Silence descended, heavy and thick, broken only by the dripping water, the faint hum of surviving insects, and the ragged breathing of the four remaining disciples. Before them lay the dead Mire Lurker and the horrifyingly mangled, half-eaten corpse of Ming Hao. Blood soaked the mud, steaming slightly in the cool, damp air. The smell was overpowering.

  Ren Jie gagged, turning away, his face pale green. Mei Xia stared, her usual impassivity cracked, her eyes wide with horror. Jian Feng looked from the corpse to Kai, his face a thunderous mask, suspicion burning in his eyes.

  Kai leaned heavily on his bokken (which he'd subtly retrieved while dropping from the branch), breathing hard, allowing his robes to show the mud and slight tears from his 'narrow escape'. He looked genuinely shaken, his gaze fixed on Ming Hao's remains.

  "He… he just stumbled," Kai stammered, playing the part of the shocked survivor perfectly. "That root… I saw him catch his foot just as the beast charged." He pointed a trembling finger towards the root he’d used to trip Ming Hao. "It came out of nowhere! So fast! I tried to warn him about the flank…" He trailed off, shaking his head as if overwhelmed.

  Jian Feng stepped closer, his voice dangerously soft. "You warned him left flank, Kai. The beast came from the front. And you 'stumbled' conveniently out of its path just before it hit him."

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  Kai met his gaze, projecting confusion and lingering fear. "Senior Brother, the mist… it plays tricks! Sounds echo strangely here. I yelled as soon as I saw movement, where I thought it was coming from! And that patch of mud near the root," he gestured again, "it’s slicker than it looks. I almost went down myself!" He rubbed his arm, showing a superficial scratch he’d inflicted on himself during his grapnel escape. "That thing… its claws nearly took my arm off as I scrambled back!"

  He blended truths (the mist, the slippery ground) with his carefully constructed lies. He subtly shifted blame onto the environment and Ming Hao’s own misfortune, while positioning himself as another victim who barely survived.

  "And the fog?" Jian Feng pressed, pointing towards the last wisps of the Pressure Fog Orb. "Another convenient 'talisman'?"

  "Panic, Senior Brother!" Kai exclaimed, widening his eyes. "When Ming Hao went down… the sounds… I thought the beast was coming for me next! I just threw the first defensive talisman I could reach! An Obscuring Orb, to try and break line of sight!" He made it sound like a desperate, panicked reaction, not a calculated move.

  Ren Jie looked between Jian Feng and Kai, his expression deeply troubled. Mei Xia remained silent, but her gaze was sharp, analytical, assessing both of them. The trust within the team, already fragile, was utterly shattered. Jian Feng clearly suspected Kai, but Kai's performance was convincing, leveraging the genuine chaos and horror of the moment. There was no proof, only suspicion thick as the marsh fog.

  "Clean up this mess," Jian Feng finally spat out, gesturing towards Ming Hao's corpse with barely concealed disgust. He couldn’t accuse Kai outright without evidence, especially not in front of Ren Jie and Mei Xia, who looked ready to bolt. "Collect the Lurker materials. We retrieve Ming Hao's token. The body… stays. We move out. Now." He refused to even look at Kai directly, his fury simmering just below the surface.