["If she mistakes me for someone else, that's her fault. If I benefit from it… that's just strategy." – Wu Feng]
-
The sky stretched endless and blue over the plains past Ashveil Crater.
Fields of silver grass shimmered with faint residual qi, broken only by distant trees and occasional cliff-backed ruins.
For the first time since his reincarnation, Wu Feng was truly outside the sect system.
No rules. No titles. No one watching.
Just a new path—and no one yet wise enough to fear his name.
Wu traveled by foot.
He moved between shade and silence, using Silent Wind Form and Foot Shadow Echo to reduce presence.
Still, he wasn't invisible.
So when the caravan appeared on the ridge below, he didn't hide.
Twelve carriages. Four spirit beasts. A mixed group of cultivators and merchant-guard types—well-armed, cautious, but not organized like a military force.
The kind of group that traveled the outer routes between scattered sect domains and rogue territories.
"Too small to be a sect convoy," Wu muttered. "Too disciplined to be bandits. Probably a wandering trade route—or an escort for disciples on assignment."
He started to pass them by.
Then someone yelled.
"Senior Brother Ye!"
Wu turned.
Slowly.
A girl with bright silver eyes and a dusty travel robe ran toward him.
Who Was She?
She stopped two steps away, panting. Flushed cheeks. Calloused hands.
Not soft.
Not low-level either.
Qi Gathering stage—possibly near Foundation.
"Senior Brother Ye, it's really you!"
Wu Feng blinked. "...Ye?"
She grinned. "Ye Feilong. From the Verdant Edge Hall? You probably don't remember me. You left two years ago during the internal rebellion trial."
"You were famous!" she added. "You said the system was broken, then vanished! Everyone thought you died—or joined some rogue faction."
[+5 PP – Mistaken Identity Not Corrected]
Wu Feng mentally catalogued:
Name: Ye Feilong (probably a rogue, rebellious inner disciple)
Status: Thought dead, respected by some, hunted by others
Girl: Devotee type—sincere, not stupid, but clearly idealizes "Ye"
"She thinks I'm a legend."
"...Let's use that."
He started playing along.
Wu smiled faintly, adjusting his expression to something between tragic and confident.
"I didn't die. I left."
Her eyes lit up. "Because of what the elders did?"
"Because of what they refused to do," Wu said. "Change."
Gasps behind her.
More people were approaching now. Two junior disciples. A middle-aged merchant with spiritual tattoos on his knuckles. Even a robed man with a soulbound saber on his back.
"Ye Feilong… survived?"
Wu gave a slight nod.
"But I'm not staying."
[+10 PP – False Reputation Accepted][+5 PP – Speaking in Vague, Heroic Phrases]
At the Camp
They insisted he rest with them.
Wu accepted—for three reasons:
They had food.
They had information.
And he needed a cover story if bounty hunters or sect enforcers were already sniffing near Ashveil.
The caravan's leader introduced herself as Wei Suling, a mid-tier alchemist from Cloud Talisman Sect, escorting younger cultivators to Linchuan City—a trade hub near the realm's western border.
Her eyes were sharp.
Not suspicious. Just intelligent.
"You seem calmer than the stories said," she observed.
Wu shrugged. "Death has a way of simplifying things."
[+5 PP – Veteran Bluff, Mild Trauma Style]
Linchuan Borderlands was a region of weak governance, fluctuating sect control, and active rogue power brokers. Known for black-market scrolls, spirit beast hunters, and scattered cultivation ruins.
System note:
[Optional Arc Branch: Linchuan Infiltration Available]Opportunities include: rogue faction infiltration, scroll theft, bounty manipulation, anti-sect recruitment.
Night fell.
The fire burned low.
Wu was pretending to meditate when the alarm shout rang out.
"Raiders incoming!""Five cultivators! Qi Formation or higher!"
He stood up calmly.
Three black-cloaked cultivators leapt into camp.
The fourth carried a bounty slip in one hand and a sealing net in the other.
"We know Ye Feilong is here!"
"Turn him over, or everyone dies!"
Wei Suling stepped forward, blocking their path. "We don't turn over guests."
A brave move—but not a wise one.
Wu feng had choice.
He could run. Disappear. Let chaos unfold and blame someone else.
But that would burn the entire group—and the identity.
Worse, it would create questions about where he went next.
So instead, he walked forward.
"You want Ye Feilong?" he asked.
The bounty hunter grinned. "Good. Saves me trouble."
"Then earn him."
Wu activated Silent Wind Form and stepped into Displaced Persona Overlay.
To the enemies, his presence flickered. His footing shifted.
He caught the edge of their sealing net and tore it midair, then used the momentum to launch himself into the first attacker with a shoulder strike that redirected their own qi outward.
The man flew ten meters into a spirit wagon.
[+10 PP – Redirected Force Using Inverse Pulse Fragment]
[+5 PP – Used Enemy's Momentum Against Him]
The second and third came together. Wu baited a synchronized strike, stepped between it, and let their blades clash—then tapped one's elbow to shift the angle.
His partner's sword buried into his shoulder.
"Maybe next time," Wu said, "you don't share techniques written by the same uncle."
[+15 PP – Friendly Fire Caused]
The fourth attacker backed away, dropped the bounty slip, and ran.
Wu didn't follow.
He picked up the slip.
And read it.
[Target: Ye Feilong – Former inner disciple of Verdant Edge Hall.
Crime: Sect betrayal. Bounty: 2,000 Spirit Stones – Alive preferred.]
He showed it to the camp.
Then slowly burned it in the fire.
"That man is gone."
"And I'm just passing through."
[+25 PP – Bluff Used to Erase Identity In Front of Crowd]
System Update
Petty Points: 580
New Passive: Crowd Uncertainty Aura – Lv. 1Groups around you are more likely to believe you're someone important when under stress.
New Petty Shop Item Unlocked: False Death Decree (Makes any known alias "officially dead" in minor sect registries)
Back at the Campfire
The girl—Lian Yue—sat beside him again.
"You saved us."
Wu shook his head. "I kept a promise. That's different."
"What promise?"
He looked away.
"To vanish without regret."
[+10 PP – Pretending to Be Tragic While Being Strategic]
She smiled softly.
"Even so... if you're ever in Linchuan, I'd follow you."
Wu sipped his tea.
"Then be careful what you follow."