The Truth in Rot and Bone

Lin Yuan stood straight in the Sect Leader's main hall, freshly bathed, dressed in light blue robes, and nervously cradling Tearlume, who was chewing on a soul fruit like a quiet doll.

The Sect Leader, Yuexian, paced in front of him with folded arms, her expression unreadable.

"Do you know," she began, "how many complaints I've received about you today?"

Lin Yuan blinked. "None?"

"Sixteen," she said. "Three about 'secret lovers on the rooftop,' two about 'raising mysterious snake babies in the forest,' and one poor girl claiming you smiled at her husband and her husband hasn't been able to cultivate since."

"…I only smiled to be polite."

"He said your smile was 'too gentle, like a forbidden princess out of a tragic opera.'"

Lin Yuan coughed and adjusted his collar.

Yuexian turned serious. "Enough jokes. You've matured a lot… and it's time for a real task."

She handed him a sealed black scroll. Lin Yuan opened it and frowned.

**Mission: Investigate the Disappearance of Elder Moonveil.**

Location: Southern Whisper Province.

Objective: Determine the cause of disappearance, retrieve her personal token if found.

Avoid offending local nobles. Do not mention the Abyss Sect. Do not touch any prince

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Why do they always mention 'don't touch prince?"

Yuexian muttered, "Because the last inner disciple did. She's now married. And can't leave their palace."

"...Sounds like prison."

"Exactly."

She stepped closer, lowering her voice. "This mission is political. Elder Moonveil was investigating spirit vein corruption—but Whisper Province is ruled by the Fox-Ear Royal Lineage. Slippery, pretty, and politically dangerous. You'll be their guest. But to them, a guest is a pawn with good manners."

Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes. "So I have to pretend to be weak and clueless?"

"Pretend? No, you'll just act naturally," Yuexian said with a smirk.

He stared blankly. "I'm taking Tearlume, right?"

"Yes," she said. "The child gives you an air of mystery and innocence. But… don't let her poison the wrong people."

Lin Yuan opened his mouth to protest, but Tearlume gently bit his finger. He winced.

"See?" the Sect Leader said dryly. "You're halfway to assassination already."

Lin Yuan stood by a modest spirit boat. Not the fastest, but it had charm. And mooncake compartments.

Lady Qingxiuan approached in her new traveling robes, scowling. "Why am I your escort again?"

"Because Sect Leader said so?" he offered helpfully.

Lin Yuan turned to Xiao Hu, who was dragging a sack of talismans. "Thanks, I may need this. "

"Ok, I just think you'll get killed ". "I packed a coffin scroll just in case."

"Great," Lin Yuan muttered. "You believe in me."

"No. I believe in the scroll."

---

The spirit boat shimmered above the clouds as Lin Yuan read the mission scroll again.

"Missing elder. Political snakes. No princess-touching. Got it."

Lady Qingxiuan sat beside him, unusually quiet.

After a long pause, she said, "…I prepared poison immunity pills for you."

Lin Yuan raised a brow. "You care about me."

"No," she said, cheeks pink. "It's for the baby."

Tearlume stared silently, blinking once.

Lin Yuan smiled. "Thank you, Master Qingxiuan."

"…You're welcome. Idiot."

> Lin Yuan arrives in Whisper Province, where beauty is law, deception is polite, and fox-tailed nobles throw parties that double as interrogation rituals. His first challenge: a "tea-testing ceremony" where poison is considered a compliment—and refusal is war.

The spirit boat descended slowly over a gleaming city veiled in pink mist.

From above, Whisper Province looked like a dream. Elegant pagodas floated on spirit clouds, fox-shaped lanterns drifted through the air, and melodic chimes echoed like laughter across marble bridges.

Lin Yuan stood at the bow, carrying Tearlume in a silk sling across his chest. She blinked, blinked again, and then sneezed—sending a tiny pulse of poisonous mist into the wind.

Lady Qingxiuan adjusted her veil. "Control her."

"I can't control a walking spiritual disaster," Lin Yuan whispered. "I'm just trying to look cute and weak."

"You're doing great," she muttered. "They might adopt you."

The spirit boat docked at a luxurious platform made of translucent ice jade. Awaiting them was a tall woman with fox ears, nine golden tails flowing behind her like a waterfall of silk.

"Welcome to Whisper Province," she said sweetly. "I am Lady Huayan, royal steward and court enchantress. This must be… the famed Forest Maiden, her silent daughter… and her grieving attendant."

"I'm not grieving," Lin Yuan said. "I'm—"

"Shhh," Huayan said, placing a finger to his lips. "The quiet ones are more mysterious."

Behind her, dozens of fox-tailed attendants bowed.

The group was escorted into a palace of mirrors and wind, where one wrong word could be interpreted as a declaration of war… or marriage.

Inside a golden pavilion surrounded by koi-filled lakes, Lin Yuan sat on a velvet cushion beside Lady Qingxiuan. Tearlume nibbled on a spirit fruit in his lap, staring blankly at the host.

On the other side, four fox nobles sat in a half-circle—elegant, smug, and far too beautiful.

"Let us begin," said Lady Huayan, presenting a tray with three teacups.

"One is truth. One is falsehood. One is poison," she said cheerfully.

Lady Qingxiuan's hand twitched toward her sword.

Lin Yuan smiled awkwardly. "And what happens if I pick the wrong one?"

"Depends on the cup," Huayan said. "Poison? A lesson. Falsehood? An insult. Truth? A proposal."

Lin Yuan blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Qingxiuan hissed under her breath, "Don't pick the truth."

Tearlume reached a tiny hand toward one of the cups.

"No!" Lin Yuan caught her wrist gently. "Let me be poisoned, not proposed."

He pointed at the middle cup.

Lady Huayan clapped. "Poison. A wise choice. It shows you'd rather suffer than lie or love."

Lin Yuan sipped. The poison kicked in—mild soul fire with a minty aftertaste.

He smiled through the burning. "Lovely bouquet. Hints of regret."

The nobles laughed in delight. "We like you, little herb."

Later that evening, Lin Yuan and Qingxiuan were led through a floral courtyard to their private quarters. On the walls hung oil paintings of fox-women marrying sword cultivators. One bore a striking resemblance to Lin Yuan.

Qingxiuan muttered, "Why do I feel like you're the prize at an auction?"

"I feel like I'm one cup of tea away from having in-laws."

Suddenly, a soft voice called from behind, "Are you the girl with the silent child?"

They turned to see a young man in white robes—a prince, no doubt—his aura refined, but his eyes too curious.

"I'm Prince Huashen. I'd like to ask… is your child's silence… an art? Or a condition?"

Tearlume blinked. Then leaned forward.

She didn't say anything.

But she bit his sleeve.

The prince stared, then chuckled. "Charming. She favors action over words."

Lin Yuan coughed. "We favor leaving now."

Qingxiuan grabbed his sleeve. "Don't talk to princes. Remember the scroll."

That night, Lin Yuan sat cross-legged while Tearlume slept curled up beside him like a spirit cat.

Lady Qingxiuan sharpened a dagger by moonlight.

"We're not alone here," she said softly.

He nodded. "I felt it too. There's a formation layered in the floor."

"And there's one watching us from the mirror," she added.

Lin Yuan stared at the mirror. A faint ripple shimmered—then vanished.

This mission wasn't just about a missing elder.It's a spider web.

Midnight had fallen, and the moon hung low—half-hidden behind veils of silver mist.

Lin Yuan stood barefoot in the guest garden, his sleeves rolled up, one hand pressed against the spirit tree that marked the center of the Whisper Palace.

Tearlume slept soundly in a basket behind him, bundled in spirit silk. Lady Qingxiuan stood watch near the gate, pretending to admire the moon, blade tucked behind her fan.

"There's something wrong," Lin Yuan whispered. "The spirit energy here is… too sweet. Like it's trying to hide a wound."

He closed his eyes and let his Sunfire Seed settle. The warmth glowed in his chest, slowly spreading down through his arms—into his fingers—into the roots.

Then he felt it.

Beneath the beautiful palace.

Below the sculpted gardens.

A twisted net of blackened qi—like silk spun by a diseased spider.

"Corruption," he muttered. "This entire vein is being drained."

He knelt and formed a soul-thread detection seal, just like Lady Mingyan had taught him. Thin threads of white light flickered from his fingertips—then turned red when they touched the earth.

He traced them. They pulsed faintly… leading to a broken well near the back courtyard.

The stone well was sealed shut, its mouth covered in dozens of charms written in ancient Fox-Tongue. Each talisman glowed faintly blue—barriers of illusion, memory fog, and silence.

Qingxiuan appeared beside him. "You're not thinking of opening that, are you?"

Lin Yuan stared at the seal. "That well is drinking the spirit vein."

"Or someone beneath it is bleeding it dry."

Qingxiuan raised her dagger and cut her finger, letting a drop of her blood fall onto one of the charms. "Fox seals can be fooled by female bloodlines. Especially mine."

One by one, the seals dimmed and fell off like leaves in autumn.

Lin Yuan lifted the cover.

Below—stairs. Black. Cracked. Damp.

He summoned a moonlight flame into his palm and descended, Qingxiuan behind him, her blade drawn.

They walked thirty-two steps.

Then the air changed.

The base of the well was an underground shrine. Statues of foxes with human faces lined the walls. In the center pulsed a tainted altar, carved from obsidian and bone.

The corrupted spirit vein ran right through it—dark energy pumping like blood through open wounds.

And at the base of the altar, half-buried in rotting silk…

Was a corpse.

Or rather, what remained of Elder Moonveil.

Her robes were shredded, but her sect token glowed faintly in her skeletal hand.

"She found this," Lin Yuan said softly. "And she died for it."

Qingxiuan stepped forward. "Look at her forehead…"

A faint sigil shimmered—the mark of the Abyss Sect.

They both froze.

"This wasn't fox corruption," Lin Yuan whispered. "It was planted."

The fox clan hadn't caused this.

They'd been infiltrated.

Suddenly, behind them, the stone stairs slammed shut.

The flame in Lin Yuan's hand flickered.

Footsteps echoed in the darkness.

A figure stepped from the shadows—Lady Huayan, her nine tails now burning red with energy.

"You're clever," she said gently. "I suppose that's why they sent you. But curiosity is a dangerous trait for humans."

Lin Yuan held the spirit flame in one hand and Tearlume's basket in the other.

"I don't want a fight," he said.

"Of course you don't," Huayan smiled. "But you already started one. That altar—was our attempt to suppress the corruption. Not spread it. But now you've disturbed it."

Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed. "You're lying."

"I'm a fox. Of course I'm lying," she said, sighing. "But I'm lying less than you think."

She raised a fan of bone.

Qingxiuan lunged first.

Steel clashed with spirit flame as the battle began.

Lin Yuan hurled moonlight fire at the altar. The corrupted qi flared, burning violently—but it weakened the seals long enough.

Qingxiuan threw a formation disk. It exploded—cracking the wall.

He grabbed Tearlume's basket and shouted, "Now!"

Together, they leapt through the breach.

They burst out of the well and into the night air, panting.

Behind them, the well cracked… then collapsed in on ititself. They didn't kill Huayan. They didn't cleanse the corruption.

But they had proof.

And a corpse.

And a broken token.

Enough to shake the Whisper Palace to its core.