The northern fields looked like a battlefield.
Wang Ben crouched beside the shattered remnants of a spirit herb garden, examining the deep gouges in the earth where panicked hooves had torn through months of careful cultivation. The morning sun cast long shadows across the destruction, illuminating trampled greenery and scattered soil.
[ANALYSIS: Damage pattern consistent with stampede behavior]
[Assessment: Approximately 40-60 beasts passed through this section]
[Note: No evidence of territorial marking or hunting activity]
"How bad?" Wang Hao asked from behind him.
Wang Ben straightened, brushing dirt from his knees. "The roots are destroyed. Even the protective formations around the beds are cracked." He gestured to the faint lines of inscription barely visible in the broken stone borders. "Grade 9 work. Couldn't handle the concentrated pressure of that many beasts."
Wang Hao's jaw tightened. The herb garden belonged to a retainer family that depended on its output for their livelihood. Three months of growth, gone in minutes.
"Mark it for the damage assessment," Wang Hao ordered. "We'll need accurate counts for the clan's reconstruction efforts."
They had been at this since dawn. Wang Ben's patrol team, six cultivators who had survived the beast tide together, now walked the wounded edges of Redstone City cataloging what remained.
The answer, increasingly, was not much.
The outer districts had taken the worst of it. Beasts fleeing the deep Blackwood had crashed through fences, walls, and anything else in their path. Most of the creatures were gone now, scattered into the countryside or hunted down by cleanup teams, but the evidence of their passage remained.
Zhao Yu fell into step beside Wang Ben as they moved between ruined properties. His friend looked tired, dark circles under his eyes that spoke to restless nights.
"My father's been up since midnight," Zhao Yu said quietly. "The retainer council is meeting every few hours. Everyone wants to know what happens next."
"With the Xue Clan?"
"With everything." Zhao Yu kicked at a broken fence post. "The beast tide killed seventeen cultivators on the northern wall alone. Another thirty wounded. And that's just our section. The whole city lost over a hundred people."
Wang Ben absorbed the numbers in silence. He had known the casualties were severe, but hearing them laid out so starkly brought a different kind of weight.
"The Xue Clan is the least of it," Zhao Yu continued. "Half the outer farms are destroyed. The Ironback Boar that got into the city killed eight merchants in the market district before someone brought it down. There are still scattered beasts in the eastern woods that haven't been cleared."
[OBSERVATION: Subject Zhao Yu exhibiting stress markers consistent with post-crisis processing]
[Assessment: Normal response to mass casualty event]
[Recommendation: Maintain supportive presence without attempting direct intervention]
Wang Ben glanced at his friend. The System's cold analysis wasn't wrong, but it missed something important. Zhao Yu wasn't just processing the crisis. He was questioning his place in it.
"You fought well on the wall," Wang Ben said.
Zhao Yu shook his head. "I killed panicked animals. That's not fighting. That's butchering." He was quiet for a moment. "When that pressure hit, the one from the forest... I couldn't move. My legs just stopped working. If something had attacked right then, I would have died standing there like a statue."
"Everyone felt it. Even the core formation elders."
"That doesn't make it better." Zhao Yu's voice was bitter. "It makes it worse. If the strongest cultivators in the city were brought to their knees by something two hundred kilometers away, what chance do people like us have?"
It was the question no one wanted to ask aloud. The question that hung over the city like smoke from a dying fire.
Wang Ben had no answer that would satisfy. The truth, the knowledge that bled through from sources he couldn't explain, suggested that Zhao Yu's fear was entirely justified. There were things in the world that could unmake cities with a thought. Things that made core formation cultivators look like children playing with wooden swords.
But that truth would help nothing.
"We get stronger," Wang Ben said instead. "One day at a time. One stage at a time. We can't control what's in the forest. We can control what we become."
Zhao Yu looked at him for a long moment. Something shifted in his expression, the bitterness giving way to something more complicated.
"You sound different lately. You know that?"
"Different how?"
"Older." Zhao Yu shrugged. "Not in a bad way. Just... different."
Before Wang Ben could respond, Wang Hao's voice cut across the field. "Movement. Northeast corner. Everyone form up."
The beast was a Thornback Boar, young and small by the standards of its kind. Late-stage body refinement at most. It huddled in the corner of a collapsed storage shed, squealing in terror whenever anyone approached.
Wang Ben studied it from twenty meters away while the rest of the team spread into a loose semicircle.
[THREAT ANALYSIS]
[Species: Thornback Boar (juvenile)]
[Rank: 1 (Body Refinement 7-8 equivalent)]
[Status: Wounded (left hindquarter), exhausted, dehydrated]
[Threat level: Minimal in current state]
[Note: Subject displaying atypical fear response - cornered but not aggressive]
"It's barely a threat," Sun Bao observed, his hands positioned for his ranged technique but holding back. "Practically a piglet."
"Practically a piglet with spines that can punch through leather armor," Wang Jun countered. His twin sister nodded agreement.
Wang Hao considered the situation. "Standard takedown. Wang Jun, Wang Xiu, you have the flanks. Sun Bao, ranged support. Zhao Yu, Wang Ben, with me on approach. We put it down clean."
It was the correct tactical decision. A wounded beast was still a beast, and proper procedure existed for good reason. But something about the boar's behavior nagged at Wang Ben.
"Wait," he said.
Wang Hao turned, eyebrow raised. The team lead had been increasingly willing to hear Wang Ben's observations since the wall, but patience had limits.
"It's not just wounded," Wang Ben said. "Look at its eyes. The way it's pressing against that corner."
The boar squealed again, a high-pitched sound of pure animal distress. It wasn't watching them. It was watching the forest beyond, the dark line of trees visible over the collapsed wall of the shed.
"It's still running," Wang Ben continued. "Whatever scared it during the tide, whatever made all those beasts flee... it's still scared. Even now, two days later."
[OBSERVATION: Subject behavioral analysis indicates sustained fear response]
[Assessment: Whatever drove the initial migration remains a perceived threat]
[Implication: Beasts may continue to avoid deep Blackwood for extended period]
Wang Hao's expression shifted from skepticism to consideration. "You're suggesting we don't need to kill it."
"I'm suggesting it might leave on its own if we give it a clear path away from the forest." Wang Ben pointed southeast. "Open the escape route. Let it run. It wants to get away from the Blackwood more than it wants to fight us."
The team exchanged glances. Standard procedure said to eliminate any beast found within city limits. Standard procedure didn't account for whatever had happened in the deep forest.
Wang Hao made his decision. "Wang Jun, Wang Xiu, open the southeast. Everyone else, hold position but don't advance."
The twins moved, creating a gap in the semicircle. For a long moment, nothing happened. The boar pressed harder into its corner, squealing.
Then its tiny eyes found the opening. Found the clear path leading away from the dark trees.
It bolted.
The Thornback Boar shot through the gap like an arrow, spines flattened against its body in a full sprint. It didn't look back. It didn't hesitate. It simply ran until it disappeared into the southeastern fields, still fleeing from something no one could see.
"Huh," Sun Bao said into the silence. "That actually worked."
Wang Hao studied the empty corner where the beast had been, then looked at Wang Ben with an expression that was becoming increasingly familiar. The look of someone seeing something they couldn't quite explain.
"Add it to the report," Wang Hao said finally. "Behavioral observation: beasts continue to display flight response two days post-tide. Possible tactical implication for cleanup operations."
It wasn't much. But it was something.
They returned to the compound as the sun reached its peak, tired and dust-covered from a morning spent walking through destruction. Wang Ben's muscles ached with the persistent soreness of the Body Tempering Pill's work, but it was a productive ache. He could feel himself growing stronger with each passing hour.
[STATUS UPDATE]
[Body Tempering Pill absorption: 21.3%]
[Physical enhancement: +36% baseline]
[Note: Activity-based absorption increase detected]
[Projected advancement to Stage 7: 2-4 days]
The compound was busier than usual when they arrived. Cultivators moved with purpose between buildings, and Wang Ben caught fragments of urgent conversation as he made his way toward his family's quarters.
"...formal response from the Xue Clan..."
"...Patriarch called an emergency session..."
"...can't believe they would dare..."
Something had changed while they were in the field.
Wang Ben found his father in the family's main room, standing by the window with his back to the door. Wang Tian's posture was rigid, controlled in a way that spoke to barely contained emotion.
"Father?"
Wang Tian turned. His face was calm, but his eyes held the cold fire that Wang Ben had only seen once before, in the aftermath of his healing.
"You've heard?"
"Fragments. Something about the Xue Clan."
"They've responded to the evidence." Wang Tian's voice was flat. "Patriarch Xue sent a formal declaration to the clan council this morning. They're denying everything."
Wang Ben felt his jaw tighten. "Denying? The letters were dated. The payment records were signed. The Xue Clan medallion was on Liu's body."
"All fabricated, according to them." Wang Tian moved to the table, picking up a scroll that lay open on its surface. "Elder Liu was a rogue agent acting without authorization. The medallion was stolen. The letters were forged by Wang Clan enemies seeking to destabilize the city. And the payment records..." He laughed, a harsh sound without humor. "The payment records were actually payments TO the Wang Clan, bribes we accepted and then tried to hide by accusing a dead man."
The audacity of it stole Wang Ben's breath for a moment. "They're claiming we bribed Liu? That we're the traitors?"
"They're claiming we murdered him to cover our own crimes." Wang Tian set the scroll down with careful precision, as if afraid he might crush it in his grip. "They're demanding a formal investigation into Wang Clan finances. They're calling for sanctions until our 'true involvement' is revealed."
[ANALYSIS: Xue Clan response consistent with desperation tactics]
[Assessment: Counter-accusations designed to shift narrative, create doubt, and delay consequences]
[Historical parallel: Standard political maneuvering when evidence is overwhelming]
[Note: Effectiveness depends on neutral party perception and political alliances]
The System's cold assessment matched Wang Ben's own conclusions. The Xue Clan couldn't deny the evidence directly, so they were attacking its source. If they could create enough doubt, enough chaos, they might escape the worst consequences.
"What does the Patriarch say?"
"He's furious." Wang Tian's lips curved in something that wasn't quite a smile. "Which is to say, he's showing no emotion whatsoever and speaking in short, clipped sentences. I've known him long enough to recognize the signs."
"And the other clans?"
"The Dao Clan is with us. Patriarch Dao lost two elders in the beast tide. He's not inclined to give the Xue Clan any benefit of the doubt." Wang Tian paused. "The Huo Clan is maintaining neutrality. The City Lord hasn't made any public statement."
That was the critical piece. The Huo Clan's position would determine how this played out. If the City Lord sided with the Wang Clan, the Xue Clan's counter-accusations would collapse. If he maintained neutrality, the political battle could drag on for months.
"What happens now?"
Wang Tian was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice had lost some of its hard edge.
"Now we wait. We document. We let the evidence speak for itself." He looked at his son. "And we prepare for the possibility that evidence won't be enough."
The words hung in the air between them, heavy with implication.
"You think it will come to more than politics?"
"I think the Xue Clan is desperate." Wang Tian's eyes were hard. "Desperate people do desperate things. They've spent ten years undermining our family. They won't accept destruction gracefully."
Wang Ben thought of the Xue Clan compound across the city. The cultivators who trained there. The young master, Xue Feng, who was said to be as ambitious as his father.
"Then we prepare," he said.
Wang Tian nodded slowly. "Yes. We prepare."
The afternoon brought more patrol work, this time focused on the eastern outskirts where scattered beasts had been reported. Wang Ben moved through the assignment mechanically, his mind turning over the political implications of the morning's revelation.
The Xue Clan's counter-accusations were transparent lies, but that didn't make them harmless. Politics often had less to do with truth than with perception, and the Xue Clan had centuries of experience in shaping perception to their advantage.
They would need allies. More than just the Dao Clan. They would need evidence that couldn't be dismissed, witnesses who couldn't be discredited, and most importantly, they would need to be strong enough that the Xue Clan feared direct action.
Wang Ben's hand drifted to the Golden Bell Shield Talisman tucked into his belt. A single defensive treasure, capable of blocking one attack from a late-stage foundation establishment cultivator. It was valuable, but it wasn't power. Not the kind of power that would make the Xue Clan think twice.
[OBSERVATION: Host displaying increased tactical contemplation]
[Assessment: Appropriate response to elevated threat environment]
[Recommendation: Continue cultivation acceleration. Power differential remains the fundamental variable.]
The System wasn't wrong. All the political maneuvering in the world meant nothing if you couldn't back it up with strength. The Xue Clan had multiple core formation cultivators. The Wang Clan had the same. Any open conflict would be catastrophic for both sides.
But that calculus assumed the current balance held. If one side found an advantage, a way to tip the scales...
Wang Ben pushed the thoughts aside. He was a mid-stage body refinement cultivator with a borrowed talisman and instincts he didn't fully understand. Grand strategy was above his level.
For now.
Evening found Wang Ben in the small courtyard behind his family's quarters, running through the basic sword forms that had become his daily routine. The movements were familiar, almost meditative, and they gave his body something to do while his mind processed the day's events.
The courtyard was quiet, separated from the compound's main areas by a wall of old stone. Wang Ben had claimed it as his training space shortly after his father's healing, appreciating the privacy it offered.
Tonight, that privacy felt different.
He couldn't have said what alerted him. A sound too soft to consciously register. A shift in the air. A feeling of being watched that raised the hair on the back of his neck.
Wang Ben completed his current form before turning, sword still in hand.
The courtyard was empty.
But on the far wall, barely visible in the fading light, a tea cup sat on the stone. Steam rose from its surface in lazy spirals.
It hadn't been there when he started his forms.
Wang Ben approached slowly, sword ready. The cup was simple white porcelain, the kind served in any tea house in the city. The tea itself was fragrant, high-quality, still hot enough to steam.
Someone had been here. Someone had left this. And they had done it so quietly that he hadn't noticed until they wanted him to.
[ALERT: Evidence of intrusion detected]
[Assessment: Unknown party capable of evading host perception]
[Threat level: INDETERMINATE]
[Note: Deliberate revelation suggests non-hostile intent]
[Cross-reference: Tea-related calling card consistent with known local operative]
Wang Ben stared at the cup, understanding dawning.
Shen Wuyan. The tea house owner who was so much more than he appeared. The man whose true cultivation the System had detected through behavioral analysis alone.
A message. A reminder. A statement of presence.
I was here. I could have done anything. Instead, I left you tea.
Wang Ben didn't touch the cup. He stood in his courtyard as the last light faded from the sky, feeling the weight of eyes he couldn't see, and wondered what game was being played around him.
The beast tide had ended.
But he was beginning to understand that other predators were circling.
END OF CHAPTER 23