Xi Ping abruptly sat up straight and concentrated on the center of his brow. The whispers of all the evil cultivators in every corner of the convoy came to his ears. 

“…the fourth watch…” 

“…allies responded to confirm there was no mistake. The Shu will be disguised as evil cultivators…” 

“Time to give them a taste of their own medicine…” 

“The foulness clearing water dragons will…” 

“When the Mirage Powder flares up…” 

“Don’t worry, we can control the water dragons…” 

“The inscriptions and the great array…” 

Here it comes! 

Xi Ping tapped on his knee, considering what he ought to do. 

The bone qin in his hands was a little more useful than before…but only a little. 

Apart from that sword energy of shifu’s that was so expensive you couldn’t buy it with your life, his bone qin only worked well when he had intent. For example, the music had only had the drive to cut through stone when he had been in mortal peril. Normally, if he wanted to use the music to hit a target, it would be hit or miss. 

There were only the fingers of his left hand, which could play a silent string directly in a person’s spirit that would produce the handy-for-kidnapping effect of confusing a person as soon as he touched the string. But this was also limited: first, the target had to be an Indignant Cicada who had spilled their blood on reincarnation wood; next, the target’s cultivation had to be lower than his. Mortals…and perhaps cultivators who had just opened their spiritual eyes, he figured he could take care of those, but anyone with an especially high natural spiritual sense, or an old half-immortal with decades of experience, he definitely wouldn’t be able to control; finally, his music could only affect one person at a time. 

In others words, in dealing with Lü Chengyi, the “junior Tai Sui” Xi Ping’s most effective weapon was trickery. 

And in this convoy, apart from Wuchang One, there were about a dozen other Indignant Cicadas among the crew and entourage, dispersed among different freight and guard ships. Xi Ping could perhaps seize an opportunity to get up to a bit of sabotage when they struck, but he couldn’t control the whole operation. 

Apart from that, Xi Ping knew that he had one other disadvantage: though he believed he had been working very hard lately, he still wasn’t as familiar with the inscriptions and arrays on the guard ships as those old half-immortals—the daily lesson papers covered in mistakes circled by his shifu were enough to help him dispel any illusions and act accordingly. 

So all he could do was…abscond. 

On the evening of the following day, Xi Ping accurately calculated when Zhao Zhenwei would be patrolling the main ship and started to warm up wine in his cabin. To the wine he added a drop of Maze that he had brought from Flying Jade Peak. 

The ordinary wine immediately became exquisite. The fragrance made everyone who passed by his door unable to resist swallowing a mouthful of saliva. As expected, it lured Zhao Zhenwei in. Zhao Zhenwei was keen on making connections with everyone. He had already decided to make friends with the Viscount of Yongning. He started a conversation with “smells delicious,” was invited by Xi Ping to join him, and joyfully put aside his duty at once to go drink. 

“You’re asking about the Resurrection Vortex.” Zhao Zhenwei smacked his lips over the taste of the wine and, very pleased with himself, said, “It’s a big area of whirlpools in the sea caused by the tides. When it begins to swirl, the sea can fill up with hundreds of thousands of revolving abysses. The biggest can be up to a hundred zhang—terrifying and magnificent. But we won’t see it. When we ship spiritual stones north, we have masters to calculate an auspicious time—not the way the almanac says when it’s suitable to start construction, break ground, or something. It’s when the Resurrection Vortex is calm.” 

As Xi Ping encouraged him to drink, he said casually, “Then why don’t we just avoid that area altogether?” 

“If we could avoid it, we would. There’s nothing to be done. The location where the whirlpools appear isn’t fixed. The range is very large. There’s no way to go around. Anyway, this is the Land of Turmoil. Where are we supposed to go to resupply?” At this point, Zhao Zhenwei shook his head. “Actually, sometimes I think, well, men are men. We can’t struggle against heaven.” 

Seeing him begin to sigh, Xi Ping knew that the wine had gone to his head. He calmly poured him another cup and said naïvely, “Zhao-shixiong, I don’t like listening to this kind of demoralizing talk from you. Doesn’t everyone say that man is sure to triumph over heaven?” 

Zhao Zhenwei waved a hand. “You’re still young.” 

Xi Ping adopted a posture of requesting instruction. 

Zhao Zhenwei had no authority in the southern mines. On one hand, he had to call everyone shixiong or shijie; on the other hand, none of his subordinates obeyed him. Having for once run into someone younger than him who wanted to consult his experience, he immediately developed an itch to be paternal. 

“Man is sure to triumph over heaven?” He laughed a few times and downed a cup of wine without noticing. “Let me tell you—a man, once he comes out of his mother’s womb, there’s basically no suspense about how his whole life will go. Heaven decides whether he’ll be rich or poor. In my opinion, it’s best to let things go as they will—let’s say for example those commoners. A butcher’s son grows up and becomes a butcher, marries the carpenter’s daughter next door, lives on steadily for some decades, and then it’s over, and everyone is happy. I envy that. If you insist on ‘triumphing over heaven,’ concealing spiritual fields, hiding evil cultivators…or simply becoming an evil cultivator yourself, turning yourself into a monster, what’s the benefit of it to this mortal world?” 

Xi Ping was just peeling grapes. Perhaps he used too much force; he splashed his whole hand. Then, as if in a fit of temper, he tossed the grapes aside and didn’t touch them anymore. 

Xi Yue looked at him and silently took the fruit tray, peeled the grapes for him, then used a sliver of wood to pick out the seeds. 

Xi Ping, with his eyes fixed on Zhao Zhenwei, said, smiling, “Zhao-shixiong, do you mean you can still run into evil cultivators while at the southern mines?” 

“Ah, of course I’ve run into them, and not so long ago, just…just last year, an evil cultivator came after my home.” Zhao Zhenwei was already starting to slur a little. “My…hic…my home, it’s in Ning’an Prefecture, at the emperor’s feet. Weren’t they bold!” 

“Wow,” Xi Ping said, “astonished,” “I had no idea something like that could happen!” 

“And their cultivation wasn’t low, must have been late open-eyed period. Luckily, a shixiong from the inner sect had come to harvest the medicinal herb field that day and was staying with my family… Oh, you may not know about medicinal herb fields. They’re green ore fields scattered all over the mortal world, of no use to us, but medicine cultivators often use them for planting medicinal herbs. There’s a green ore field in Ning’an, it belongs to a forebear from our Zhao family.” When speaking of his family’s status, Zhao Zhenwei couldn’t avoid some appearance of bragging. He said exultantly, “That evil cultivator was strong enough to force our inner sect shixiong to use an immortal tool that the sect had bestowed on him. The immortal tool gutted them, and they still kept coming. Finally they were carried away by their own accomplices. Fierce, no?” 

When he wasn’t paying attention, Xi Ping poured out the wine in his own cup and muttered, “Truly fierce. Must have been crazy?” 

“Obviously.” Zhao Zhenwei slapped his thigh and sighed. “What is this world coming to!”  

Xi Yue put a small dish of cleaned up grapes in front of Xi Ping and carefully checked his expression. 

Xi Ping didn’t look at him. He conveyed a thought through the dragon-taming chain: I’m not angry. 

Xi Yue pushed the dish forward again. If you’re not angry, then eat something.

There was nothing Xi Ping could do about him. Expression unwavering, he took a deep breath and ate the grapes… They were cloyingly sweet, choking. 

“Shidi, where did you get this wine? It’s great!” 

Xi Ping said, smiling, “A family elder made it. If we weren’t going into the Resurrection Vortex tomorrow and I wasn’t worried about holding you back from your duties, Zhao-shixiong, I would certainly invite you for another round of drinking until we drop.” 

“It’s nothing.” Zhao Zhenwei waved a hand, slurring. “Six water dragons are going into the water tonight, all the protections on the guard ships have been turned on. Even the Dragon King would have to make way if he showed up. There’s nothing to keep the two of us from drinking.” 

“Good,” Xi Ping said, enunciating clearly, “then it’s settled. I’ll be waiting for you, shixiong.” 

Assuming you survive the night. 

A full moon rose over the waves on the sea. A figure silently entered the great water dragon array on the first guard ship. 

The foulness clearing water dragons leading the way over the sea were different from the one Pang Jian had tossed into the canal by the docks. Once they entered the water, they were no different from the mystical dragons in ancient legend. The dragons’s roars could make sharks, whales, and sea monsters within thirty li avoid them. Six water dragons dispatched at once and circling around would even let the convoy pass smoothly through a tsunami or a tempest.

Right now, there were two water dragons leading the way and four still in the great array. They were frisking around together in the three-zhang-square array like carp. 

Lü Chengyi stood beside the array, reciting a spell. A lacquer-black talisman gradually took shape in his hand. 

The water dragons began to move restlessly. They opened their mouths and roared silently at the ill-intentioned man outside the array. 

Lü Chengyi didn’t so much as raise his eyelids. He abruptly pressed the talisman down. The water dragon array shook, all its spiritual lines trembling like ripples. The four water dragons first struggled fiercely. Then mist rose over their clear eyes, which gradually clouded over. A moment later, the water dragons stopped moving. 

Lü Chengyi let out a breath, bit through his finger, and wrote on the reincarnation wood: “All goes smoothly.” 

The writing was quickly absorbed by the reincarnation wood, then came to a stop in Xi Ping’s spirit—this was another thing Xi Ping had had Wei Chengxiang help him test. 

He didn’t know how Liang Chen had had his believers use the reincarnation wood to send messages between themselves before, but Xi Ping, having fixed on a particular believer, could not only pick out that person’s prayers, he could also receive the messages they wrote in blood on the reincarnation wood. Once he had read the message, he could transmit it in its original form to another believer’s reincarnation wood. 

In this way, Wuchang One communicated with the “holy woman,” with Tai Sui as a courier. 

Right now, the “holy woman” was accompanying Old Nine and the Exonerators, acting as point of contact for the two sides. The Exonerators were already lying in wait. This message from Lü Chengyi was to give the “holy woman” a status update. 

Xi Ping was arm in arm with Zhao Zhenwei, making a spectacle on the deck. Both of them were stumbling—even singing. 

Lin Zhaoli looked outside and muttered “what a disgrace,” then slammed his door shut. The crew members passing by didn’t dare to say anything, either. All they could do was carefully stay by the railings to make sure these two nobles didn’t go overboard.  

Luckily, these two showed no intention of swimming off their wine. Singing wildly off key, they went down into the ship’s hold. 

The moment Lü Chengyi’s message touched Xi Ping’s spirit, Xi Ping, having reached a place in the ship’s hold that no one could see, without any hesitation dragged Zhao Zhenwei towards a wall. At the same time, he stamped a hither seal on the wall. 

On the guard ship, a spiritual seal he had left behind earlier in a little corridor outside the water dragon array was instantly activated. 

The two places immediately connected. 

Xi Ping pushed Zhao Zhenwei in. There wasn’t a trace of drunkenness left on his face. He watched as Zhao Zhenwei and the spiritual seal disappeared together from the main ship. 

Then he fixed his gaze on Lü Chengyi through the center of his brow. He saw Lü Chengyi, having just finished secretly tampering with the water dragon array, leave the water dragon cabin. Before he could even take a breath…he walked right into Zhao Zhenwei, reeking of wine. 

Both of them froze. 

“Hey,” Xi Ping said to himself, “you’ve been caught in the act now.” 

Keeping calm, he said the name “Wei Chengxiang” in his mind and conveyed Lü Chengyi’s message. He casually said, “Don’t worry, he’ll be sending you another message soon.” 

Wei Chengxiang opened her eyes. The spiritual stone in her mouth had already turned to powder. She sucked in a breath and grimaced, moving around, swallowing the powder along with blood. 

At first she had kept quiet because she was scared of saying the wrong thing. Now she didn’t want to talk even when there was no need to hold back—having spent so long holding spiritual stones in her mouth, the roof of her mouth and her tongue were always being rubbed raw, healing, then being rubbed raw again. They were about to start festering. Never mind giving a long-winded speech; even when she drank a mouthful of water, she wished she could tear open her throat and pour it right in. 

In the eyes of Old Nine and the others, at any rate, the holy woman became increasingly enigmatic. 

Before Wei Chengxiang could answer, the roots of her ears suddenly caught a sound—perhaps because her spiritual eyes were loosening, she had recently begun having a faint sense of her spiritual sense gathering in her five senses. Her hearing and vision had been increasingly sharp. 

As soon as the person at the door approached, she could hear who it was. She quickly folded up her out-flung legs, straightened her crooked hips and waist, and adopted a frosty posture. 

A moment later, there were three knocks at the door. Old Nine quietly said, “Holy woman.” 

Wei Chengxiang knocked once on the table, indicating for him to come in. 

Old Nine came in with his head bowed, not daring to look the holy woman directly in the face. He said, “Holy woman, in a display of good faith, Mr. White’s side has already signed a spiritual covenant. I have read the contents. Take a look, holy woman. If this is good, could I ask you to sign the spiritual contact as Tai Sui’s representative?” 

Saying so, he took out a ball of “gold thread.” When Old Nine stretched it out, it seemed as though line after line of golden writing was written on transparent paper. They leapt into Wei Chengxiang and Xi Ping’s eyes. They saw that the writing listed how the two sides would collaborate, how they would divide up the spoils, and so on. 

Wei Chengxiang skimmed it and came to the final ghastly term: If either party violates the contract, their spirit will shatter. 

Wei Chengxiang said, Uncle, what is this? 

Xi Ping: “…” 

He had vaguely heard someone mention a “spiritual covenant” before, but there had been too much information at the time, and it had been too jumbled. He hadn’t taken note. 

Xi Ping quickly asked Xi Yue through the dragon-taming chain: What is a spiritual covenant? 

Xi Yue, who studied in his place every day, quickly responded: It’s a kind of contract written on the spiritual image. When both sides have given voluntary consent and shown good faith in the form of their heart’s blood applied to the contract, the spiritual covenant is formed.

Xi Ping said, Can it be broken off? Violated? 

Xi Yue said, The contract can’t be broken off. Whether the terms can be violated depends on the arrangements. In lighter cases, the violator’s meridians will be damaged or broken. In more serious cases, their spirit will be extinguished and their cultivation destroyed. Even if one side dies, if the spiritual covenant doesn’t provide that it will dissolve upon death, the obligation won’t disappear. The other side still has to honor it.

Xi Ping: “…” 

Wei Chengxiang: “…” 

Oh no. Why hadn’t he taken precautions against this kind of thing? 

Just then, Xi Ping’s spine suddenly went cold. His spiritual sense had been touched. He gave a start and followed where his spiritual sense led him. To his shock, he found that Lü Chengyi and Zhao Zhenwei hadn’t performed according to his script. 

Zhao Zhenwei mumbled, “…Lao Lü?”

Having been bumped into on the scene after tampering with the water dragon array, Lü Chengyi didn’t panic. He slapped a talisman to Zhao Zhenwei’s forehead. 

Zhao Zhenwei quickly tossed his head and sobered up. 

“What’s going on?” Lü Chengyi said grimly. “Weren’t you patrolling the main ship?” 

“I…was…” Zhao Zhenwei was confused for a moment, then suddenly realized something. “Did you just finish with the water dragon array?” 

The two of them looked at each other in dismay, then said at the same time, “Oh no!” 

Damn it, Xi Ping thought, I didn’t expect this. Zhao isn’t an evil cultivator, but he’s still one of the thieves inside the house!