The pavilion was still thick with the scent of incense, sweat, and sex when the silk screens at the entrance parted again.
A tall figure stepped inside without a knock.
He was a Wang family elder—mid-forties, lean and sharp-featured, dressed in dark blue robes embroidered with silver frost lotuses. The same elder who had been guarding Wang Xue during the ritual. His presence filled the room like sudden winter wind—cold, unyielding, final.
Lady Mei Lin was still on the bed—robes half-open, hair in wild disarray, legs weakly parted, Lin Feng's seed still glistening on her inner thighs. She froze the moment she saw him.
In a frantic motion she yanked the crimson silk over herself, clutching it to her chest like armor, face burning with humiliation.
The elder didn't even glance at her body.
His cold eyes locked straight onto Lin Feng.
Lin Feng had already stood up—robe loosely tied, hair messy, red eyes calm and unreadable. He didn't bow. Didn't flinch. Just watched the elder with the same quiet intensity.
The elder spoke first, voice low and even.
"Alright," he said. "I will do what you asked."
Mei Lin's head snapped toward him.
Confusion twisted her face, then humiliation, then pure rage.
"How dare you—" she hissed, voice shaking. "How dare you step into my pavilion without permission! Do you know who I am? I will have your head for this intrusion, you insolent—"
The elder finally turned his gaze to her.
It was like ice cracking open.
Cold. Empty. Merciless.
A card manifested behind him without warning—black and heavy, etched with swirling gravitational runes.
Gravity Card.
The air in the room instantly thickened.
Mei Lin's body slammed down against the bed as if an invisible mountain had dropped on her chest. She gasped, ribs creaking, arms pinned, legs crushed flat. The silk robe tore under the pressure.
"You—" she wheezed, face turning purple. "You traitorous dog—how dare—"
The elder didn't respond.
Another card materialized beside the first—silver, glowing with sealing chains.
Seal Card.
Golden chains erupted from the card and wrapped around Mei Lin's body in an instant. They sank into her skin, locking her mana core, her movements, her voice. She could only glare—eyes wide with shock, fury, and dawning terror.
The elder looked back at Lin Feng.
"She's yours now," he said simply. "Sealed and silenced. No one will hear her scream. No one will feel her mana. She is a card in your hand."
Lin Feng stared at the scene.
Shock flashed through his red eyes—quick, sharp, real—for the first time in days.
Then fear—cold and sudden.
He concealed it almost instantly, face smoothing back into calm, unreadable mask.
But inside, his mind raced.
________________________________________
Earlier that night – Lin Feng's small branch room
The wooden door creaked open without a knock.
Lin Feng was sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, mana still faintly swirling around him from the cultivation session. He didn't open his eyes immediately—he already knew who it was. The air had turned colder, sharper, carrying the unmistakable scent of frost lotus.
The Wang family elder stepped inside—tall, lean, dark blue robes with silver frost embroidery, face carved from stone. He closed the door behind him with a quiet click and stood there for a moment, just watching.
Lin Feng opened his red eyes slowly.
The elder spoke first, voice low and even, almost friendly—like they were old acquaintances catching up.
"I didn't come to threaten you, boy," he said, raising one hand in a small, placating gesture. "I came to invite you."
Lin Feng stayed silent, waiting.
The elder stepped closer, not aggressive, just casual, like he was entering a friend's house.
"The Wang family sect," he continued, "has been watching you. Not just today. For a while. Fifteen cards… that kind of talent doesn't appear every generation. You're wasted here. Wasted in this backwater branch, wasted under a Head who won't even look at you. Come with us. Join the Wang sect. Train under our banner. We'll give you everything—resources, manuals, elixirs, protection. You'll rise fast. Core disciple in a year. Direct disciple of an elder in three. You'll be untouchable. Powerful. Respected."
He paused, letting the words settle.
"I'm not asking you to betray anyone," he added, almost gently. "I'm asking you to choose better. The Lin clan will never give you what you deserve. We will."
Lin Feng felt the pressure again—not loud, not violent, but steady. Like a hand slowly closing around his throat. He knew exactly what would happen if he said no. The elder wasn't bluffing. Refusal meant death. Quiet. Clean. No witnesses.
The elder tilted his head slightly, waiting.
Lin Feng exhaled slowly.
Then he spoke—voice calm, almost casual.
"Okay."
The elder's eyebrow lifted—just a fraction.
"But," Lin Feng added, red eyes locking onto the elder's, "I have conditions."
The elder smiled—small, approving.
"Name them."
"No one knows about this," Lin Feng said. "Not the Lin clan. Not Wang Xue. Not a single soul. And when it's done… no one finds the body."
The elder stared at him for a long moment.
Then that cold smirk spread across his face—slow, satisfied.
"Alright," he said softly. "Deal."
He turned and left without another word.
The door clicked shut.
Lin Feng stayed seated on the floor, staring at the empty space where the elder had stood.
The pressure lifted.
But the weight in his chest didn't.
________________________________________
Present – Lady Mei Lin's pavilion
The same Wang family elder stopped five meters away.
His eyes flicked to the bed—saw Mei Lin sealed, chained, helpless—then returned to Lin Feng.
He inclined his head slightly.
"You accepted the condition," he said quietly. "No one knows. No body found."
Lin Feng looked at the elder for a long moment.
The elder continued, voice low.
"She's yours now. Sealed and silenced. No one will hear her scream. No one will feel her mana. She is a card in your hand."
Lin Feng stared at the Sealing Card in his hand.
He knew exactly what it was.
A Sealing Card—one of the rarest, most expensive treasures on the Azure Continent.
One hundred thousand spirit coins.
Minimum.
That was the street price for a mid-grade one. High-grade? Double. Top-grade? You didn't ask the price—you begged for the chance to buy it.
This card could seal any living thing—human, beast, even a cultivator at Card Sovereign Realm if the user was strong enough. Once sealed, the target became a card in the owner's hand. No escape. No voice. No mana. Just a prisoner inside a silver prison.
And this elder had given it to him like it was nothing.
Lin Feng looked down at Mei Lin.
Her eyes burned with silent rage—tears of humiliation leaking from the corners.
He crouched beside the bed.
Brushed a thumb over her sealed lips.
"You hear me?" he asked quietly.
Her pupils shook.
"I didn't ask for this," he said. "But now you're Sealed. Silent. A card in my hand."
Mei Lin's chained body trembled—rage, shame, fear all mixing together.
Lin Feng stood.
Looked at the elder.
"Why?" he asked simply.
The elder's smirk returned—thin, cold.
"Because the Wang family sees potential," he said. "Fifteen cards.You're not just talented—you're a weapon. And weapons belong to the highest bidder."
Lin Feng's red eyes narrowed.
The elder stepped closer.
"I will be waiting for you at the Wang family" he said. "Don't be late."
He turned to leave.
At the silk screen he paused.
"One last thing," he said without looking back. "The Sealing Card is yours. But if you ever betray the Wang family… we'll seal you the same way."
The screens rustled once.
Then he was gone.
Lin Feng stood in the silent pavilion.
Mei Lin's eyes—wide, furious, terrified—locked onto his.
He looked down at the silver card in his hand.
Then at her.
A slow, dark smile spread across his lips.
They think they can buy me.
They think they can control me.
They have no idea…
…I'm the one collecting now.
He slipped the card into his robe.
Right next to the throbbing Lust card.
And whispered to the empty room:
"Sleep well, Lady Mei Lin."