Mysterious Crystal

After shouting, Li Qingxian slung the bundle onto his back and burrowed into the woods.

Zhou Hen emerged from behind a white poplar, gestured to the driver, then hunched over and entered the forest.

Half an hour later, Li Qingxian arrived at the spot where the purple crystal had landed in his memories, panting heavily.

Towering red pines surrounded him. The ground was carpeted in green-and-yellow pine needles, thick as a blanket, with fist-sized pinecones scattered among them. The faint, fresh scent of pine needles filled the forest.

Li Qingxian looked down and saw that his shoes were covered in mud and rotten leaves, while several tears had been scraped into his clothes.

Li Qingxian waited quietly.

After estimating the time, Li Qingxian opened his blue cloth bundle and took out yellow paper, chicken blood, a coin sword, and other fake ritual implements used by wandering charlatans.

He drew the Goose Feather Saber and dug a small pit in each of the four cardinal directions. He placed a peachwood talisman in each, dripped in chicken blood, and covered them with yellow paper.

Once everything was arranged, Li Qingxian held the coin sword and slowly walked around the four directions, muttering incantations under his breath.

At first, Zhou Hen watched seriously from the tree, but he soon grew tired of the common tricks of wandering charlatans and lazily surveyed the surroundings instead.

Suddenly, Zhou Hen's hair stood on end. An incomparably distant yet irresistible vast power appeared, pressing down until the True Essence within him nearly collapsed.

Zhou Hen was terrified out of his wits. He had never felt this way even when facing a Second Rank grandmaster in person.

A thread of blue-white light flickered in the sky.

He looked up. The blue-white point of light streaked like lightning and landed in the forest in the blink of an eye, striking the clearing directly ahead—right in the center of the four small pits.

White smoke rose. A purple, diamond-shaped crystal-like object lay upon the scorched earth, blue-white electricity weaving across its surface with a sizzling crackle.

Zhou Hen stood dumbfounded. With a bewildered expression, he watched Li Qingxian first bow respectfully to the purple crystal and say something about "thanking the Heavenly Emperor for bestowing this treasure." Then Li Qingxian took out the wooden tongs he had prepared, picked up the purple crystal, wrapped it in red cloth, and tucked it close against his body.

Li Qingxian put on a convincing show of bowing three times toward the northern sky, then filled in the five pits, grabbed several handfuls of pine needles to conceal them, and slung his bundle over his back.

"Little Uncle Zhou, let's go." Smiling, Li Qingxian headed down the mountain.

Zhou Hen stood atop the tree, racking his brains without being able to make sense of what had happened.

After quite a while, once he was certain there were no enemies nearby, he stepped on a branch and flew out like an eagle or falcon. He landed on another tree, stepped again, skimmed through the air from branch to branch, and caught up to Li Qingxian within a few strides.

Following behind him, Zhou Hen asked, "What happened?"

I've been waiting for you for a long time. Li Qingxian smiled. "My Fate Arts have finally entered the gate."

"Regarding Dong Ying, Lord Zhou and I only half believed you. We thought you were a blind cat that happened upon a dead rat. But in these deep mountains and old forests, no number of exhausted cats could ever stumble across such a huge rat. What was that purple crystal?" Zhou Hen's curiosity gnawed at him.

"A treasure bestowed by Heaven cannot be spoken of lightly. You'll know tomorrow." Li Qingxian put on a mysterious, superstitious air.

"You truly understand Fate Arts?"

"My maternal grandfather was a direct disciple of the Fate Measuring Sect. You and Uncle Zhou surely know that," Li Qingxian said.

"The Fate Measuring Sect has long since fallen into ruin. Your grandfather was its last generation of inheritors! If the Fate Measuring Sect had such abilities, would Qi Kingdom's state religion still be the Heaven's Mandate Sect?" Zhou Hen asked.

"Little Uncle Zhou, I never expected that someone as quiet as you would become so talkative."

Zhou Hen said coldly, "Loose lips bring trouble. You have no idea how much I suffered back then because of my foul mouth."

"The fact that Little Uncle Zhou is willing to speak with me means you trust me as well. It's just that Fate Arts are profoundly mysterious and difficult to explain clearly."

"It's fine. I'm willing to listen," Zhou Hen said.

Li Qingxian thought for a moment and said, "Do you know what a Fate Mold is?"

"I really do know that. A Fate Mold isn't any one specific thing, but a general term. Everything related to Fate Arts counts. Specifically, there are Fate Spirits, Fate Pillars, Fate Patterns, and things like overcoming, imprisoning, death, draining, depletion, generation, combination, flourishing, gathering, support, and so on. I know all that," Zhou Hen said.

Li Qingxian nodded. "Ever since the Heaven's Mandate Sect appeared, our Anya Continent..."

"Mention Anya less and Qi Continent more. Back then, how many people violated a taboo out of habit by using the old name and could never again enter court as officials?" Zhou Hen said.

Hearing Qi Continent, Li Qingxian recalled something and asked, "Since there's no one around, I want to ask about some royal secrets."

Zhou Hen said, "Don't let Lord Zhou find out."

"Rest assured. Rumor has it that the Founder of Great Qi was descended from the Snowfield People. He was a horse bandit on the grasslands in his early years, then became a pirate. He obtained an ancient inheritance in the Western Sea, cultivated peerless divine arts, won the position of martial alliance leader, overthrew the An Dynasty, and occupied the magpie's nest. Is that true?"

Zhou Hen smiled. "That stopped being a secret long ago. It is true that Qi Taizu began as a horse bandit and pirate, and true that he obtained the inheritance of an ancient great sect. It is also true that he later won the position of martial alliance leader and founded the Qi Dynasty. But you people from the Eastern Ding Kingdom have always disliked Qi Kingdom, so you tend to dress it up a little."

"You even know that my maternal grandfather came from the Eastern Ding Kingdom?"

"Nothing can be hidden from the Night Guard." Zhou Hen gave Li Qingxian a deep look.

"Will my Eastern Ding Kingdom bloodline bring me trouble?" Li Qingxian asked.

"In the first few decades after Great Qi was founded, Eastern Ding Kingdom bloodlines truly were troublesome. Later, the Eastern Ding Kingdom submitted like the other small nations. More than a century has passed, and it has long ceased to matter. Besides, the ancestors of the Eastern Ding Kingdom came from a distant, mysterious eastern nation. Forget Qi Taizu—even the wicked demons, puppets, and fiends all fear them. That is why we often say that as long as the Eastern Ding Kingdom stays peacefully in its corner and does not contend for the realm, it will still remain even after Qi Kingdom perishes." Having said that, Zhou Hen lowered his eyelids slightly, concealing his gaze.

"That's good."

"But once the two nations go to war, Eastern Ding Kingdom bloodlines will probably be the first to suffer. By the way, continue talking about the purple crystal," Zhou Hen said.

"We'll discuss it together once we return. Saying it twice is tiring," Li Qingxian said.

Zhou Hen eyed Li Qingxian suspiciously. "You aren't going to make it up on the road, are you?"

"Little Uncle Zhou, go ask around the outer district. Is Li Qingxian the kind of person who does that?" Li Qingxian pretended to be angry.

"Back in the outer district, the Military and Horse Bureau beat you until you were like a rat crossing the street. What reputation did you have left?" Zhou Hen asked in confusion.

"The Night Guard's intelligence is inaccurate!" Li Qingxian grumbled as he marched on.

After taking a few steps, Zhou Hen sighed. "Don't dwell on what happened when you were young. Mr. Gangfeng caused the trouble, yet you ended up being bullied by the subordinates and children of those political enemies. But revenge can be taken slowly. There's no rush. There will always be an opportunity!"

"Yes, slowly. No rush..." Li Qingxian said.

The two fell silent and hurried down the mountain.

Once they boarded the carriage together, Zhou Hen closed his eyes to rest, returning to his usual appearance as a cold, ruthless god of slaughter.

Bored out of his mind, Li Qingxian tried to make conversation. Zhou Hen only gave brief replies.

Li Qingxian forced himself to read <True Explanation of the Seven Stars Determining Fate> for a quarter of an hour, then continued reading the second part of Chronicles of the River-Guarding Hero.

On the road, they encountered the Ye Family brothers returning. Their curses could be heard from far away.

Night fell, and the city gates closed. With the Night Guard waist token, Li Qingxian returned to the Divine Capital.

Night Guard Yamen, Chunfeng Residence.

The room was brightly lit, its doors and windows wide open.

Insects and birds chirped outside, yet not a single mosquito could be found indoors.

After Ye Han's subordinate finished his report, he bowed and withdrew.

Ye Han bent at the waist in a deep ninety-degree bow toward Zhou Chunfeng. "My parents gave me life; Mr. Spring Breeze saved me. I will never forget your grace for all eternity, my lord."