Futile Devices Scans

Elio’s Notes: The title 男人心海底捞 riffs on the saying 女人心，海底针, literally “A woman’s heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea,” meaning her thoughts are hard to fathom. The title flips 女人 (“woman”) to 男人 (“man”) and replaces 针 (“needle”) with 捞 (“fish/scoop up”), producing 海底捞, the name of the hotpot chain Haidilao.

Yugong Zhaoye had no idea whether Wei Fu’s heart would be easy to win, but his own guilty conscience was getting worse by the day.

There was an old story about “suspecting one’s neighbor of stealing an axe”: once you decided someone had done something wrong, everything they did began to look suspicious. The reverse was equally true. When you were the one with something to hide, everything anyone else said or did seemed aimed directly at you.

The last time Yugong Zhaoye had seen Wei Fu was the day they met the emperor together. One sentence from Mu Heng—I entrust him to you—had frightened him away from secretly meeting Wei Fu for several days.

Xiling’s Ministry of Rites had arranged a long list of activities for the Longsha delegation. Most were unimportant, so Yugong Zhaoye simply had his stand-in impersonate him and attend. Only once, for an imperial banquet, did he appear in person. There he caught a glimpse of Wei Fu. Seeing him perfectly well, smiling and conversing as usual, Yugong Zhaoye quietly felt his heart settle. Afterward, he threw all his energy into investigating Wei Fu’s background and tracing the assassins.

He admitted he was avoiding the issue. He had no idea how to face Wei Fu. Wei Fu remembered him and had repaid him with an enormous favor. Yugong Zhaoye, meanwhile, had failed even to recognize him, threatened him repeatedly, and dragged him into mortal danger besides. So under the respectable excuse of “investigating and verifying,” Yugong Zhaoye continued his dying struggle, only for Kui Yue’s discoveries to hammer him flat.

In truth, the moment the name Guan-lang appeared, Yugong Zhaoye had already sensed that he was doomed.

Before this reunion, they had known each other for only a single month. They had been forced to share the same boat under extreme circumstances, only for everything to end more suddenly than a bolt from a clear sky. It was almost impossible to define what they had been to one another. Calling them old friends somehow felt too shallow; calling it a debt of gratitude felt too heavy.

Yugong Zhaoye was accustomed to people leaving. This was the first time in his life he had encountered someone who had been lost and then returned alive. He had no experience with such things and instead found himself possessed by something almost like the timidity of nearing home after many years away.

Should he tell Wei Fu the truth? Lay everything bare? Use their old connection to draw him closer? Or keep his distance so that private feelings from the past would not interfere with their present positions?

All these doubts made a deafening racket in his head. His heart was still beating drums of indecision when his feet, far more honest than the rest of him, carried him to the door. He was just about to push it open when three crisp knocks sounded outside, right at the tip of his nose. Knock, knock, knock. Yugong Zhaoye jerked backward. “Who is it?”

Behind him, Kui Yue burst out laughing and hurriedly covered her treacherous mouth before Yugong Zhaoye could turn around and murder her.

“Is that Your Highness?” The man outside paused when he heard his voice. “This subordinate is Ying Yue.”

“Come in.”

A young man in narrow-sleeved martial clothes slipped quickly inside. He quietly moved the enormous food box in his hand behind his back and lowered his eyes with slight embarrassment before giving Yugong Zhaoye a respectful nod. His features resembled Kui Yue’s, but where she was sly and quick-witted, Ying Yue looked older, steadier, and more rugged.

Kui Yue sprang to her feet, eyes shining. “Stop hiding it! I already saw! Brother, what did you bring? Did you buy me lamb flatbread?”

He obviously isn’t hiding it from you, Yugong Zhaoye thought. I’m the one who came at the wrong time and interrupted your sibling reunion. He casually nodded at Ying Yue. “You came back at the right time. We’ve finished talking. I’ll leave.”

Ying Yue hurriedly stopped him. “Your Highness, please wait. This subordinate has something important to report.”

He handed the food box to Kui Yue, moved aside with Yugong Zhaoye, and lowered his voice. “Following Your Highness’s orders, I’ve been investigating traces left by the assassins around the city. The seditious verse they scattered in the street that day was written on a cheap, coarse kind of thin bamboo paper. I visited paper shops throughout the city and found paper from the same batch at the Lü Family Paper Workshop on Jingfeng Street in the southern district.”

Yugong Zhaoye’s wandering thoughts vanished instantly. “Any trace of the buyer?”

“The shopkeeper said a customer dressed like a martial artist came in earlier and specifically asked for the cheapest paper available. From his manner and clothes, he did not look like an impoverished scholar, and he was carrying brushes and ink besides. The shopkeeper kindly warned him that cheap bamboo paper was poor for writing because the ink bled easily and would only be wasted. The man said he didn’t care, then asked whether there were any poor scholars nearby willing to earn money copying texts.”

“The shopkeeper happened to know a scholar named Li Jin, who often bought paper there, and recommended him. Li Jin had lessons during the day, so the shopkeeper asked whether the customer wanted to return that night and meet him. The customer thought that too troublesome, asked for Li Jin’s address, and went to find him himself.”

“Where is Li Jin now?” Yugong Zhaoye asked. “Still alive?”

Ying Yue nodded. “Yesterday I had people watch his house. Li Jin is still following his normal routine, studying and attending his lessons as usual.”

“Keep watching him. Don’t alert him yet.” Yugong Zhaoye said, “I’ll go see him tomorrow.”

Kui Yue was already eating her lamb flatbread. “It’s been so many days,” she mumbled around a mouthful. “We’ve pointed the Egret Guard toward Du Run, and the Imperial City Guard has been searching all over Fengdu. Those assassins have probably already run for it. Even if Li Jin tells us where they were hiding, I bet we’ll find nothing but an empty house.”

“Fengdu was locked down immediately after the attack. They may not have gotten out,” Yugong Zhaoye said. “More importantly, given how they operate, if their plan had simply been to flee after the assassination, I don’t think Li Jin would still be alive.”

Yet Li Jin had returned home safely, with no restrictions on his movements. Which meant—

“Yes. Yes, I wrote it.”

Li Jin was pinned to a chair in his own house by two intimidating men in black. He blinked nervously, refusing to meet the eyes of the man seated across from him. “They took me to a house and ordered me to copy the verse. I could tell something was wrong with it, so I wanted to refuse, but they said they’d kill my whole family if I didn’t obey… My mother is bedridden, and I have two younger siblings who aren’t grown yet. I had no choice…”

The man opposite him had a vicious scar across his face and looked thoroughly intimidating, but his manner was unexpectedly calm and courteous. He glanced around the shabby, dilapidated room. “How are your studies? Do you have a good chance of passing the examinations?”

Li Jin was clearly taken aback. Slowly, he nodded. “Fairly good… I should have sat the examinations when I was sixteen, but my father died suddenly, so I had to observe mourning and was delayed until now. My teacher says I can try next year.”

“How old are your younger siblings?”

“My younger brother is eight. My sister is five.”

“Any other children besides the three of you?”

“I have another younger brother. He wasn’t good at studying, so we sent him to Wanhong Tower as an apprentice.”

“This is a fairly spacious house. Your family must once have been reasonably comfortable. How did you fall this far?”

“After Father died, expenses exceeded our income. The old family business couldn’t continue, and Mother became seriously ill. Our savings were eventually exhausted.”

“Your mother’s medicine must cost a great deal. You still have to study, and you have younger siblings to support. How does your family make ends meet?”

“When Mother is feeling well, she does some sewing. I copy books for people and earn enough to cover my own brushes, ink, and paper.”

After one question after another, Li Jin grew increasingly bewildered. Finally, unable to endure this slow, grinding interrogation any longer, he rasped, “What exactly do you want from me? I told you, I don’t know those people! They approached me. I was forced into it!”

“Don’t move.”

The hand on his shoulder tightened like an iron clamp. Pain shot through him so violently that his whole face twisted. “Let go! Let go! Ask me whatever you want—I’ll answer!”

The scarred man raised one hand, signaling his subordinate to loosen his grip. Then, still quite politely, he said, “In that case, I want the truth. Why didn’t they kill you?”

Li Jin froze. “What do you mean?”

“You went to their hideout. You saw what they looked like. You copied their seditious verse and knew they were planning something illegal. Yet they let you go. They weren’t even worried that you might report them to the authorities. And you really didn’t report them. Why?”

“I…”

Li Jin opened his mouth to defend himself. Suddenly his throat constricted. No sound came. The pressure on his shoulders gradually vanished, yet his body would no longer obey him. His limbs went limp and weak as though his tendons and bones had been pulled out, and he slid helplessly from the chair.

Two muffled thuds sounded nearby. The two men in black collapsed to their knees. “Something’s wrong! Someone’s attacking!” “Poison gas! Retreat!”

Using the last of his strength, the scarred man snatched up a wooden stool and hurled it toward the window. Crash! The frame shattered open, and the chilly late-autumn wind rushed inside. None of the men supposedly stationed outside responded.

“Oh my. What strength.”

A cheerful, amused voice came from a dark corner of the courtyard. “Our sect’s exclusive formula, Bright Mirror Stand—burn a single pellet and it could bring down an entire room, even an elephant. Ordinary people who inhale it go soft in the muscles and bones, lose their voices, and become dazed. Even martial artists can barely speak after being poisoned. And yet you still had enough strength to smash a window. Impressive. May I ask which member of Bihua you are?”

The scarred man barked coldly, “Who are you? Hiding your head and showing your tail like a coward—why not come out?”

“If we’re discussing people who skulk in the shadows, who under Heaven could compare with the gentlemen of Bihua?” The speaker emerged leisurely from the darkness with several others behind him. A hood covered his head, while a silver half-mask concealed his brows and eyes. “This is Fengdu, capital of Xiling, beneath the Son of Heaven’s very feet. Yet you dare inflict private punishment on an innocent civilian. We simply couldn’t bear to watch.”

Six or seven people followed him, all dressed like ordinary Xiling commoners in gray and blue robes. Yet their high cheekbones, hooked noses, dark eyes, and powerful builds stood out sharply from the softer facial contours common in Xiling.

The man’s Xiling speech was also slightly accented, carrying an unusual nasal quality. Combined with the way he called it “our sect,” the scarred man’s suspicion solidified completely. “You’re from Yanyuan? The Ten Aspects Sect?”

“Correct.” The gray-robed man stopped before him and bent down with a smile. “I am Gu Pingchuan. My Dharma name is Jueliu. We could almost be considered old acquaintances. That great gift we sent you last time—was your country satisfied with it?”

“So it truly was you.” The scarred man leaned weakly against the table. “Assassinating the envoys and provoking conflict between the two states.” He watched Gu Pingchuan’s men help Li Jin up and push a pill into his mouth. “You deliberately released Li Jin to use him as bait and draw our attention, then set an ambush here to catch us all in one net. Otherwise, you would have killed him long ago. Am I wrong?”

“There’s little point trying to sow discord now.” Gu Pingchuan warmly took Li Jin’s hand and patted it in reassurance. “You’ve worked hard, Young Master Li. Our sect is nothing like those unreasonable bandits. The human soul is precious. We do not kill casually.”

The scarred man gave a derisive snort.

Feeling gradually returned to Li Jin’s limbs, though fear still lingered on his face. Gu Pingchuan glanced at him and considerately explained, “Young Master Li is talented and well-read. He should have had an excellent chance of passing the examinations early, but his father’s death forced him to observe three years of mourning. Now his mother is gravely ill and may die at any moment. If something happens to her, another three years will be lost. On top of that, he has two young dependents hanging from him. His entire life could be ruined.”

“When we first approached Young Master Li, he was very alert. He realized the verse was suspicious and refused to copy it. We even threatened his life, but he would rather have died than cooperate. Do you know why?”

The scarred man ignored him. Gu Pingchuan continued anyway. “Because his life had already become too difficult and painful. He had even begun to think death might be a kind of release.”

“He has talent and ability, yet circumstances reduced him to this. No matter whose fault it may be, that is regrettable.” Gu Pingchuan smiled. “To allow him to die full of resentment and unwillingness, his soul falling forever into Avici Hell, would violate the teachings of our sect. So I intend to save his soul, remove the burdens crushing him, and let him understand that remaining alive is a good thing.”

Elio’s Notes: Avici Hell (无间地狱, literally “Uninterrupted Hell”) is traditionally described as the lowest and most severe of the eight hot hells, where suffering continues without respite.

The scarred man recognized the Ten Aspects Sect’s usual brainwashing the instant he heard it. “What did he promise you?” he asked Li Jin mockingly. “Gold? Silver? That he would cure your mother? You’ve studied the classics for all these years, Young Master Li. Surely you don’t actually believe in charms, spells, and supernatural nonsense?”

Li Jin lowered his head.

Gu Pingchuan smiled with satisfaction. “Our sect’s greatest art, the Non-Death Aspect—the soul is extinguished while the body continues living as usual. Isn’t that perfectly suited to Young Master Li’s situation?” He looked directly into Li Jin’s eyes. “This way, you can fulfill your filial duty without sacrificing your future. And our sect will take in your younger brother and sister as well. From then on, you will never again need to worry about your siblings.”