Missing Thoughts Literature

Zhongli Que hadn't talked much with Chu Jin about the Nangong Family. After finishing that day's massage lesson, she bid Chu Jin farewell and left.

Only after getting back into the carriage did Zhongli Que quietly let out a breath.

Su Feng asked her, "What's wrong?"

Zhongli Que shook her head. The memory of that year's Flower Appreciation Banquet had stirred up her emotions, and she'd had to keep them bottled up while she was at the clinic.

"Second Brother, what do you think of Sister Chu? Am I just imagining things?" Zhongli Que looked at Su Feng, her brows furrowed in worry.

"I can't find fault with her, but the invitations have me a little concerned," Su Feng said thoughtfully. "Let's watch her for a few more days. Put off the banquet as long as we can, and don't send out the invitations until the very last day."

Zhongli Que nodded.

The two rode away together in the carriage. By the window, Chu Jin watched them go, then gently lowered the hand holding the curtain.

Her expression unchanged, she took out her Listening Wind Ruler and sent a message too obscure to decipher. Once it had gone through, she shattered the Listening Wind Ruler in her hand.

Yu Sui was still waiting in the Dining Hall to see whether anything unusual happened at the clinic after Zhongli Que left. She hadn't expected to see something today, after all.

It wasn't Chu Jin's Listening Wind Ruler that she'd been monitoring, but the message had been sent from the clinic. It was encrypted in Nine Schools Techniques, and Yu Sui couldn't tell which family it belonged to.

Yu Sui told Old Man Yan where the message had been received.

Over the years, Old Man Yan had done many things alongside Yu Sui.

With the intelligence she supplied, he dealt with the capital's underworld, moving between both its dark and respectable sides.

Yu Sui didn't care how Old Man Yan went about his work. She only made sure to pass along the information he needed.

The only time she'd ever approached Old Man Yan with a task of her own was two years ago. She'd intercepted news that the Crown Prince Qingyang was hunting down the leader of the Lan Du Organization. She'd made contact with his rival, Sixth Highness, and caused the Crown Prince's capture attempt to fail, letting the leader escape. Then she'd had Old Man Yan help Sixth Highness capture him.

That day, during a palace banquet, the Qingyang Emperor learned that the Crown Prince had failed to capture the Lan Poison leader, a man who had long disgusted him. In a fit of rage, he was deeply disappointed in the Crown Prince. When the Crown Prince returned to the capital, the Emperor refused to see him and made him kneel in the pouring rain for an entire day.

Yu Sui stood far away beneath an umbrella, gazing at the Crown Prince kneeling in the rain before slowly walking away.

Afterward, Sixth Highness of Qingyang returned with the Lan Du Organization leader's head. Only then did the Qingyang Emperor's anger subside, and Sixth Highness rose to prominence, gradually earning the Emperor's favor.

Besides using the Listening Wind Ruler to gather information and pinpoint locations, Yu Sui also relied on her Five Elements Light Core to track and monitor people. She couldn't enter the world of Nine Schools Practitioners, but getting involved in the occasional political struggle in the capital wasn't too difficult.

Besides, the situation in the Qingyang Imperial Capital made it easy to fish in troubled waters. The Qingyang Emperor had many children, and several capable Highnesses coveted the Crown Prince's position. Each family chose its side, court officials turned over rapidly year after year, and the surrounding Feudal States were constantly at war.

Every year brought its share of formidable people. Everyone aspired to reach the highest place in the capital, hoping to gain more or simply keep their lives steady.

Whenever Yu Sui took action, Old Man Yan helped her assess the risks, telling her whom she could afford to offend and whom she couldn't.

He was usually taciturn, but when he did speak, he hit the nail on the head with cutting precision.

Yu Sui had learned a lot from Old Man Yan. She thought that back in Yan, he must have been a master of political strategy—either a family's adviser or a powerful minister of Yan.

But Old Man Yan never said, and she would never know which.

The sunlight was blazing over the Qingyang Imperial Capital. Spring was nearly over. The blossoms along the roads were no longer a wash of pink, white, and scarlet; the trees had returned to a lush green.

The narrow alley was empty and still.

The luxuriant trees inside the stone-walled courtyards on either side sent out so many branches that the whole lane lay beneath their shade. Under the blazing sun, it was cool and shadowy.

Looking closely, one could see a long, thin shadow creeping along the shaded road, pressed against the wall.

The shadow peeled away from the ground and climbed the stone wall into a house.

Inside, Kang Heng had just put away his Listening Wind Ruler and was preparing to carry out the order he'd received.

He had barely stepped out of the room when he looked up, alert. A flash of blade-light crossed his vision as he sensed danger. Kang Heng's pupils contracted. His terrified eyes reflected a black-and-gold blade-staff, imposing and sinister. But the most dangerous thing was the black-clad youth gripping it with both hands.

The youth looked no older than sixteen or seventeen. He had snow-white skin, delicate features, and slightly arched brows. His bright smile made him look like a mischievous boy next door.

"Yo!"

The black-clad youth even greeted him playfully. With one swing, he shattered Kang Heng's Five Elements defense and sent him crashing back into the room, gravely wounded. The collision between their Five Elements Qi sent a shock wave through the doorway, breaking it apart and scattering splinters across the dirt floor and into the house.

Kang Heng clutched his chest. Blood surged up his throat. He tried to hold it back, but ended up spitting out a mouthful.

Who was this?! Every nerve in Kang Heng's body tensed. He had no time to wonder how he'd been exposed or who his enemy was.

He reacted swiftly. Before the black-clad youth could strike again, he gathered his Five Elements Qi—not to fight, but to make a desperate escape.

Yin-Yang School's Heavenly Secrets Technique · Swallowing Shadow.

A shadow had barely formed on the ground when the black-clad youth's blade-staff was already upon Kang Heng. His heart lurched.

So fast!

He hadn't even been given time to perform a Nine Schools Technique!

The sharp blade chopped off Kang Heng's right hand just as he secretly began Forming Seals. As Kang Heng screamed, the youth didn't pause. He turned his wrist and drove the blade straight into Kang Heng's abdomen. It sank into the flesh, then twisted sideways, preventing him from using any Nine Schools Techniques and pinning him in place, unable to move.

The black-clad youth hadn't hesitated once. His attacks were decisive and ruthless, as if he'd done this many times before. His speed had given Kang Heng no chance to react.

Kang Heng's face turned deathly pale before their eyes. Sweat covered his head as he stared at the black-clad youth, shock and hatred mingling in his gaze.

The black-clad youth bent down to take his Listening Wind Ruler. The moment his fingertips touched it, he sensed something wrong and instantly retreated. Kang Heng's Five Elements Light Core exploded, not only leaving himself dead beyond recognition but destroying the Listening Wind Ruler as well.

Blood sprayed through the room. The black-clad youth spun his blade-staff, deflecting every drop that flew toward him. Standing in the doorway, silhouetted against the light, he looked at Kang Heng's mangled remains and clicked his tongue in dismay.

He hadn't gotten the Listening Wind Ruler or taken a prisoner. He'd need to bring something back to report.

He hadn't even intended to kill anyone. He'd only been ordered to take a Listening Wind Ruler and ask a few questions. Who could have guessed the man would be so scared he'd destroy himself?

The black-clad youth looked around and searched the room for a while. After confirming that he'd missed no useful information, he closed the door and turned into a shadow, slipping back into the darkness to wait and see whether there were any accomplices.

Chu Jin sat beside the Consultation Desk on the first floor of the clinic. Faint light from the window fell across the table. Several red lines had been marked in the open Medical Book, and Chu Jin leafed through it absentmindedly.

Only after nightfall did a healer come over and bend to whisper something in her ear.

Chu Jin closed the Medical Book, and the healer withdrew with a bow.

Resting one finger beneath her chin, she gazed out at the darkening sky. The bustling streets of the day had grown deserted.

Who was interfering with her plans? The Prince's Mansion Second Young Master who had arrived today, or the Zhongli Family, who had started to suspect something?

The former would be easy to handle. But the Great General of the Zhongli Family was no pushover.

Still, this seemed to confirm her suspicions: there really was something wrong with the Listening Wind Rulers.

Chu Jin rose lightly from her seat and said to the healer waiting beside her, "Use the Agricultural School's method of voice transmission to tell the others not to use Listening Wind Rulers for now. All messages must be sent and received through Sound Transmission Beasts."

"Then have the people over at Xuan Kui find a way to get Zhongli Que's Listening Wind Ruler."

The Qingyang Imperial Capital was even livelier at night than during the day. Many streets that remained closed in daylight blazed with lights after dark, crowded with people coming and going.

The shadow climbed along walls cloaked in darkness until it reached the very end of a bustling street. Two Taoist Sound-Avoiding Talismans hung in front of the door, cutting off all the noise from the street beyond.

Inside the entrance stood two flourishing jujube trees. The shadow turned left and followed the Water corridor deep into the courtyard.

Stone lanterns flanked an archway built into the white wall, lighting up the pitch-black night. In the Rain pavilion beyond, an Old Man was brewing tea. Across from him, a blind young man spoke gently. "Ye Xi is back."

It was an awkward name, but the blind young man pronounced it clearly and correctly.

Zou Yexi emerged from the darkness. His usually grinning face turned pitiful the instant Old Man Yan looked over. "I crouched there all night, but nobody came. They probably spotted something wrong from a distance using those little bugs of the Agricultural School, so they didn't come."

"I scared the man so badly he destroyed himself rather than let me take his Listening Wind Ruler," Zou Yexi rattled off. "But he used a Nine Schools Technique from the Yin-Yang School. He'd barely started Swallowing Shadow when I cut him off. I searched his house too and found some records about keeping an eye on the Zhongli Family. Lately, they've been watching that young lady from the Zhongli Family."

"There are plenty of people from the Agricultural School in the capital," Old Man Yan said in his hoarse voice. His withered face remained utterly expressionless.

Zou Yexi wiped his face with his sleeve, entered the Rain pavilion, and plopped down to drink tea. "Why don't you have Brother Shan Rong calculate what they're up to? Or I could just go to the clinic and grab that person for you to interrogate."

Shan Rong chuckled. His once-handsome face now bore only two dark, sinister hollows where his eyes had been gouged out.

The youth cupped his face in his hands and rolled his eyes, looking first at the elderly cripple with one arm missing to his left, then at the young blind cripple to his right. He sighed. "I still don't know why we have to protect that young lady from the Zhongli Family. Old Man, I've worked for you for years. You should at least tell me who the boss above you is."

Old Man Yan said nothing.

Zou Yexi slammed the table in exasperation. "Look at you! You still don't trust me! I came all the way from Yan to join you, and this is how you treat me! If you don't tell me today, I'm quitting!"

He got up and walked away, glancing back at Old Man Yan with one eye open and the other shut. When Old Man Yan made no move, as if he didn't care whether Zou Yexi stayed or left, Zou Yexi couldn't keep it up for long. He pretended nothing had happened, returned to the table, and sat down beside Shan Rong.

"You've alerted them," Old Man Yan said mildly. "Keep watching the clinic."

Zou Yexi nodded obediently. "Oh."

Old Man Yan added, "Shan Rong, locate the Agricultural School disciples entering and leaving the clinic or the Zhongli Family's home."

"All right," Shan Rong replied warmly.

Old Man Yan held his Listening Wind Ruler in one hand and sent a message back to Yu Sui, telling her what had happened that day.

Although they couldn't be sure that the encrypted message had come from Chu Jin, it had been sent from the clinic, so it was very likely hers.

Once decoded, the message read: Zhongli Que's Listening Wind Ruler.

Yu Sui was at the Taoist Saint Hall. She stood beneath an apricot tree, staring blankly up at the fully ripened apricots, when her Listening Wind Ruler began to buzz.

After reading Old Man Yan's reply, Yu Sui fell into thought.

Old Man Yan said, "If the other party is clever, they'll realize the problem came from today's message. After that, they'll stop using Listening Wind Rulers to send information. They might also test the waters, sending out more meaningless messages to lure us into the open."

Using Listening Wind Rulers to gather information was convenient, but dangerous too.

Messages transmitted through Listening Wind Rulers had only been intercepted in the Qingyang Imperial Capital over the years. If someone noticed that and spent time investigating, it would only be a matter of time before they found the mastermind.

Chu Jin had first noticed Zhongli Que's Listening Wind Ruler.

During her massage lessons, she'd seen Zhongli Que's Listening Wind Ruler receive and send messages several times. But when she got her hands on it, she couldn't find any trace of a message.

"I'll tell her to be careful," Yu Sui replied.

Old Man Yan added, "There's no need to worry."

Seeing those four words, Yu Sui raised an eyebrow.

In a way, Yu Sui and Old Man Yan worked together, but stayed out of each other's affairs.

Yu Sui didn't know what channels or methods Old Man Yan used, and his subordinates didn't know anything about Yu Sui.

She only supplied information. Old Man Yan used it to take care of certain matters, then paid her far more than a single gold coin.

Old Man Yan was a man of few words, but he kept his promises.

Now he told Yu Sui, "Focus on your cultivation at Taiyi. I'll take care of the trouble in the capital."

The child who had longed for power had grown up and finally entered the world of cultivation.

Although Old Man Yan couldn't see Yu Sui, he could imagine how excited and happy she must be.

But the world of Nine Schools Techniques wasn't any easier than the world of Normal Practitioners.

He remembered a spring night two years ago, when Yu Sui was only sixteen. Her face still held a trace of childishness, though her lively brows and eyes were already charming. Wearing a Peach Red dress and a white, thin-fur coat, she sat behind a table in the Rain pavilion, sipping the tea he'd made, cup after cup.

That night, Yu Sui had gone out with her Second Brother, Su Feng, and a group of friends. She'd only managed to slip away while they were eating and having fun at the restaurant up front.

Yu Sui chattered with Old Man Yan about this and that. Holding her hot tea, she looked up through the white steam. Her clear eyes reflected Old Man Yan's withered, expressionless face as she smiled and said, "You seem to have come back to life."

The young girl exclaimed softly, "You're not as lifeless as you used to be."

Fine rain pattered against the Rain pavilion, and the raindrops falling from its eaves joined into shimmering strands.

Old Man Yan didn't answer. He simply poured himself a cup of hot tea.

The girl didn't seem embarrassed. Resting her cheek on one hand, she studied him curiously. "Will you go back to Yan?"

"No."

"Have you lost all hope in that place?" the girl asked.

Old Man Yan didn't answer.

The girl parted her lips and gently blew on her tea. "I heard my father was one of the main people who plunged Yan into chaos. He killed many people there and made Yan no longer the Yan of the Yan people. As someone from Yan, you must hate him. You must wish he were dead."

"Then why don't you hate me?" The girl gazed at him with limpid eyes and a tender smile. "I'm Nangong Ming's Daughter, after all, and the heir to the Prince's Mansion he personally chose."

Old Man Yan looked at her too, his gaze calm and indifferent. "You don't seem like his daughter."

"But I am." The girl sighed ruefully. "If I weren't his daughter, I might not have survived until now."

"I'll judge you and Nangong Ming separately," Old Man Yan said. "Though you want to escape your father's control, you can't rush it."

The girl's gaze faltered.

Old Man Yan continued, "Your father is even more powerful and terrifying than you imagine."

"I know." The girl held her cup in both hands and sipped her tea obediently. "That's why I didn't provoke him when he could have crushed me with a single finger."

This time, it was Old Man Yan's turn to ask her a question. "What are you saving money for?"

"With money, you can do all sorts of things. Without it, you can't do anything." The girl smiled brightly. "When I'm free someday, I can buy property in another country, start a little business, and spend my days lazing around while I count the money rolling in."

It sounded like a lovely dream.

But Old Man Yan said, "Your father won't be satisfied with Yan alone. Until his ambitions are fulfilled, nowhere will be safe. Other than Qingyang, any place could be the next Yan."

The girl gazed at the steaming tea and said softly, "But I don't like Qingyang."

Old Man Yan only looked at her in silence.

Nangong Ming probably never imagined that one day his enemy would serve his daughter.