The clamor from the Hall of Punishment had finally faded. When I stepped through the courtyard gate, the wind still carried the scent of charred wood.
A rift opened in the clouds overhead, and moonlight slanted across the eaves and roof tiles, casting half the courtyard in blue-gray. I stood by the threshold without entering immediately. Instead, I raised my hand and stuffed the last piece of apple into my mouth, my teeth crunching noisily against the core. After swallowing that sour, astringent mouthful of juice, I spat the core into my palm and gently rubbed the faint golden vein on its surface with my fingertips—it was a crystal formed after the Heaven-Slaying Origin seeped into the fruit. It was so pale that, without close inspection, one would take it for mere fibers in the flesh.
The instant I withdrew my hand, a muffled boom came from the sky.
It was like a mountain collapsing into a deep pool, or a bronze bell sinking into an icy river. The spiritual formation across the entire Ji Family Estate shuddered. Ripples spread across the luminous membrane of the Guardian Barrier before swiftly subsiding. Yet that momentary fluctuation was alarming enough. Guards atop several distant towers all looked up, and someone let out a hushed cry.
I raised my face to look.
Above the nine heavens, Chaos churned as a gray-gold phantom slowly gathered. It resembled neither thunderclouds nor poisonous mist, but rather the outline of some kind of gateway, flickering in and out of sight against the night sky. Shards of light continuously peeled away from its edges and drifted down like snowflakes. Each time one touched the ground, the earth trembled faintly.
This phenomenon... was the resonance between heaven and earth caused by the Origin within me nearing the threshold of the Dao Foundation.
But I could not let it continue.
I turned and walked into the courtyard, stepping onto the stone stairs. The soles of my feet grew faintly warm. The Pseudo-Primordial Body began operating in silence, guiding the lingering Heaven-Slaying Origin in my meridians out through the soles of my feet and into the Earth Meridian. Beneath this courtyard ran a branch of the dragon energy connected to the Ji Clan's ancestral graves, making it ideal for channeling turbulent currents away. I could feel that thread of aura on the verge of erupting slowly stretch and thin, like a stream flowing into an underground river, no longer restless.
I had barely steadied myself when orderly footsteps sounded in the distance.
Iron armor clashed, and long halberds struck the ground. A squad of the City Guard approached from afar and formed ranks outside the courtyard. Their leader wore a black robe and carried a jade seal at his waist. His face was square and upright, his short beard slightly raised. He stood at the front of the formation, his gaze fixed directly on me.
Yan Jiuxiao had arrived.
He was not wearing an official uniform, yet his presence was even more imposing without it. The eight personal guards behind him were all at or above the Golden Core realm. They held Soul-Suppressing Halberds, and once their formation took shape, even the air became heavy and sluggish.
"Young Master Ji." His voice was not loud, but every word was clear. "That phenomenon just now originated from this courtyard of yours."
I did not answer. I merely tossed the apple core in my hand into the air.
It traced an arc as it fell in his direction.
Yan Jiuxiao caught it, a slight frown appearing between his brows. The apple core rolled once in his palm, then suddenly gave off the faintest glimmer of golden light before vanishing in an instant.
"Something I finished eating," I said. "If you think there's some secret inside it, feel free to investigate."
He stared at the apple core for a moment, then suddenly flicked his finger.
A stream of Spiritual Power shot into it.
With a soft pop, the apple core exploded, scattering powder in every direction. But at the very moment the fragments scattered, a speck of golden light burst from the crack and shot straight toward his sleeve. His reaction was swift. He turned his wrist, intending to seal off its aura, but that thread of golden light had already slipped through a gap in the fabric and drilled inside.
The corner of my mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.
That was no ordinary Heaven-Slaying crystal. It was a "bait" I had woven from Residual Dao Fragments. It would neither harm anyone nor expose itself, but it could sense whether traces of demonic energy lingered within whoever touched it—especially old demonic aura that had been concealed on letters or Talisman Paper.
And in that brief instant, I had clearly felt the Pseudo-Primordial Body react with a faint pull.
There really was something in his sleeve.
Yan Jiuxiao lowered his head to look at his sleeve, then raised his eyes to stare at me. His gaze had changed.
It was no longer the lofty scrutiny of an investigator, but the sharpness of someone sizing up prey.
"You're quite composed," he said. "The storehouse caught fire, the murder weapon bore a name, Afu was beaten unconscious and still refused to change his testimony, and then a Gate of Chaos appeared in the sky at precisely this time—right above your head. Tell me, what do you expect people to think?"
I dusted the apple pulp from my hands, my tone calm. "Think what? That after three years of crippled bones, I ascended to the heavens overnight? Or that I played mad and foolish just to burn a few baskets of medicinal herbs?"
He neither smiled nor grew angry. He merely slowly tucked the pile of apple-core debris into his sleeve.
"Ji Hantian slit his wrist to prove his innocence, and now a phenomenon has appeared on your side." He paused. "One wants to clear his name, while the other wants to draw attention. The timing is a little too perfect."
I met his gaze. "So what now? Does the City Lord intend to arrest me, or investigate me? If it is an investigation, the law requires a steward's warrant. If it is an arrest, then please present an arrest order. Otherwise, as a cripple, all I can do is stand here and speak."
The expressions of the surrounding guards shifted slightly.
They had not expected me to respond like that.
Yan Jiuxiao fell silent for several breaths, then suddenly laughed. "Fine words—stand here and speak. It seems the rumors were true. Though you are crippled, your bones are not soft."
He took a step back and raised a hand to signal the withdrawal.
The squad began retreating in orderly fashion, their footsteps gradually fading. But when he reached the courtyard gate, he suddenly stopped and looked back at me.
"We'll discuss that apple core another day." With that, he turned and left.
I remained where I was, neither seeing him off nor moving.
Only after their figures had completely vanished at the end of the corridor did I slowly raise my right hand and brush my fingertips over the Cloud-Treading Boots at my waist. The soles were warm, retaining the heat left behind from guiding the Origin into the ground. The system operated soundlessly, and an exceedingly faint tremor surfaced in the depths of my Sea of Consciousness—no life-threatening danger, Heaven-Slaying Origin +0.03 threads.
Seven threads, nine-tenths, and three.
Just a hair short of reaching the threshold of the Heaven-Slaying Dao Foundation.
I was about to turn back into the room when something strange caught the corner of my eye atop the wall.
A phantom Spirit Butterfly, thin as a cicada's wing, hovered in midair. Its entire body glowed blue-green, and medicinal patterns were faintly etched upon its wings. It circled once, then suddenly beat its wings and rushed at my face. The moment it touched the scar on my left cheek, it transformed into a warm current and seeped beneath my skin.
It was a message Ye Qingwan had left behind.
She was warning me that when Yan Jiuxiao had tested me just now, he had formed a secret hand seal within his sleeve—it was neither a Ji Clan inheritance nor a standard technique of the City Lord's Manor, but a spirit-controlling method connected to the Blood Demon Sect.
She had seen more clearly than I had.
I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, there was no ripple left in their depths.
In the distant sky, the phantom of Chaos was slowly dissipating. Only a long, narrow crack remained suspended high above, like a curtain slashed open by a sharp blade, unable to close for a long while. Wind blew in from the north, sweeping up a fallen leaf from the corner of the courtyard and sending it spinning along the ground.
I bent down to pick up the leaf and discovered that a speck of dark-red powder clung to its underside. It was neither dirt nor rust, but some kind of medicinal residue. I rubbed it between my fingers, and a faint prickling pain came from my fingertips.
This was the Anti-Scouting Powder Ye Qingwan had secretly slipped to me that morning. She had said it could disrupt a high-level cultivator's Spiritual Sense Scan. So she had anticipated an investigation today.
I clenched the leaf in my hand, and a burning sensation spread across my palm.
Just then, a burst of urgent hoofbeats sounded beyond the courtyard.
An inconspicuous Blue Tented Cart came around the street corner and stopped at the entrance to the long lane outside the Ji Clan. An old servant in a conical hat drove the cart. Inside sat a woman draped in a Black Cloak, her hood pulled low enough to reveal only a pale stretch of chin.
She did not get down. She merely lifted one corner of the curtain and glanced in my direction.
I could not see her face, but I knew it was her.
She waited for a moment. When she saw that I did not move, she lowered the curtain.
The carriage turned around and slowly drove away.
I stood where I was, the leaf in my hand already soaked through with sweat.
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