*By ArkGodZ | DaoVerse Studio*
The world felt quieter than it should have.
The spiritual transport moved slowly, gliding along invisible currents of Qi between the forest and the Eternal Flower Sect. Jian Yu lay still atop the jade bed inside the carriage, a light robe draped over him—placed there by Yuan with careful hands. His chest rose and fell, calm but shallow. His body was still, yet something beneath the surface churned.
Yuan sat across from him, arms crossed, her eyes sharp but unreadable. Every few moments, she would glance at him, then at the disciple seated nearby, who had been sent to retrieve them. The disciple remained silent, but unease radiated from him like cold mist. He had seen the clearing. He had seen the aftermath. And most of all—he had seen Jian Yu.
Not unconscious.
Changed.
The ground had been scorched in rippling patterns.
The trees bowed inward, as if something sacred had passed through.
And in the middle of it all bloomed a black lotus—pulsing with crimson light.
At the center lay Jian Yu. His robes torn, his body bruised, yet something inside him… untouched. Or perhaps, reborn.
---
The carriage approached the sect gates. Guard disciples glanced over as the energy-bearing talisman on its roof announced their presence. At the sight of Yuan, they quickly stepped aside, but their eyes lingered on the sleeping form behind her.
No words were exchanged. Only silence and reverent stares.
The moment the transport landed in the lower courtyard, Jian Yu stirred. His hand twitched slightly, then lifted with effort as he pushed himself to a seated position.
"We're back," Yuan said, standing. "Can you walk?"
"I… think so," Jian Yu muttered, voice dry.
She extended a hand, but he ignored it—not with rudeness, but with quiet necessity. He needed to stand on his own, to feel the weight of his body and confirm whether he was still who he had been… or someone else.
The disciple moved forward.
"The Elders wish to speak with him. Immediately."
Yuan turned to him, voice firm and cold. "He needs rest."
"The order was—"
"He just touched the edge of something none of us understand. Tell the Elders he will report when he is stable—and that I take full responsibility."
The disciple hesitated, then bowed. "Yes, Senior Yuan."
Jian Yu had listened to the entire exchange in silence. When Yuan turned back to him, he looked into her eyes and nodded. "Thank you."
She didn't reply, but she didn't look away either.
---
They walked slowly through the sect grounds, the sky still tinged with silver from dawn. The ancient towers and pavilions of the Eternal Flower Sect loomed around them, peaceful yet distant—like statues watching a stranger return.
Disciples passed by. Some slowed. Some stared.
Others bowed their heads.
Jian Yu felt it all—their uncertainty, their questions, their fear. He had once walked these halls invisible. Now, the silence followed him like a second shadow.
At the entrance to his courtyard, Yuan pushed the gate open without hesitation.
The familiar scent of medicinal herbs and dew greeted him. The small garden he had cared for—the same one he had tended as a servant, kneeling beside the earth—remained untouched.
Yet nothing felt the same.
He stepped inside and paused at the center.
His fingers brushed the edge of a flowerpot. His eyes moved across the garden stones he had scrubbed a thousand times. Every leaf, every branch, seemed to watch him now.
"It's strange…" Jian Yu murmured.
Yuan, watching him from the porch, tilted her head. "What is?"
He took a slow breath. "This place. It hasn't changed. But it feels like it doesn't belong to me anymore."
Yuan replied softly, "Maybe it never did."
He gave her a faint smile. Then, wordlessly, he knelt in the center of the garden. The position was familiar. His knees rested exactly where they always had. But the earth was warmer. The Qi around him—sharper, more reactive.
When he closed his eyes, the images surged.
---
The clearing.
The crimson light.
The lotus.
And… something deeper. Something that had watched him.
But there was more. Before that.
The masked cultivator.
The old man.
The mission.
He had been sent to investigate a simple Qi anomaly in the forest. A task none of the other outer disciples had accepted. He took it because he needed silence—because something inside him had felt too loud lately.
But the forest gave him no peace.
He had encountered a man with eyes like mist and a voice like wind on old stone. A stranger who spoke as if he knew Jian Yu. As if he had been waiting for him.
Then came the attack. Sudden. Precise.
A masked figure with no allegiance, no flag, no words. The fight was short. Painful. But the moment before death came… something inside Jian Yu had surged.
And that was when the lotus bloomed.
---
"You're thinking too much again," Yuan said, breaking the quiet.
Jian Yu opened his eyes slowly. "Hard not to. When your own body doesn't feel like your own."
"You touched something ancient. No one walks away from that unchanged."
He turned toward her. "It wasn't just ancient. It was aware."
Yuan's gaze locked on his. "Do you remember everything?"
"Enough," he said quietly.
"Then talk to me."
"Why?"
She hesitated, then said simply, "Because I'm still here."
That silenced him.
The morning light touched the edge of her robe. She looked tired—but present.
Jian Yu lowered his gaze. "I heard voices. Felt things that weren't mine. Desires… not my own. Like something else was breathing through me."
Yuan asked, "And now?"
"It's quiet. But it's not gone."
They were silent for a while.
Then Yuan said, "The Elders won't understand that. But I think I do."
Jian Yu looked at her. "You felt it too."
She nodded once.
He looked at the garden again. "I don't know who I am anymore."
Yuan spoke softly, "You're Jian Yu."
He turned his face toward her. "That name… you gave it to me."
"I did."
"Why?"
She took a breath. "Because when I found you, you had no name. No memory. But when I looked at you, that was the name that came to mind. It felt like it belonged."
"And now?"
"It still does."
His voice dropped. "Thank you."
She stood. "Don't thank me yet."
"Why not?"
"Because the next time the Elders call for you… I might not be able to protect you."
---
Jian Yu said nothing. But inside, something shifted again.
He turned back toward the garden, letting his breath slow. The Qi moved around him—not chaotic, not hostile, but… curious.
As if the world itself was listening.
He closed his eyes once more.
And this time, he didn't fight the memories.
He let them come. Let the visions pull him back—back to the beginning.
To the moment Yuan found him.
To the time before the name.
To the roots of the Eternal Flower Sect.
And in that silence… Jian Yu began to descend.
---
End of Chapter
Next Chapter: Chapter 11 – Part 2: The Roots of the Eternal Flower
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