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Chapter 14 - Chapter 2: Roots and Shadows

Chapter 2: Roots and Shadows

Jun woke up at dawn, flinchin at every bird sound.

He sat up slow, eyes dartin like a hunted animal. The blanket was warm, the hay soft, but his body remembered too much pain.

Alex sat nearby, stirrin a pot of porridge over a small flame.

"Mornin," he said, not lookin up.

Jun blinked. "You're... cooking?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Nah, I'm painting. What's it look like?"

Jun gave a weak laugh. It sounded like he hadn't done that in a while.

By noon, Jun was walkin the farm with Alex, quiet mostly, takin in the land. He stared at the glowing rice stalks, the humming herb patches, the floating mist-fish in the spirit pond.

"This place…" he said. "It feels… clean."

"It is," Alex said. "It's honest. Land don't lie."

Jun stopped near the fence, eyes on the path that led out the valley.

"You really fight off Hollow Eye? Just you?"

Alex just smiled. "I didn't fight. I farmed. They left."

Jun didn't reply. Just nodded slow, like that idea was heavier than a sword.

Meanwhile, Meilin wasn't convinced.

She followed Jun when he wasn't lookin. Watched how he moved. Light. Careful. Trained.

She watched him hesitate near weapons, flinch at loud voices, and stare too long at the trees—as if expectin someone to leap out.

But what worried her most…

He buried his old sect robes.

Quiet. Alone. Under a plum tree.

"Why not burn em?" she asked later.

Jun looked at her. "Because fire destroys. But earth... forgives."

That night, Alex stood over a new patch of soil near the west field. He held a strange seed in his hand, glowing a pale blue.

"System," he said, "this one's from the Heavenroot box, right?"

"Correct. Origin: Unknown. Cultivation properties: unknown. Risk level: Moderate."

"Good enough."

He planted it.

And the moment it touched soil... the ground shivered.

Jun, from inside the hut, sat up straight.

So did Meilin.

Far off in the dark woods, something… noticed.

Next morning, the seed had sprouted.

But it wasn't a plant.

It was a stone.

Smooth, black, pulsing with qi.

Alex stared at it. "Well... that ain't normal."

"Analyzing... Cultivation Node Detected. Foreign Spiritual Vein attempting to merge with local flow."

Jun came over and stared at it too. His eyes went wide.

"I've seen those… once. They're used to track rogue cultivators. Hidden sect tech."

Alex sighed. "Course it is."

Meilin drew her sword. "Someone planted this in the seed."

Alex just smiled tiredly. "Well. Guess it's weedin season again."

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