After shouting, Li Qingxian slung his bundle over his back and ducked into the woods.
Zhou Henn emerged from behind a white poplar, gestured to the carriage driver, and slipped into the forest, staying low.
Half an hour later, Li Qingxian, breathing heavily, arrived at the spot where he remembered the purple crystal would land.
Tall red pines towered around him. The ground was covered with a thick carpet of green and yellow pine needles, interspersed with pinecones the size of an infant’s fist. The faint, fresh scent of pine filled the air.
Li Qingxian looked down and saw his shoes were caked with mud and decaying leaves, and his clothes were torn in several places.
Li Qingxian waited quietly.
Estimating the time, Li Qingxian opened his blue cloth bundle and took out the fake Magical Artifacts of a Jianghu Sorcerer one by one: Yellow Paper, Chicken Blood, a Money Sword, and so on.
He drew his Yanling Saber and dug a small pit in each of the four cardinal directions. He placed a Peach Talisman in each, dabbed them with Chicken Blood, and covered them with Yellow Paper.
With everything arranged, Li Qingxian held the Money Sword and walked slowly around the four points, muttering incantations.
From his perch in a tree, Zhou Henn watched intently at first, but he soon grew tired of the common Jianghu tricks and began to lazily scan his surroundings.
Suddenly, the hair on Zhou Henn’s body stood on end. An immeasurably vast and irresistible power, both incredibly distant and overwhelmingly present, manifested. It pressed down on him, nearly causing the True Essence in his body to collapse.
Zhou Henn was terrified. This was a sensation he had never experienced, not even when facing a Second Grade grandmaster.
A line of blue-white light flickered in the sky.
He looked up. A pinpoint of blue-white light, as fast as lightning, fell into the forest in the blink of an eye, landing right in the middle of the clearing, precisely in the center of the four small pits.
White smoke rose. A purple, diamond-shaped, crystalline object lay on the scorched earth, its surface crackling with interwoven blue and white electricity.
Zhou Henn stared, dumbfounded. In a daze, he watched as Li Qingxian first bowed respectfully to the purple crystal, saying something like, "Thank you, Celestial Emperor, for this treasure." Then, he took out a pair of wooden tongs he had prepared, picked up the purple crystal, wrapped it in a red cloth, and secured it close to his body.
Li Qingxian performed a ceremonious triple bow toward the northern sky, filled in the five pits, and covered the area with a few handfuls of pine needles before shouldering his bundle.
"Uncle Xiaozhou, let’s go." Li Qingxian headed down the mountain with a smile on his face.
Zhou Henn stood in the tree, unable to make heads or tails of what had just happened, no matter how hard he thought.
After a long moment, once he was certain there were no enemies around, he stepped on a branch and launched himself through the air like a hawk. He landed on another tree, pushed off again, and glided from branch to branch, catching up to Li Qingxian in just a few steps.
Trailing behind him, Zhou Henn asked, "What happened?"
’I’ve been waiting for you to ask,’ Li Qingxian thought, smiling. "My Fate Skill... I’ve finally grasped the basics."
"Regarding the Dong Ying matter, Lord Zhou and I were skeptical. We figured you were just a blind cat who’d stumbled upon a dead mouse. But out here in this deep, old forest, a thousand exhausted cats couldn’t stumble upon a mouse this big. What is that purple crystal?" Zhou Henn was itching with curiosity.
"It is a treasure bestowed by the heavens; I cannot speak of it lightly. You’ll find out tomorrow," Li Qingxian said mysteriously.
"You really understand Fate Skill?"
"My maternal grandfather was a direct disciple of the Fate Measuring Sect. You and Uncle Zhou must know that," said Li Qingxian.
"The Fate Measuring Sect fell into ruin long ago, and your grandfather was its last successor! If the Fate Measuring Sect had this kind of power, would the Celestial Fate Sect have become the state religion of Qii Country?" Zhou Henn retorted.
"Uncle Xiaozhou, I never figured you for a talker, but you’ve got a lot to say now."
Zhou Henn said coldly, "The more one talks, the more one errs. You have no idea how much I suffered back in the day for having a loose tongue."
"The fact that you’re willing to talk to me, Uncle Xiaozhou, shows that you trust me. It’s just that the theories of Fate Skill are incredibly profound and difficult to explain in detail."
"It’s fine. I’m willing to listen," said Zhou Henn.
Li Qingxian thought for a moment and said, "Do you know what a Fate Grid is?"
"I actually do know about that. The Fate Grid isn’t a specific thing, but a general term for everything related to Fate Skill. Specifically, there’s the Life God, Life Pillars, and the Life Formation. Then there are all the concepts like ’overcoming, imprisoning, death, draining, and consuming,’ or ’generating, combining, prospering, meeting, and supporting,’ and so on and so forth. I know all of that," said Zhou Henn.
Li Qingxian nodded. "Ever since the Celestial Fate Sect appeared, our Anya Continent..."
"Don’t say Anya. Say Qii Lu. Back in the day, countless people broke a taboo by using the old name out of habit and were barred from serving as court officials ever again," Zhou Henn interrupted.
Hearing the name Qii Lu reminded Li Qingxian of something. He asked, "Since no one’s around, I’d like to ask about some secrets of the Royal Family."
Zhou Henn said, "Just don’t let Lord Zhou find out."
"Don’t worry. Rumor has it that the Grand Ancestor of Daqi was a descendant of the Snow People. He started as a horse bandit on the steppes, then became a pirate and obtained an ancient inheritance in the West Sea. After mastering a Divine Skill, he seized the title of Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch, overthrew the Anx Dynasty, and usurped the throne. Is that true?"
Zhou Henn smiled. "That’s hardly a secret anymore. It’s true that the Grand Ancestor of Qii started as a horse bandit and a pirate. It’s also a fact that he received the inheritance of an ancient Major Sect. And it’s true that he later seized the title of Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch and founded the Qii Dynasty. However, you people from Dongding Country have never liked Qii Country, so you tend to gloss over it."
"You even know my maternal grandfather was from Dongding Country?"
"Nothing can be hidden from the Night Guard." Zhou Henn gave Li Qingxian a deep look.
"Will my Dongding Country bloodline cause me trouble?" Li Qingxian asked.
"For the first few decades after Daqi was founded, a Dongding Country bloodline was indeed a problem. But later, Dongding Country pledged allegiance, just like the other small nations. Over a hundred years have passed, so it’s not a big deal anymore. What’s more, the ancestors of Dongding Country came from a distant, mysterious eastern land. Forget the Grand Ancestor of Qii; even factions like the Evil Demons and puppet masters are wary of them. That’s why we often say that as long as Dongding Country stays in its corner and doesn’t vie for worldly power, it will still be around long after Qii Country has fallen." After speaking, Zhou Henn lowered his gaze slightly, concealing his eyes.
"That’s good to hear."
"But if our two countries ever go to war, those with Dongding Country blood will probably be the first to suffer. Anyway, let’s get back to the purple crystal," said Zhou Henn.
"Let’s wait until we get back and I’ll tell everyone at once. It’s tiring to say it twice," said Li Qingxian.
Zhou Henn eyed Li Qingxian suspiciously. "You’re not just going to make something up on the way, are you?"
"Uncle Xiaozhou, go ask around the outer district. Am I, Li Qingxian, the kind of person who would do that?" Li Qingxian feigned anger.
"Back then in the outer district, the men from the Military Department beat you like a rat in the street. What kind of reputation do you have to speak of?" Zhou Henn asked, puzzled.
"The Night Guard’s intelligence is inaccurate!" Li Qingxian grumbled and walked on.
After a few steps, Zhou Henn sighed and said, "Don’t mind what happened when you were a kid. It was trouble stirred up by Mr. Gangfeng, and you ended up getting bullied by the subordinates and children of his political enemies. But, you can take your revenge slowly. There’s no rush. You’ll get your chance!"
"Yeah, slowly. There’s no rush..." Li Qingxian said.
The two of them fell silent and quickened their pace down the mountain.
Once they were on the carriage together, Zhou Henn closed his eyes to rest, reverting to his usual persona of a cold-blooded killer.
Li Qingxian, bored out of his mind, tried to make small talk, but Zhou Henn only gave simple replies.
Li Qingxian forced himself to study the True Meaning of the Seven-Star Destiny for a quarter hour before continuing to read the second volume of River Guardian Heroes.
Along the way, they passed the Ye Family brothers heading back, their curses audible from a great distance.
Night fell and the city gates closed. Li Qingxian used his Night Guard token to re-enter the Divine Capital.
「Night Guard Office, Chunfeng Inn.」
The room was brightly lit, its doors and windows wide open.
Though insects and birds chirped outside, not a single mosquito could be found inside.
Ye Han’s subordinate finished his report, bowed, and departed.
Ye Han bowed deeply to Zhou Chunfeng, a full ninety degrees, and said, "My parents gave me life, but it was Mr. Chunfeng who saved it. I, your student, will never forget your grace for all eternity."