Chapter 4: I Am Not Li Feng
Xiao Ning’s figure stiffened. His gaze swept toward the dim shadows beyond the cavern wall, where a faint rustle betrayed a presence.
A moment later, a woman stepped forward, her face half-veiled by the flickering light of the spirit lanterns embedded in the stone. Though her expression was unreadable, the longsword in her grasp pulsed with faint golden light—the unmistakable pressure of Nascent Soul could be felt clearly.
He didn’t need to guess. From the dregs of Li Feng’s shattered soul, her identity emerged with clarity.
Mei Lin. The former dao companion of this body’s original master. And a Nascent Soul cultivator of considerable renown.
She had seen through him instantly—without hesitation or inquiry. A testament not just to spiritual acuity, but to an intimacy born of shared history.
Xiao Ning exhaled slowly. There was no use feigning ignorance.
"You’re right," he said, voice calm despite the sword pointed at his heart. "I am not Li Feng. My name is Xiao Ning. I’ve... borrowed this shell after my own body perished."
Mei Lin did not speak. The blade in her hand trembled minutely, the aura around it thickening.
It wasn’t just hostility—it was disbelief, pain, rage.
She could sense that something had changed, and that change had stolen away someone she once knew.
Xiao Ning’s eyes fell on the sword. Its glow was stable, Clearly, this was not a woman shaken by grief alone. Her cultivation had been tempered through blood and fire.