Wei Chengxiang stared at the man who called himself Yu Chang for a while, then suddenly showed her teeth in a smile. 

Then she put Zhao Qindan aside and sat on the ground. Right in front of the man’s face, she dismissed her preoccupations, emptied her mind, and began to meditate. 

The spirit was a cultivator’s underpinning. It couldn’t be spied upon, unless someone had the ability to seize her body. 

Even Tai Sui could only “see” through the reincarnation wood; he could only have a conversation when a person wanted to communicate. 

There were so many ascended spirits and shed skins on earth, and she hadn’t heard of any who could read minds. Who did this little pretty boy think he was? 

With a bit of thought, Wei Chengxiang knew that either there was something wrong with this “mustard seed,” or this man had some particular power that she had unwittingly been subject to. 

He walked right up and didn’t even say two proper sentences before getting up to dirty tricks trying to scare her. She could make this decision for Tai Sui—“discuss” my ass. 

“The people of the Snake King’s Immortal Palace are remarkable.” This reaction of Wei Chengxiang’s took Yu Chang aback somewhat. He raised his eyebrows. “No wonder they were able to take advantage of the chaos under the eyes of the four great immortal mountains and have easily infiltrated the Zhao family hidden realm now…don’t you think so, Young Mistress Zhao?” 

Wei Chengxiang had sealed her hearing. She couldn’t hear him talk. 

Next to her, the “unconscious” Zhao Qindan was exposed by his words. She had no choice but to open her eyes. 

Zhao Qindan had a first-class spiritual sense. The more powerful a person’s spiritual sense, the stronger their resistance to arts of the sleep and illusion kind, never mind that Wei Chengxiang had been unwilling to take serious measures—it wasn’t from compassion and care towards women; mainly it was that the stronger the talisman, the more spiritual stones it took. Wei-laoban was stingy. While Wei Chengxiang had been dragging her out of the hidden realm, Zhao Qindan had blearily regained consciousness. She’d held back and hadn’t made a sound, wanting to scout out Wei Chengxiang’s situation. But her plans couldn’t keep up with the circumstances. A strange Yu family member had charged in midway. 

As soon as this Yu appeared, Zhao Qindan had been the most nervous. Her mind had been tense, and she hadn’t had attention to spare to closely consider the confrontation between the other two. She thought, “What does ‘steal a spiritual image stamp on the spot’ mean? Didn’t the stamp just now work?” 

“That’s right.” Yu Chang nodded at her. “This is unprecedented. As soon as it gets out, there may be a great upheaval in Western Chu—it’s true after all that a pretty girl has better luck.” 

First Zhao Qindan froze. Then she suddenly opened her eyes wide: this person knew what she was thinking! 

“Don’t worry, I have a Way of the Heart. I wouldn’t listen to anything improper.” Yu Chang laughed aloud. “Don’t be in a hurry to start reciting scripture.” 

Zhao Qindan at last knew why the “fake guard” was meditating. But meditating in front of an unknown enemy was no different from a sheep going to sleep in the mouth of a tiger. Not just anyone had the guts to imitate this move. Zhao Qindan only did her best not to think anything, using some mechanical sounds to defend against prying. But her panicked thoughts wouldn’t be controlled. Thought after thought emerged: Why is this person hiding it? Who does he want to threaten? All these Yu upstarts are worthless…

“I already said I have a Way of the Heart. Never mind a Way of the Heart, even a mortal with a conscience despises this kind of behavior,” this Yu Chang said. “None of us are free of compulsion…but, after all, I bear a spiritual image brand. Concealing this matter from my masters causes me considerable suffering. Young Mistress Zhao, this friend of yours won’t even let me finish talking. Isn’t that a little injurious to my feelings?” 

Zhao Qindan’s mind and mouth were united: “What’s the point of telling me? I don’t know her.” 

The smile on Yu Chang’s face faded gradually. This person’s emotions didn’t seem very stable. His face was now gloomy, now sunny. “Young Mistress Zhao, you have only temporarily slipped away. It isn’t as though there’s no way to find out whether that stamp was actually stamped or not. Don’t you want to be a little more polite?” 

Zhao Qindan was susceptible to persuasion but not coercion. The young mistress’s temper immediately flared up. With a cold laugh, she said, “As you please, Your Excellency. At worst I’ll give this life back to the Zhao family. Even if they have the ability to keep me from dying, I can still self-destruct my spirit. When they’re left with a mindless idiot, as long as they don’t mind the humiliation, they’re welcome to do whatever they like with my leftover mortal shell. What else can they do?” 

Wei Chengxiang heard nothing. Not even the tips of her brows moved. 

Of these two people, one had boldly slipped out of his hands, and the other was simmering with rage, using her guts to think. For a time, they actually stopped this master of unknown origin in his tracks. 

Yu Chang’s expression became grave, gloom appearing on his delicate face. The hands hanging at his sides moved towards the two of them. But he didn’t know the capabilities of the people behind these two—especially Wei Chengxiang—so in the end he restrained himself. 

After a moment’s deadlock, Yu Chang waved a hand and dispersed the mustard seed, then disappeared on the spot himself, only leaving a communication token in front of the two of them. He passed word to Zhao Qindan: “Pass on to your extremely strong-willed friend that if she and the ‘Tai Sui’ behind her change their minds, they should come to Yu Family Bend to see me… They’ve been short on funds lately. Can’t we work together?” 

This place was already close to the border of the Zhao family hidden realm. The route Zhao Qindan chose was very out of the way. She warily held her breath and probed with her consciousness, determining that there was no one around, then finally reached out to give Wei Chengxiang a shove. “Hey, wake up.” 

Wei Chengxiang fell at her shove. Before her head hit the ground, her spiritual sense pulled her out of meditation. Wei Chengxiang, like a tilting doll, hung above the ground. Then she opened her eyes and lightly bounced back. 

Zhao Qindan made a gesture at her, first taking her out of the Zhao family hidden realm. 

The two of them bounded dozens of li in one breath, plunging into a deserted forest one after the other. Finally Zhao Qindan stopped and turned to ask, “The Snake King’s Immortal Palace?” 

Wei Chengxiang smiled winningly at her, neither confirming nor denying. 

“No wonder you got your eyes on us…on the Zhao family so fast.” Zhao Qindan laughed coldly. “You were that maid who gave me the spiritual stones and urged me to run away from home, right?” 

“No,” Wei Chengxiang answered, “that must have been another brother of mine.” 

Zhao Qindan: “…” 

How come it was a man again?! What was wrong with these people? They couldn’t go on stage unless they were playing against type?

“This place of yours truly has lofty ideals,” Zhao Qindan mocked. She tossed the communication token at her. “The guy in white clothes said you people need money and said to tell you to go to Yu Family Bend to see him… Hey, that…that Tai Sui you mentioned, can he really remove stamps without anyone knowing? You didn’t have a person take the stamp?” 

Wei Chengxiang was accustomed to being cautious. She reached out the fake hand Lin Chi had given her to pinch the communication token, then used a talisman to wrap it up. “Tai Sui doesn’t do that kind of thing.” 

Zhao Qindan immediately felt a heavy worry leave her. Now she was in the mood to consider other things. She took one look at Wei Chengxiang’s fake hand and immediately gave a cry. “So you were that thief?” 

Wei Chengxiang helplessly and sincerely said, “Young Mistress Zhao, I believe you may have some misunderstanding concerning me. Whether you believe it or not, I truly had no interest in stealing your spiritual stones. It was an out of control immortal tool that hijacked my hand and robbed you. That is the true culprit.” 

Zhao Qindan: “…” 

Everything this person said was loathsome; it was oily and insincere! 

But loathsome or not, since learning that she was a woman, Zhao Qindan’s wariness had still involuntarily decreased considerably, and her dislike was also within tolerable bounds. She had heard that the Luwu were all of common origin, relying on odds and ends parceled out among them to survive. It was said that if they weren’t using public funds, they wouldn’t even be willing to draw an extra talisman. No wonder she was so shabby. 

So Zhao Qindan rolled her eyes, took out a small handful of blue jade, and tossed it at Wei Chengxiang. “Don’t quibble—look, if you need money, take that and use it. I know you didn’t do this to save me, it was for the sake of my identity, but I don’t like owing people. Take me to see this ‘Tai Sui.’ I’ll return the favor to you.” 

This stupid girl didn’t know how to count. She hadn’t noticed that she was once again missing spiritual stones. 

But since there was someone throwing out money, Wei Chengxiang wasn’t about to politely refuse. She gladly accepted and said, “If he wants to see you, he’ll be able to contact you. Otherwise, my word has no weight. There’s something I have to do first. You look after yourself.” 

“Hey,” Zhao Qindan quickly followed her, “what are you going to do?” 

Wei Chengxiang flitted through a big thicket of reincarnation wood, ignoring her, but not taking precautions against her. 

After removing the Luwu mask, she headed straight for Yu Family Bend’s Longevity Peak—the little hostel where she had met the worm master Bu Zhichou before. 

As soon as the two welcoming half-puppets at the door saw her, their smiles stiffened at once. It was as if they were afraid of her but also wanted to spit at her. 

But this time, this person who was so poor she would weigh green ore on scales, as if she had been body-snatched, voluntarily took out a fairly good-quality jade stamp and gave it to them. “If I might trouble you.” 

The dwarf half-puppets stared, took the jade stamp and sniffed it. Their manner changed at once. They politely said, “Please come in. Have you come to have a meal on your way or to stay the night? To receive a visitor or to do business?” 

Under Zhao Qindan’s curious gaze, Wei Chengxiang lowered her voice and said, “I also want to find out some information. What are the rules?” 

She emphasized the “also” very firmly. A dwarf half-puppet paused, then smiled brilliantly, his eyes spinning for a moment. He said, “Please come this way.” 

In this kind of post station where guests came and went and all kinds of people mixed together, information was abundant. If you found the right connections and spent a bit of money, you could get what you wanted—though it wasn’t so straightforward when you were the main character of the “information” that had been sold. 

As soon as that white-clothed Yu Chang had heard “Tai Sui,” his first reaction hadn’t been to think of Great Wan’s Luwu, it had been to mention the “Snake King’s Immortal Palace” at once. He also knew they needed money. Evidently someone had sold the news of her meeting the worm master Bu Zhichou on Longevity Peak. 

The half-puppet shuffled on his short legs, eagerly leading the two of them up to a private room in the attic. “Please wait a moment. Sir is here.” 

After saying this, he said in a loud voice, “Sir, a regular is here!” 

Then the wall of the attic’s inner room rotated open with a creak-creak, revealing a hidden room. A puppet dressed up as a fool from Chu opera “rolled” out. The dwarf half-puppet respectfully saluted him and withdrew. 

The fool puppet gave Wei Chengxiang an adorable, rotund bow, then opened his mouth. Wei Chengxiang interrupted him with a false smile. “Mr. Heartless, there’s no need for you to put on such airs right after you’ve finished selling me out.” 

The worm master Bu Zhichou’s voice came from the fool puppet’s throat: “My shop operates on Yu Family Bend territory. I rely on their favor to make a living. Sometimes I do not dare to offend the local thugs.” 

“I see,” said Wei Chengxiang, raising her eyelids. “Then it seems the blame lies with Wild Fox Country being too far away.” 

Steam spurted from the top of the puppet’s head. Shaking his head, he said, “Young lady, there’s no wall on earth that doesn’t let the wind through. We craftsmen, businessmen, and such are only looking for peace. How can we reject customers? Since I could do business with him, naturally I can also do business with you…” 

With a radiant smile, Wei Chengxiang said, “If you trick a single coin out of my pocket, from now on, you and your puppets won’t take another step into Wild Fox Country.” 

The steam coming from the top of the puppet’s head paused. 

Wei Chengxiang grabbed a handful of melon seeds. “You sold my information, and now you want to make money at both ends? Do I seem like I can’t keep accounts?” 

She seemed like an abacus that had cultivated a human form. The puppet shook twice with remorse and said obsequiously, “Then what would you like?” 

“Give me and this young lady a meal each. We’ve gone hungry for a long time.” First Wei Chengxiang knocked on the table. Then she said, “I want to know who ‘Yu Chang’ is.” 

Bu Zhichou quickly shushed her. “This is Yu Family Bend, don’t mention the taboo name of a master!” 

Wei Chengxiang raised her eyebrows. “Oh? How masterful is he?” 

“I’m not certain. It is said that he is only a step away from an ascended spirit,” Bu Zhichou’s fat puppet said. “He is an ancestor given offerings by Yu Family Bend.” 

“Offerings?” said Wei Chengxiang.

“Yu Family Bend used to be called Precious Jade Bend. This place has mines and green ore fields, and it’s far from the capital. Everyone coveted it. It used to be split up among high officials and nobles, all of them thinking that their share wasn’t big enough, clashing nearly every day. You know these nobles. The descendants of the most outstanding all went to the Sanyue Sect, and the second-rate ones could join the Qilin Guard. They couldn’t very well get mixed up in the everyday matters of the nobodies, so each family secretly ‘gave offerings’ to many common cultivators—by ‘offerings,’ I mean that they used their resources and spiritual stones to support these rootless people, and the cultivators were stamped with a brand and became their master’s hired thugs. Betrayal meant death.” 

Amid a cloud of steam, the puppet flexed the mechanical springs in his throat. Accompanied by the creaking of gears interlocking, he said, “The Yu family is of humble origin. One ancestor came to Yu Family Bend fleeing a famine, his history unknown. After coming here, he sold himself as a servant into the house of a noble family. Beginning as a coachman, he won the master’s trust bit by bit and became a steward. In the end, even the responsibility of recruiting and looking after the ‘offerings’ fell to him.

“This person…ha, he truly was something else. If he’d only had the chance to study and become a court official, he certainly would have become that era’s sycophantic courtier bringing disaster to the nation. Condescending to waste his talent in a little place like Yu Family Bend, he deceived his master until he couldn’t see what was in front of his face. Later, he secretly accepted quite a few ‘offerings’ who ought to have been devoted to his master’s family. After waiting patiently for forty years, not making a sound, he seized power in one day—at the time, the most capable ‘offering’ with him was this Yu…the gentleman you spoke of. It’s said that he was saved with only one breath left to him by the Yu family’s ancestor. Afterwards, that gentleman continued as the Yu family’s offering. He has already gone through a dozen generations, pushing that humble clan step by step to its present position, when Precious Jade Bend has even changed its name to Yu Family Bend. You see how powerful he is!” 

Wei Chengxiang said, “What is his power?” 

Bu Zhichou’s puppet shook his head. “I do not know of his other power, but as you know, starting from the established foundation, a cultivator cannot go against their Way of the Heart. But having been stamped with a brand, you become a person’s dog. How is it possible not to violate your own convictions? As soon as the offerings establish a foundation, they lose their minds within a century.” 

Zhao Qindan had been listening to this segment with her ears pricked up; now her expression altered. 

Bu Zhichou’s puppet didn’t notice. He continued: “No one knows how he has managed to withstand losing his mind. I won’t conceal from you, even the Yu family juniors are both respectful and frightened when mentioning him… Though in recent years, he has spent more and more time in seclusion, and each time he appears, it seems he looks worse than the time before. It is said that his temper has also become unstable. I’m afraid he doesn’t have long.” 

Wei Chengxiang nodded: no wonder this cultivator had been so impatient to come to them when he saw that someone could tamper with a spiritual image stamp. 

Bu Zhichou’s puppet remembered something else and said, “Oh, yes, I’ve heard that he has a secret art that can make people involuntarily speak what is in their minds. He excels in extracting confessions and cheating people, a profound schemer—but, after all, he has a Way of the Heart, and I hear that he is quite loyal. He doesn’t keep the means of postponing a branded offering from losing their mind to himself. Over the years, he has saved quite a few people. Many cultivators in Yu Family Bend are profoundly grateful to him…but so what? From the day the brand is applied, you are a slave for all eternity. Ah! Ladies, the food is here. Enjoy it.” 

Wei Chengxiang narrowed her eyes. She seemed to be muttering something to herself. 

Zhao Qindan quietly said, “Western Chu’s customs are evil.” 

“Well said!” Bu Zhichou’s puppet said fawningly. “I’ve told you all that I know, free of cost. This information is Yu Family Bend’s secret history. Outsiders can’t learn of it. If someone else came to ask, it would cost them at least two liang of jade stamps.” 

Wei Chengxiang nodded to him. “Understood. I will report all of this to Tai Sui.” 

Bu Zhichou saluted her and swayed out, bowing and scraping. 

“He was pretty helpful,” Wei Chengxiang thought and called “Tai Sui” in her mind, explaining this matter…though Tai Sui still didn’t respond. 

Afternoon passed and the sun traveled west, pouring in through the window, stretching out the two young women’s shadows. 

Just then, a cloud was blown past by the wind. The shadows on the ground blurred for a moment. No one noticed how, in that instant, the movements of the shadows didn’t match the people themselves. 

When Xi Ping woke up, he was inside the Snake King’s Immortal Palace. He had been buried facedown in a casket of spiritual stones. 

Xi Ping hissed, feeling his face being rubbed full of pits. Grimacing, he righted himself and reached out to touch his face, feeling a beard and skin as loose as a cloth sack. 

Xi Ping stared blankly for ages, holding his chin in horror, before finally realizing something. He took off the Luwu mask that someone had put onto him. This edition of the Luwu mask must have been personally made by Lin Chi. It was only the size of a pill, translucent and soft to the touch, able to change shape readily. As soon as you added spiritual energy, it could dissolve into a person’s body, turning them male or female, young or old, as they liked. 

Xi Ping got up and played with it for a while, coquettishly changing into several different forms. Suddenly, he was struck by a thought: since this had been personally made by Master Lin, could it change into something else? 

When Zhou Ying opened the door, he didn’t see Xi Ping, only a big grey rat attempting to walk on its hind legs. It was sleek and shiny, a perfect illustration of the legendary “huge rat¹.” It even squeaked at him.  

Zhou Ying: “…” 

His Third Highness stared at the rat for a moment, then closed the door just as he had opened it. He took a deep breath, calmed down for a moment, then turned his head and said to Bai Ling: “Discipline rod.” 

Bai Ling was stuck to the wall minding his own business, pretending he wasn’t there. Hearing these words, he skillfully changed from paper to human and pulled a sturdy discipline rod from his mustard seed, presenting it with both hands. Then he stuck himself back to the wall. 

Zhou Ying kicked open the door. “Scoundrel!” 

Xi Ping—the big grey rat—gave him a demonstration of “scurrying like a frightened rat” on the spot. 

When removing the mask, you needed to pour an appropriate quantity of spiritual energy through your fingertips and simultaneously press down on the acupoints on the lower jaw and under the eyes. A rat’s paws couldn’t reach them. He couldn’t change back! 

Lin Chi had failed him! 

As Xi Ping dashed under the bed, he used his consciousness to knock on Peak Master Lin’s skull. “Master Lin! Didn’t you consider how you were supposed to remove the mask after you became a rat?” 

Unexpectedly receiving this very original appeal, Lin Chi’s hand shook, ruining an inscription he was more than halfway finished carving and nearly blowing up the immortal furnace. 

A mighty prince of the first rank categorically couldn’t get down on the floor to hunt for a rat. For a moment, he was caught in a dilemma. He slammed a table with the discipline rod. “Bai Ling, get a mousetrap!” 

Xi Ping howled, “Master Lin!” 

Only now did Lin Chi realize what he had said. “Oh…you can do that?” 

Xi Ping: “…” 

With a thought, the Tai Sui Qin attached itself to his whiskers. The grey rat swiftly used his front paws to pluck the whiskers a few times. After a few twangs, a Luwu mask rolled off the rat, and the big rat turned into a human under the bed. 

Xi Ping cried out “ow” as the back of his head hit the underside of the bed. He tasted many years’ worth of old dust. 

“San-ge…cough-cough, I was wrong! Don’t hit me, don’t hit me, I’ll show you something good!”