Chapter 8: The Gathering Storm

The days following Lin Mo's encounter with Li Wan'er in the garden were marked by a growing sense of unease. The Li household, once a place of rigid order and predictability, now felt like a powder keg waiting to explode. Strange occurrences became more frequent—servants whispered of shadows moving on their own, of cold drafts in the warmest rooms, and of faint, unearthly whispers in the dead of night.

Lin Mo, now more attuned to the flow of qi, could sense the disturbance in the energy of the estate. It was as if the very fabric of the household was unraveling, and he knew that the dark ritual he had discovered in the west wing was only the beginning.

One evening, as he sat in his room studying the Celestial Codex, a loud commotion erupted outside. Shouts and the clatter of footsteps echoed through the halls, pulling him from his concentration. He quickly hid the book and stepped out into the corridor, where servants were running in all directions, their faces pale with fear.

"What's happening?" Lin Mo asked, grabbing the arm of a passing maid.

The maid's eyes were wide with terror. "It's Madam Li! She's collapsed in the main hall!"

Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat. Madam Li, the matriarch of the family, was a formidable woman, not easily shaken. If something had happened to her, it could only mean trouble. He hurried to the main hall, where a crowd had gathered around Madam Li's prone form.

Li Wan'er was already there, kneeling beside her mother, her face a mask of worry. "Someone fetch the physician!" she shouted, her voice trembling.

Lin Mo pushed through the crowd and knelt beside Li Wan'er. "What happened?"

Li Wan'er shook her head, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I don't know. She was fine one moment, and the next she just… collapsed."

Lin Mo placed a hand on Madam Li's forehead, his fingers brushing against her skin. He closed his eyes and focused, channeling a trickle of qi to sense her condition. What he felt made his blood run cold. Her energy was erratic, as if something was poisoning her from within.

"It's not an illness," he murmured, more to himself than to Li Wan'er. "It's something else."

Li Wan'er looked at him, her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"

Before Lin Mo could respond, the physician arrived, and the crowd parted to let him through. Lin Mo stepped back, his mind racing. He knew that Madam Li's condition was no accident. The dark forces at work in the Li household were growing bolder, and if he didn't act soon, they would consume everything.

That night, Lin Mo returned to the west wing, determined to uncover the truth. The room where he had discovered the dark ritual was now sealed, the door barred with heavy planks of wood. But Lin Mo was no longer the powerless son-in-law he had once been. With a flick of his wrist, he channeled a surge of qi, and the planks splintered and fell away.

The room was just as he had left it—the circle of candles, the blood-drawn symbols, the lifeless bird in the center. But now, there was something else. A faint, pulsating energy filled the air, and the symbols on the floor seemed to glow with an eerie light.

Lin Mo stepped inside, his senses on high alert. He knelt beside the circle and placed his hand on the floor, feeling the flow of qi. It was twisted, corrupted, as if the very essence of the room had been poisoned.

"What are you doing here?"

The voice startled him, and he turned to see Li Wan'er standing in the doorway, her arms crossed, her expression a mix of anger and confusion.

"I could ask you the same," Lin Mo replied, standing to face her.

Li Wan'er stepped into the room, her eyes scanning the symbols on the floor. "This… this is dark magic. Who would do something like this?"

"I don't know," Lin Mo said. "But it's connected to your mother's condition. Whatever this is, it's draining her energy."

Li Wan'er's face paled. "You mean someone in the family is behind this?"

Lin Mo nodded grimly. "It's the only explanation. And if we don't stop it, it won't just be Madam Li who suffers."

Li Wan'er looked at him, her eyes filled with a mixture of fear and determination. "What do we do?"

Lin Mo hesitated. He had never expected to find himself working alongside Li Wan'er, but the situation left them with little choice. "We need to find the source of this corruption and destroy it. But we'll have to be careful. If whoever is behind this finds out we're onto them, they'll stop at nothing to silence us."

Li Wan'er nodded, her resolve hardening. "Then we'll do it together."

For the first time, Lin Mo felt a glimmer of hope. Li Wan'er's willingness to trust him was a small but significant victory. Together, they might just have a chance to uncover the truth and save the Li family from the darkness that threatened to consume it.

But as they left the room, Lin Mo couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. The shadows seemed to close in around them, and the air grew heavy with an unspoken threat. The storm was gathering, and Lin Mo knew that the worst was yet to come.