I Level Up By Making Enemies

Morning came with stiff muscles and the dull realization that nothing had improved overnight except the fact that he was still breathing.

Lin Feng sat up slowly on the narrow bed. The basic salve had taken the edge off the worst wounds, but everything still pulled and ached. His qi felt a little fuller after a night of careful circulation, yet the difference between recovering here and recovering under the dense, hostile pressure of the swamp was painfully obvious. Progress would be slow. Possibly too slow.

Bai Yan was already awake, seated on a stool near the door with her arms crossed. Su Qing stood by the small window.

Lin Feng swung his legs over the side of the bed and tested his weight. ”I need to relieve myself.

”Do it in the corner.” Bai Yan said

”I’m not going to do that. Especially in front of ladies” Lin Feng said

Bai Yan jerked her thumb toward a small side door. ”Fine princess, then keep it in. ”

”I also need to move,” he said. ” To stretch. If I sit still all day these injuries are going to lock up. I only need ten minutes walking the courtyard.”

Su Qing spoke for the first time that morning. ”Alright. Stay within the walls. If you approach the gate, we will stop you.”

”Wouldn’t dream of it.”

They let him walk. The courtyard was small, stone paved, and bordered by a low wall that made the idea of ”restriction” feel very literal. Lin Feng moved carefully, testing his ribs, his thigh, the pull across his chest. Every few steps he glanced at the two women. They both were actively tracking him.

After half a circuit he tried the first probe.

”How long do messages between sects usually take?”

Bai Yan snorted. ”Long enough for you to heal and short enough that you shouldn’t get comfortable.”

He walked another length of the courtyard in silence, then tried a different angle.

”The swamp kicking someone out... that really never happens?”

This time Su Qing answered. ”Not in living memory. The fact that it happened to a temporary guest is why you are still here instead of already on the road back to Flowing Wind.”

Lin Feng nodded andnkept moving until the ten minutes were up. When he stopped, Bai Yan pointed at the room.

”Back inside.”

He went without argument. Pushing too hard on the first morning would only make them tighten the rules.

The rest of the day settled into a dull, pressurized pattern. Simple meals arrived at the gate and were brought in by Su Qing. Bai Yan mostly stayed near the door, occasionally stepping into the courtyard herself to loosen her shoulders or glare at the empty path beyond the wall. Lin Feng spent the hours cycling qi as carefully as he could, applying more of the low grade salve, and testing how far he could go with small requests before one of them shut him down.

By mid-afternoon he asked to train lightly. After a long look, Bai Yan allowed it in the courtyard under direct supervision. He used the time to keep his body from stiffening and to watch their reactions. Bai Yan grew restless with inaction and was more likely to answer a casual question with a sarcastic remark. Su Qing remained closed, answering only when the question was practical and impossible to dodge.

He learned little that was new, but the shape of their assignment became clearer. They had been given responsibility for him, any mistake he made would land on them as well. That gave him a narrow amount of leverage and them a clear reason to keep him from doing anything dramatic.

Evening brought a thin wind and the smell of distant cooking fires from the main sect. Lin Feng sat on the edge of the bed again, back against the wall, and stared at the darkening courtyard through the open door.

Seventy-three days had become seventy-two. Yue Qingfeng’s response had not arrived. And he was stuck in a plain outer compound under the eyes of two women who would rather be doing almost anything else.

He asked one more time, quieter, as the light fully left the sky.

”If the reply from Flowing Wind is delayed... what happens to me?”

Bai Yan was the one who answered. Her voice had lost some of its earlier edge and settled into something closer to blunt honesty.

”Then you stay right here until it comes. And if you’re smart, you won’t give anyone a reason to decide waiting is more trouble than you’re worth.”

Lin Feng nodded once and closed his eyes.

In the morning,He sat cross legged on the cold straw, pretending to meditate, but his mind was spinning. If it takes any longer for the reply from the Flowing Wind Sect to arrive,he’ll no choice but to break out, he thought.

But the immediate counter thought made him wince. But How? Even if he somehow breaks out he would hand them anundeniable reason to hunt him down. And even if by some miracle of luck he did escape, how on earth was he supposed to get back inside the swamp on his own?

Elder Yue Qingfeng... what a mess you’ve handed me. Lin Feng could only pray to the heavens that whatever message Yue Qingfeng sent back would appeal directly to the Sect Master.

Lin Feng stiffened as the door swung wide. A senior disciple clad in formal, high ranking robes stood in the doorway, whispering in hushed, urgent tones to Bai Yan and the Su Qing who had been guarding the perimeter. The senior disciple gestured sharply down the corridor.

”Bring him in. The Sect Master demands his presence immediately.”

Bai Yan stepped into the cell, her expression unreadable, though his posture lacked the aggressive edge from before.

”Come out,” she said shortly. ”The reply from the Flowing Wind Sect just arrived.”

A sudden wave of relief washed over Lin Feng, quickly followed by a sharp, icy spike of anxiety. They actually replied. But what did the old man say? Did he clear my name, or did he accidentally doom me?

He was escorted back through the winding, crystalline corridors of the sect. When they finally entered the grand hall, the sect elders were all there, while the Sect Master sat upon her elevated throne, her eyes fixed on a figure standing in the center of the room.

It was a messenger Lin Feng had never seen befor. The messenger bowed deeply, presenting a pristine, jade sealed letter directly to the Sect Master, before stepping back.

The Sect Master took the letter. With a flick of her wrist, the jade seal dissolved into a mist of spiritual qi. As her eyes scanned the elegant brushstrokes, the icy composure she had maintained since Lin Feng’s capture cracked. For a fleeting moment, something akin to pure, unadulterated shock spread over her regal features.

”Sect Master?” one of the senior elders asked, leaning forward, her brow furrowed. ”What is the meaning of this? What does the old fox say?”

Without a word, the Sect Master passed the letter down. As the elders passed it among themselves, reading the contents, a ripple of stunned silence tore through the ranks. Gasping sounds and murmured exclamations echoed off the high rafters.

The messenger, sensing the explosive tension, bowed once more. ”My duty is fulfilled. I shall take my leave.” He backed out of the hall swiftly.

As the heavy doors clicked shut behind the messenger, the entire hall fell dead silent. Then, slowly, every single eye in the room turned toward Lin Feng. The intensity of their gazes felt like physical weight, pressing down on his shoulders. The elders were staring at him not with anger, or even suspicion, but with a bizarre, intense scrutiny that made his skin crawl.

The silence stretched until it became unbearable. Desperate to break the suffocating pressure, Lin Feng cleared his throat, offering a weak, distinctly awkward smile. ”So... uhm... what did my master say? Is everything cleared up?”

No one responded.

The Sect Master rubbed her temples, burying her face slightly in her hand as if a sudden, massive headache had just manifested. She seemed trapped in deep, turbulent thought. Below her, the elders had erupted into frantic, hushed arguments, completely ignoring Lin Feng’s question.

”This might change everything,” an elder muttered, her fists clenched.

”And what if it backfires?” another whispered back, her voice tight with anxiety. ”We cannot blindly accept the word of Yue Qingfeng, but if the implications are true...”

Lin Feng stood between his guards, absolutely, completely clueless. He blinked, looking from the left side of the room to the right.

Finally, the Sect Master raised her hand. The hall instantly fell silent. She lowered her hand from her forehead and looked down at Lin Feng, her gaze remarkably complex.

”Yue Qingfeng’s reply was certainly unexpected,” the Sect Master spoke, her voice echoing with profound weight. ”And if what he is claiming in this letter is true... Lin Feng, you may have to be treated as a respected guest of our sect.”

Lin Feng’s head jerked up in sheer surprise. A respected guest?! Behind him, he heard a simultaneous sharp intake of breath. He glanced back and saw Bai Yan and the Su Qing at the Sect Master, their faces masks of pure shock.

”However,” the Sect Master continued, her tone hardening slightly to restore order, ”we still need to adhere to our sect rules. We cannot simply allow an outsider free rein of the sect.”

Several elders nodded in agreement, their rigid postures relaxing slightly at the mention of the rules. They began to murmur among themselves, debating the logistics of the situation, until a senior elder on the right flank stepped forward.

”If I may, Sect Master,” the elder proposed, stroking his long white beard. ”I think we should use the quarters in the outer sect area as a compromise. Those accommodations were specifically built for diplomatic occasions like this.

”But those quarters are practically in ruins,” another elder pointed out dryly. ”No one has set foot in them for three decades.”

”Nothing a day of renovation and a few earth element techniques can’t fix,” the first elder countered.

The Sect Master remained quiet for a moment, her fingers tapping rhythmically against the armrest of her throne.

”Hmmm...” She closed her eyes, weighing the options, before opening them to lock onto Lin Feng. ”Fine. Fix the outer quarters. Lin Feng will stay there while he finishes whatever business he came to conduct in our territory. There will still be strict boundary restrictions applied to you, young man, but you will no longer face confinement.”

Lin Feng let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

”Furthermore,” the Sect Master added, a faint, almost imperceptible smirk playing on her lips, ”Bai Yan and Su Qing will look after you. Since you two guarded him so well so far, you will remain his personal attendants and shadows for the duration of his stay.”

A synchronized, miserable groan echoed from directly behind Lin Feng.

”Wait, I don’t understand,” Lin Feng spoke up, his confusion finally boiling over. He took a step forward. ”What exactly did the letter say? Why the sudden change?”

”In time, child,” the Sect Master said, her voice cutting off further inquiry with absolute authority.

”For now, you need to focus entirely on what you came here to do. Your master has bought you this chance. Do not waste it.”

Lin Feng swallowed his questions, though his mind was burning with curiosity. He frowned, realizing a massive logistical flaw in their grand plan.

”Well... that’s fine, but I can’t actually get back inside the swamp anymore.”

The Sect Master looked down at him. ”We will help you with that.”