have never studied it. It is impossible for it to appear naturally."

As he daydreamed while walking, a strange drowsiness suddenly hit him. For a few seconds, his consciousness seemed to drift away from the forest trail.

In a brief flash of a dream, he saw that clear lake at the bottom of the abyss again. And there stood the mysterious woman in snow-white robes.

"You were too reckless," the woman’s voice echoed in his head, cold yet sharp. "Using power you are not yet able to contain will only destroy your own vessel. Be careful; they have begun to catch your scent."

"Wait!" Lin Feng cried out in his heart. "Was it you who helped me yesterday? Who are you really?"

The woman only gave a thin smile, a smile that looked like both a mockery and a warning, before her shadow faded, obscured by white mist.

"Feng! Lin Feng!" Gu Yanfeng’s shout jolted Lin Feng back to reality.

Lin Feng startled, nearly tripping over a large tree root. He regulated his suddenly ragged breath. His heart pounded wildly.

"Are you okay?" Gu Yanfeng asked anxiously. "Your face suddenly turned pale again. Did the medicine not work?"

"No, I am fine," Lin Feng answered briefly, but his thoughts drifted far away.

He touched the Yin-Yang necklace on his neck.

"So it is true; she was the one who helped me," Lin Feng thought. "But how could she enter my memory? And what did she mean by 'they have begun to catch my scent'?"

Lin Feng looked toward the sky, toward the clouds drifting in the distance. He remembered the floating palace he saw in the vision inside the cave. Fear crept into his heart, but there was also a burning curiosity.

"Who is that woman? Why did she help me? And most importantly... how do I meet her again?"

The journey to the Cloud Sword Sect was still long, but Lin Feng knew that after this incident, his life would never be the same again. He was no longer Lin Feng the trash disciple who could only strengthen a sword. He was the keeper of secrets that even he himself could not yet understand.

"Senior Brother Gu," Lin Feng called softly.

Gu Yanfeng turned. "Yes?"

"After we reach the sect, can we keep the details about that koi fish rune a secret? Just say... we managed to win through teamwork and luck," Lin Feng requested seriously.

Gu Yanfeng fell silent for a moment, then nodded in understanding. "I understand. Power like that will invite envy and danger if it becomes known to the wrong elders. I will talk to the others to keep their mouths shut."

Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had a little time to find out about himself before the storm predicted by the mysterious woman truly came to strike him.

"Thank you, Senior," Lin Feng said, his eyes staring sharply ahead.

His grudge against Dan Wuji still remained, but now Lin Feng realized there was a much larger mountain he had to climb. And at the peak of that mountain, the secrets of the Martial Emperor and the woman in white robes awaited him.