Scheming

Li Tui walked out of the storehouse, the burning pain in his chest intensifying.

The pain seeped out from between his bones, as if something were crawling through his meridians. He looked down; a dark red bloodstain had spread across his lapel, its edges tinged with a bruised, sickly black.

He could not return to the West Courtyard.

He veered off, slipping into the narrow alley behind the storehouse. At the end of the alley stood a dilapidated woodshed, its door left ajar and coated in thick dust.

He pushed the door open and pulled it shut behind him.

The woodshed was piled with scrap lumber. He tore off a piece of rag and wiped the side of his neck. The blood had already congealed, and the skin around the wound had turned purple and hardened, feeling like cold iron to the touch.

The Blood Fiend Qi of the evil cultivator had burrowed into his flesh.

Li Tui tore open his lapel. The tumor remained still, but the dark red veins on its surface had woven into a dense web, almost enveloping the entire mass. Deep within, a tiny, scarlet, ghostly light flickered in rhythm with his heartbeat.

He pressed his fingertips against it.

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

Li Tui tensed, his right hand reaching for the short blade at his waist.

"It's me."

The voice was hushed.

The door creaked open a crack, and Zhao Hao slipped inside sideways. He had changed into a dark blue training suit with a sword at his waist. His gaze swept across the woodshed before landing on the wound on Li Tui's chest.

"That's a nasty wound," he said.

Li Tui didn't respond, quickly pulling his lapel shut.

Zhao Hao closed the door firmly, walked over to the woodpile, and tossed a small celadon bottle over. "This should ease your injury. Apply it topically to draw out the poison."

Li Tui caught it but did not use it immediately.

"How did you know I was here?"

"My first match today was a bye, so I went to the storehouse for medicine and saw you ducking in here," Zhao Hao said, his tone indifferent. "That commotion in the West Corridor—was that your doing?"

Li Tui was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"An evil cultivator?"

"Yes. He has infiltrated the estate."

Zhao Hao's eyes darkened.

"He actually dared to sneak in..." he repeated slowly, his gaze falling on the bloodstain. "It seems he is truly determined to get his hands on that thing you're carrying."

Li Tui offered a bitter smile but did not reply.

"That 'Blood Bodhi' of yours," Zhao Hao said suddenly, "is likely no ordinary evil object."

Li Tui's heart skipped a beat.

"What makes you say that?"

"Ordinary evil objects either drain blood or refine souls," Zhao Hao stared at him. "But when I got close just now, I felt a sense of 'living energy' instead. It was almost as if... something not yet awake was breathing."

Li Tui gripped the porcelain bottle tightly.

He knew the Blood Bodhi was extraordinary. The thing in the corridor had been able to swallow the evil cultivator's Blood Fiend ghosts whole; how could that be the work of a common evil spirit?

But he dared not reveal this secret.

"Perhaps it's just the lingering effects of the evil cultivator's methods," he said in a low voice.

Zhao Hao glanced at him and did not press further.

"Remember to treat your wound," he changed the subject. "But more importantly, since that old man dared to sneak in once, he will dare to do it again. As the Small Competition progresses, the scene will become more chaotic and the baleful energy heavier... For him, this environment is a perfect hunting ground."

Li Tui nodded. "I've been thinking the same thing."

"Our original plan needs to change," Zhao Hao walked to the window and looked out through a hole. "Provoking a conflict between the evil cultivator and the Zhao Family carries too much risk. If we aren't careful, both of us will die."

"What do you have in mind?"

Zhao Hao turned around.

"Turn the tables," he said. "Since he is obsessed with your treasure, we will use that greed against him."

Li Tui frowned. "How?"

"The evil cultivator has struck twice, both times choosing secluded spots and aiming for quick kills," Zhao Hao analyzed. "This shows he is afraid. He fears alerting the Zhao Family and fears exposure. But he won't give up. As the Small Competition reaches its later stages, seeing blood will be common, and a few deaths won't seem strange... Striking then will be the least likely to arouse suspicion."

"You mean he will come again?"

"He definitely will," Zhao Hao said with certainty. "And it will be within these next two or three days. The fiercer the fighting on the arena, the more the crowd's eyes will be fixed there—that is his perfect opportunity to strike."

Li Tui was silent.

He understood. Rather than hide, it was better to set a trap.

"You want to use him as a 'whetstone'?"

"And a 'pathfinder'," Zhao Hao added. "Neither of us knows exactly what that Blood Bodhi is. But since it can suppress the evil cultivator's Blood Fiend methods, we might as well... let it clash with something hard more often."

A chill ran through Li Tui's heart.

"You want to use the evil cultivator to test it?"

"I want to gauge its bottom line." Zhao Hao's tone was calm. "This thing is growing on you. If it's a blessing, perhaps it can give me a hand; if it's a curse... you can't hide from it anymore, can you?"

Li Tui looked down at his chest. The tumor beneath his lapel pulsed silently.

"Do you have a plan?"

Zhao Hao took a folded piece of paper from his sleeve and unfolded it. On it was a sketch of the West Side Herb Garden of the Zhao Mansion, with several spots circled in vermilion ink.

"These locations are where the guards are thinnest and the fewest people are present during the Small Competition." He pointed to the map. "If the evil cultivator strikes again, he will surely choose one of these. We can set up positions in advance and create a 'chance encounter'."

"How do we set it up?"

"I will have someone pass word to the steward to 'arrange' for you to go to the West Side Herb Garden to collect medicine." Zhao Hao said. "You are injured and have limited mobility; you are a ready-made bait. Once he sees you, he won't let the opportunity pass."

Li Tui stared at the map, his mind racing.

"What if he goes straight for the kill?"

"That is why there must be a way out." Zhao Hao pointed to a spot on the map. "Here, east of the woodshed, there is a secret passage that leads outside the mansion. If the situation goes wrong, you run there."

"What if he chases me into the secret passage?"

"I have set things up in the secret passage." Zhao Hao said indifferently. "Enough to stall him for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. One stick of incense is enough for you to get out of the mansion, and enough to alert the experts in the house."

Li Tui stared at the map for a long time.

This plan was dangerous. The evil cultivator was in the Qi Refining stage; the slightest miscalculation meant death.

But he had no choice.

The evil cultivator had already latched onto him. He could hide today, but not tomorrow. Rather than cowering and waiting for death, it was better to fight for a way to live.

"Fine." He finally said.

Zhao Hao put away the map.

"Rest well today. Tomorrow, after the competition ends, someone will call for you to go to the herb garden." He walked to the door, his hand resting on the panel, and turned his head slightly. "Remember, if things become impossible, save your life first. If you live, this game can still be broken; if you die, it does no good for me whoever the Blood Bodhi falls into the hands of."

As his voice faded, he pushed the door open and left.

The woodshed returned to silence.

Li Tui leaned back against a stack of firewood and opened the porcelain bottle. Inside was a pale green medicinal powder with a bitter, clean scent. He poured some out and applied it to the wound on the side of his neck.

The powder felt ice-cold against his skin, and the burning pain eased slightly.

Li Tui pulled at the corner of his mouth.

Zhao Hao helping him was never out of the goodness of his heart. The anomaly on his body was, in Zhao Hao's eyes, a variable that could shift the current situation.

If it could shift things, Zhao Hao would be happy to see it; if it couldn't, it was his, Li Tui's, life that would be broken.

Either way, Zhao Hao would not lose out.

Li Tui closed his eyes.

In the distance outside the window, the clamor, shouts, and the crisp clashing of weapons from the direction of the arena came in waves.

Like the drumbeats of a death knell.

The second day of the Small Competition was in full swing.

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