Chapter 12 · They Put Her on the Altar

Lin Yuan stood in the doorway like he owned the place. Maybe he did. This whole sect belonged to people like him—people who smiled while they bled you dry.

I kept my grip on the ledger. My mother's handwriting was still warm under my fingers. Three years of wondering how she died, and now I knew. She'd tried to stop them from draining me completely. They killed her for it.

"Lin Wei." Lin Yuan's voice was smooth. Too smooth. He stepped inside without asking, and Gu moved between us so fast I barely saw it. Lin Yuan stopped. His eyes flicked to the ledger in my hands, then back to my face. "I see you've been doing some reading."

"Yeah." I lifted the book higher. "Real educational. Turns out my mom didn't just die. She was murdered. By the sect. For trying to protect me."

Lin Yuan tilted his head. "Your mother made a regrettable choice. She interfered with sanctioned spirit root cultivation. The Council had no option but to—"

"Sanctioned." I laughed, and it came out wrong. Bitter. "You're calling it sanctioned? You were going to drain me until there was nothing left. Survival rate zero. It's right here."