The hall settles into a tense hush. Beneath the floorboards, the crimson seal beats like a second pulse, steady and contained.
Li Wu stands inside the ring of wreckage, and the binding answers him. Master Wei remains locked below the boards, his resistance feeding the tomb's calm instead of breaking it.
Ren
You see it now. The price is not in the technique, it is in the tether.
Ren watches him with sharp approval, then tips his chin toward the sealed floor.
Ren
Keep this ruin stable, and you keep your own path open. Break the bond, and the whole place falls with him.
Li Wu
The seal is holding Master Wei and the brothel together.
The choice is plain now. To leave with the answer, Li Wu must carry the knowledge of Hollow Lotus Burial, and the danger of its bond, in his own body and qi.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the sealed tomb stable
✓ Quest Accepted
Preserve his path without breaking the bond
“I focus inward and channel my qi to reinforce the bond making it much stronger.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled -1)
Li Wu draws his breath inward and lets the qi sink to the center of him. The seal below answers at once, its red veins tightening into finer, cleaner lines.
The floor gives a single low groan, then steadies. Master Wei’s struggle below turns from violent snapping to a hard, contained pull.
Ren
Good. He can hold it.
A thin sting threads through Li Wu’s meridians, a sharp tax for forcing his qi through the bond. The crimson glow brightens around his boots.
Master Wei
You would chain yourself to this grave? Insolent boy.
The seal does not break. It settles deeper, and the ruined hall stops shuddering.
Ren
That is the tether. Keep it, and you keep the path.
Quest Complete
Preserve his path without breaking the bond
Quest Complete
Keep the sealed tomb stable