Chapter 5: The Shadows of the Village
Silence filled the cabin.
Wang Tao stood motionless.
His gaze was fixed on the Flame-Shelled Beetle resting on his palm.
The flames surrounding its shell had become noticeably weaker. They flickered irregularly, sometimes shrinking to little more than embers before flaring up again.
Wang Tao's face darkened.
He had lost.
Not because his Gu was weak.
Not because his opponent had overwhelmed him with brute force.
He had lost because his Gu's energy had been disrupted by that strange little larva.
And the person responsible was Han Feng.
An orphan.
A nobody whom Wang Tao had never considered worth remembering.
Behind him, his two companions exchanged nervous glances.
Neither dared to speak.
Wang Tao slowly closed his fist.
His nails dug into his palm.
For several breaths, he said nothing.
Then he raised his head.
"This isn't over."
His voice was low.
Han Feng looked at him calmly.
Wang Tao's eyes were filled with humiliation.
"Don't mistake this for a victory, Han Feng. You got lucky."
Han Feng said nothing.
That silence seemed to irritate Wang Tao even more.
He turned sharply.
"Let's go."
His two followers immediately followed.
The cabin door slammed shut behind them.
Han Feng remained where he was.
He waited.
One breath.
Two.
Five.
Only after he could no longer hear their footsteps did his shoulders relax slightly.
He exhaled.
"So it begins."
The victory had been useful.
But it had also been troublesome.
Wang Tao was the son of an elder.
People like him were allowed to lose.
They were not allowed to be humiliated.
Han Feng had seen enough of human nature to understand the difference.
Wang Tao would come back.
Perhaps not today.
Perhaps not tomorrow.
But eventually.
And next time, he wouldn't come alone.
Han Feng glanced toward the door.
His expression became thoughtful.
That was fine.
Danger wasn't always a bad thing.
Sometimes it was simply another form of pressure.
And pressure could be useful.
Han Feng sat down again.
The cabin returned to silence.
He placed the Dual Chaos Larva in front of him.
The small Gu moved slowly across his palm.
Its blue and golden body seemed calmer than before.
Han Feng carefully examined it.
The battle had changed something.
He could feel it.
The connection between them was slightly stronger.
Not by much.
But enough for him to notice.
Han Feng narrowed his eyes.
Had the battle strengthened the Gu?
Or had it strengthened the connection between them?
Perhaps neither.
Perhaps the Celestial Diagram had simply reacted to the opposing energies.
There were too many unknowns.
Han Feng didn't like unknowns.
But he understood one thing.
The Dual Chaos Larva was not ordinary.
Its greatest weakness—the conflict between order and chaos—was also its greatest potential.
For other Gu Masters, the two energies were a disaster.
For him...
They might become an advantage.
Han Feng closed his eyes.
The Celestial Diagram slowly appeared within his consciousness.
The hexagram pulsed once.
Energy began flowing through his meridians.
Han Feng carefully guided it.
His body absorbed Qi slightly faster than before.
The difference was small.
So small that another person might not even notice.
But Han Feng noticed.
His expression became serious.
There was a change.
Whether it was caused by the Gu, the Celestial Diagram, or the interaction between the two, he couldn't yet determine.
That meant one thing.
He needed more experiments.
More battles.
More resources.
And, most importantly...
Time.
Han Feng opened his eyes.
"Strength isn't enough."
He looked at the Gu in his hand.
"Knowledge matters too."
He needed to understand the Celestial Diagram.
He needed to understand the Dual Chaos Larva.
And he needed to understand the cultivation system of this world.
Only then could he know exactly what kind of path lay before him.
Unfortunately, resources couldn't be obtained by sitting inside a cabin.
Han Feng glanced toward the window.
The village seemed peaceful.
But he knew better.
Deep within the village, a candle burned inside the main hall.
Several figures sat around a long wooden table.
Elder Wang Jian sat at the head.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
Across from him, Wang Tao knelt with his head lowered.
His face still burned with humiliation.
"He defeated my Flame-Shelled Beetle."
His voice was bitter.
"With that mutant Gu."
No one answered immediately.
Wang Jian looked at his son.
"You said Han Feng didn't use a conventional Gu technique."
"I don't know what he used!"
Wang Tao clenched his teeth.
"That larva interfered with my Gu somehow. The Flame-Shelled Beetle's flames became unstable, and then..."
He stopped.
The memory clearly angered him.
"Then I lost."
Wang Jian leaned back.
His fingers tapped lightly against the table.
An orphan.
No clan backing.
No family resources.
No known inheritance.
Yet somehow, this boy had managed to subdue a Dual Chaos Larva.
And now that same Gu had disrupted a Flame-Shelled Beetle.
Wang Jian's eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
An elder sitting nearby spoke.
His name was Xiao Cheng.
He was thin, with a pale complexion and eyes that rarely revealed emotion.
"The Dual Chaos Larva has always been regarded as defective."
Xiao Cheng slowly turned a cup between his fingers.
"But perhaps we were wrong."
Wang Tao looked up.
"What do you mean?"
"The problem may not be the Gu itself."
Xiao Cheng's gaze became distant.
"It may be the person using it."
The room became quiet.
Wang Jian understood immediately.
"You think Han Feng has some special method?"
"I'm saying we don't know."
Xiao Cheng placed the cup down.
"And that is precisely the problem."
Wang Jian's fingers stopped tapping.
He looked toward the candle.
The flame flickered.
A child nobody cared about had suddenly obtained an unusual Gu.
Then he had defeated Wang Tao.
Coincidence?
Perhaps.
But cultivators who survived long enough learned not to rely on coincidence.
Wang Jian finally spoke.
"How much do we know about Han Feng?"
One of the elders answered.
"Nothing remarkable. He is an orphan. His cultivation foundation was considered poor. He has no known teacher and no family inheritance."
Wang Jian frowned.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Xiao Cheng smiled faintly.
"That makes him even more interesting."
Wang Tao's eyes flashed.
"Father."
Wang Jian looked at him.
"Say it."
"Why don't we just deal with him now?"
Several elders looked toward him.
Wang Tao continued.
"He's still weak. If he grows stronger, dealing with him will only become harder."
Wang Jian's expression didn't change.
"No."
Wang Tao was startled.
"Why?"
"Because we don't kill what we don't understand."
The words were quiet.
But firm.
"If Han Feng is truly nothing, then he will reveal that soon enough."
"And if he isn't..."
Wang Jian's eyes became cold.
"Then I want to know exactly what he is capable of before I move."
Xiao Cheng nodded.
"The annual assessment is approaching."
A faint smile appeared on Wang Jian's face.
"Exactly."
He looked at his son.
"Let the boy show us."
Wang Tao's fists tightened.
"And if he passes?"
"Then we learn more."
"And if he fails?"
Wang Jian's expression remained indifferent.
"Then the problem solves itself."
No one spoke after that.
The candle continued to burn.
Outside, the village slept peacefully.
But within the walls of the elder's hall, a decision had already been made.
Han Feng had entered their sight.
And once someone entered the sight of people with power...
Remaining unnoticed was no longer an option.
Back inside his cabin, Han Feng opened his eyes.
He suddenly stopped cultivating.
Something felt different.
The village was quiet.
Too quiet.
He looked toward the window.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
Han Feng remained still for several seconds.
Then he smiled faintly.
"So they've noticed."
He wasn't surprised.
Defeating Wang Tao had been impossible to hide.
The question was not whether someone would notice.
The question was who would move first.
Han Feng lowered his gaze toward the Dual Chaos Larva.
The little Gu continued crawling across his palm.
His expression gradually became colder.
He had entered this world with nothing.
No power.
No influence.
No allies.
Only the Celestial Diagram.
That was not enough.
Not yet.
He needed resources.
Information.
Cultivation.
And time.
The annual assessment would come soon.
Until then, he had one objective.
Become stronger without revealing too much.
Han Feng closed his fingers around the Gu.
"Let them watch."
His voice was barely audible.
"If they want to see what I can do..."
A faint smile appeared.
"...I'll give them something worth watching."
The candle beside him went out.
Darkness swallowed the cabin.
And somewhere beyond the walls, unseen eyes continued to watch the night.