Fu Xi Yan might have been walking away with both hands swinging freely, looking calm and dashing, but every step he took was carefully measured. At every moment he was imagining what he would do if Mo Xiao Ran suddenly went berserk and attacked from behind, how he would dodge, and how he would respond.
Fortunately, until he stepped into the inn, Mo Xiao Ran remained standing in the same place, staring after him without moving, like a stone waiting for its son to return.
Fu Xi Yan climbed the stairs and quietly sped up. Then he pushed open the nearest door without caring about the owner’s expression and went straight to the window. He did not open it. He simply stood there listening.
As though sensing that he was at the window, Mo Xiao Ran finally turned and slowly walked toward the end of the street.
Only then did Fu Xi Yan crack the window open. Seeing the man move farther and farther away, he opened it wider.
The room’s owner, Fu Xia Qing, stood beside him and secretly poked her head through the gap. Looking at the lonely figure about to disappear at the end of the street, she inexplicably felt a flicker of sympathy. “That is…”
She had spoken only two words when Fu Xi Yan covered both her eyes and her mouth and pushed her back into the room.
Mo Xiao Ran’s destructive effect on women needed no further proof. Fu Xi Yan had no intention of using his sister as another test subject. Only after he watched the man vanish completely from the street did he finally relax.
Fu Xia Qing pulled free of his hands. “Who was that? What are you thinking about?”
Fu Xi Yan directly ignored the first question. “I’m calculating which level I’m on and which level he’s on.”
Fu Xia Qing looked puzzled. “The inn only has two floors.”
“He tells me to go because he wants me to go. That’s level one. He tells me to go because he knows I won’t agree and is deliberately saying the opposite. That’s level two. He tells me to go because he knows I’ll think he’s deliberately saying the opposite, so I’ll do the opposite of that, meaning he still wants me to go. That’s level three. He knows I’ll think of level three, so he stacks another layer on top. That’s level four… Wait, could there be a fifth?” Fu Xi Yan clutched the window frame in distress and lightly bumped his head against it.
Fu Xia Qing listened for a long time, then asked in confusion, “After all that, isn’t it still just whether you go or don’t go?”
Fu Xi Yan stopped moving and looked miserably at her. “Then should I go or not?”
Fu Xia Qing asked, “Do you want to go?”
Fu Xi Yan answered without hesitation, “No.” Before he had ground enough levels to fight the boss, he wanted nothing to do with Mo Xiao Ran.
Fu Xia Qing said, “Then don’t go?”
“But I’m afraid there’s some plot hidden in it, something that’ll make me regret it for the rest of my life.” Fu Xi Yan looked at the moonlight and began missing Pei Yuan Jin again. If Pei Yuan Jin were here, a single glance from him would be enough to steady Fu Xi Yan’s wavering scales and let him settle on a decision with perfect confidence.
Fu Xia Qing sighed softly. “Who lives an entire life without regretting something?”
Fu Xi Yan thought about it and nodded. “True. Human nature is greedy. The cinnabar mole and the white moonlight might both be wrong choices. Pick either one and you could still regret it. It’s only because you didn’t choose the other that it never had the chance to turn into mosquito blood or a grain of rice.”
He suddenly felt that this was the correct answer.
Elio’s Notes: The “cinnabar mole / white moonlight” and “mosquito blood / grain of rice” imagery comes from Eileen Chang’s Red Rose, White Rose: what remains unattained is idealized, while what is possessed can become painfully ordinary.
Given Mo Xiao Ran’s personality, how could he possibly leave Fu Xi Yan a correct answer? If there were one, it would have to be “none of the above.” Between two harms, choose the lesser. Naturally, Fu Xi Yan would choose to remain beside his family.
“You’re brilliant!”
He could not resist reaching over and pinching Fu Xia Qing’s cheek, only to meet her shocked eyes.
At that exact moment, her maid returned carrying water. From behind, all she saw was some lecherous man molesting her young mistress. With a scream, she hurled the kettle at him.
Fu Xi Yan reached back to catch it. Just before his hand touched the kettle, he sensed something wrong with the temperature and hurriedly grabbed Fu Xia Qing and dodged aside.
The copper kettle crashed to the floor. The lid flew off and water splashed everywhere, leaving a complete mess.
Only then did the maid recognize him. Her face changed. “F-Fourth Young Master?”
Fu Xi Yan soothed Fu Xia Qing while smiling. “Yes. Yes, the young master.”
Fu Xia Qing glared at her maid in irritation. “How many years have you been with our household? You can’t even recognize one of your own young masters?”
The maid defended herself in a tiny voice. “Fourth Young Master has changed too much.”
Fu Xi Yan thought that the negative consequences of losing weight too quickly apparently came with delayed reactions. He shook his head, left the room, and just as he closed the door, a sudden chill crawled up his back.
He stood outside the room staring at the empty corridor. The maid’s words, “Fourth Young Master has changed too much,” echoed in his ears while the image of his reunion with Mo Xiao Ran replayed in his mind—
One of them had slimmed down. The other had changed faces. Neither looked the way he had before, yet there had not been even a moment of recognition. How had Fu Xi Yan known at a glance that the man was Mo Xiao Ran?
Because that face resembled his own.
Or rather, had Mo Xiao Ran deliberately used that face so Fu Xi Yan would recognize him?
But was that truly Mo Xiao Ran’s face?
Fu Xi Yan felt the chill slowly spread from his spine through his entire body. He had just been wondering about Mo Xiao Ran’s purpose, wavering between whether going or refusing to go was the larger trap. Thinking back now, perhaps Mo Xiao Ran’s very appearance had been the trap.
And from his own reaction, Fu Xi Yan had clearly already stepped into it.
From “your father,” to “father and son meeting,” to “killing Fu Fu”… Because Mo Xiao Ran behaved so casually, like an old acquaintance returning after a long absence, and because his tone toward Fu Xi Yan carried so much indulgence, Fu Xi Yan had unconsciously entered the premise Mo Xiao Ran had created and accepted his parentage as a given. Yet neither of them had ever actually torn away that window paper before!
After his initial shock faded, Fu Xi Yan slowly recovered his composure. When facing Mo Xiao Ran, fear, frustration, and disappointment were all dangerous emotions. They only interfered with judgment and made a person play even worse moves.
He returned to his own room and shut the door. Looking at the emptiness around him, an inexplicable sense of loss rose inside him. When he sat in the chair, he thought there should have been someone opposite him drinking tea and reading. When he lay on the bed, he thought there should have been someone beside him whose hand he could hold. When he pulled up the blanket, he wondered whether he should leave half of it empty.
He had known Pei Yuan Jin for only a year, yet the man had already invaded his heart and his life so deeply that it felt as natural as fish belonging in water and birds belonging in the sky.
Longing had astonishing power. When Fu Xi Yan closed his eyes, he could almost feel Pei Yuan Jin beside him, lending him limitless courage. His thoughts gradually became clear.
Take the tiny scheme where Zhao Tong Qu helped Dong Bi Xiao. The only purpose was to use Third Brother to hold Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin in Xingzhou. Then what exactly had Mo Xiao Ran accomplished by appearing tonight?
Tearing through the window paper and confirming that his gentle approach toward Fu Xi Yan would no longer work?
Fu Xi Yan could not say whether that was good or bad.
It was true that Fu Xi Yan did not want to encounter Mo Xiao Ran for the moment. But while Mo Xiao Ran had been concentrating on maintaining a pleasant façade, Fu Xi Yan had genuinely benefited from it. Now that the façade had been torn apart and the daggers hidden behind the map were exposed, their next meeting might not be nearly so peaceful.
Given Mo Xiao Ran’s temperament, how would he feel watching his son kick him aside and become Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror? Certainly not pleased that he had a worthy successor. Even Ban Qing Yu dreamed of ascending. Someone as ambitious as Mo Xiao Ran could hardly be uninterested. Just as Pei Yuan Jin had said, if a person planned to live forever, what use was a son? To work like an ox or a horse? To become a ghost? To serve as a stepping stone on his father’s path to ascension?
Heaven and earth were vast. Mo Xiao Ran choosing precisely the moment Pei Yuan Jin was absent to appear could not possibly be coincidence. Could Fu Xi Yan suspect that Mo Xiao Ran was connected to Zhao Tong Qu as well? After all, if good people under Heaven could help one another, villains could naturally find others who stank the same way they did.
Perhaps even tonight’s meeting concealed some sort of scheme.
Fu Xi Yan abruptly sat up on the bed and turned his awareness inward, checking whether Mo Xiao Ran had secretly done anything to his body. And then there was his family… The moment that thought occurred, he could no longer sit still. He hurriedly got out of bed, intending to knock on doors one by one and inspect everyone.
When dealing with Mo Xiao Ran, there was no such thing as being too cautious.
Longevity Mountain, Returning Dragon Sect.
Morning clouds scattered across the sky like torn cotton, one patch east, another west, the gaps between them filled with pale blue. After working all night, Mu Kai Sen stepped out of a hidden chamber. When he saw the figure standing by the mountainside, his pupils contracted, then he rushed forward in delight. “This disciple greets Master!”
Facing the mountain breeze, Mo Xiao Ran kept his back to him. “How long ago did the Thunder Division leave?”
Mu Kai Sen answered respectfully, “They wandered around at the foot of the mountain a few days ago and left about six or seven days back.”
“What about the Lightning Division?”
Mu Kai Sen said, “We have him locked up inside. The disciples followed the script we prepared and acted out several scenes for him, letting him absorb them into his memory piece by piece. Combined with the medicine, by around noon he should believe everything without question. I’ll test him again then. If there’s no problem, we can release him this afternoon.”
He cautiously looked around, then added, “Didn’t Master say you were going to meet Little Junior Brother? He didn’t come back with you?”
Mo Xiao Ran slowly turned around. The first light of morning fell across his face… or rather, across the golden mask covering it, making points of dazzling light flash. Mu Kai Sen lowered his head.
Mo Xiao Ran said, “He resembles his mother too much and me too little. His courage as well.”
Mu Kai Sen relaxed. “Little Junior Brother is now Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror. If he came here, I’m afraid I couldn’t keep anything hidden.”
Mo Xiao Ran shook his head. He did not explain that after showing himself, he had known Fu Xi Yan would become even less likely to come. It was not only because Fu Xi Yan feared Mo Xiao Ran might kill him. He feared even more that Mo Xiao Ran would attack the Fu family left behind at the inn. Jin Yuan Xiu had carefully chosen that household out of thousands, only for them to raise his son into a foolish little rabbit. Truly ridiculous.
Seeing him fall silent, Mu Kai Sen tentatively asked, “Then didn’t Master come back empty-handed after meeting Junior Brother?”
Not entirely empty-handed. Mo Xiao Ran said, “Love corrodes ambition. Fear keeps people awake.”
Mu Kai Sen smiled. “Master is Little Junior Brother’s biological father. Why would he fear you?”
Mo Xiao Ran said, “If fear isn’t enough, hatred works too.”
After all, there were many people he cared about.
He lowered his eyes in thought. The Fu family and the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror could at most know scattered fragments about Fu Xi Yan’s origins. Yet Fu Xi Yan showed no curiosity toward Mo Xiao Ran at all and still regarded the Fu family as his true kin. Someone must have told him the entire truth.
Other than Mo Xiao Ran himself, only one person knew exactly what had happened back then…
His voice turned cold. “Jin Yuan Xiu isn’t dead. Keep looking.”
Mu Kai Sen looked troubled. “But we’ve already checked nearly every place under Heaven that could hide someone from our eyes and ears. We’ve entered Divine Physician Valley several times. Zhao Tong Qu also searched Immortal Treasury Palace’s forbidden seclusion grounds, and you personally checked Spirit Sect headquarters and the new city’s iron tower. Is she… truly still in this world?”
Mo Xiao Ran said, “Go check those two places in the north.”
Mu Kai Sen froze and frowned reluctantly, but under Mo Xiao Ran’s gaze he hurriedly suppressed the emotion. “This… Yes. I’ll find a way immediately.”
After he left, Mo Xiao Ran raised one hand. A tiny mouse crawled from his sleeve, ran into his palm, lifted its front paws, and squeaked.
As though he understood it, Mo Xiao Ran smiled. “The Heaven Mirror and Earth Mirror have both acknowledged him as master?”
“Well done.”
It was unclear whom he was praising.
The inn erupted into chaos in the middle of the night, but naturally nothing came of it in the end.
Fu Xi Yan sat in the hall early the next morning drinking congee, dark circles under his eyes courtesy of staying awake all night, though relief showed clearly on his face. Zhong Xin and Geng Geng, who had been kept awake by the disturbance, sat beside him nodding off while sleepily spooning congee into their mouths.
Before long everyone was awake. There was little idle talk. They each packed their things and set out early.
Before getting into the carriage, Aunt Hong caught Fu Xi Yan’s hand and earnestly said, “There’s nothing wrong with leaving early, but being tossed around in the middle of the night is hard on people.”
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
He truly had not meant to imitate Zhou Bapi from Midnight Rooster Crow.
Elio’s Notes: Midnight Rooster Crow is a famous Chinese story in which the landlord Zhou Bapi imitates a rooster in the middle of the night to trick laborers into starting work early.
He had planted a willow by accident, yet the result was unexpectedly excellent.
Everyone moved with astonishing efficiency, enough that they joined the first wave of travelers leaving the city. No one knew where Deputy Prefect Dong heard the news, but he hurried over to see them off, accompanied by the Prefect of Xingzhou.
This prefect was a remarkable character too. When trouble had broken out, he was nowhere to be seen. Now that everything was resolved, he hurried over to make his presence known. Fu Xi Yan had no idea whether the man was actually just there to see off a plague god.
Still, Dong Bi Xiao’s case had fallen into the prefect’s hands. To keep them from quietly manipulating it, Fu Li An got out of the carriage and exchanged impeccably polite pleasantries with the man, repeatedly emphasizing that they would definitely pass through Xingzhou again on the return journey and, if time permitted, would certainly pay him a personal visit.
Once the words reached that point, anyone who understood understood.
The prefect hastily agreed, declaring that he would sweep the couch in welcome.
Not long after leaving Xingzhou, Madam Fu and Aunt Qin summoned Fu Xi Yan into their carriage and announced that they wanted to travel light. Zhong Xin and Geng Geng could escort the dowry at a slower pace while the rest of them went ahead.
Pei Yuan Jin leaving first had plainly made the elders uneasy. Combined with Fu Xi Yan’s sudden inspection spree during the previous night, even though no one said much, everyone was secretly nervous and had developed the feeling that the sooner they reached safety, the better.
Fu Xi Yan naturally agreed with both hands and feet and even contributed the Seven-Treasure Glazed House Pei Yuan Jin had left behind before departing.
They did not use the treasure very often, because Madam Fu and Aunt Qin urged the procession forward even more aggressively than Fu Xi Yan did. Fortunately, they had deliberately arranged replacement horses. Once the journey began, they traveled almost without pause, beneath stars and through daylight alike.
Even faster and more relentless than their procession was Pei Yuan Jin, relying on the endless cycling of a Martial King’s inner breath. After following him for one day, the Hidden Dragon Unit ran out of true qi and was left behind halfway.
But after reaching Jinmen, Pei Yuan Jin did not go directly up Mount Fujun. Instead, he first went to Houjia Alley.
Elder Tan and Elder Yu were recuperating there. Under Pei Yuan Jin’s arrangements, Jiang Xiu had also moved down from the mountain. The residence’s defenses had been handed entirely to the Lightning Division, making it virtually impregnable.
The moment Pei Yuan Jin entered the alley, he sensed more than a dozen pairs of eyes watching him from the shadows. Soon the residence door opened and a Lightning Division member disguised as the steward hurried out to welcome him.
The man had originally looked anxious, but the instant he met Pei Yuan Jin’s indifferent gaze, his wandering, unsettled heart seemed to find solid ground again.
He bowed slightly and led Pei Yuan Jin into the courtyard.
Along the way, the man did not explain what had happened, and Pei Yuan Jin did not ask. He was already here. Whatever sky might collapse, he would naturally be the one to hold it up.
Besides, the sky clearly had not collapsed yet. Otherwise Yu Cao and Tan Chang Gong could hardly be lying leisurely in a pavilion listening to little songs.
That was right. While walking through the alley, Pei Yuan Jin had already heard the decadent music floating over the wall.
Tan Chang Gong had been eating melon. When he saw Pei Yuan Jin, he narrowed his eyes in apparent enjoyment. “Mm, you’re here. Where’s your wife?”
Pei Yuan Jin sat down across from him with a dark expression. “What happened at the palace?”
Tan Chang Gong raised a brow. “How do you know something happened?”
Pei Yuan Jin said, “Something happened in Xingzhou. Zhao Tong Qu seems determined not to let me return too quickly.”
Tan Chang Gong looked at Yu Cao.
Ever since his two children suffered under Zhao Tong Qu’s schemes, Yu Cao had hated the man to the bone. But Yu Cao was calm, knew when to advance and retreat, and had therefore agreed to cooperate with Fu Xi Yan’s plan, give up his elder position, and move down the mountain at Pei Yuan Jin’s request.
He said indifferently, “Just some underhanded tricks. Not worth worrying about.”
Tan Chang Gong snorted. “You looking down on them doesn’t mean they aren’t clever.”
Pei Yuan Jin sat across from the two men and slowly ate melon. He had long since grown accustomed to Tan Chang Gong rambling in every direction and expressing a variety of irrelevant opinions before finally reaching the point.
Sure enough, after talking by himself for a while and receiving no response, Tan Chang Gong finally returned to the subject. “A few days ago… Mm, how many days? Three? Five? Somewhere around there. Chief managers from Thunder Divisions in several regions came to Mount Fujun under the pretext of reporting for duty and presented the Palace Master with four reform proposals.”
Pei Yuan Jin asked, “What proposals?”
“First, abolish the Lightning Division’s supervision over the Thunder Division. Second, merge the Wind and Rain Divisions into the Thunder Division. Third, allow regional branches to decide independently whether to accept assignments issued by headquarters. Fourth…”
Tan Chang Gong paused and looked toward Yu Cao. “What was the fourth again?”
Yu Cao rolled his eyes, clearly believing Tan Chang Gong had deliberately left the final point for him to say. “They want the successor to the Palace Master to be chosen jointly by everyone in Immortal Treasury Palace.”
Tan Chang Gong looked at Pei Yuan Jin. “What do you think?”
Pei Yuan Jin raised a brow. “If I remember correctly, the first two proposals describe how Immortal Treasury Palace was originally organized when it was founded?”
Tan Chang Gong looked slightly surprised. In his impression, Pei Yuan Jin had never paid much attention to administrative matters. He had not expected him to know something this old.
He nodded. “Correct. The Lightning Division was added two years after Immortal Treasury Palace was founded, at Old Taro’s suggestion. Several elders opposed it at the time, and it was eventually established only after a vote. When the palace was first founded, there were no separate Wind, Rain, and Thunder Divisions either. Those were split apart later. As for the third and fourth proposals, those are obviously aimed at you.”
The third proposal would reduce headquarters’ control over regional branches. Zhao Tong Qu already had extremely deep control over the regional Thunder Divisions, so headquarters’ nominal authority meant little to him. Pei Yuan Jin, however, issued orders through his position as Young Master of headquarters. If the proposal passed, it would effectively cut off Pei Yuan Jin’s reach into the regions.
The fourth proposal required even less explanation. It was simply meant to abolish the position of “Young Master.” At least until Pei Xiong Ji stepped down, Pei Yuan Jin would no longer be able to act under that title.
Either proposal passing would place Pei Yuan Jin at an enormous disadvantage.
Seeing Pei Yuan Jin remain entirely unhurried, Tan Chang Gong could not help saying, “You aren’t worried? As far as I know, most Thunder Division chief managers in Northern Zhou have already signed the petition.”
Pei Yuan Jin raised a brow. “Zhao Tong Qu does not possess enough personal charisma to create this large a wave.”
Tan Chang Gong said, “Mm. This time you’re falsely accusing him. The petition had barely reached the Palace Master’s desk when Zhao Tong Qu voluntarily entered the dungeon on the grounds of managerial failure. So no matter how much trouble the Thunder Division causes, it has nothing to do with him.”
Pei Yuan Jin asked, “How does Father intend to respond?”
Tan Chang Gong put away his usual careless air and sighed. “Yi Jue’s true essence has also developed problems. The Palace Master, Baili Shen, and Ji Mo are helping him figure something out. Shou Nan Shan is still in seclusion. Right now Immortal Treasury Palace is being held together by Yu Su Huan and Ying Zhu Cui, and those two don’t get along especially well.”
Pei Yuan Jin said, “This is an excellent opportunity.”
“Isn’t it?” Tan Chang Gong forced himself upright. “I originally planned to finish listening to this song, then return to Mount Fujun. If you’d arrived one day later, you might have received news that Immortal Treasury Palace had fallen into internal conflict, Tan Chang Gong had stormed Mount Fujun, and Zhao Tong Qu had accidentally died by his hand.”
“Then I truly apologize.” The regret on Pei Yuan Jin’s face looked extremely sincere. “I rode too quickly.”
Tan Chang Gong directly ignored the answer he did not want to hear and looked at him curiously. “What do you plan to do now?”
Pei Yuan Jin finished his melon, drew a handkerchief from his robes, wiped his hands, and stood. “Hopefully tomorrow you’ll hear the good news that Immortal Treasury Palace fell into internal conflict, Pei Yuan Jin stormed Mount Fujun, and Zhao Tong Qu accidentally died by his hand.”
Tan Chang Gong: “…”
The moment Yu Cao thought about the martial path Pei Yuan Jin cultivated, he became slightly anxious. “Take it easy first. Wait until Jing Luo comes back.”
Pei Yuan Jin sighed softly. “I’ve just figured something out.”
Yu Cao and Tan Chang Gong were both afraid he was about to say something like there’s no problem in the world that killing someone can’t solve. They immediately said, “Think a little more before figuring things out.”
“It turns out the incident in Xingzhou wasn’t meant to delay me.”
The completely unrelated remark made Yu Cao and Tan Chang Gong look at one another.
The dungeon of Immortal Treasury Palace was as gloomy, damp, and cold as ever. Walking through it created the illusion of entering the underworld itself, especially when one saw the bizarre assortment of fellow inmates inside.
Unlike Gao Ze, who had lived in a sunny room, Zhao Tong Qu had moved into the most ordinary cell after entering the dungeon. Supposedly the previous occupant had only just died, and when Zhao Tong Qu arrived, the prisoners on either side even gave him the sort of welcome that sounded like a death threat.
Zhao Tong Qu did not mind. He sat quietly inside the cell, even keeping his back to the door as though facing a wall in contemplation.
And there he remained for five days.
The jailer informed him immediately that Pei Yuan Jin had entered Jinmen. By then, the inmates in the neighboring cells had eaten dinner laced with medicine and were sleeping deeply.
Zhao Tong Qu asked, “Only him?”
The jailer answered respectfully, “Yes. Only the Young Master.”
The form of address made Zhao Tong Qu lift his head and glance at him.
The jailer stared back blankly, completely unaware.
Zhao Tong Qu said, “Then it seems the Young Madam remained in Xingzhou.”
In truth, after receiving the report from Xingzhou, Zhao Tong Qu had not originally intended to involve himself in such childish nonsense.
The scheme was laughably crude. But after receiving news that Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin were on their way back to Immortal Treasury Palace, he ultimately changed his mind.
His last clash with Fu Xi Yan remained vivid in his memory. He had calculated every possibility only for all his efforts to come to nothing, and he had no intention of tasting that feeling again and again. Especially not on an occasion as important as this one.
“Has Elder Ying gone to sleep?”
The jailer froze. “At this hour, probably not yet.”
Zhao Tong Qu said softly, “The mountain air is dry. Send her a bowl of tremella soup. Tell her I arranged it before entering the dungeon.”