Lin Mu’s eyes hardened.
He walked to the central shelves where the thickest tos lay, their covers marked with the crescent insignia. Each one contained the records of the Drowned Crescent Cult’s leaders, their rituals, their plans. He placed his hand over the shelves and swept them all into his ring without hesitation.
"These," he said, his voice low but resolute, "will tell everything I need."
The cultist, La Yu, trembled and dropped to his knees again, kowtowing so hard his forehead split anew. "M-Master Lin, I’ve shown you everything! Please... please spare ! I have been loyal only to survival, not the cult!"
Cattaleya tilted her head, her blade glinting as she rested it casually across her shoulder. "He’s a worm, Lin Mu. Shall I cut him down now?"
Lin Mu shook his head. "Not yet. A worm can still be useful if it burrows through the right earth. He will live... for now. When I have wrung every truth from him, then we will see if he deserves to remain breathing."
La Yu’s body shook violently, but he dared not speak further.
The vaults now stood empty, stripped of wealth, knowledge, and power. What the cult had spent generations gathering was gone in a single night, swallowed whole by Lin Mu’s inexorable hand.
And yet, Lin Mu knew this was only the beginning. He now had the keys to their secrets, and soon, he would turn those keys against enemies far greater than this drowned cult.
The air outside the Crooked Abyss was heavy with the lingering atmosphere of the battle. Smoke rose from the abyss where there had been flowing magma just hours before.
The waves of the Black Bone Sea stretched endlessly before them, its eerie black waters reflecting faint streaks of crimson light from the bleak sky. The group had set up a temporary resting area atop a jagged ridge of cooled basalt, a place where the briny sea breeze could sweep away the stench of scorched stone and ash.
The two high elders of the Xian Sword Sect, Luo and Gu Jin, sat propped up on flat stones. Their breathing was steadier now, and their color had returned slightly, though the toll of years of poisons and tornt was not sothing that could be erased in a single day.
Pills of high potency had been given to them, both restorative and detoxifying, and while they were far from their pri, at least they no longer looked like walking corpses. Their eyes, clouded before by venom and weakening qi, now glimred faintly as the haze of poison was being pushed out of their bodies.
For the first ti since their release, they had a proper look at their rescuers. High Elder Luo blinked several tis, as if uncertain whether what he saw was truth or illusion. Elder Gu Jin slowly sat straighter, his aged fra trembling as he raised his head.
"Lin Mu..." Luo muttered, his voice shaking with disbelief.
"Daoist Chu... it truly is you both," Gu Jin added, the hint of relief almost breaking his composure.
For months, their vision had been clouded, their minds fogged by toxins, and in that state, when Lin Mu and Daoist Chu had first appeared in the prison, they had failed to recognize them. Even when Daoist Chu spoke about their nas, they still had doubts.
After all, there had been many tricks that had been played on them by the cult, in order to try and, obtain so information from them, but they had held back, not trusting anything.
But now, seeing them clearly in the light of dusk, all doubt vanished. Their hearts, which had been forced into despair for so long, finally allowed themselves to ease.
Lin Mu inclined his head, his expression calm, though a subtle softness lingered in his eyes as he t the gazes of the elders. Daoist Chu stepped closer, folding his hands respectfully, and for the first ti in many months, the elders felt a familiar steadiness return to their world.
But as their tired eyes moved across the group, their attention caught on soone else. A figure standing slightly apart from the core group, tall, wolf-eared, his golden eyes reflecting the setting sun.
Elder Luo narrowed his gaze. "Elyon...?"
Elder Gu Jin’s breath caught in his throat. "The hooded tracker... Why are you here?"
The wolfkin gave a faint, almost rueful smile, bowing slightly to the two elders. His hood was lowered now, his face no longer concealed in shadow.
Lin Mu spoke before Elyon could answer. "When we began searching for the truth behind the cult and the Ephera Sect, our path crossed with him. He told us of the contract he had been given, the one you yourselves issued. That was how we confird our trail. In the end, it was Elyon who led us closer to the threads that guided us here."
The elders exchanged a glance, their surprise evident. They had hired Elyon long before their capture, desperate for any information about the hidden forces at play. That he had not only survived, but had also found his way into Lin Mu’s company, was beyond expectation.
"You... you truly followed through with it," Elder Luo said with a strained laugh, his eyes moist. "Even when we thought everything was lost, you were still searching."
"We feared the worst," Gu Jin admitted, shaking his head slowly. "And yet... here you stand. All of you."
Lin Mu’s words then filled the silence. Calm, steady, as if declaring a fact rather than boasting. "The cult’s veil has been torn apart. Their stronghold is gone, their leader is dead, and their secrets are ours to dissect. It was sothing that needed to be done."
The elders’ gazes shifted toward the distant horizon where smoke still rose from the ruins of the cult’s lair. The earth around the Crooked Abyss bore scars of fire and molten stone, cracks still smoldering faintly from the sheer devastation Lin Mu had unleashed.
It was certainly a sight to behold.
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