Chapter 13: A Terrible Sympathy

The tear on my cheek felt as hot as a brand. My mask, my single greatest defense against a world that insisted on believing in me, had slipped. It was only for a second, but a second was all Fang Heng needed.

His words hung in the air between us, more terrifying than any serpent's hiss. "It's containing you."

He didn't know the half of it, but he was closer to the truth than anyone had ever been. He hadn't just seen a crack in my persona; he had peered through it and seen the terrified prisoner rattling his cage.

Deny it. Laugh at him. Call his deduction the babbling of a fool. Rebuild the wall. Now!

But I was too slow. The emotional exhaustion was a lead weight in my soul. Before my persona could reassert itself, the System, ever the opportunist, intervened.

[Observer has glimpsed the Truth.]

[The nature of your Grandstanding must now evolve.]

[Grandstanding Mandate: The Tragic Hero's Burden.]

[Action: Do not deny the observation. Confirm it with stoic, tragic silence.]

[Follow-up Action: Look at the Phoenix Egg with an expression of profound, weary responsibility, as if it is both your salvation and your curse.]

My body obeyed. The retort died on my lips. I didn't deny his words. I didn't confirm them. I simply stood there, letting my silence be his answer. Then, my gaze dropped to the egg in my arms. My expression, molded by the mandate, became a complex tapestry of love and sorrow, duty and damnation.

I was the tragic hero, bound to a power I couldn't control, fighting battles for a world that could never understand my sacrifice. It was the most heroic, most compelling, most acclaim-generating persona yet.

It was perfect. And I hated it.

Fang Heng let out a shuddering breath. He looked at me with a completely new expression. The analytical curiosity was gone. The awe was gone. In their place was a look of terrible, profound sympathy.

Oh no. That's so much worse.

Awe and admiration were easy to convert into Chaos later. They were brittle emotions. Sympathy? Pity? That was a quagmire. It was a soft, cloying poison that generated no rage, only more suffocating Acclaim.

"I see," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I am so sorry, Master Li. I was a fool. I thought I was studying a law of nature, but I was just watching a man in a cage. The power you wield... it has a price. A terrible price."

Yes! It does! It costs me my sanity, my free will, and my spleen is under constant threat! Now, please, get angry about it! Be outraged on my behalf!

[Observer's Emotional State: Profound Sympathy -> Hero-Worship 2.0 (Tragic Edition)]

[This emotional state is a high-tier form of Acclaim. It generates no Chaos.]

[The Chains of Acclaim have been infused with the 'Tragic' element. They now possess a greater 'tensile strength', making them harder to defy.]

I wanted to fall to my knees and weep. My one potential accomplice, the one person who saw the truth, had reacted in the worst way possible. He hadn't become a co-conspirator. He had become my most dedicated, most understanding, most useless follower.

"The serpent," he continued, his mind racing down this new, tragic path. "You let it live... it wasn't about mercy, was it? It was a calculation. Perhaps killing it would have demanded a greater price from you? A price the... 'System'... would exact from your soul?"

He was creating a brand-new, completely incorrect lore for my suffering. And it was all so horribly plausible.

I maintained my mandated silence, which he took as confirmation.

"Then your actions toward the disciples... crushing Mei's spirit... it was a desperate act. To generate power for the fight. You had to become a monster in their eyes to save them from a real one. The burden you carry is heavier than I ever imagined."

He looked at me, his eyes shining with a terrible, misguided light. "Then I will not be your follower, Master Li. I will be your shield. I will stand between you and the world that misunderstands you. I will help you bear this curse."

He was volunteering to be my PR manager. My publicist for my heroic suffering. He was going to actively help the Chains of Acclaim grow stronger.

This was a disaster of unprecedented proportions.

Just then, a commotion from the sect's main plaza drew our attention. A group of elders, led by First Elder Chen—Chen Wei's father—was marching toward us with grim purpose.

Ah. The Enforcement Hall inquiry. Right on schedule.

First Elder Chen was a tall, imposing man with a severe face and his son's arrogant eyes. His gaze landed on me, then on the glowing egg, and his expression hardened.

"Li Yao," he said, his voice cold and hard. He didn't use the title 'Master'. This was not a social call. "You are to come with us. The Elder Council has been convened. You have much to answer for."

He was angry. Not the explosive, frothing rage of his son, but a cold, hard, calculating fury. This was good. This was promising. This was a high-level target delivering himself to my doorstep.

But before I could even receive a mandate, Fang Heng stepped in front of me, placing himself between me and the First Elder.

"First Elder, you must understand," Fang Heng began, his voice ringing with passion. "Master Li has just saved this sect from a Continental Threat! He is a hero!"

Fang Heng, I swear on all that is holy, if you ruin this for me, I will find a way to make the System give me a mandate to hide all of your left socks.

First Elder Chen sneered. "A hero? I have heard the reports. He psychologically tortured a junior disciple. He destroyed my family's ancestral sword. He acts with the unchecked arrogance of a tyrant. And he did it all while my son, his first victim, lay unconscious in the infirmary!" His eyes blazed with fury. "Hero? He sounds more like a demon in disguise!"

YES! A DEMON! I AM A DEMON! FEAR ME! HATE ME! CONVENE YOUR TRIBUNAL AND SENTENCE ME TO DEATH! THE CHAOS REWARD WOULD BE LEGENDARY!

The potential was immense. The First Elder's rage, combined with the official weight of a sect tribunal... it could give me a reward powerful enough to truly threaten the serpent. My heart pounded with greedy anticipation.

But Fang Heng, my loyal, terrible shield, would not have it.

"You are blind, First Elder!" Fang Heng retorted, his loyalty making him reckless. "You see only the surface! Every action Master Li has taken has been for the good of the sect! He broke the sword because it represented a flawed martial path! He tested Disciple Mei's spirit to make it stronger! He drove us away to protect us! Can't you see the pattern? It is the logic of sacrifice!"

The First Elder's face flushed with anger. "Sacrifice? Or sadism? My son is now awake, his martial heart shattered, his spirit in turmoil. Go ask him about Li Yao's 'lessons'!"

This was my opening. The mention of Chen Wei was a gift from the gods. A mandate was surely coming. A mandate to goad the First Elder into a public fury.

The System did not disappoint.

[Grandstanding Mandate: The Ultimate Disrespect.]

[Action: Look the First Elder in the eye. Yawn.]

It was simple. It was elegant. It was devastatingly effective.

My body prepared to execute the command. My jaw loosened.

But just as I was about to deliver the most insulting yawn in the history of the Jade Quill Sect, Fang Heng, my shield, my curse, my nemesis, did the unthinkable.

He dropped to one knee, facing the First Elder.

"First Elder," he said, his voice filled with a gravity that silenced everyone. "If you must punish someone for these 'transgressions,' then punish me."

The First Elder froze. I froze. Even the System's mandate seemed to pause in confusion.

"Master Li acts on a level we cannot comprehend, to face threats we cannot see," Fang Heng declared. "I am his... interpreter. His herald. If his actions have caused offense, it is because my interpretation was lacking. I will accept the punishment in his stead. I will be his willing scapegoat."

He bowed his head, offering himself up for sacrifice.

He had taken my provocation, my source of Chaos, my chance for a life-saving reward, and completely, totally defused it with an act of noble, idiotic, heroic self-sacrifice.

The First Elder was left speechless, his anger stymied. He couldn't punish the sect's new hero, especially not when another promising disciple was willingly taking the blame in such a noble fashion.

And I watched my beautiful, glorious Chaos Reward evaporate into a cloud of tragic, heroic, completely useless Acclaim.