Everything Is Ready

Li Shun gazed at the tiny gnat in his palm, and a profound sense of spiritual connection rose within him.

With a slight stir of thought, the gnat rose into the air, beating its wings as it circled.

Though its size had not changed, it had gained a touch of vivid liveliness. As its twin wings trembled, its flight speed soared to ten times what it had been before.

Most crucially, after devouring Cold Mountain Lord's leaf, it seemed to have conceived a trace of Chaos-born intelligence.

Li Shun found it far easier to control.

Releasing the gnat and having it circle above Cold Mountain County, Li Shun nodded in satisfaction.

"What needs to be solved next is how to keep it from being discovered."

Li Shun had not forgotten how, when his consciousness had previously attached itself to the gnat, Xiong Jin had still detected it despite its flying high in the distant sky.

"The experts of Great Qian possess exceedingly sharp senses. If I deliberately monitor them, even a sliver of intent within it may risk exposure."

"The only way is to completely sever the distracting thought of observation, to regard it wholly as a muddled gnat rather than my eyes and ears."

"Once all is calm, I can retrieve my divine soul and read all it has seen and heard that day."

"One alone... still isn't safe enough." Li Shun's gaze flickered as he stored the gnat in the Square Inch Space to raise it for the time being.

Then, following the same method, he endlessly created new creatures to control.

Incidentally, he had already emptied the floodwaters he had previously stored in the Square Inch Space. Releasing a little every day over the past half year had gone unnoticed.

Snow filled the sky, drifting down without the slightest sign of stopping.

Time slipped away, and another day turned over.

"What? Fang Xun just left the city alone?"

Having just finished washing up, Cheng Yishu heard the report from his informant and immediately felt a sense of foreboding rise in his heart.

"Are his family members still at the residence?"

"This lowly one has been watching them closely. They are all still in the inner courtyard."

Only then did Cheng Yishu's tightly drawn heartstrings loosen slightly.

Yet for some reason, that uneasy feeling, like a thorn pressed against his back, refused to disperse.

"No. I must personally probe the truth of this!"

Unable to sit or stand at ease, Cheng Yishu immediately threw on his clothes and rushed straight into the county yamen's inner courtyard.

"Fang Xun is going to the Censorate's Rectification Garden for further study, so he left ahead of you. He told you to depart after the fifteenth day of the first month?"

After a round of interrogation, Cheng Yishu pried the whole story out of the trembling servants.

There was no flaw in those words, and Fang Xun's infant son truly had been left behind at the residence.

But...

Cheng Yishu simply felt that something was indescribably off.

His eyelids kept twitching, as if a great calamity were about to descend upon him.

Just then, he suddenly caught faint, shrill wails coming from deep within the courtyard.

"Brother Xun... Brother Xun..."

"Who is that?" Cheng Yishu frowned deeply.

"That is..." The servants looked at one another, silent as cicadas in winter.

Ignoring their attempts to stop him, Cheng Yishu followed the sound. Just as he was about to push open the door, he discovered that it was as heavy as a thousand jun, sealed by several powerful restrictions.

A fierce glint flashed through his eyes. Cheng Yishu immediately unleashed his cultivation and violently tore apart every seal.

The instant the doors burst open, a withered figure lunged straight at him.

She shrieked in wild delight, "Brother Xun!"

After seeing that the person before her was not the Fang Xun she had been longing for, the figure abruptly froze as though struck by lightning.

"You are..." Cheng Yishu stared hard at the madwoman before him, her hair disheveled and her appearance like that of a female ghost. After studying her for a long while, he sucked in a cold breath. "Yu Niang?!"

The once glamorous Yu Niang was now gaunt and wasted, completely reduced to a madwoman who had lost her mind.

"Where is Brother Xun? Where is my Brother Xun?" She repeated the question endlessly.

Cheng Yishu gave a cold laugh. "Fang Xun has already gone to the capital alone to seek his future. He never said he would bring along deadweight like you."

Yu Niang's thin body stiffened sharply, and a stubborn light suddenly burst from her eyes. "No! I'm going to find him!"

With that, she charged toward the door as though possessed.

Cheng Yishu's eyes flickered, and he chuckled. "I happen to be able to send you on your way."

At once, Cheng Yishu swept Yu Niang along with him and hurried out through the city gates.

They followed the official road in the direction of the Sacred Capital.

After fleeing dozens of li, Yu Niang suddenly pointed the way with a shriek. "No! Go that way!"

Cheng Yishu raised his brows. "You can sense Fang Xun's trail?"

Madness churned in Yu Niang's cloudy eyes. "He is my man! Even if he runs to the ends of the earth, I can find him!"

Cheng Yishu was overjoyed. "Good. You lead the way. We must catch Fang Xun today."

As he spoke, he decisively drew a mysterious seal resembling a tiger tally from his robes and pressed it directly onto both their shoulders.

In an instant, faint roars of dragons and tigers reverberated, and their escape speed surged severalfold.

With Cheng Yishu driving it without regard for the cost, before long, a lone figure trudging through the snow emerged faintly from the wind and snow ahead.

Yu Niang immediately screamed in desperate excitement.

Fang Xun's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

He turned around and stared fixedly at the two of them, his expression dark.

"Why has County Lieutenant Cheng come here?"

Cheng Yishu cupped his hands, smiling without warmth. "I heard that Your Excellency left without bidding farewell. Madam was so anxious to see her husband that she turned the county yamen upside down, making chickens fly and dogs jump. This subordinate truly could not handle her, so I hurriedly sent her to you."

"Besides..."

"As for acting county magistrate of Cold Mountain, I fear this subordinate has the will but not the strength. I hope Your Excellency will rescind the order."

Fang Xun did not answer for a long time.

Then he gave a cold laugh. "Do you think Great Qian's official appointments are a child's game? You can quit simply because you say so? Back then, you agreed readily, and the official document was drafted in black and white, submitted and placed on record."

Seeing Fang Xun's demeanor, Cheng Yishu became even more certain of his premonition. He immediately said, "Even if the court blames me, I, Cheng Yishu, will accept it! I cannot bear the position of county magistrate. The county yamen cannot go a single day without a master. Please return to the city, Your Excellency, and wait until the new county magistrate arrives before leaving!"

"And if I refuse?" Killing intent flashed openly in Fang Xun's eyes.

Cheng Yishu cupped his hands. "Then do not blame me for reporting every matter concerning Cold Mountain together. Let the court decide!"

At those words, Fang Xun suddenly laughed softly, the frost on his face melting like spring snow.

He shook his head regretfully. "We have served as officials in the same court for decades. Why must we tear our faces apart? Very well, I shall return with you..."

Before his voice had faded, a frigid golden True Word character exploded without warning above Cheng Yishu's head!

It then transformed into over a hundred sharp arrows, descending upon him like pear blossoms in a storm.

Cheng Yishu had never expected Fang Xun to strike to kill. Caught off guard, he suffered grievous injuries.

"Fang Xun!" he roared hoarsely.

Not long after Fang Xun and Cheng Yishu left the city, a large group of people also slipped out of it furtively.

Their destination, however, was the mine beneath Cold Mountain.