Yuzhou.
On the bustling streets, Bingyi Yuanjun pulled her wayward disciple Li Miaozhen, and under the surprised gazes of the passers-by, they entered a certain inn.
On the outer wall of the inn, a nine-petalled lotus flower was painted.
Li Miaozhen was led into the inn. Bingyi Yuanjun halted in the inn’s main hall, her pale eyes slowly scanning the second floor, as if she was searching for something.
A few seconds later, she led her undisciplined disciple through the lobby and up the stairs.
“Knock knock!”
Bingyi Yuanjun determinedly knocked on a certain room’s door.
Creak~
The door silently opened. Li Miaozhen immediately saw the surroundings inside: the furnishings were simple, and on the bed sat a middle-aged Daoist, thin-faced, with an azure beard hanging to his chest.
“Senior Brother Xuancheng.”
Bingyi Yuanjun greeted him coldly.
“Senior Uncle Xuancheng!”
Li Miaozhen’s features remained impassive, her tone as cold as ever.
Daoist Xuancheng opened his eyes, his emotionless gaze swept over the pair, finally settling on Li Miaozhen.
He nodded slightly. “Not bad, you have already stepped into the fourth rank and stabilised your foundation.”
To have stabilised one’s foundation meant she had at least reached the mid stage of the fourth rank.
“Thank you for your praise, Senior Uncle.”
Li Miaozhen still wore an emotionless expression, as if such a trivial matter was not enough to spark any change in her mood.
Daoist Xuancheng immediately looked at Bingyi Yuanjun and said, “Compared to when she went down the mountain, her temperament has changed a lot. Quite an improvement. Is it possible that the Daoist Leader’s intelligence was inaccurate?”
Bingyi Yuanjun replied blandly, “She is only pretending.”
Li Miaozhen broke character in an instant, descending from an icy beauty to a lively, pretty girl, rolling her eyes:
“Master, becoming a great hero was only a stage in my path to the state of Supreme forgetting of emotion. Someday, I will surely attain true forgetting. Please let me go. If I return to the sect, how will I experience the mortal world and question my heart? How will I achieve the Supreme Forgetting of Emotion?”
Bingyi Yuanjun ignored her, taking a seat by the table. “Is there any news of the Holy Son?”
“According to a lover of his from the shaman clans in the Southern Marches, for the more than half a year since his disappearance, he has been mingling with the Jianghu forces of Donghai Commandery and the two palace masters of the East Sea Dragon Palace.”
Daoist Xuancheng replied lightly, “I took a trip to Donghai Commandery myself but did not find him. After questioning the disciples of the East Sea Dragon Palace, I learnt that Li Lingsu was recently taken away by the two palace masters and went to Leizhou.”
Bingyi Yuanjun nodded and asked, “Is the Heavenly Venerable’s information accurate?”
Daoist Xuancheng paused briefly, then nodded, “If anything, it is an understatement.”
The two Daoists fell silent. After a while, Bingyi Yuanjun suggested:
“It is easy enough to resolve. In the human realm, the royal dynasties practise castration; a man who has lost the roots of his descendants will no longer desire relations between men and women. Some disability does not affect cultivation.”
Li Miaozhen responded coldly and callously: “I think that is excellent.”
…Daoist Xuancheng said slowly, “Let’s take him back to the sect for the Heavenly Venerable to deal with first.”
…
Inside the inn.
A dark gold, exquisitely crafted stupa tower sat on the table.
Only Mu Nanzhi and the little white fox were present; the former was fiddling with poisonous herbs and medicines on the floor, as well as a large water vat behind the screen.
The latter sat on the square table, hugging a sweet and sour date, nibbling on it and occasionally taking a sip of floral tea.
“Auntie, why does the tea you brew have spiritual energy?”
The little white fox squinted its eyes, savouring the fragrance between its lips and teeth.
“Perhaps because I am just too beautiful,” Mu Nanzhi replied casually.
Inside the stupa tower, Xu Qi’an gripped the anklet, held an orange cat in his arms, and, turning to the distant severed arm of Shenshu, said:
“Master, do you really know the incantations to unseal the Demon Sealing Nails?”
“Come a little closer, and I will tell you.”
The answer came in Shenshu’s voice, dripping with malice.
“Alrighty then!”
Xu Qi’an threw out the orange cat, manipulated it to walk over to the spell formation, and spoke in human language: “Master, can you tell me now?”
…The severed arm was silent for a while, then sneered coldly, “Little thing, you’re quite resourceful. Come here yourself.”
Xu Qi’an, still controlling the orange cat, retorted:
“I am not a member of the Buddhist sect, yet I’ve stolen away the stupa tower. You should understand what this means. For you, this is a heaven-sent opportunity. But what about you? You cannot suppress the malice in your heart and only think of ‘eating’ me. Hmph, an evil entity without wisdom is not worthy, no matter how powerful. Is this the type of fool the Buddhist sect went to such lengths to seal away? Or do you understand all of this but simply cannot resist your own malice?”
Shenshu’s severed arm snorted coldly. “A basic taunt.”
Xu Qi’an took out the Earth Book fragment and poured out a small jet-black sword, looking like iron, yet not iron.
The moment the sword appeared, the severed arm stopped shouting in rage, and the tower spirit old monk opened his eyes and looked over.
This was the sword Sun Xuanji had given him, specially designed to break seals.
The day he broke into the stupa tower was for the Dragon Qi and to unseal Shenshu’s severed limb. He had prepared this item long ago. Otherwise, on what basis could he have broken the seal?
Last time, he had not taken it out, because he found the left arm to be too sinister and instinctively resisted breaking the seal.
“If you do not wish to come out, I shall leave and never trouble Master again.” Xu Qi’an’s expression was calm, even a little stern.
This time, Shenshu was neither sarcastic nor disdainful. It was silent for a long while before saying, its voice still filled with malice:
“There are nine Demon Sealing Nails. Each requires a different unsealing incantation. I can only remember two: one is for the ‘Qi Sea’ and one for the ‘Baihui’.”
The ‘Qi Sea’ is the dantian. Baihui is the point at the top of the head, it seals the primordial spirit… Xu Qi’an’s eyes lit up.
If I can unlock these two seals, part of my combat power will be restored, and with the Sevenfold Gu’s abilities… fantastic!
Xu Qi’an turned to look at the tower spirit old monk; the latter put his palms together, confirming, “There are nine Demon Sealing Nails, each requiring a different incantation.”
This information was correct, but the tower spirit also knew it. However, the tower spirit did not know the breaking incantations, so there was no way to be sure Shenshu was not lying to him… Hm, better treat it as a backup measure…
Xu Qi’an suppressed his excitement and said,
“Thank you for telling me. In the near future, I shall negotiate a trade with you.”
Next, he turned to the old monk, “Master, will you stop me?”
The tower spirit shook his head.
Phew! The old monk is unexpectedly very Buddha-like… Xu Qi’an felt quietly delighted.
…
Chai Manor.
Li Lingsu lay upon a bed, crossing one leg over the other, hands behind his head, pondering the intelligence he had gathered that day.
“On the day of the incident, many of the Chai family’s experts sensed fluctuations of qi, and when they arrived, they found that the master of the house had been killed by Chai Xian in his bedroom. When Chai Xian’s crime was revealed, he controlled the iron corpse and killed his way out.
“This part, Xing’er and Chai Xian’s accounts differ slightly. Chai Xian says that Xing’er and the rest of the Chai family decided he was the murderer without further ado, and meant to capture him. Xing’er, however, claims Chai Xian went berserk and killed his way out of Chai Manor.
“The Chai family’s version is basically the same as Xing’er’s. This leaves but three possibilities: First, Xing’er and the family have colluded to falsify their statements; second, Chai Xian is lying; third, Xing’er had an accomplice, who disguised himself as Chai Xian and murdered Chai Jianyuan, then went on a killing spree in Zhangzhou, framing Chai Xian.
“Chai Lan disappeared, the same night Chai Jianyuan was killed. If Chai Xian was framed, the perpetrator must be skilled at corpse-control arts, but not Xing’er herself.”
Could it have been Chai Lan?
That idea surfaced in Li Lingsu’s mind, and once it appeared, it would not go away.
“Hmm, but there is no evidence. This will not do…”
Just then, a maid entered with hot tea. A graceful little maid, slender, her bottom a little small but rather round.
She held a steaming long-spouted teapot, opened the lid of the porcelain pot on the table and poured in the hot water.
Li Lingsu asked casually, “What’s your name?”
The young maid replied meekly, “Sir, I am Dujuan.”
She bowed her head slightly, not daring to look directly at Li Lingsu’s face.
“Raise your head when you speak,” Li Lingsu said.
The maid, Dujuan, hesitated for a moment, but then lifted her head courageously to meet Li Lingsu’s gaze.
“How many years have you served in the manor?”
“I was sold here as a child, sir.”
Li Lingsu immediately sat up from the bed and looked at her:
“Then let me ask you, how was the relationship between the young mistress and the master of the house?”
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