When Lin Xiao returned to the hut, she found Fang Yuan sitting by the window, staring out at the stone pillar in the square. His breathing was shallow, and he had intentionally allowed his Qi to fluctuate, making him appear more fragile than he actually was.
"You're awake," she said, her voice filled with relief. She set down a basket of Frost-Petals, their cold mist swirling around her feet. "I've gathered enough for the first stage of the ritual."
Fang Yuan didn't turn around immediately. He let a long, heavy silence hang in the air. "Lin... that pillar in the square. I felt a strange, cold vibration coming from it. It's not like the herbs, and it's certainly not like the rot. What is it?"
Lin Xiao's hands froze over the herbs. She bit her lip, a shadow of fear crossing her face. "That is the 'Cloud Anchor'. My father says it was a gift from the Cloud Sovereigns centuries ago. They told us it stabilizes the Jade Mist, but... I've always felt it was watching us."
Fang Yuan turned toward her, his dark eyes filled with a manufactured tenderness. He reached out and gently brushed a stray hair from her forehead. "It's not a gift, Lin. It's a lock. And I think it's the reason your people are getting sicker."
Lin Xiao gasped, leaning into his touch instinctively. "What do you mean?"
"I've seen things in the stars, Lin," Fang Yuan whispered, his voice dropping to a hypnotic, intimate level. "That pillar is feeding on the Jade Mist. It's concentrating the plague to make it 'ripe'. Tell me... does anyone ever come to visit it? Anyone from the sky?"
"Once every cycle," she whispered, her heart racing at his proximity. "A 'Messenger' descends to check the readings. He is coming in three days for the Tribute Ceremony. He... he is the one who chooses which of us is 'purified' by the Sovereigns."
Fang Yuan's smile was invisible in the shadows. A Messenger. Likely a Rank 1 Space-Time Weaver or a high-level World Breaker. A perfect prey.
"Lin," Fang Yuan said, pulling her closer until their foreheads touched. "When he comes, he will take the Life-Seed. He will take you. Unless... we use the ritual to strike first. Will you trust me with the secret of the Anchor?"
Lin Xiao, completely ensnared by his proximity and the fear of the unknown, nodded slowly. "There is a key... a resonance frequency passed down through the Saintess bloodline. I'll show you, Fang Yuan. I'll show you everything."
[System Status: Manipulation Complete. Target 'Lin Xiao' has surrendered the 'Anchor Frequency'. Preparing to hijack the Cloud Messenger's descent.]