Transaction

At the bottom of the well.

Zhao Hao released the hand clutching his ribs; his palm was slick and sticky. He glanced down, tore off the sweat cloth from his waist, and roughly bound the wound. His movements were harsh, yet he did not even furrow his brow. Blood seeped into the coarse fabric, staining it a deep, dark color.

Li Tui leaned against the well wall and tore open his shirt. On his chest, that dark red tumor was deeply embedded into his flesh, its surface covered in fine, dense lines like blood vessels. At this moment, it was pulsing rhythmically with an eerie cadence, each contraction tugging at the healthy skin surrounding it.

Zhao Hao's gaze remained pinned to the tumor for two breaths before he curled his lip. "It's grown into your flesh?"

"Yes." Li Tui's voice was calm, as if he were speaking of someone else's body. "It cannot be removed."

He raised his right hand and pressed his fingertips gently against the dark red surface. The tumor contracted abruptly, like a startled heart, before expanding again, pulsing even more violently. The fine lines glowed with a faint, dark red light; through the thin skin, one could see something wriggling inside.

"That old monster calls it a Blood Bodhi." Li Tui lowered his hand. "Now, it is a part of me."

Zhao Hao stared at the pulsing mass of dark red, his eyes darkening. "A parasitic evil object... you truly are daring to nurture it."

"I had no choice." Li Tui's lips curled, the arc devoid of warmth. "That night in the West Suburbs, if he had truly wanted to kill me, I would not be alive now."

"So he let you go so that you could use your body to nurture this evil thing." Zhao Hao sneered. "Once it's fattened up, he'll harvest both you and this thing together."

Li Tui did not respond.

Outside the well came the rustling sound of wind blowing through wild grass. In the distance, a few more lights in the direction of the Zhao Mansion flickered out.

"The commotion just now," Zhao Hao said suddenly, "if anyone in the mansion is on night patrol, they must have noticed."

Li Tui looked up. "And so?"

"And so, you and I do not have much time." Zhao Hao braced himself to stand. The movement tugged at the wound on his ribs, causing sweat to bead on his forehead, but he stood firmly. "You heard what that old monster said before he left. The Blood Bodhi is now connected to your flesh and blood; he cannot take it back, and others will find it hard to remove, but you have certainly become his living target."

After a pause, Zhao Hao's gaze nailed itself to Li Tui's face like an iron spike. "You won't live long."

Li Tui's face remained expressionless. He leaned against the well wall to stand, the tumor on his chest pulsing with his movements, like a second heart beating.

"If Young Master Hao has something to say, just say it."

Zhao Hao stared at him for a full three breaths.

"I can tolerate you," he said slowly, each word squeezed out from between his teeth. "When necessary, I will step in to block that old monster for you."

Li Tui did not rush to respond. He waited for the second half of the sentence.

"But you must do something for me." Zhao Hao's voice dropped lower, echoing in the narrow space at the bottom of the well. "By Zhao Yuanchong's side, you can see what I cannot. I want you to keep an eye on the clan elders, the stewards, and their attitudes toward him, toward me, and even toward that 'disaster star' Zhao Wen in the southwest corner."

Li Tui's eyes flickered.

Why was Zhao Hao suddenly interested in Zhao Wen?

His thoughts raced. Zhao Hao possessed the Seven Killings Star Fate and had been biding his time; his ambitions were certainly not small. That he had suddenly cast his gaze toward Zhao Wen meant he must have sensed something.

"Why does the main branch indulge Zhao Yuanchong? Why does the collateral branch suppress me? What is Zhao Wen's current situation?" Zhao Hao took a half-step forward, his presence overbearing. "These are the things I need to know—who is pulling the strings behind them."

"Information in exchange for protection." Li Tui nodded slowly. "Agreed."

"More than that." Zhao Hao fished out the cracked Ink Jade Pendant from his robes and rubbed his fingertips over it. "I want concrete evidence. Who said what, who met whom, and who is passing notes in the shadows."

Li Tui was silent for a moment.

"It will take time," he said. "There are many eyes around Zhao Yuanchong; acting too conspicuously will invite suspicion."

"That is your concern." Zhao Hao put the pendant away, tucking it back under his collar. "I only ask for results."

He turned, gripped the protruding brick seams of the well wall with one hand, and tested his strength.

"Wait." Li Tui spoke suddenly.

Zhao Hao paused but did not turn back.

"What if what I uncover is not just internal clan strife?" Li Tui's voice was very soft. "If it involves people from the outside, or those existences above... would Young Master Hao still dare to take it?"

With his back to him, Zhao Hao's shoulder blades tightened beneath his tattered clothes.

After a long while, he let out a low laugh.

"You just focus on the investigation," he said hoarsely. "If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up."

With that, he used his hands and feet to climb rapidly up the brick seams of the well wall. Though his movements were sluggish due to his injuries, they remained agile.

Li Tui stood in place, listening as the rustling sounds above gradually faded away.

The bottom of the well returned to a deathly silence.

Li Tui looked down at the tumor on his chest. It glowed faintly in the dim light, its pulse slow and powerful. He could feel something seeping through this mass of flesh, bit by bit, into his meridians, traveling along his blood and qi throughout his entire body.

The old monster was right; this thing had truly grown into him.

Li Tui pressed his right hand against the pulsing dark red mass.

After a long time, he released his hand, bent down, and picked up the short blade from the ground. Although the edge was chipped in several places, it could still be used. He scanned the bottom of the well once more, kicked a few blood-stained stones into the corner, and used his foot to cover them with damp mud.

Only after doing this did he climb the well wall and scramble out of the opening.

At the end of the distant fields, the light of torches could be seen moving—likely the Zhao Mansion night patrol.

Li Tui crouched in the wild grass, waiting for the group to move further away before rising and stumbling toward the side gate of the Zhao Mansion.

By the time he returned to the west courtyard servant quarters, the sky was already beginning to brighten.

Li Tui latched the door and slid down until his back rested against the wood. He pulled open his collar to stare at the squirming dark red mass for a moment, then suddenly let out a low chuckle.

Fine.

Since it's here, I might as well accept it; there's no need to worry about how to deal with it anymore, just use it.

Li Tui pressed his right palm against the surface of the tumor, and a scorching, warm current surged up through the meridians of his arm. The stinging pain in his wound eased, but at the same time, a deeper sense of exhaustion seeped out from his bone marrow.

Half a quarter of an hour later, he let go and slumped to the floor. The wound on his left shoulder had stopped bleeding, but the tumor seemed to have swollen by another circle.

The sound of servants sweeping drifted in from outside the window.

A new day had begun.

Li Tui slowly sat up and pulled his collar back into place. The dark red tumor formed a slight bulge beneath the coarse fabric. He changed into clean clothes and, facing the rippling reflection in the water basin in the corner, wiped away the last trace of abnormality from his face.

When he pushed open the door, the morning light spilled over him.

He squinted, straightened his back, and walked toward the main house.

He ran into Huang Bao on the way. The boy was carrying a water bucket and, seeing him approach, hurriedly lowered his head and stepped aside.

As they brushed past each other, Huang Bao said in an extremely low voice, "Big Brother... someone went to see Zhao Wen again last night. It was a stranger, wearing an indigo robe, with a waist token engraved with the characters 'External Affairs'."

Li Tui did not stop his pace, only nodding almost imperceptibly.

When he reached the main house, Zhao Yuanchong happened to be pushing the door open to step out. His brocade robe was loose and his eyes were bleary with sleep; seeing Li Tui standing in the corridor, he raised an eyebrow.

"Yo, up so early?" He yawned. "Is your injury healed?"

"Thanks to your blessing, Young Master, it is no longer a concern." Li Tui bowed. The tumor on his left shoulder pulsed slightly beneath his clothes.

Zhao Yuanchong stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly smiled.

"That's good." He turned and walked back into the room, his voice drifting back lazily, "Accompany me to the outer warehouse today. Second Brother brought back a batch of new tea from the prefecture city, and Father wants me to go pick some up to taste."

The outer warehouse?

Li Tui's heart stirred. The Zhao Mansion's outer warehouse stored incoming supplies and was located right next to the External Affairs Hall. Someone from the External Affairs Hall had gone to see Zhao Wen last night, and today Zhao Yuanchong was going to the outer warehouse to fetch tea...

It was too much of a coincidence.

"Yes." He replied, eyes lowered as he followed.

As he turned, his peripheral vision caught a dark gray figure flashing past the corner of the corridor.

It was Zhao Hao.

Their gazes met in the air for a split second before breaking apart.

As if they had never seen each other.

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