Night fell without warning.
The forest didn't dim gradually.
It swallowed the light.
Completely.
Wei Liang noticed it first.
Not the darkness—
The change.
The sounds.
Gone.
No insects.
No wind.
Only—
Stillness.
Wrong.
The group slowed.
No one said it.
But everyone felt it.
"We stop here," someone said.
Not an order.
A decision.
No one disagreed.
A small clearing.
Barely enough.
The fire—
Low.
Controlled.
No one relaxed.
Wei Liang sat at the edge.
Back to a tree.
Eyes closed.
Not resting.
Listening.
The qi in the air—
Disturbed.
Not natural.
Someone is moving.
Not beasts.
People.
Wei Liang's breathing slowed.
He didn't warn anyone.
Because—
That wasn't his role.
Footsteps.
Soft.
From behind the trees.
Wei Liang opened his eyes.
Just slightly.
Across the fire—
Shen Jinhai.
Watching.
Not the forest.
Wei Liang.
So he knows too.
The moment stretched.
Then—
It broke.
A scream.
Short.
Cut off instantly.
Everyone moved.
Weapons drawn.
Eyes sharp.
A body hit the ground.
One of the participants.
Dead.
Throat cut.
Clean.
Not a beast.
A man stepped out.
Then another.
Then—
More.
Five.
All masked.
All armed.
Ambush.
Shen Jinhai stepped forward immediately.
"Enemies," he said coldly.
No panic.
Only intent.
The attackers didn't speak.
They moved.
Fast.
The fight exploded.
Steel clashed.
Qi surged.
Chaos—
But controlled chaos.
Wei Liang didn't rush in.
He observed.
Numbers:
Five attackers.
Six survivors.
Strength:
Similar.
Outcome:
Unstable.
Not a guaranteed win.
So—
Decision.
One attacker broke away.
Toward him.
Wei Liang moved.
Not backward.
Sideways.
The blade cut past him.
Too slow.
Wei Liang stepped in.
Closer.
His hand—
Struck.
Precise.
The attacker staggered.
Wei Liang followed.
Second strike.
Throat.
The man fell.
No hesitation.
No noise.
Wei Liang stepped back.
Already gone from that position.
The others—
Still fighting.
No one saw clearly.
Except—
One.
Shen Linyue.
Her eyes met his.
For a moment.
Then—
She smiled.
So she saw.
Wei Liang looked away.
The fight continued.
Another scream.
Another body.
Not from the attackers.
From their side.
Wei Liang's eyes sharpened.
So it's not clean.
Shen Jinhai struck hard.
One attacker fell.
The balance shifted.
Three left.
Then two.
Then—
Silence.
The last one tried to run.
Didn't make it.
The forest returned to stillness.
But now—
It was heavier.
Three bodies.
Two from their side.
Wei Liang stood still.
Breathing steady.
No one spoke.
Because everyone understood.
This wasn't random.
This was—
Deliberate.
A test.
Or a purge.
Shen Jinhai looked around.
Eyes cold.
"…We move."
No one argued.
No mourning.
No hesitation.
They left the bodies behind.
As if they never existed.
Wei Liang walked with them.
But his thoughts—
Sharper.
Enemies outside.
Enemies inside.
And now—
Deaths.
Real ones.
He exhaled slowly.
"…Good."
Because now—
There was no illusion left.
This wasn't survival anymore.
This was—
Selection through death.
Deep within—
The pagoda pulsed.
Not violently.
Steady.
As if—
Approving.