Paralysis

After finishing his patrol, Old Xiang locked the door and headed home.

His son had not returned yet.

After eating, he lay down on the bed.

Still feeling unable to digest the food, Old Xiang threw on an outer garment and went out into the courtyard to sit.

By moonlight, he opened the Soul Banner in his hand.

The foot-long Soul Banner felt icy cold in his grasp.

Its chill seeped into his heart and lungs.

It was as though merely holding the Soul Banner gave him a profound sense of security, calming his heart along with it.

This thing was definitely a treasure.

It was just a pity that Old Xiang did not know how to use it.

He had originally intended to hand it over to the Attendant Hall, but after delaying for some days, Old Xiang no longer had any desire to turn it in.

In any case, those immortal masters would not know that one treasure was missing.

A lifelike ghost face had been painted on the soul banner.

He had looked at it many times.

The first time he saw it, it had frightened him, but though it still gave him a faint sense of dread now, he had grown accustomed to it.

Black ground, red border—exquisitely crafted.

It was a hundred times more exquisite than the handkerchiefs those high lords he had seen in the past tucked away.

Within the Soul Banner, Tu Shan Jun frowned. His current situation was no different from being in prison.

He had originally wanted to remove Li Qingfeng's corpse, but now that plan had fallen through as well.

And without the scripture as a backup, Old Xiang had no way to become a Qi Refiner.

Without becoming a Qi Refiner, he would have no spiritual power, and without spiritual power, he could not activate the Soul Banner.

With that link missing, the connection had effectively been severed outright.

The journey had been perilous, so Old Xiang had not given it much thought.

Now that he had some free time, he could study it properly.

"How do immortal masters activate their treasures?"

Thinking this, Old Xiang channeled his inner energy through his palm into the Soul Banner.

Tu Shan Jun's eyes abruptly widened. The inner energy being sent over actually possessed a trace of spiritual power's nature.

The quantity was simply too small.

It was nowhere near enough to use the Dreamwalking Art.

But it was enough to let Tu Shan Jun influence the Soul Banner.

Tu Shan Jun suppressed the excitement in his heart.

He hurriedly urged black qi to surge across the soul banner.

Old Xiang found it rather strange.

Why had this little banner begun producing black mist after he poured inner energy into it?

And why was it gathering together in crooked, slanted shapes?

Like... writing.

"Pour in inner energy."

"More."

Old Xiang read the words aloud one by one.

So frightened that he immediately threw the Soul Banner to the ground.

Without inner energy, Tu Shan Jun's avenue of retreat was instantly cut off. The words on the soul banner vanished at once, turning into gray mist that faded and finally disappeared.

Old Xiang stood on full alert.

He stared at it for a quarter of an hour, yet the Soul Banner showed no further movement.

Only then did he pick it back up, muttering in disbelief, "Could it be alive?"

Still suspicious, Old Xiang sent inner energy into it once more.

"More inner energy."

Words did indeed emerge on the palm-sized banner, but this time there were only four characters.

As a second-rate expert of the martial world, Old Xiang had no small reserve of inner energy.

Half the night passed.

Until Old Xiang had exhausted all his inner energy.

Tu Shan Jun shook his head. Inner energy was ultimately not spiritual power.

Though it carried a trace of spiritual power's nature, even so much of it was insufficient to refine enough spiritual power to use the Dreamwalking Art.

It merely expanded the range in which he could move.

"Since Yin Soul Pills can help Qi Refiners cultivate, can they help Old Xiang's inner energy advance?"

Tu Shan Jun did not know whether they could, but for now, he could only treat a dead horse as though it were alive.

Black mist flickered, and an egg-sized Yin Soul Pill rolled out of the black banner, landing on the stone table in the courtyard.

Old Xiang's eyes had already gone wide.

He cried out, "The treasure laid an egg!"

He had heard of chickens and geese laying eggs, but never of this sort of treasure laying eggs.

And it was even an immortal master's treasure.

This time, the words on the soul banner changed again.

There was only one.

"Eat."

Old Xiang murmured it aloud.

His eyes were utterly filled with terror.

This thing was far too strange.

Swallowing inner energy would have been one thing, but it could actually lay an egg too.

The black egg did not look like anything good.

And now this thing was actually telling him to eat it.

Eat what?

Eat this egg?

Tu Shan Jun was helpless as well. He truly had no other choice.

Whether Old Xiang believed him or not was up to Old Xiang himself.

If he could continue improving the quality of his inner energy and bring it closer to spiritual power, Tu Shan Jun would be able to use the Dreamwalking Art and find a way to pass the scripture to Old Xiang.

Whether Old Xiang had spiritual roots or not, they could at least give it a try.

Even if he did not have spiritual roots, there was still a backup plan.

One Yin Soul Pill should not kill him.

But aside from this method, Tu Shan Jun had no other way.

Old Xiang reached out to touch the Yin Soul Pill, but his aged arm hovered above it for a long while, and he did not dare make a move.

He took out a rough cloth handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped up the egg-sized Yin Soul Pill.

Its chill actually passed through the handkerchief and reached his hand.

He did not dare eat it.

Things of unknown origin were not meant to be eaten carelessly in the first place.

Much less something so strange.

Old Xiang was even less willing to eat it.

Moreover, for several days in a row, he no longer sent inner energy into the Soul Banner.

Without inner energy possessing the nature of spiritual power, Tu Shan Jun inside the Soul Banner could do nothing. He could only continue studying martial arts, scriptures, and techniques within it.

Tu Shan Jun could understand Old Xiang's thoughts as well.

No one else would have dared to eat it either.

The Soul Banner already looked gloomy and terrifying, its ghost face painted vividly as though alive.

Twisted black words would appear on the banner's surface, and it could even spit out black things that looked like eggs.

Not only would ordinary people not dare eat them, even Qi Refiners would not dare test medicine on themselves. Who knew whether it would kill them?

Tu Shan Jun only felt that it was such a pity.

Such an excellent place as the great prison, and he could only stare helplessly at it.

There were so many criminals that even if a hundred or so truly died, no one would notice.

Moreover, countless corpses were carried out of the great prison every day.

The three levels of the great prison held thousands upon thousands of prisoners.

If he could obtain them all, perhaps he could evolve into a supreme-grade artifact.

"Restrain impatience and endure."

Tu Shan Jun warned himself.

Fate truly toyed with people. Old Xiang had not handed over the Soul Banner, and the Qi Refiners of the Attendant Hall had not investigated deeply, leaving Tu Shan Jun in an extremely awkward situation.

He had originally wanted to enter the Attendant Hall. With so many Qi Refiners there, anyone who got hold of the Soul Banner could use it.

First, he would settle Li Qingfeng's remains, then assist a banner master in growing stronger.

Who could have expected such a huge mess to arise, causing Old Xiang to keep the Soul Banner in his own hands?

It directly shelved every one of Tu Shan Jun's plans.

Another day passed.

As usual, Old Xiang put on the black robe of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, strapped on his waist saber, and headed out with a lantern before dawn.

The instant the main gate opened, Old Xiang's eyes abruptly widened.

A bloodied man lay at the entrance.

His hands and feet were twisted off to the side at unnatural angles.

The lantern in Old Xiang's hand fell to the ground.

"Son!"

Old Xiang scrambled over on hands and knees and seized his son, lifting him up.

He examined his son's injuries.

The tendons in his hands and feet had all been severed, and both legs were broken and limp.

He was still unconscious.

When his wife rushed over after hearing the commotion and saw their son at the doorway, her vision went black and she fainted on the spot.

By the time the sun hung high in the sky.

The physician carrying a medicine chest walked out through the door.

"Doctor Feng, my son's condition..." Old Xiang hurriedly asked.

The physician in the square cap shook his head and sighed. "From now on, he can only lie on the heated bed. He will never stand again."

"Your wife has suffered a rush of qi and blood to the heart. This illness can only be slowly nursed."

Old Xiang saw the physician off, then sat alone at the doorway.

He had grown older still.

Even the vicious scar on his face seemed to have become deep wrinkles.

Old Xiang stood there in a daze, his lips trembling, his one remaining arm pressing against the saber at his waist.

"For all these years, handling cases and doing your work, how many people have you offended?"

"Can the Embroidered Uniform Guard ever die a good death?"

"You even insisted on giving away the hereditary post of Hundred Household."

"They came to take revenge!"

His pale-faced wife shouted in fury, blaming Old Xiang.

The moment she awoke, she had gone to her son's side, washing her face with tears.

Hundred Household Xiang closed his eyes, his body trembling.

He turned and walked out of the room.

He raised his head toward the heavens.

Tears ran down along his wrinkles.

He had been strong-willed all his life, decisive as thunder and swift as wind.

He had solved major cases, earned merit, and saved nobles.

Yet in the end, this was where he had ended up.

In the inner room, the young man lying on the bed had a pale face and lifeless eyes.

He turned to look at his mother.

In a weak voice, he said, "Mother."

"Mother is here, Mother is here." The old woman hurriedly gripped her son's hand tightly.

"Mother, I don't want to lie on the... bed for the rest of my life."

"Help me."

Where his gaze fell was the rat poison used to kill rats.

The old woman shook her head. "Son, Mother will hire the best physician. You will definitely recover."

"Mother, I'm begging you."