Gaze

After several years here, Li Qi had long mastered the ultimate skill of being able to fall asleep anywhere.

There was no helping it. Sometimes, when towing boats, he had to haul from day until night. By the end, he would be tired as a dead dog, so he would simply lie down on the riverbank's gravel and sleep.

What choice did a boat tracker have?

Staying at an inn cost at least twenty coins a night, and that was only for a shared dormitory bed. If he wanted a private room, it would cost forty or fifty coins at the very least. He could not bear to be so extravagant.

Come to think of it, the world he had once lived in had actually been much the same.

Many farmers worked the fields for an entire year, hauled their harvest into the city, and after selling it all, only had two or three thousand left in their pockets.

They made a trip to the city and earned that much money, but spending a single night there... not even counting those grand hotels, even the budget hotels easily cost one or two hundred, three or four hundred yuan.

So they would rather sit by the roadside and endure the night than spend money on a budget hotel.

Li Qi was one of those people now.

Still, at least he had eaten his fill tonight.

Curled up in a corner with eaves overhead to shelter him was enough.

Li Qi closed his eyes and prepared to rest. He had traveled for an entire day and night yesterday and was exhausted beyond measure. He tied his bundle to his wrist, then tucked it against his chest. No one could touch it without waking him.

He fell asleep.

Yet a dim, lingering gaze watched Li Qi through the profound night sky.

"His temperament is passable, his wits more than adequate, yet he has not lost his courage. He is calm and steady as well—even when facing a warrant for his own arrest, he acts as though nothing has happened. How could this boy resemble some commoner boat tracker? As expected, is he a person of the Outer Dao?"

The "Young Master Zhu" who had stood alongside the Prefect of Li Prefecture atop the River-Viewing Platform, even making the prefect bow to him respectfully, stood in a guest room at a nearby inn. Through the open window, he watched Li Qi.

"After exhausting every effort to conduct a grand sacrifice, the result of the divination said that when the Outer Dao appeared, it would bring me great fortune." He muttered to himself, "The Outer Dao is difficult to divine, but after untold hardships, I finally found a thread of its trail. But does this Outer Dao refer to this object... or that person?" Young Master Zhu toyed with the broken game console in his hand.

He had already tested it by countless methods. Earth Fire, geomancy, thunder, the netherworld, divine radiance, will—he had tentatively brought them all into contact with the object. In the end, he determined that it would only react to a weak electric current.

But it only reacted. The components inside were all ruined; it could not be activated at all.

Was it the effect of this foreign object, or the effect of that person?

Young Master Zhu pondered.

"Mm... mmmph!" But at that moment, a woman's voice came from beside him—the muffled whimpering of someone whose mouth had been gagged.

"Stop calling. Your cultivation has already scattered; you cannot break free of this Silencing Spell." Young Master Zhu put away the game console, turned around, and sat on a stool, looking at the beautiful woman on the bed.

If Li Qi had been here, he would have recognized her at a glance. This was Shen Shuibi, the demon he had gone to every possible length to escape.

"Lady Luofu's personal maid... Heh, what a big fish. The grand sacrifice's result was not wrong at all. The Outer Dao appears, bringing me great fortune. Such heaven-shaking merit has actually been delivered right to my mouth. All I have to do is open it and bite down." Young Master Zhu spoke to Shen Shuibi.

Shen Shuibi's face was filled with terror. Though she appeared to be bound by nothing, it was as if she had been tightly tied up. Like a fish hauled ashore, she kept floundering, yet could neither stand nor get off the bed.

Watching her struggle, Young Master Zhu seemed to find it rather dull. He said, "I will release your restraints and let you speak, but you had better cooperate properly. Can you do that?"

"If not, then do not blame me for taking you back to Wushen Mountain."

"Though my abilities are insufficient to use you to divine Lady Luofu's location, among Wushen Mountain's many great diviners, one will surely be able to do it. By then, you will not even have the chance to cooperate with me." Young Master Zhu said.

"You are Lady Luofu's personal maid, and your karmic connection with her is extraordinary. Tell me, can Wushen Mountain's great diviners trace Lady Luofu's location directly through you?"

"By then, she will die because of you."

Having said that, Young Master Zhu waited for Shen Shuibi's answer.

Shen Shuibi stopped struggling, but tears welled up in her eyes and dripped down patter by patter.

She sobbed for a while, then hurriedly wiped her tears dry on the pillow and nodded.

It seemed she had agreed to cooperate.

Seeing this, Young Master Zhu casually waved a hand and released the restraints on her body.

She suddenly regained her freedom, yet did not move.

"This Great Shaman..." Shen Shuibi looked at Young Master Zhu, trembling all over.

"No, I am merely a Shaman, not a Great Shaman. But it does not matter. Call me whatever you wish," Young Master Zhu said.

He still wore the appearance of a Young Scholar, looking exceedingly kind.

"Shen Shuibi, is it? There is no need to be so afraid. I restrained you earlier only because I feared you might possess some secret art. Now that you have decided to cooperate and have no secret art, why would I make things difficult for you?"

"Besides, you must have noticed, right? If I truly intended to take you back to Wushen Mountain, I would have gone back long ago. Why would I keep you here until now?" Young Master Zhu said.

After all, she was Lady Luofu's maid. She should be able to understand his goodwill.

Yet Young Master Zhu had not expected Shen Shuibi to freeze for a moment before suddenly nodding in realization. Her trembling body relaxed as well.

Huh? Lady Luofu's maid seemed a little foolish?

Still, it was good enough that she had calmed down. She was not the one in charge anyway, so it did not matter whether she was foolish or not.

But seeing Shen Shuibi still standing there blankly, Young Master Zhu spoke again. "Shen Shuibi, do you believe that Baiyue has already become a realm ruled by the Human Path?"

Shen Shuibi was suddenly roused and hurriedly nodded. "Your Highness said... the many states of Baiyue have been too deeply influenced by the Tang Kingdom. They no longer revere the Shaman Path, but worship only the Human Path."

The bluntness of those words made Young Master Zhu's face darken by several shades.

"Ahem. Though Lady Luofu is knowledgeable, she is not from Baiyue after all, and does not understand the present situation well enough. Wushen Mountain remains, in the end, the lord of Baiyue. The Myriad Mountains and the many states of Baiyue still heed Wushen Mountain's commands!" Young Master Zhu said with a gloomy expression.

"Then why are there county towns and prefectural cities everywhere nearby? Why are there magistrates and officials? Why do they rely on laws and regulations to govern the world? I heard those were all features of the Human Path, weren't they?" Shen Shuibi asked in confusion.

"Stop asking such useless questions!" Young Master Zhu snapped in exasperation. "Let us speak of serious matters. Wushen Mountain does not live off free meals; we still have some say in Baiyue. Lady Luofu was wronged in the Tang Kingdom and fled into Baiyue. Perhaps she may come to Wushen Mountain and meet the many Shaman Gods."

"But... Your Highness is not here. What use is there in telling me?" Shen Shuibi looked somewhat aggrieved.

"Therefore, I intend to have you take a messenger and notify Lady Luofu." Young Master Zhu let out a long breath, regaining his composure before continuing.