Chapter 4 : Echoes of the White Tiger

*Shanghai, Two weeks after acquiring Vermilion Bird shard.*

Li Chen and Xia Ling met Dr. Zhou in her underground clinic, a sterile bunker hidden beneath a defunct subway station. Fluorescent lights hummed over rows of medical charts and jars of glowing star-shard residue. Zhou's hands trembled slightly as she adjusted an IV drip feeding silver fluid into Xia Ling's brother, who lay comatose on a gurney, his veins pulsing black. 

"The White Tiger's Altar is in the tower's lower sphere," Dr Zhou said without looking, her voice clipped. "But the Syndicate's already there. Kai's using the tower as a beacon to amplify the Hungry Dark's influence." 

"May I ask why?" Li Chen asked.

"I can't tell you. I have explained the situation to Old Wei and her though, they know what to do next. You should steer away from things that inspire fear in you."

"Okay."

Li Chen said and turned to look at the direction of the wall. His tongue felt suddenly metallic. 

Xia Ling, unbeknownst, gripped her brother's hand while asking Dr Zhou, "Can you stabilize him?" 

Dr Zhou hesitated. "The curse is spreading. He's becoming a conduit. If the Dark fully manifests…" 

Li Chen's pendant flared at that moment, casting jagged shadows. The White Tiger star had found him.

"We should acquire the Tiger star first." 

Dr Zhou said and handed him a syringe filled with iridescent liquid. "This will suppress the Tiger's aggression—temporarily. But the fear… that's on you." 

.....

The Oriental Pearl Tower loomed over Shanghai, its steel frame clawing at a smog-choked sky. 

Li Chen stood at the base of the structure, his breath visible in the frigid air as his pendant burned with vigor. The White Tiger Altar was close — its presence a metallic tang on his tongue, a low growl reverberating in his bones. It was a hymn of challenge. The White Tiger was waiting for him to come.

He looked beside him. Xia Ling was looking at her phone, her usual bravado muted. She stared at her brother's latest diagnosis report—his veins now blackened to his collarbone, his lungs riddled with ash. She clenched her fists, the star-shaped locket digging into her palm. 

'There has to be another way.'

She prayed. Old Wei was searching for the people who may help with her brother's condition and Dr Zhou was also searching the Astral Sect's remaining records. Sooner or later, they might reach an answer.

For now though, Dr Zhou had deduced that the Whote Tiger star might be able to reduce the effects of his brother's curse.

When Old Wei and Xia Ling were in Dr Zhou's labyrinth to check up on Xia Ling's brother, she had rolled up her sleeve, revealing a scarred sigil: a star half-eaten by shadows.

 "I was a Cartographer once. Now I am not. He took away my strength, my daughter. Don't let him take you too." 

According to Dr Zhou, Hungry Dark was a sentient being that preceded the descent of the stars and in his search for something, someone or maybe just great power, he has been sacrificing people to the stars since then. 

One of the people that he had sacrificed was Dr Zhou's Daughter, whom had tried to used as a host for the Azure Dragon.

Dr Zhou's husband had later went to avenge their daughter but disappeared as well...

"The Ragpicker."

Xia Ling muttered the name under her breath. It was the name that Dr Zhou had given them. This was the name that one of the descendants had given her when she was asking for sect records from the others who were living in hiding.

"Should we split up?"

Breaking her chain of thoughts, Li Chen asked her.

"No. No no no. This place is one of the syndicate's major hideout, I don't think I can let you wander here without me."

"And you feel it, don't you?" she said, adjusting the straps of her tactical gear. "Like something's… *watching*."" 

Li Chen shook his head.

"I forgot you are bad at sensing. That's another no to splitting up. Don't say sorry. You don't need to apologise for everything."

She hit him on the shoulder. Despite more than a month together, this guy sometimes acted really polite. 

"I won't."

"So, is the serum working? Or has the effects diminished?"

"I haven't taken it yet."

"You should...If you are ensure, we can wait for a bit more before going for the trials."

She said after a pause. The serum from Dr. Zhou should have dulled the stars' voices, but Old Wei had explained that the White Tiger's hunger was different—sharp, predatory. It feasted on not what was but the fear of what could be. 

Li Chen said nothing but just showed his sketchbook to Xia Ling. Its pages filled with portraits of Auntie Mei and her eating dinner together. She flipped the pages and they contained in them the time she had spent with Auntie Mei. Most of which were of them eating.

"Hm? Was I seriously making those faces? Did you distort my face to be like this on purpose?"

Xia Ling turned to look at Li Chen, pointing at her face while eating. Not in any chance was she making those ungraceful and unladylike faces while eating with someone else.

"I didn't."

Li Chen shook his head again. He had truly done nothing.

"Why did you draw me like this? You could have told me you were going to draw, I would have eaten gracefully. And why am I even in the portraits? Shouldn't you have drawn her only?"

"Why would I draw only half of a portrait?"

Li Chen replied with a question. Xia Ling looked at him and then at her face on the painting 

"Aaaaaa, I look like an idiot in this one! Why did I open my mouth so much? Why did you draw so many mouth shots? And why didn't you draw the one where you took a picture of us? I posed great there."

"I will draw them the next time."

"En. No wait, draw a new picture. We will wear new dresses and you draw for us."

She said, going through the sketchbook one more time before returning it to him.

"Ok."

"What happened with your unfinished sketches?"

"I gave them to Auntie Mei to finish the remaining parts. She seem delighted to get them."

"She did say you were quite stingy when it came to your sketches. Not letting anyone even touch your sketchpad."

"Auntie Mei can have it. She isn't anyone."

"True."

She nodded her head at his statement. Her brother was the same for her.

"Do you know, Auntie Mei said that she will be making special jiangbao for me the next time I visit her."

"Oh. Ask her to make some for me and Old Wei as well. And Dr Zhou as well. I wonder if she likes street food."

"I will. What about adding xiaolongbao to the side as well? We should add more to the variety."

"Uh-huh. It will go well with the noodle soup that she sells."

Li Chen looked at her smiling and giggling, deep in thought about how many food she can eat. Her cheerful, cheesy goblin tone suited her the best.

"How should I proceed? Old Wei didn't even come with us." 

He had asked before but no one told him about the plan then. At his question, she looked at him, a smirk forming in her mouth.

"I prepared everything. Just follow me."

"Dr Zhou has provided us with 19 hidden paths to the Altars. The problem was that we don't know if the syndicate had gotten to know them as well or whether they were being guarded."

She took him to an abandoned building, following to the basement and a well was there. She jumped into the well, he followed her.

"While were were scouting the tower above, I had sent my puppets to scout out the paths and find the safest one possible. There are normal people in the tower. We need to avoid confrontation or we risk the syndicate using the humans as hostages if they found out about us."

She spoke as they got down. Walking h path for a few minutes, they finally arrived at a tunnel exit and the gate was open while another 'Xia Ling' was keeping a lookout.

"This is how far I can go. Anymore and that tiger will throw a tantrum. Beyond this is the hidden staircase that opens behind the Altar. Old Wei said so it should be empty... Go get that Tiger and drag him here from his balls and show him who is the reason for the near extinction of his species! Hunt that tiger!"

Xia Ling made some clenching motions from her palms while cheering him on. She knew of the predicament that may follow since his two previous loses, and just how easy it was to fluster him so this was her way of unclenching his nerves. 

Li Chen speechlessly shook his head at her horrifying gestures and shook his head.

"I will not do such things."

"Bummer. Have it your way then. Go dive in and come back safe. Then we run away before they can come for us. Till then, I will be here, just a breath away from you. No need to be scared of anything."

"Call for me if you need my help and I will be there before you can finish your words."

"Go! Now's your time to shine Chosen One."

"Okay."

"Your responses are always so dry. Put some life in them."

"I will come back! Ho."

"That's too much life. Pipe down a bit."

"..."

"Are you ready?"

Xia Ling asked again. She was the one getting nervous. The stakes were too high They were inside a major syndicate hideout and if things go wrong, 18000 syndicate members would be surrounding them the next second.

"The White Tiger is affecting you, you should return or at least go some distance away. That would help."

Li Chen said and began to ascend the stairs without her answer, seemingly unaffected by the stars presence.

 ...

Winds deafened his sound as he slightly opened the hidden doorway and looked inside the place. 

It was empty. 

It was like Old Wei had proclaimed.

He opened the door halfway and jumped down to the Altar ground which was a few metres below him.

The pendant reacted, and it wasn't the heat or flare that it usually gave, it was a metallic reverberation. Clearly a sign, it wasn't the doing of his pendant. 

Li Chen looked around him and slowly came to the front of the altar.

The tower's lower sphere was a derelict observation deck, its windows shattered, the floor littered with broken glass and Syndicate tech along with dried blood and drag stains. 

*Clang*

The front door to the Altar suddenly shut closed, debris and hubris rushing forward to seal the way. Outside the gate, not a hint of noise was observed.

"So you did throw a fit yesterday. Keeping the Altar especially empty for me? I am curious about your actions now."

The White Tiger Altar loomed at the center—a jagged platform of black iron, its surface etched with claw marks. 

Reverberations occured, forming a metallic chant, screeching at Li Chen's ears.

"Let's skip the formalities."

He stepped forward. The air crackled, and the world dissolved into a monochrome wasteland. A spectral tiger prowled the edges of his vision, its eyes twin black and devoid of light. 

"Li Chen of the Lin Bloodline," It rumbled, voice like grinding steel. "You reek of fear. Let me taste it." 

The vision struck: 

And nothing happened. The trials didn't start.

"Impossible. What's this state of mind? You have not taken that serum. "

The White Tiger growled to Li Chen.

"I haven't."

"You are full of fears. Drenched in fear. Why are not scared then? Where is your apprehension, why are you not anxious about the future? How can you not be scared?"

"The entirety of your world lies on your shoulders. You do realise what would happen if you failed? Nothing would remain. We will devour everything to break our shackles and there's not much time. The entire planet would have to be destroyed and removed."

The Tiger pawed Li Chen, throwing him far away. Anger was visible in his actions. Li Chen nonchalantly got up, unhurt and looked at the Tiger wandering around in circles, mumbling undecipherable things to itself.

"The planet is the shackle that binds you? What am I then? Or the Cartographers."

"They are the ones who bound us to this planet. And you are just a lock to continuously lock us away."

The Tiger stopped, raised his head and answered the question.

"Not a key?"

Li Chen asked again.

"Not for us."

The White Tiger answer. The next moment, Li Chen was beside the Tiger, sitting on a makeshift rock.

"Can I go now?"

Li Chen, feeling worried that he might be falling into something without knowing, asked.

"Without a sacrifice, the trials can't happen and without trials, you will gain nothing. You have to at least give me something."

"I am drenched in fear. Take it."

"I can't take it. The trial rules don't meet. You have fears but not the emotional dread that ties you down to them."

"I know. Just a day ago, I was afraid of getting a wrong gift for Auntie Mei for our next meeting because I can't remember what she likes. Or dislikes..."

"But I can just ask her about what she likes or want and give her that. Problem solved. That's nothing to be worried about."

"That's what I am saying. You have fears but you are not scared of them. No dread, perturbation or even a slight unease, all because of that thief."

"Blame your ancestors but without something in return I can't trade! That little thief would have been enough to break you. I would have traded her life for your ability to fear. There's no fear in you!"

"Now it's just anger because I said something bad about her. You can do nothing though. Neither can I. Fuck!"

"Do I have to wait for another of your generation to be freed?"

Li Chen stood by the side, quietly dumbfounded at the mumbling Tiger. This was a weird star. Maybe it has gone mad after all this time. Fate was also not on his side.

After giving the vermillion bird the regrets of his past, and with his one sided feelings for Xia Ling, there was nothing that was holding the current him down.

He truly felt that whatever comes his way, he can solve it for her. It was just the simplest form of feeling called devotion. Selfless, fearless and without any envy or jealousy. 

The White Tiger felt his emotions and got even more mad. He could have easily taken advantage of this. Heck he could have even gotten Li Chen's body and freed the rest of his buddies but there was nothing to start the trials. 

Without that, he could do nothing. This was the shackle he was in. 

"Why don't we make a deal then? I will grant you freedom and it turn, you grant me your powers."

"I don't deal in things other than what I like."

"Your likes are more important than your freedom."

"Listen here human, first of all, that syndicate member(Old Wei) is right. We are indeed an easy target for your bloodline and if there was anyone else except you, they would have easily gotten the stars without much sacrifices or maybe even no sacrifices at all."

"You are useless. And you suck are bargain."

"Nowadays, we don't just bless others and poof they can do things. That's not how we work. We have to do whatever you want with our powers ourselves. If *you* want to use my powers, I have to be present in you! This is how you work. If I am free, you can't use my powers. And if you can have my powers, the deal itself it voided."

"And If you think about giving me freedom and acted upon it, you will lose your bloodline and the piece of the celestial map. Everything will go back to how it was. In your case, the next moment would be apocalypse. The world will end and we will be trapped forever. Blame your ancestors, they bounded us like this."

"This is an example of a deal : Take my fears and give me your strength.""

"And this is not a deal: Grant me your powers and I will let you free. Mofo, Your Ancestor had personally shattered the map to avoid this situation. She doesn't want us free. She wants to use us as benefactors of this fucking piece of pathetic excuse of a planet!"

"Go fuck yourself for all I care. You will not gain my powers. Not even a bit of it."

"You want something, have deez nuts in your mouth!"

The White Tiger stars was beginning to have a mental breakdown. 

"I don't want it."

"Feel fear motherf--- aargh, at least be a bit dreadful that you will not be able to use my strength! How can you be like this!"

The White Tiger roared and kicked Li Chen out of his pocket world.

"What should I do now?"

Li Chen stood there, baffled. This was a first for him that he had one upped the star and he was still the one who was on the shorter end of the stick.

He returned to Xia Ling for an answer. She might know.

---

Dr Zhou's Labyrinth 

"So you are saying that the Tiger couldn't even start the trials and kicked you out in anger?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure? Did you somehow get tricked by Tiger star and taken advantage of without realising it?"

Old Wei enquired. Apparently even Xia Ling had no idea on what to do so they returned to the hideout to ask Old Wei and pertaining to his reaction, they realised that even he didn't know. He wasn't even believing it.

"Did you take the serum?" Dr Zhou asked while coming from another room. Li Chen shook his head while showing the intact serum.

"That's a new one. What do you plan next?" Dr Zhou asked Old Wei as she took the serum, passing it to Xia Ling.

"I did say that these are the easier ones but—" 

Old Wei began whispering but was interjected by Li Chen.

"We skip him. He knows an offer than I can't refuse at any cost."

His words made all of them perk up.

"Li Chen– if he knows, then they all know."

Xia Ling said in a somber tone.

"...That's not fair."

At her words, he couldn't help but exclaim softly. It was one thing if the white tiger knows, without the precedence of the trial, he won't do anything to Li Chen. 

But if all them know about it and they all were to ask for it, Li Chen didn't know if he can continue on any further.

"Don't be tense–"

Old Wei muttered and took another sip of his tea,

"The rest are even easier than what we have faced. They haven't been able to gain anything in return in a long time and have little to no influence in the outside world. Whatever threat they make regarding the outside reality, they are all fake. Now that you know you, they will know it as well and can't do anything to force you regarding the outside world."

Old Wei, looking at him in deep thought, clarified.

"I see. So which one should I go next?"

Li Chen asked. If they were easier, he should make haste and deal with them before the white tiger.

"You can't— at least not at the moment. Unfortunately we don't know where they are. These four were only ones that was uncovered by humanity in the past hundreds of years. The rest have been lost to time, I am trying to find them and there are clues—" 

Old Wei spoke and become silent again, as if recalling something but hesitant to tell him. 

"I will go to rest."

Li Looked at the hesitant Old Wei and decided to give them space. He needed to clear his thoughts and think of a plan. The White Tiger rantings did give him a clue and he wanted to write down each word before passing it to Old Wei and the others to decipher the rest.

Dr Zhou looked at Old Wei and shook her head.

"It's not your fault child. You are doing everything you can. It's just the fate—"

Dr Zhou tried to console Li Chen but stopped midway. She took a glance at the other two before speaking.

"—has been cruel to you without your fault. Our Ancestors did things and, and we failed to make it right... now we have to bear the price."

"The trials were never meant for a single person. It's just–, times have been rough to all; lwe can't do anything but force out fates on your shoulders."

"I—,"

Li Chen looked at them, his action seem to have worried them.

"—have accepted it now and I have no problem with it. With this. If I don't, there would be nothing, that's enough of a motivation to go on."

"I was just going to sort out the White Tiger's words to give it to you all since he spoke a lot that I don't understand the significance of, and I wanted you to take a look at that as—"

"—The seal on the White Tiger's Altar has weakened a lot and he will be freed soon.""

Li Chen chose to return to where he was sitting and took out his sketchbook and began to scribble with removing some crucial details like what the tiger had on him. Within a few moments, he was done. He showed them his sketchbook and looking from their reactions, Li Chen was sure that something grave was said in between his conversation with the white tiger since they were looking grim. Faces ashen like they have seen what shouldn't be seen.

"We need to talk for a bit."

Dr Zhou solemnly said and gestured Li Chen to leave the compound. The matter was more serious than they thought.

"That was the right step "

Li Chen mumbled as he drew the abandoned tunnels and its silence.

"Wait a minute!"

–These four were only ones that was uncovered by humanity...

"Old Wei said that we only know four of the stars–,"

"Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird and White Tiger, this is just three! Where's the fourth one?"

Li Chen comment as realisation hit that out of the four, he had only taken two of the stars strength. The other two remained then but that conflicted with Old Wei's statement that he didn't know where the next one was.

It either meant that Old Wei doesn't know the location of the next star as of now due to the syndicate either hiding it or something; or it might be something that Li Chen shouldn't know yet.

Li Chen continued to draw, his thoughts racing, thinking about the White Tiger's words. If it can make them so worried, there should be something he can use.

"Hmm."

There was too much that he didn't know... and that was going to be useful to him now. The rest may have been right to not completely tell him everything that needs to be known.

"This should work."

He casually got up and after leaving a small message that he was going to paint ahead, he left for deeper into the labyrinth without getting any answer. They seem to be lost in discussion.

"Good for me."

Li Chen wondered and with a single thought, his pendant began to heat up, showing him a new way to the exit and to the White Tiger, his tongue feeling the raspy taste metal.

"I should remember the path, it might come in handy later on."

...

Li Chen returned to the White Tiger altar again.

"What do you need now?

The White Tiger said with questioning tone.

"There were others before me." 

Li Chen said.

"Yeah. And yes, many of them did gain strength without sacrifices anything."

The White Tiger answered.

"They sacrificed someone else?"

He asked again.

"Yes. Some of them did, a few however were truly able to get our strength without losing anything."

The White Tiger answered again.

"So once the trial starts, even if I did nothing and you want to give me your powers, you can give it to me"

"Let me rephrase what you are saying so it nakes more sense. Once a trial starts, we are in complete control of the decision to give you our strength. And yes, we can give it to you without any sacrifice or formalities, it's all just what we want."

The white tiger answered.

"So you can do give me your power without any sacrifice."

Li Chen argued.

"No, I will not. Not to you. Never."

The White Tiger answered in a somber but gloom filled tone.

"I see."

Li Chen, a little disappointed at the answer, continued with another question.

"So~ your altar... if I break it, will you 'die' or be free?"

"Nothing of those. A new altar will be created using my powers the next moment or the moment after that... The Altar isn't what keeping me here or trapped, it's just a way, gateway, from my prison to your world."

"Then what is with the seal on the Altar? The fading one?"

"That's just a moot point. The seal is, is just a restriction you can say. It restricts how much of me that I can influence on the outside, affected not by the passage of time but of the fates that are changed around it. That's why the syndicate has built this tower around my altar; To lure and gather the people and use my influence to solicit the humans into joining the syndicate."

"Fear is a great reason for superstition. Don't you think?"

"I am an Atheist, I don't know about that... Let's make a deal."

"Hmph! How? Nothing has changed in you."

"No. Let's make a deal but not the one I was here for. Let's do a normal one. I as a common human and you as a star. That's how you make deals with the other descendants, right?

"You are not normal though. In you is the fragment of the celestial map, the very thing that makes you different from the rest, the container, it will do so now as well."

"Trust me a bit. An' also, explain how the normal deal works. I don't know the specifics."

"I know. *Sigh* okay. So normally, I give you strength and you have to do my biding. That's it."

"..."

"Do they have to sacrifice something?"

"It's their choice. If they want more, they often do sacrifices on their own. Although most of my tasks are just simple bidding such as finding the other altars, awakening my other friends, keeping my altar clean or searching for methods to get me free or to break this shackles. Those are what I usually ask. I don't know about the rest."

"I am treated unfairly, aren't I? Am I hated?"

"Why wouldn't you be? It was your ancestors that did this to us, and you are going to continue this. We have valid reasos to hate you. And no reasons to hate the others. Why should they go through pain when you are the ones we want to avenge?"

"And they are quite useful and good, I am not talking about the syndicate or those that have joined them, I hate them equally as well. There's no difference between you or them, both are the same. Anything else you have to ask? You friends have realised that you aren't there and are calling you, should I let the call in?"

"Yeah, but before that, let's proceed with the deal. Give me a bit of your fears and I will start the trials."

"It won't work."

"I have a plan. Just let me try it and it's just a bit of fear, don't be stingy now."

"I am not being stingy, I don't want you to have anything of mine."

"Come on."

"...*sigh* okay. Iknow what you are thinking. I know this is not going to work. But I will try."

"I will try as well. It might work."

The White Tiger looked at Li Chen and after a brief pause proceeded to give him a shard of his fear. It was just a small one.

"Crush it and you will have it. I will see you on the other side, if you don't succeed, don't come."

The White Tiger said and disappeared into the altar.

Li Chen gazed at the small piece of dark purplish

rock in his grip and put it in his pocket. 

"I changed my mind."

He took out his sketchbook and tore away a page, the next moment the world disappeared.