Futile Devices Scans

“Enough.”

Xie Jing spoke in a low voice to stop him.

The moment he grew agitated, it pulled at the injury in his chest. He doubled over, coughing heavily, each cough striking against Jiang Feng Xun’s patience like a drumbeat.

“Forget him,” she urged. “You speak.”

Having already committed himself, Jiang Shen Tong pressed on.

“Reporting to Madam: the Palace Master’s internal injuries cannot heal because the Hidden Dragon Palm conflicts with our sect’s internal art, the Cloud-Rising Through the Mountains Technique. The cold yin energy cannot be dissolved by internal force. Instead, it constantly invades the internal organs.”

“I have heard that the Linghua Sect possesses a profound cultivation method called the Scripture of Movement and Concealment. Its essence lies in refining the meridians, cleansing the dantian, and regulating internal qi. It is recognized as the foremost healing art in the world. Even an ordinary person with no martial training who suffers injuries from qi techniques can be cured with it.”

Jiang Feng Xun immediately asked, “If such a divine technique exists, why not seek help from the Linghua Sect?”

Jiang Shen Tong had not expected her to know so little. He could only smile bitterly.

Behind her, Xie Jing said quietly, “The Linghua Sect and Beizhu Palace have been bitter enemies for generations. They would celebrate my death, not save me. That is why I said his scheme is nothing but wishful thinking.”

The fearless are often the ignorant. Jiang Feng Xun refused to believe it.

“Even so, it’s worth trying! I’ll go and beg them—”

“Madam, please wait!”

With Xie Jing’s murderous glare burning into his back, Jiang Shen Tong hurriedly tried to stop her.

“Madam must not act rashly. The matter is not so simple.”

“The Linghua Sect has always regarded us as heretics and mortal enemies. Even if Madam personally humbled herself and went to their gates to plead, they would never agree. They might even seize the opportunity to strike us while we are vulnerable. Furthermore, the Palace Master’s safety affects the survival of our entire sect. Such treatment cannot be made public. If word leaks out, it will create turmoil both within and outside the palace.”

Hearing his reasoning, Jiang Feng Xun could not help feeling discouraged.

“This won’t work, and that won’t work. Then what exactly is your solution?”

Jiang Shen Tong raised his head slightly and spoke with extreme caution.

“Although the Linghua Sect refuses to aid disciples of our sect, they have received imperial recognition and have always been willing to give face to the court. I heard that a year ago, the Heir Apparent of Prince Xuan was seriously injured after falling from a horse. The most renowned physicians in Ji Capital all declared that his spine had been broken and that he would never walk normally again. But Prince Xuan refused to give up. Through various connections, he sent his son to the Linghua Sect for treatment. It is said that the young lord can now walk again.”

Jiang Feng Xun knew even less about court affairs. She looked blankly toward Xie Jing.

“Husband… do you have any friends in the imperial court who could help?”

“I do,” Xie Jing answered with some hesitation.

Jiang Shen Tong immediately picked up the thread.

“The Palace Master shares a life-and-death friendship with Prince Ning, brother of the current Emperor. We do not lack connections. The most important part of this plan lies with Madam.”

“With me?”

Jiang Shen Tong nodded firmly.

“The Palace Master says Madam possesses an extraordinary gift—perfect memory. If Madam is willing to disguise herself as Prince Ning’s beloved and claim to have been injured by the Cloud-Rising Through the Mountains Technique, Prince Ning can personally escort you to the Linghua Sect for treatment.”

“Those sanctimonious hypocrites will certainly seize the opportunity to curry favor with the court while simultaneously suppressing Beizhu Palace. They will undoubtedly use their finest methods to heal you.”

“Madam is delicate and untrained in martial arts. The Linghua Sect would never suspect you. When the time comes, all you need do is memorize the Scripture of Movement and Concealment. Once you return and transcribe it, our Palace Master will be saved.”

Jiang Feng Xun fell silent after hearing the plan.

He makes it sound so noble and righteous… but isn’t this simply a scheme to steal the Linghua Sect’s most treasured secret manual?

Seeing hesitation on her face, Jiang Shen Tong gritted his teeth and pressed harder.

“This subordinate risks his life to make this suggestion because only Madam possesses such an extraordinary gift. No one else in the world could accomplish this task. Is this not destiny itself? The Palace Master is blessed by heaven. Surely he cannot fall to the likes of that villain!”

“That’s enough.”

Xie Jing waved a hand dismissively.

“You’ve said enough. Leave.”

In the end, he never yielded. He never once asked her to help him for the sake of saving his own life.

Instead, a surge of courage rose within Jiang Feng Xun’s heart.

Xie Jing was the man to whom she had entrusted her entire life. This was a matter of life and death. There was no room for hesitation.

Even if it meant taking a risk, so what?

Though the act violated the principles of the martial world, it would not harm any disciples of the Linghua Sect. Once Xie Jing recovered, Beizhu Palace could simply foster goodwill with the Linghua Sect in the future and repay the debt that way.

Xie You Lan could not help letting out a cold, sinister laugh when he heard this.

“Jiang Shen Tong really was a loyal dog under his master. The two old bastards played off each other perfectly, putting on quite the convincing performance. You actually believed all that?”

Jiang Feng Xun let out a soft sigh. “To be honest, back then, it never even occurred to me that he would lie to me.” Xie Jing had treated her well. Husband and wife had lived in harmony and mutual respect. Though sect affairs kept him busy and he could not often stay by her side, he had never neglected her nor transferred his affections elsewhere. It was precisely because she had genuinely loved him that she trusted him without reservation. Added to that were Jiang Shen Tong’s constant encouragements and flattery, along with Xie Jing’s insistence that he would never allow her to suffer on his behalf. Jiang Feng Xun came to believe that it was finally her turn to repay him. And when people are convinced they are right, they often unconsciously—or even deliberately—overlook many details that do not make sense.

Xie You Lan gave a silent, mocking smile. If Xie Jing had truly loved Jiang Feng Xun so deeply, then how had the elders suddenly managed to produce an illegitimate son only two years younger than him and use that bastard as a banner for rebellion?

“When did you realize something was wrong?”

“At the Linghua Sect, I met Wei Huai Jun. At the time, he was using the alias ‘Ning Jun’ and studying under Elder Dai Yan Lai of Xuankang Peak. While I was recovering, he delivered firewood and rice to the back mountain every three days. Through him, I began asking about Beizhu Palace and Yue Huan.”

Within Beizhu Palace, everyone Jiang Feng Xun interacted with had been one of their own. Naturally, she never heard anything Xie Jing did not want her to hear. At the Linghua Sect, however, Xie Jing had not feared her asking questions. After all, she already believed the Linghua Sect to be Beizhu Palace’s mortal enemy. Enemies, naturally, would say whatever they pleased to slander one another. Yet Jiang Feng Xun may have been innocent and trusting, but she was not stupid. Previously, she had simply lacked any opportunity to encounter the outside world. Once she stepped beyond the gilded cage Xie Jing had built for her and heard completely different accounts, doubts gradually began to take root.

She did not want to believe that Xie Jing and Jiang Shen Tong had carefully orchestrated everything in order to obtain the Scripture of Movement and Concealment. If that suspicion proved true, it would mean that the dreamlike life she had cherished had been nothing more than a paper house built upon lies. Yet she could not bear the torment of uncertainty either. So she decided to test Xie Jing.

While transcribing the Scripture of Movement and Concealment from memory, she deliberately altered it slightly. Recalling a medical text she had once read in her father’s study as a girl, she borrowed portions from it and substituted them into the latter half of the scripture, adding and removing passages until it formed a coherent text. Then she handed it to Xie Jing.

Several days later, in the middle of the night, she was asleep in bed when Xie Jing suddenly burst into the room in a rage. He grabbed her and hurled her to the floor.

“Bitch! How dare you try to harm me!”

Jiang Feng Xun crashed onto the cold ground. Dizziness overwhelmed her, and pain spread through her limbs like a net, leaving her unable to move. Her mind went completely blank. She could not even describe what she felt. At the same time, she realized her body had already begun crying on its own. Sobbing helplessly, she asked, “What happened…? Why are you suddenly losing your temper for no reason…?”

Xie Jing looked down at her coldly, as though judging whether she was acting. His expression darkened.

“You gave me a fake scripture and still dare ask why I’m angry?”

“A fake scripture?” Jiang Feng Xun wept in confusion. “What are you talking about…?”

Stepping forward, Xie Jing hauled her to her feet. Barefoot, disheveled, and dressed only in her sleeping robes, she was dragged into the study and shoved into a chair. The night air was freezing. She trembled uncontrollably from the cold. Xie Jing acted as though he saw nothing.

“Write. Write out the Scripture of Movement and Concealment from memory.”

The forged version had long since been committed to memory, but Jiang Feng Xun slammed down the brush and demanded, “What madness has possessed you in the middle of the night? What true scripture? What fake scripture? I forgot it. I can’t write it.”

“You want to die.”

Xie Jing pressed a hand onto the crown of her head. In his grip, she felt as fragile as a paper lantern. The handsome face she knew peeled away, revealing the cold and vicious truth beneath.

With a chilling expression, he said:

“Write it now. Otherwise, before long, this sheet of paper will be covered with your brains.”

Under the dim candlelight, he looked like a demon.

Jiang Feng Xun was terrified. Trembling and crying, she rewrote the fake scripture from memory. Xie Jing stared at the text for a long time before coldly asking, “Is this what the Linghua Sect taught you?”

Terrified that a single wrong word might cost her life, Jiang Feng Xun nodded frantically.

Xie Jing asked again, “Besides teaching you martial arts, what else did they do?”

“Th-they also gave me medicine… and a medicinal ointment to apply…” Jiang Feng Xun racked her brain, forcing the words out one trembling syllable at a time. “The elders used their qi to help heal my injuries… and told me to calm my mind and focus my spirit…”

Like a venomous serpent reared high and ready to strike, Xie Jing coldly examined her miserable state. At last, he finally relented and spared her.

“Go back.”

The fright had been so severe that she fell seriously ill. It took more than a month before she could get out of bed again.

Afterward, Xie Jing offered a hastily fabricated explanation. He claimed that while practicing qi healing, he had discovered errors in the technique and suffered a deviation, which caused him to act that way. He also suggested that the Linghua Sect had been wary of outsiders and deliberately taught her a half-true, half-false version of the technique.

Jiang Feng Xun pretended to believe him. In truth, she only wanted to appease him, turn the page on the incident, and avoid provoking another outburst. Xie Jing knew she had been frightened badly and must have grown suspicious, but Jiang Feng Xun was merely a canary in his cage. No matter how hard she beat her wings, she could never escape his grasp, so he let the matter rest.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye asked, “Beizhu Palace possesses countless divine techniques and secret manuals. Why was Xie Jing so obsessed with the Scripture of Movement and Concealment in particular? Earlier, Madam examined his pulse. He truly was suffering from internal injuries. Was it because of that?”

Jiang Feng Xun replied, “At first, I didn’t understand either. Only after I escaped did I learn the truth. A hundred years ago, a reclusive master living on Wanxu Mountain compiled the entirety of his lifelong knowledge into the Nine Chapters of Jun Tian and passed it on to his two disciples. He also had a servant who attended him and handled daily chores. Over the years, that servant picked up fragments of the martial arts through observation. After the master died, the servant plotted against the two disciples, killed them, and seized Wanxu Mountain for himself. That servant became the founding ancestor of Beizhu Palace.”

“The treasured secret art of Beizhu Palace, the Cloud-Rising Through the Mountains Technique, is only a fragment of the Nine Chapters of Jun Tian. Unfortunately, the record was incomplete and the technique remained defective. Once cultivated beyond a certain point, it became highly prone to qi deviation and could seriously injure the practitioner. Xie Jing somehow learned that the Scripture of Movement and Concealment was the missing healing section of the Nine Chapters of Jun Tian. His cultivation had reached a critical stage, so he went to extraordinary lengths to obtain it.”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yu instinctively turned to look at Xie You Lan.

He had no idea what expression was on his own face, but Xie You Lan arched an eyebrow.

“What are you looking at me for? Pay attention.”

After completely losing hope, Jiang Feng Xun began deliberately gathering information within Beizhu Palace and planning for her future. At the same time, Xie Jing stopped pretending entirely. He forbade her from leaving Beizhu Palace and would not allow her to meet outsiders. Her perfect memory made her a weapon against Beizhu Palace in the hands of anyone else, so Xie Jing intended to keep her locked firmly within his grasp forever.

Then, several years later, on a rainy night, Wei Huai Jun suddenly appeared outside her window without warning. Wiping rainwater from his face, he smiled at her as naturally as if no time had passed.

“Madam, I trust you’ve been well? I finally found you.”

Dark clouds seemed to rise above Xie You Lan’s head.

“Who does he think he is? How did he manage to find you?”

Jiang Feng Xun’s tone softened helplessly.

“Several years had passed after I left the Linghua Sect. During his travels, Huai Jun eventually arrived in Ji Capital and happened to pass by Prince Ning’s residence. Suddenly remembering an old acquaintance, he whimsically sent a calling card and paid a visit. The household informed him that no such person lived there.”

Jiang Feng Xun lowered her eyes to her palm. The warmth of that grasp seemed to linger in her skin even now.

“He refused to believe it. He was certain something was wrong, so he began investigating who exactly had come to the Linghua Sect seeking treatment all those years ago. After two years of searching, he finally uncovered Xie Jing’s trail and broke into Beizhu Palace while Xie Jing was away.”

Though twenty years had passed, thanks to her remarkable memory, the events remained as vivid as yesterday.

She lifted her head and happened to meet Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s gaze.

The handsome young man, cold and clear as moonlit frost yet unable to conceal the killing intent beneath, curved his lips slightly. It was as though he were raising a cup in silent salute across the years. In his eyes, Jiang Feng Xun saw a trace of understanding.

Had he met someone like that too?

Meanwhile, Yu Gong Zhao Ye was thinking absently:

Xiao Guan inherited his perfect memory from his mother. As for being stubborn as a mule… that clearly came from his father.

Xie You Lan, unwilling to suffer alone and equally unwilling to let anyone else enjoy themselves, mercilessly shattered the warm atmosphere.

“And then?”

It was a question to which he already knew the answer.

What else could have happened?

Jiang Feng Xun and Wei Huai Jun had escaped Beizhu Palace together.

Yet after hearing everything that came before, Xie You Lan found himself utterly unable to utter the words eloped together.

After everything Xie Jing had done to her, the fact that she had still chosen to live and still found the courage to escape was already remarkable. She had barely been able to save herself. It was unreasonable to expect her to concern herself with propriety, morality, or the burden of a child she had been forced to leave behind.

Reason understood all of this.

But understanding did not stop the pain.

Unable to touch him, Jiang Feng Xun could only let her gaze gently brush across Xie You Lan’s hair and face.

“We hid for a time north of Fengdu in Xiling. Then Guanlang was born. By then, we believed the danger had passed, so we bought a house in Fengdu and thought perhaps we could settle down there…”

At last, Yu Gong Zhao Ye understood why, during his first encounter with Wei Fu in Fengdu, hidden mechanisms on the roof had suddenly fired projectiles and nearly caused him to lose his footing.

The traps that Beizhu Palace’s pursuers never got to experience had ended up targeting him instead.

It had been that coincidental.

As though fate itself had given events a little push to ensure their paths crossed again.

Then he heard Xie You Lan say:

“And then I found you. That was the end of your peaceful life.”

This was the first time Yu Gong Zhao Ye had heard this part of the story.

“You went to that house? Did you trigger the traps?”

Xie You Lan: “?”

What nonsense was he babbling about?

He stared at Yu Gong Zhao Ye, then suddenly curled his lips into a malicious smile.

“Oh, right. His Highness Yu Gong probably doesn’t know this.”

His voice dripped with ill intent.

“The day I found them was the day I slit Wei Fu’s throat and turned him into a mute for more than ten years.”

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