Eve of the Martial Competition, Hantian's Conspiracy Escalates

The night wind swept past the eaves, and before the sound of the tiles lightly trembling had settled, I was already standing on the wall.

That aura had disappeared, like a drop of water melting into the black fog, leaving no trace. But I remembered it—it carried a lingering scent of rot and fishiness, like a soul crawling out of a pile of dead bodies, entwined with a twisted Demonic Qi. It wasn't an ordinary scout; it was the residual trace left by a guiding puppet commonly used by the Blood Demon Sect.

I didn't pursue.

Chasing the true body would only expose my whereabouts. The real killing moves were never made in the open.

I leaped off the wall, landing on the bluestone path outside Ye Qingwan's courtyard. I lowered my head to look at the wet marks at my feet. The bloodstains had been covered by medicinal powder. If it weren't for that gust of wind just now, which had dispersed the concealing aura, no one would have noticed this "puddle of dirty water." I squatted down, my fingertips lightly brushing the ground, picking up a bit of dark red powder.

This wasn't ordinary blood.

As I rubbed it between my fingertips, I could feel fine particles, like crushed bone ash mixed within. This technique was something only people from the Blood Demon Sect's Corpse Refining Hall would understand—mixing the vital essence of a living person with corpse powder to set up an invisible array core, which could both conceal spiritual sense detection and quietly siphon the host's life force.

They had already begun.

I withdrew my hand and stood up. A bronze nail appeared in my sleeve. The tip of the nail was carved with a spiraling rune, the very one I had found earlier at the corner of the alley wall. It should have been driven into a ley line node, but it was dropped by someone who had to withdraw in a hurry. This indicated that the other party was pressed for time, or had sensed something.

Not because they feared me, but because they feared complications.

Returning to my residence, I closed the door and placed the bronze nail on the table. The candlelight flickered, revealing a barely perceptible crack on the nail's surface—a trace left by being scoured by high-level Spiritual Power, indicating someone had attempted to activate it with a secret technique but failed.

There was only one reason for the failure: a counter-restriction array had already been set up here by someone else.

Who?

Before I could ponder further, there were three gentle knocks on the window lattice.

"Young Master... it's me." Afu's voice was kept extremely low, almost drilling through the window gap.

I pulled open the window. He almost tripped when he climbed in, clutching a paper-wrapped package tightly in his arms, its edges soaked with sweat.

"Quick, this is from Hongxiu! She said an undercover agent in the Black Market risked his soul scattering to give this to her!" he panted, his hands trembling as he handed me the oil paper, "She said... it contains an array diagram, related to the martial arts competition!"

I didn't speak. I took the oil paper and unwrapped it layer by layer.

A piece of yellowed parchment unfolded, revealing complex patterns drawn in cinnabar. Eight array eyes were arranged in a circle, with "Twin Blood Seal" marked at the center and four incantations written at the corners: "Blood falls to dust, soul returns to the gate; bones as foundation, life lights the lamp."

My gaze stopped at one of the array eye markers.

That position was precisely beneath the foundation of the outer wall of Ye Qingwan's courtyard.

This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision; they had already laid the groundwork at her residence. On the day of the competition, as soon as she and I were injured and bled, the array would use our Bloodline as a guide and activate instantly.

This wasn't just a killing trap.

It was a sacrifice.

I stared at the diagram for a long time, my fingers slowly tracing the cinnabar lines. The Pseudo-Primordial Body reacted spontaneously, and a faint trace of calamitous energy seeped from the paper, flowing into my body through my fingertips, and was quietly absorbed by the Heaven-Slaying Origin.

It was real.

Not a forgery, nor a trap. This diagram came from within the Blood Demon Sect, and it was drawn recently, because the Battle Intent Fragments it contained still carried a fresh restlessness.

"Young Master... should we strike first?" Afu stood beside me, his voice tight, "I can go dig up those array eyes, or even set fire to them!"

I looked up at him. His face lacked its usual joviality, replaced by a rare solemnity.

"Do you know why they dared to place the array eyes in Qingwan's courtyard?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Because they knew no one would touch it," I slowly rolled up the array diagram. "She's a branch family's concubine-born daughter; no one pays attention to her residence. The guards won't check, and the patrolling disciples won't notice changes in a wall or a paving stone. They counted on that."

Afu gritted his teeth, "These beasts!"

"What's even more ruthless," I continued, "is that they chose to act during the martial arts competition. In full view of everyone, once it erupts, everyone will assume it was an accident on the stage, at most blaming the unstable Secret Realm ley lines. No one will suspect it was a meticulously planned blood sacrifice."

Silence fell in the room.

Afu rubbed his hands, sweat beading on his forehead, "Then... what do we do? Expose them? Or just run?"

I walked to the desk, took out a blank Jade Slip, and began to copy the array diagram.

My brush tip glided across the jade surface, Spiritual Power injected, each stroke precisely replicating the original diagram's trajectory. At the same time, the Heaven-Slaying Origin circulated slowly within me—the closer I got to danger, the more it suppressed my power, and the faster it accumulated.

"Expose them?" I sneered. "Who would believe a crippled young master? City Lord Yan Jiuxiao is outwardly polite but is actually waiting to see. The Ji Family's Great Elder is already controlled by Hantian, and the other Clan Elders have their own agendas. If we speak up, we'll just alert the enemy."

"Then... are we just going to let them succeed?"

"No." I stopped writing and looked up at him. "We're going to let them complete the array."

Afu froze. "Huh?"

"The more complete the array, the greater its flaw," I tapped my fingertip on the array eye positions on the Jade Slip. "They think I'm hiding in the shadows, barely surviving, and that I wouldn't dare to act. But they don't know that what's truly terrifying isn't the killing array, but... someone who has been waiting for it to take shape."

Afu's eyes widened. "Young Master, are you saying... we use their array to strike back?"

I didn't answer, merely tucking the Jade Slip into my sleeve.

The sound of the night watchman's clapper came from outside the window; the third watch had passed.

I got up and walked to the door, suddenly asking, "When you came back just now, were you followed?"

He paused, then shook his head. "No... I don't think so. I took three detours and even changed my clothes."

"Changed clothes?" I frowned.

"Yeah, my grey short jacket was too conspicuous. I borrowed a blue tunic from a pharmacy assistant," he said, reaching into his embrace and pulling out a cloth bag. "Here, this is the medicine pill Hongxiu asked me to give to Miss. It's for calming the nerves."

I took the cloth bag and opened it for a look.

Three black pills, faintly fluorescent on the surface.

Not Calming Pills.

I recognized the color—it was "Spirit Sealing Powder," which could temporarily seal the meridians, making someone appear to be in a deep sleep while their consciousness remained clear. It was often used by assassins to fake their deaths and escape.

Why would Hongxiu send this?

Unless... she had also noticed something.

I re-tied the cloth bag and put it in the bottom of the drawer.

"Afu." I turned to look at him. "Starting tomorrow, don't go out alone. Use the back door for entering and exiting, and avoid the main street. If anyone asks about my condition, tell them I'm in seclusion recuperating from injuries."

He nodded vigorously. "Understood! Then... what about Miss?"

I was silent for a moment.

Ye Qingwan didn't know yet that her residence had been infiltrated. Warning her rashly would only put her on the defensive. What I needed to do was not to protect her for a moment, but to completely sever the viper's seven inches.

"Don't tell her for now," I said. "On the day of the martial arts competition, I'll make her see with her own eyes—who wants to use her blood to ignite the killing array."

Afu seemed to want to say something more, but I stopped him with a raised hand.

I walked to the table, picked up the bronze nail, and applied a little force with my fingertip. The nail snapped in response.

At the break, a very fine silver thread was revealed, like the remnant of some kind of communication insect's antenna.

As expected, they were still monitoring.

My palm vibrated slightly, and a flash of faint golden light turned the entire nail to dust.

"What happened tonight stays buried," I stared at Afu. "Including the existence of this map. If even half a word leaks out, not only will we die, but Qingwan will also have her blood drawn on the spot to sacrifice to the array."

His face turned pale, and he nodded heavily. "I swear!"

I waved my hand, signaling him to leave.

After the door closed, I blew out the candle and sat back down at the desk.

Moonlight slanted in through the window cracks, falling on the jade slip and reflecting a clear outline of an array diagram.

I reached out and pressed the edge of the jade slip. A wisp of faint golden thread seeped from my fingertip, slowly tracing the outer perimeter of the array diagram like a coiled snake, silently waiting for the moment to break free.

The street outside was silent.

And deep underground, eight array eyes were quietly connecting, bloodlines like vines, winding towards the throat of fate.

I closed my eyes, the Heaven-Slaying Origin surging within me like a tide.

The martial arts competition hadn't even begun.

But they had already lost.