"Children inherit more than names. Sometimes they carry echoes meant for other lifetimes."
— Field Notes, Sect Historian Wen Ji
*Johanna POV*
The moment the door shut behind Richard and Theo, the room shifted. The light didn't change, nor the fire in the hearth, but everything felt colder. Still. Like the pause before a duel.
Elisabeth invited us to take a seat opposite her and her husband - emphasis on invited. Everything in this room needed her permission. Everything required her Qi signature with the room in this high surveillance mode. Essentially, she had invited us into her prison, and we had no way out until the conversation was done.
At least I knew she's a good person - we had known each other for years just as shopkeeper and customer until our boys got close. And we had always had some sort of mutual understanding, being the only cultivators in Eulenhof.
She waved her hand and three letters appeared on the desk separating us. We made eye contact, and she gave us permission to read.
"The letters were left for Richard," Elisabeth said, voice flat. "The coins were meant for him... and Theo found one in the workshop just outside - a coin that resonated with him."
Gertherd reached for his mug, but didn't drink. The tea had gone cold, untouched since we arrived.
"These... these letters. No, these threats. Do you know who it could be?"
"Twenty years ago, when I had just broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm and been admitted to the inner sect, a suspicious coin just like that appeared at the Vice Sect Leader's Hall. There was a note with it requesting for access to the Wind God's tomb, claiming that they were the rightful owners of His body."
She paused for a brief moment to collect her emotions in front of us.
"Of course, the Clan refused to give up such a treasure to a mysterious organisation, especially one hostile enough to forgo formalities and sneak into the Vice Sect Leader's Hall. Well... they clearly took offence to that, and left a warning. Over the course of a month, a new body would be found every single day at the Hall. Over the course of a month, half the inner sect's disciples - my precious friends - had lost their lives. Until the Clan ceded. The tomb disappeared, and we were left with another coin telling us to never again offend the Verdant Eye."
Gertherd stiffened beside me. I could feel it through the floorboards, the shift in his weight, the tightening of every muscle.
I placed a hand on his knee.
Her husband - Matthias, finally spoke. "The coin's not the only thing that concerns us. Richard is being watched. Possibly followed."
"They're not subtle," Elisabeth added. "But they're not stupid, either. Leaving a second coin - one that resonated with Theo... that was no accident. Either they mistook him for Richard, or worse..."
She didn't finish the sentence, and I didn't want her to.
Gertherd's voice came out low. "You think they're after both boys?"
"I don't know." Elisabeth sat straighter. "What I do know is that Theo picked up a Verdant Eye artefact, and it responded to him. That's more than bad luck. That's intent."
"They've seen something," I murmured. "In Richard, or in Theo. Or both... Then the question is - what do we do now?"
"We keep them close," Elisabeth said. Her voice didn't rise, didn't falter. "We ward the house. We set traps, alarms, spatial locks. I'll request two formations from the old library to be delivered by tomorrow morning - one for detection, one for Qi filtration."
"And the boys?" I asked.
She finally looked at me. There was something hard in her eyes - worry disguised as steel. "They stay where we can see them."
A silence passed between us. The fire crackled in the hearth, breaking the moment, but not softening it.
I felt the weight of the decision like a dam about to burst. "You're suggesting we stay."
"I'm not suggesting," Elisabeth replied. "I'm stating what we're already doing. I've locked this house down. No one gets in or out tonight - not even you. And if what you told me is true, and you believe it is, then you'd be foolish to try."
I could have bristled at the tone - at the arrogance - but I didn't. Not when I saw the way her hands had been clenched the entire time. Not when I noticed the faint shimmer of a Qi anchor spinning on the wall behind her, only half-masked. This wasn't just formality. This was fear.
"We'll stay," I said quietly. "But we keep up appearances. No panicking. The boys don't need to know."
"No," Elisabeth agreed. "They just need to stay alive."
The finality of her words settled into the corners of the room like dust. We said nothing for a long time.
Then Elisabeth slapped her thigh and stood up.
"I'll fetch the bedrolls. Matthias, help me reinforce the western windows. Johanna, Gertherd -ward the east hall and the guest rooms. If they try to enter, I want to see what they are before I kill them."
For a moment, just a flicker, I saw what she used to be. Not the baker's wife. Not Rich's friend's mother. But a sect-trained cultivator forged in discipline and blood, staring down death without blinking.
We stood to follow her instructions. The moment for questions had passed. The door to the children's study stayed shut.
Outside, the wind moved low through the grass. Not yet dangerous, but no longer quiet.
And inside, we prepared for war.
***
I found Richard curled up in the reading chair in the study, knees drawn close, a storybook open but clearly forgotten in his lap. Theo was fast asleep on the rug, his mouth slightly open, his hand still gripping a toy horse like it owed him money.
Richard glanced up as I entered, and something in his expression faltered. There was worry in his eyes, and I could tell he was concerned for me and for our family. He was clearly curious about what we discussed without them - that he couldn't hide, but he respected his place and didn't pry. Really, that boy seems more like an adult than a child.
"Is everything okay?" he asked in a whisper, trying not to wake the sleeping Theo.
"For now. We're staying the night, and probably all foreseeable nights until this has died down."
He nodded slowly, but didn't look relieved. He looked older than he was, just for a moment. Like the weight of something was pressing down hard and he wasn't sure how much longer he could pretend it didn't hurt.
Then, he looked up.
"You're not telling me everything."
"No," I admitted. "I'm not. But that's not because I don't trust you. It's because I need you to feel safe right now, Rich. Not guess. Not spiral."
He grinned somewhat cheekily.
"You're not great at lying, Mum."
"And you're not great at hiding things from me either," I said, ruffling his hair once more. "But I trust you. So let's meet in the middle, shall we?"
We shook hands. Honestly, this feels more like a business transaction than a conversation between mother and son.
"Oh, and mum..." he hesitated for a bit, seemingly unsure whether to reveal a big secret of his. "Watch this."
Thin threads of mist began to collect in the space between his hands. Not the sharp, commanding streams of a wind-rooted technique, nor the golden shimmer of Light Qi, but something more intimate. Like steam rising from a bowl of soup on a quiet morning. Soft. Gentle. Purposeful.
He took a step forward. Or did he? It looked like he hadn't moved one bit, but I definitely felt some movement.
And then came the rhythm.
Barely audible, but I knew what I was hearing. The beat of something returning home. A cadence. One-two, one-two. The kind of tempo you'd expect from a lullaby or a march. Faint but steady.
He was... looping his Qi through his meridians and back again, but not like in traditional cycles. It didn't spiral. It echoed. Every pass layered on the last, like a refrain returned to after a verse. I couldn't help it - my spirit sense reached out, brushing the outermost layer.
It sang. A tune of instruments I could not recognise. Quietly. Sweetly. A song of leaving and coming back.
"How long have you been doing this?" I asked, keeping my voice as even as I could manage.
"I learnt it a couple hours ago once you sent the two of us out of the inner room."
He smiled widely this time, proud of being able to surprise me.
But something in me wanted to hide him.
Before someone tried to take the song out of his chest.