Chapter 10: The Boy in the Cave

Han Qian walked.

He walked with no destination in mind. There was no emotion in his heart, no purpose except one—he must live. Not for himself, not for ambition, but because someone once told him to. A figure like a mother, Bai Yan, who whispered through time and memory, asking him to live on, even if he felt nothing.

He found a village, modest and small, nestled between jagged cliffs and fading hills. There, a toddler crawled too close to the village's boundary and nearly fell into a trench. Han Qian, passing by, reached out and grabbed the child by instinct—not care, not affection, just reaction. The villagers saw this. Though hesitant, one poor family took him in, not out of kindness but out of necessity. He could work.

They gave him a roof. In return, he chopped wood, gathered herbs, carried water, and worked from dawn to dusk. He spoke little. He ate little. He never smiled.

The family was poor. Even seven years later, their conditions worsened. The father grew ill, the mother aged beyond her years. Han Qian was now twelve, yet his eyes lacked the innocence of youth. He never laughed with the children, never asked questions, never dreamed.

He only lived.

One morning, he saw a notice nailed to the village's withering old tree.

**"Sect Recruitment — Open Enrollment. Tier 1 Cultivators Welcome."**

Han Qian was still sealed at Rank 3—forever limited. But this was enough. With no ambition, no passion, and no attachments, he walked into the sect trial and passed.

He did nothing exceptional. He didn't stand out. He listened to orders, followed the daily routine, completed missions, and returned quietly.

Meanwhile, far from this ordinary sect, in a city of wealth and influence, Lin Shuyue was born into privilege—but not love.

A girl of ten, adopted into an influential family, she had skin like jade, lips like cherry blossom petals, and hair like cascading night. But despite her outward glow, her soul was burdened. Though others cultivated rapidly, she remained stuck at Rank 1. No matter how hard she tried, her body simply rejected the path of cultivation.

The mistress of the house, jealous of her beauty and influence despite her low talent, secretly hated her. When Lin Shuyue requested permission to leave the city and gather beast cores in the forest to help her cultivation, the mistress agreed—but sent only a handful of weak guards with her.

"Take her," she said with a false smile. "Protect her well."

The guards, only Rank 2 or 3, entered the outer regions of the Beastspine Forest. There, they managed to subdue some low-ranked beasts. Lin Shuyue, despite her fragile frame, did her best to help. She was determined not to return a failure again.

But fate was cruel.

A Rank 5 beast, its fur like molten rock and eyes like blazing coals, emerged from the shadows. The guards froze.

Run.

Some dropped their weapons and turned. Others tried to shield her. But one by one, they were torn apart like fragile dolls. Lin Shuyue, trembling, took out her last talisman—an escape charm. She activated it and vanished in a burst of light.

But the forest was vast and wild. Her body crashed deep into a remote cave hidden beneath an overgrown cliff. Its opening was sharp and unforgiving. She rolled, scratched and bruised, and her talisman turned to dust.

Alone.

She sat, tears mixing with dirt on her glowing cheeks. She couldn't climb out. Her voice echoed off the tall, jagged walls. Cold air bit her skin. Her fear thickened.

Until she heard it—a thud. Then another. And then… a boy.

He dropped from above like a stone falling from the sky.

Blood coated his arm, his cheek, and his robes. His dark eyes were empty. No concern. No fear. No recognition.

Han Qian.

He had been sent on a mission—retrieve a rare herb said to grow near this region. He tracked the scent into the cave. The beasts didn't deter him. The cold didn't shake him. His body moved because it was told to move.

Lin Shuyue stood frozen, unsure whether to cry louder or stay silent.

He looked at her once. Then turned to pick up the herb near the cave's inner wall.

Only when her sobs continued did he pause.

"Are you going to die?" he asked, voice hollow.

She looked up, startled. "I—I don't know. I think my leg is broken..."

He walked over. Examined the injury. Lifted her gently. She gasped from pain, but he didn't react. His body moved with precision. Like a machine.

He carried her.

Climbing out wasn't easy. But he didn't hesitate. Even as the jagged rocks tore into his skin again. Even as another beast approached the mouth of the cave, sensing fresh blood.

He didn't run.

He turned.

Placed Lin Shuyue behind a boulder.

Then, with only a short dagger in hand, he stepped forward. The beast snarled. Clawed. Bit.

He dodged. Got hit. Dodged again. His blood spilled freely, but his face remained cold. It was as though pain was a distant concept to him.

In one swift motion, he rammed the dagger into the beast's eye.

It thrashed, screeched, and collapsed.

He returned to the girl, lifted her again, and walked through the forest under the rising sun.

When they reached the outskirts of the city, Lin Shuyue's eyes filled with tears.

"Why did you save me?" she asked, voice hoarse.

He didn't answer.

She looked into his eyes.

"Are you human?"

He blinked. Slowly.

Then turned and walked away.

---

In the days that followed, Lin Shuyue sent people to find him. She searched the outer sects, described him to everyone she met.

But no one knew him. He hadn't even given his name.

Still, she remembered.

The boy with no smile. The boy who bled without flinching. The boy who saved her life and walked away as though he had done nothing at all.

Han Qian returned to the sect.

He said nothing about the mission. Nothing about the girl.

The instructors asked no questions.

He resumed his duties.

Unfeeling.

Unmoved.

Unchanging.

But in a corner of a grand estate, a girl sat by her window each evening, whispering a name she had never heard, hoping to see the boy in the cave once more.