Chapter Seven: The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadows

Ye Chen pushed open the door to his home. At that moment, Ye Shanshan was using the little food cart as a makeshift stove to prepare dinner.

The two of them were not siblings by blood, yet they had always cooked and lived together. In Ye Shanshan’s words, it was more economical this way.

But Ye Chen saw it differently. After all, as two orphans with equally difficult fates, relying on each other might be the best way to survive in this harsh world.

It wasn’t that Ye Chen couldn’t manage alone, but after so many years of living side by side, they had unknowingly become dependent on each other.

When Ye Shanshan saw his cloak once again covered in mud, the young woman was genuinely upset. She stood with her hands on her hips and scolded him:

“I told you not to go hunting for a while, why don’t you ever listen?

“Isn’t the bonus from the sand lizard enough to get us through the winter?

“If we’re careful, it’ll last us until next winter.”

Ye Shanshan’s concern was sincere. Ye Chen was twenty-one, she only seventeen.

Yet sometimes, Ye Chen couldn’t help but feel that Ye Shanshan was more like an older sister.

Looking at her puffed-up cheeks, he could only scratch his head awkwardly. After a moment’s hesitation, he explained:

“I handed the money to Old Jin. He said he’d help me pull some strings—maybe even get me into the Outer City Patrol.”

As he spoke, Ye Chen watched Ye Shanshan closely and saw, as expected, a look of delight flash across her face.

He knew well enough the reason for her joy. She’d always worried about him hunting out in the wild, afraid he’d never return one day.

Now, that heavy weight on her heart was finally lifted.

But the very next moment, she put on a stern face and said:

“You can become a patroller, but you’re not allowed to bully anyone just because you’re in uniform.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Ye Chen replied after a pause. “I have my principles.”

Ye Shanshan had heard more than a few stories about patrolmen bullying vendors at the market—she’d even experienced it herself. The most common thing was that they’d eat at a stall and leave without paying, promising to settle the bill ‘someday.’ Who knew when that might be.

“There’s one more thing—I awakened today.”

That morning, both of them had left in a rush, barely seeing each other on the street, so he hadn’t had a chance to mention it.

When Ye Shanshan heard he’d become an Awakened, she was so excited she forgot all about dinner and pulled him aside for details.

When she saw with her own eyes Ye Chen slicing vegetables with invisible blades, her excitement was beyond words—perhaps even greater than if she’d awakened herself.

She’d heard from people at her stall that Awakened individuals could receive an extra monthly stipend from some agency in the Inner City.

It was said that the sum was not small. And, depending on the level of one’s awakening, the amount varied.

“If only I could awaken too,” she said dreamily.

Ye Chen smiled. “You cook so well, isn’t that a kind of talent?”

Still, there was a mystery Ye Chen couldn’t unravel: the task board that had appeared in his mind, and the beastly ‘Breath Technique’—what did they have to do with being Awakened?

He decided to keep those bizarre things from his mind’s inner world to himself for now.

Outside, the night wind howled.

Inside, the two of them ate a simple dinner.

The tiny room brought an unexpected sense of peace.

...

Meanwhile, on a street in the Inner City, an off-road vehicle from the Outer City Patrol sped toward the gates.

Ahead loomed the towering city wall, beneath which was the gate to the Outer City’s administrative district.

The spacious, immaculate roads of the Inner City stood in stark contrast to the narrow, potholed paths of the Outer City.

On either side of the Inner City’s roads, high-rises towered and neon lights glittered, while across the wall, only a smattering of dim lights could be seen.

While waiting for the light to change, the driver, Xu Fan, studied the well-dressed passersby, marveling quietly at the women who dared to bare their legs in the dead of winter.

He then asked quietly, “Captain, both you and Captain Loudmouth from Team Three had a chance to get transferred to the Inner City, didn’t you? Why did you both give it up?”

Captain Dai adjusted his glasses and shot back, “Why are you so nosy? Planning to give advice on pig-farming too? All right, tomorrow I’ll suggest to Captain Lu that you transfer to Team One.”

Xu Fan chuckled. “Now, now, if you left, the team would fall apart. But Captain, the Inner City’s living conditions are clearly way better than ours. How could you just give up that chance? I think it’s a shame.”

Captain Dai didn’t answer right away. The car fell into silence.

Just as Xu Fan thought the topic was closed, Captain Dai’s voice sounded, calm and steady:

“What you see is just the dazzling surface. The brighter the light, the darker the shadows.”

Xu Fan fell quiet.

...

Clang! Clang!

Two resounding crashes, as punctual as any alarm clock, echoed from Ye Chen’s doorway.

It was Ye Shanshan, up early and pushing her cart over the threshold—a daily herald.

She wore her usual simple attire, an apron printed with pink rabbits over her clothes. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, a few strands falling loose, her lips unpainted yet still radiantly beautiful.

As she pushed the cart past Ye Chen’s window, she paused, frowning slightly.

“What’s that smell? Ugh… that’s disgusting!”

Sunlight slanted through the cracks in the window, falling on a solitary figure.

Ye Chen was cross-legged on his bed, diligently practicing the Breath Technique.

He inhaled the icy air, exhaling in hot streams from his nose.

Awakened by the noise, he slowly opened his eyes, the beastly markings on his face fading and a keen light flashing in his gaze.

He didn’t get up right away, instead sensing the changes in his body.

His muscles were tighter, his vitality stronger—he’d made progress since yesterday.

His inner energy had risen from 10 out of 58 to 18 out of 58.

That was already three times what he’d had when he first awakened. With a few more days of effort, reaching 58 was entirely within reach.

Even though he hadn’t slept all night, he felt no exhaustion—if anything, his body brimmed with boundless energy.

Just as he was about to rise, he sensed something amiss.

Looking down, he realized his pants were stuck to the bed.

Damn!

A drop of cold sweat trickled down his face, full of embarrassment.

With another effort, he managed to stand, but he felt the sticky separation of his pants from the sheets and saw a black mark in the shape of his backside left behind.

This is a disaster. Did I do this in my sleep while cultivating…?

Seeing that bizarre and mortifying stain, Ye Chen had the sudden urge to rip the sheet off and stuff it under the bed.