Li Hui Ming

I know what happens to spies when they’re caught. It’s a brief interrogation, followed by an even briefer decapitation. That’s why the plan was to never be captured. It was practically impossible to capture a fourth stage cultivator anyway.

As a fourth stage cultivator, almost nobody could claim to be able to beat me. My presence alone was usually able to stamp out any conflict. But the man who captured me could manipulate multiple monstrous plants that even I couldn’t resist. In reality, he probably wasn’t even a man. He was probably a sentient plant monster.

Everything he did came with a nonchalant ease. The most strained I’ve seen him become was when he bought a pie. I couldn’t see through him at all.

Yet, unbelievably, my head still rested on my shoulders. No interrogation needles hovered above me.

I looked up and shivered, hugging myself rather pathically. The Yellow Oval loomed over me, staring me down.

A primal fear rose up whenever I looked at the yellow object. All the other plants in the garden were familiar. Most of them were vines, and others were exotic fruit, but I’ve seen them all before.

This yellow-scaled Oval Alien watched over me at all times.

Trapped. Dark, alone, and helpless. My attacks I was so confident in bouncing off walls I couldn’t see. When would I be let out of this darkness? Tomorrow? Next year? Until I starved? That was The Yellow Oval. Its invincible presence dominated me, suppressing all desire to rebel. And that was only one of the many things in this garden that could kill me.

I touched my stomach. Despite all this, Jin had let me live and even given me my favorite pie. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as kind as him.

I should’ve noticed it earlier. He’s been doing all he could to make me as comfortable as possible. Rich, kind, and powerful. I knew many people who would readily come to serve him.

I touched the spot where vines used to wrap around my left foot. I felt the line between the vines and my flesh, then my fingers traced all the way up my leg. These were muscles I’ve trained since I was four years old, all to serve the Crimson Fire Sect.

Plucked out of a mountainside village for my talent, every inch of my body was tempered to serve the sect. I loved my sect. It was the centerpiece of my life. I shivered when I imagined what could happen if my sect ever truly clashed with the Blue Fire Sect. Jin said it himself, he would probably side with the Blue Fire Sect.

Something in me told me I didn't want to know what would happen if Crimson Fire and Jin clashed head to head. The sense of foreboding grew as I stayed in his garden, watching him go about his daily life. His actions defied reality. I would do anything to stop a clash between my sect and Jin, but at this rate, it seemed inevitable.

I walked from underneath The Yellow Oval. How could I prevent this confrontation? How could I prevent this calamity?