The weight of gravity pressed down on Lin Mu as he stood in one of the training courtyards, suspended in the center of a gravitational vortex he'd woven from sixteen shifting anchor points. Dust hovered mid-air. His robes fluttered like leaves caught in a silent storm, yet his body remained still—like a star at the center of orbit.
Then he felt a presence approaching.
Lin Mu's eyes opened.
A monk in pale green robes bowed with quiet reverence at the edge of the field. The robe bore the subtle lotus sigil of the Green Lotus Temple, but this monk was unfamiliar. While Lin Mu had seen many monks in the temple, he couldn't say for sure he knew each and everyone of them.
"Benefactor Lin Mu," the monk said with clasped hands, "a ssage has arrived for you—from the temple, but not of it."
Lin Mu raised a brow and stepped out of the vortex. With a wave of his hand, the pressure field collapsed into silence.
The monk held out a lacquered wooden box.
Lin Mu took it with so curiosity—only for his expression to shift the mont his eyes fell on the crest engraved on the lid.
A stylized Virgo constellation, depicted with intricate star-like studs of silver.
His grip unconsciously tightened.
"The Great Kang Clan…" he murmured. "Lady Kang?"
He hadn't been in contact with her for… years now. Not since leaving the Rust Sky World and stepping onto his wandering path. Not since diving into the Verdant lands of the Jui World, the cursed Osteri World, and finally arriving here at the monastery under a collapsing sky.
A drop of sweat trickled down his brow.
He had… not written even once.
"Ah… I may be in trouble," he muttered and carefully sat down, setting the box before him with uncharacteristic delicacy.
With a soft breath, he undid the sealing formation and opened the lid.
Inside were several objects: a handful of storage treasures, neatly arranged in a jade-lined compartnt, and a single jade slip, its luster warm and refined—obviously of the highest quality.
He picked up the jade slip and pressed it to his forehead.
Lady Kang's voice echoed into his spiritual sense, elegant as ever—but laced with icy sharpness.
"Lin Mu."
The na alone sent a shiver down his spine. There was no "Fellow Daoist Lin," no polite "Friend Lin." Just… "Lin Mu."
"Do you intend to vanish completely from the face of the world? You leave without word, ignore all attempts to reach you, and perhaps disappear into so spatial black hole for years."
He winced.
"You better be dead, I said to myself. Because if you're not, and simply ignoring , I will throw you into the heart of a star."
"Unfortunately, Daoist Chu confird that you are, in fact, alive."
There was a pause in the ssage, as if she was giving him ti to feel guilty. It worked.
"He has returned to the Immortal Court recently and inford of your situation. That you are in the Silent Lotus world and may have isolated all communication around you… Hmph. I suppose that is an acceptable excuse. Barely."
Thankfully Lin Mu had kept the man updated about his state, though not his ti in the Great Burden Monastery. Daoist Chu probably told her about Lin Mu's ditative state and trance which was a decent enough excuse.
Lin Mu coughed lightly in the real world, sheepish.
"I sent several ssages, but none reached you. So I've resorted to sending this package through a few people that owed a favor. If you're reading this, it worked."
"Now listen well."
"I don't know what madness you've gotten yourself tangled in this ti, but I know you. As per our past agreents and business deals I'm sending you your profits."
"In the storage rings, I've sent over the following:
— Several rare body cultivation resources from the Eternal Blacksmith Sect including the Earth Pulse Origin Pearl.
— Two doses of Primordial tal Essence, extracted from a teor that ca from the Farlands.
— A large amount of Immortal Stones and Immortal Essence crystals as paynt for the Mortal Reminder Arrows, Herbsbane Arrows and your unique wine recipe.
— And a few more materials… things I thought you might like."
"I've also sent so news and intel in the next two jade slips. Read it after you've cald down."
"Lastly… you owe . I don't know where fate will take us next and when we'll et again, but don't disappear again."
"...You idiot."
The ssage faded, and Lin Mu sat still, jade slip falling to his lap.
He hadn't realized how heavy that guilt was—until her voice brought it crashing down. Not even gravity compared.
"She still thinks of ," he whispered softly.
He stared at the box for a long ti before picking up one of the storage rings. Inside were exactly what she had promised: imnsely rare treasures that would take decades to find under normal circumstances. Lin Mu could already feel his body responding to the Primordial tal Essence, its pull like that of a long-lost brother.
He opened the second jade slip, noting it was filled with intelligence reports—movents of sects, shifting powers within the Immortal Court, rumors of growing instability in the southern territories, and even faint whispers of sothing stirring in the Distant Abyssal Worlds of the Farlands.
It was a treasure trove of news. A reminder of the world beyond the monastery.
He kept the third jade slip for later, which he reckoned probably had information about the mission Lady Kang had commissioned him for.
He sighed and stood, glancing toward the sky.
Not long after, Lin Mu sat with the abbot and explained the arrival.
"So, she found you at last," the old monk said with a faint smile. "She must care deeply."
"Perhaps," Lin Mu muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
"The karmic threads around you are always tangled," the abbot said. "But perhaps that is what gives you strength."
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