Like Dust

Halfway back to the West Courtyard, Li Tui stopped at the stone pavilion by the pond.

The night was deep, and dew weighed heavily in the air. The lanterns beneath the pavilion eaves had gone out, leaving only the moonlight, coldly illuminating the water. He leaned against the railing and watched the moon in the pond break apart in the wind as fragments slowly came together in his mind.

Zhao Wen, Zhao Yuanchong, Zhao Hao.

Three wolf cubs thrown into the same jar.

How was that any different from raising Gu? Once the thought came clearly to him, Li Tui found it a little ridiculous. In his previous life, over eighty years, he had seen too many similar tricks. He just hadn't expected an immortal-cultivating Aristocratic Clan to use methods this brazen.

The lump of flesh on his chest suddenly clenched, cutting off his thoughts.

This time it wasn't throbbing, but a sharper pain, like a needle stabbing beneath his skin. Li Tui frowned and pressed a hand against it. It was abnormally hot to the touch, and a dim red glow even seeped through his coarse clothes, gleaming faintly in the darkness.

Almost at the same time, a barely audible snicker sounded beside his ear, as if it came straight from inside his skull.

It wasn't a voice, but a thought.

"Little bastard... You're raising it well."

Every muscle in Li Tui's body tensed in an instant.

"How does it feel, having the Blood Bodhi joined to your flesh and blood?" The thought continued, hoarse and dry. It was the voice of the old monster at the bottom of the well. "But... just raising it isn't enough. Within seven days, at the third quarter of the midnight hour, bring it to the old locust tree in the West Suburbs. This old man has a way to break the curse and spare you some of the backlash."

Li Tui didn't move or respond. He stared at the moon's reflection wavering in the pond, his face expressionless.

The thought waited a few breaths. When Li Tui didn't answer, it chuckled softly. "If you don't come... this old man will go find that little brother by your side. His surname is Huang, right? I hear he still has a sickly old mother at home."

Li Tui finally spoke, his voice even. "Do as you please."

The thought paused.

"You don't care?" The old monster sounded surprised.

"Why should I care?" Li Tui retorted, his tone indifferent, as if he were talking about someone else. "Kill him if you want. What does that have to do with me?"

Silence settled by the pond for a moment.

"...Fine. Fine." When the thought came again, it carried a chill as cold as the grave. "In that case, this old man will try another way. Tell me, what do you think the Zhao Family will do if they learn their household companion has grown a sinister Blood Bodhi?"

Li Tui's gaze darkened.

"Cast you out? Strip you of your cultivation? Or... clean house and get rid of you?" The old monster's laughter sounded like an owl hooting in the night. "You have seven days to think it over. If you haven't shown up by then, this old man has ways to make the Zhao Family discover what's on your body."

The thought receded like a tide.

The stabbing pain in Li Tui's chest faded with it, leaving only the lump of flesh, throbbing slowly.

Li Tui sat in the stone pavilion without moving for a long time. The night wind swept across the pond, carrying the chill of late autumn.

Only when the sound of a night watchman's clapper came from afar did he rise and head for the abandoned garden.

Zhao Hao was already waiting beneath the dead tree.

He leaned against the trunk, turning the Ink Jade Pendant with its deepening crack over in his hand. When Li Tui approached, he glanced up but said nothing.

"That old monster contacted me," Li Tui said bluntly.

Zhao Hao's hand stilled. "What did he say?"

"He wants me to take the Blood Bodhi to the West Suburbs within seven days and exchange it for a way to break the curse. If I don't go, he'll either kill Huang Bao or make the Zhao Family discover what's on my body."

Zhao Hao heard him out and tugged at the corner of his mouth. "He's certainly practiced at threatening people."

"What do you think?" Li Tui asked.

Zhao Hao didn't answer at once. He stared at the pendant in his hand, rubbing a finger over the crack. Only after a long while did he speak. "He wants to force you out from under the Zhao Family's protection."

"Yes."

"Then are you going?"

"No." Li Tui's answer was crisp. "I'll die if I go, and I'll die if I don't. The only difference is how soon."

Zhao Hao let out a soft laugh. The sound stood out in the silence of the abandoned garden.

"I think... this is an opportunity," he said.

Li Tui looked up at him.

"Since that old monster dares to act so recklessly on Zhao Family grounds, he must have something to rely on." Zhao Hao put the pendant back in his clothes and straightened. "As it happens, I want to see how many eyes are hidden throughout the Zhao Family."

Li Tui understood. "You want to use him to test the Zhao Family's depth?"

"Just see what we can find." Zhao Hao turned and looked toward the main compound. In the darkness, the rooftops loomed like a crouching beast.

"The Lineage is raising Gu. You've seen that too. But the people doing the raising... how many tricks do they have up their sleeves? Those rules and regulations we see every day—can they really hold back outside evils, or are they just window dressing for the people below?"

He paused, lowering his voice. "This old monster has come right to our door. We might as well make use of him."

Li Tui was silent for a moment.

"What if the test shows that the Zhao Family simply doesn't care whether a household companion lives or dies?" he asked.

"Then it means that, in their eyes, your life really is as worthless as a blade of grass." Zhao Hao turned his head. Moonlight fell across half his face, but there was no emotion in his eyes. "Better to know than not."

The wind passed through the dead branches, making them rustle.

Li Tui stared at Zhao Hao for a long time, then finally nodded.

"Seven days," he said.

"Seven days." Zhao Hao repeated the words, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile without warmth. "That's enough time to do a lot."

Neither of them said anything more. They turned away and disappeared into the night.

By the time Li Tui returned to his side room, the sky had begun to turn gray.

He barred the door and went to the window. When he pushed it open, the morning wind poured in, scattering the stale air of the night.

From the distant main compound came the muffled thuds of Zhao Yuanchong practicing his punches. The young master of the main branch had risen earlier than usual today.

Li Tui watched the sky grow brighter, the lump of flesh on his chest rising and falling faintly with each breath.

A life as worthless as a blade of grass...

Li Tui tugged at the corner of his mouth and closed the window.

All right.

If they were going to stew in the same jar, if they were all going to be ground into blades...

Then at the very least, he had to see what the hand holding the blade looked like.