A Plan to Smash the Cauldrons and Sink the Boats

But when the crowd rushed to the foot of the mountain, they were stunned to find that the county yamen's constables had already sealed off the entrance as tightly as an iron barrel.

Acting County Magistrate Cheng Yishu stood at the entrance, drenched in sweat as he explained himself to the ever-growing, surging crowd around him.

"Cold Mountain Mine Cave is forbidden ground by imperial decree. No one is permitted to enter!"

"This official knows full well that the recent weather has been perverse, and it has indeed affected the growth of Cold Mountain Grass. But it has absolutely not gone extinct as completely as the rumors claim! This county has already prepared a memorial to the court, detailing the circumstances and earnestly requesting a reduction or exemption of this year's labor service for all you good people..."

Under Cheng Yishu's mixture of soft persuasion and stern assurances, the crowd on the brink of rioting finally dispersed, though they left with hearts full of doubt and resentment.

"Watch this place like hawks! Do not let anyone in!" As the tide of people receded, Cheng Yishu darkened his face and issued the order.

In truth, he had personally gone down into the mine earlier to investigate. The remaining Cold Mountain Grass within had indeed all withered to death.

But this matter absolutely could not be exposed now. Otherwise, if the troublesome rabble outside learned the truth, the riot that followed would be far beyond his ability to suppress.

We can't possibly mobilize the Black-Armored Army over this and arrest them all, can we? If it truly comes to that, I'm afraid even my post as county commandant won't be secure!

At that thought, Cheng Yishu had already cursed Fang Xun countless times in his heart.

By now, he had finally realized it:

What path to the azure clouds?

That old fox had clearly intended to use him as a scapegoat!

Getting aboard a ship was easy; getting off was hard. Since he had taken up the scalding-hot potato of acting county magistrate, it was already utterly impossible for him to wash his hands clean of the affair.

"That bastard Fang Xun has been nowhere to be seen lately, either."

"Luckily, his family is still here. Otherwise, I'd really suspect he'd packed up and run away long ago."

Cheng Yishu pressed hard against his throbbing temples, racking his brains over how to quell this catastrophe that blotted out the sky.

Yet he could never have imagined that Fang Xun, the Cold Mountain County magistrate whom he hated enough to grind his teeth, was at this very moment deep within the mine beneath his feet.

Yu Shang and Wu Kuang, bound hand and foot, lay sprawled on the ground like two heaps of mud, their fate unknown.

Fang Xun, meanwhile, had his brows tightly furrowed.

He had not expected news of Cold Mountain Grass nearing extinction to spread of its own accord at such a critical juncture.

But on second thought, more than half a year had passed since the incident. It was not surprising that some sharp-sensed laborer had noticed something amiss.

At that thought, Fang Xun's knitted brows gradually relaxed. A grim, chilling smile curled across his lips. "When the time comes, Heaven and Earth lend their strength. I had originally worried that if a mountain collapse and ground fissure occurred for no reason, it would inevitably arouse suspicion. Now, Heaven has bestowed upon me a perfect shield."

"Ignorant rabble trespassed into the Cold Mountain mine passage and dug wildly in search of Cold Mountain Grass, damaging the mountain's load-bearing structure and ultimately causing its collapse."

"Next, I need only wait for the right moment to ignite it all."

Fang Xun turned his palm, and a brilliant golden gleam suddenly flashed across it.

It was a Rectification Garden official letter stamped with the grand seal of the Sacred Capital's Censorate.

"Whenever a major local official is promoted to the capital, he must first enter Rectification Garden and undergo a full month of screening and further training."

"Under that pretext, I can withdraw ahead of time openly and honorably."

"As long as I am in the Sacred Capital, whatever happens at Cold Mountain will have nothing to do with me."

Fang Xun gently stroked the flowing, radiant gold foil, his expression intoxicated, as though he were caressing a lover's skin.

"Still, to ensure nothing goes wrong, I must leave behind a few hidden pieces within Cold Mountain's territory."

A moment later, Fang Xun put away the official letter and coldly swept his gaze over the two unconscious men beside him.

"I was still wondering where to find suitable candidates, yet the two of you delivered yourselves to my door at precisely this time."

"Then don't blame me for being ruthless!"

In an instant, Fang Xun's imposing Great Qian official robe blurred and turned transparent. In its place appeared an ancient Confucian School long robe that stirred despite the absence of wind.

"My Way is bound together by one thread."

He looked down upon Yu Shang and Wu Kuang from above and spoke coldly.

As his words fell, the two men who had been unconscious stiffly climbed to their feet. Yet their eye sockets had become a terrifying ash-white, with not the faintest trace of pupils remaining.

Like walking corpses, their lips opened and closed mechanically as they repeated in a hair-raising monotone, "My Way, bound together by one thread."

Immediately afterward, similarly illusory, ethereal shadows of Confucian robes condensed around them. The ash-white in their eyes receded like the tide, restoring the spark of living men.

Within the dark mine cave, three figures clad in Confucian robes stood in a tripod formation. At the same moment, they let out neat, eerie, ice-cold laughter.

December 31st.

The final day of the year 572 of the New Calendar.

"Snow?" Li Shun raised his head and watched the snowflakes drift slowly down from the sky.

Beneath a gloomy canopy of low-hanging leaden clouds, the wind and snow grew fiercer by the moment. Amid the howling gale, bursts of cheering from the long street beyond the walls could vaguely be heard.

In the eyes of the simple Cold Mountain people, this fluttering snow signified that the weather had turned cold and bitter winter had returned to its rightful place. Perhaps the growth environment of the Cold Mountain Grass, which had already been damaged, might see a turning point because of it.

Yet Li Shun turned a deaf ear to the thunderous cheers outside, while the unease in his heart only grew stronger.

"Something isn't right. In the past, Fang Xun placed great importance on the Cold Mountain Grass in the greenhouse. Every few days, he would come personally to admire it."

"But lately, he hasn't come for a long time."

"Even stranger..."

"Yu Shang and Wu Kuang have also vanished without a trace, as if they had evaporated from the face of the earth."

Some vast terror seemed to hang over Li Shun's heart like dark clouds.

But whether in strength or status, he was still far too weak.

Even if he had sensed that something was wrong, there was almost nothing he could do. He could only watch helplessly as the situation changed.

"I have the Threefold Self-Reflection as a trump card. Even if I die, I can rewind and be reborn."

"But what I fear most is dying in a muddle. If I do not even know what happened after my death, then even if I get another chance, I may still be unable to escape disaster."

Li Shun's thoughts raced as he searched his mind for a way to respond.

After a long while, he let out a sigh.

"I have too few trump cards. Aside from the Square Inch Space, Spirit-Splitting Life-Creation is the only method I can rely on for now."

"But how can I use Spirit-Splitting Life-Creation while keeping myself alive?"

"If we are speaking of places to preserve one's life, I believe there is nowhere in this world safer than the Square Inch Space."

"If only my physical body could hide within it as well..."

At that thought, Li Shun's heart suddenly stirred.

Over countless days and nights in the past, he had repeatedly tried to send his true body into the Square Inch Space. Without exception, every attempt had ended in failure.

"Since that path won't work, I might as well smash the cauldrons and sink the boats—change my way of thinking. I'll simply discard this shell and extract only my consciousness and soul!"

"When disaster strikes, my main consciousness will immediately flee into the Square Inch Space. Then I'll split off a strand and use the Spirit-Splitting Life-Creation Technique to attach it to a creature more likely to survive."

"That way, even if my physical body dies, I can still borrow another creature to see the situation outside clearly."

"I won't be left in total darkness, dying without ever knowing why."

With the plan decided, Li Shun immediately began his experiment.

Naturally, the thing he chose to possess was his old friend: the midge.

He caught one, then spared no expense to ensure its survival, feeding it leaves of the Cold Mountain Lord.

At the same time, he watered it with his own blood essence.

In less than half a day, that originally insignificant midge underwent a transformation as complete as shedding its mortal frame and exchanging its bones.

There were only two days left for the monthly ticket lottery. Sixty spots would be drawn, and there were only a little over a hundred people in the group right now, so the odds were very high. Don't forget to participate. See my previous standalone chapter on the monthly ticket lottery for details.