Star Pavilion!

"Any force bold enough to name itself after the stars must be far from ordinary!"

"Send someone to investigate at once!"

Qi Shanhe immediately moved to summon men to investigate.

However far Flowing Sand had declined, it was still an organization equipped on every front.

Intelligence gathering, in particular, was first-rate!

"Wait!"

But Giant Hammer stopped them, his gaze settling on Ning Que. "Little Juzi, do you truly know where Juzi Ning is? Could this Star Pavilion be a name you simply made up?"

Ning Que's expression chilled. "If you don't believe me, you don't have to look."

"To tell you the truth, now that I've returned to the organization, my next goal is to bring my father back!"

An uproar rippled through the room...

He would not rest until his words stunned everyone. The moment he spoke, every person present was shaken to the core.

Even Giant Hammer looked at Ning Que with astonishment.

Ever since Juzi Ning had disappeared, they had never stopped searching.

Yet they had found nothing.

And the Little Juzi had proclaimed such a grand ambition the moment he returned?

Seeing Ning Que like this, Giant Hammer questioned him no further and fell silent.

In truth, Ning Que did not know where the Star Pavilion was either.

After all, he had only seen it mentioned in the final letter left by the father he had acquired out of nowhere.

All he could do was wait for the results.

Over the following days, Ning Que grew accustomed to life in Flowing Sand.

He also came to understand why the organization was called "Gathering and Scattering Quicksand."

It had so many branches!

Not only did it maintain branches in every province of the Dynasty, but every member had also blended into the common populace.

They could live as hawkers peddling their wares, beggars pleading for alms by the roadside, or imposing constable captains and military officers.

This approach reminded Ning Que of a "great man" from his previous life.

It truly embodied the principle of "from the masses, to the masses"!

They even had people in the imperial court!

This astonished Ning Que. Flowing Sand had actually infiltrated even the court.

Precisely because of this, news of internal affairs at the court in Li Province reached Headquarters every day.

"The Empress has been in poor health lately and listless during court sessions. Repeated examinations by the imperial physicians have yielded no answers..."

"The Empress has ordered strict investigations into bandits across every province. Any found are to be exterminated! In just a few days, the number of bandits throughout the land has fallen by twenty percent!"

Ning Que: "..."

Reading these secret letters from Capital City, Ning Que fell silent.

His brow furrowed deeply.

Elite troops everywhere are hunting down bandits?

Why does it feel like they're coming for me?

I'm a rebel myself...

And he intended to overturn the very foundations of the Dynasty.

He had also caused quite a stir on the way to Headquarters.

Has the Empress already noticed me?

Surely not?

Reporting information to the court was a cumbersome process, requiring it to pass through many hands.

When the same report passed through so many mouths, its meaning was bound to become distorted...

But the decision to hunt down rebels was no fabrication...

For the moment, Ning Que could not determine what the Dynasty's court intended.

He was still just getting started. If the court noticed him this soon, it clearly would not be good news.

"Little Juzi, what are you thinking about?"

Luo Qingwan approached with her parasol and smiled at Ning Que.

Ning Que was quite fond of this white-haired woman with her parasol.

He shook his head. "Nothing..."

Ning Que continued reading.

"Minister Yue, a veteran of two reigns, submitted a proposal to benefit the people, which the Empress rejected. The next day, she adopted it and ordered flood-control dams built in the Northern Region and reservoirs established in the Southern Region, with Yue Zhenling overseeing the entire undertaking."

"Huh?"

Ning Que froze again as he read the subsequent report.

Flood-control works in the north and reservoirs in the south?

That doesn't seem to have anything to do with rebels...

Realizing he had been overthinking things, Ning Que quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Report! Juzi, we've found it!"

"The Star Pavilion is on Great Marsh Mountain in Lin Province!"

Just then, someone arrived with a report.

They had located the Star Pavilion.

The journey from Flowing Sand's Headquarters to Great Marsh Mountain in Lin Province took five days on foot.

Great Marsh Mountain encompassed numerous ridges, its forests lush and green, with magnificent ancient trees towering skyward everywhere.

Following a mountain stream, they reached a spot where a Daoist temple stood halfway up the mountainside.

Its plaque bore three grand, imposing characters: Star Pavilion!

"So this is the Star Pavilion?"

Ning Que looked up at it, then entered with Mu Lingfeng and the others.

A young man in Daoist robes emerged from within. "Fortune-telling or marriage prospects?"

Only then did they realize that the so-called Star Pavilion was a Daoist temple offering fortune-telling.

Surprise crossed the faces of Mu Lingfeng and the others, and they instinctively glanced back at Ning Que.

Could they really learn anything about Juzi Ning here?

They were only half-convinced when it came to fortune-telling.

Some practitioners had genuine abilities and could truly divine things for you.

But far more were wandering charlatans who specialized in fleecing people.

Which kind was this Star Pavilion?

Ning Que remained calm. Whatever the Star Pavilion was, the mere possibility that it was connected to his second background, the Fallen Star Pavilion, was reason enough to visit.

He stepped forward. "We're here to find someone..."

The young man in Daoist robes immediately changed expression and waved them away. "There have only ever been members of our Star Pavilion here, no outsiders! And certainly no one you're looking for!"

"Life drifts like a dream; how much joy can it hold?"

Suddenly, Ning Que uttered a line that left everyone baffled.

But the young Daoist's expression changed dramatically.

Rather than driving Ning Que and his companions away, he led them straight inside.

An entirely different world lay within the Star Pavilion. A vast Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions Chart had been reproduced across the ceiling, making it feel as though they stood beneath a starry sky.

"Please enter alone, sir!"

The young man addressed Ning Que with a completely different attitude, showing the utmost respect.

Mu Lingfeng and the others waited outside.

Ning Que entered an enclosed secret chamber, where an elderly man in his seventies sat cross-legged.

His eyes were tightly closed, as though he were in secluded cultivation.

Just as Ning Que was about to sit down, the old man abruptly opened his eyes and asked, "What is your relationship with Ning Yuanzhou?"

"He's my father."

Ning Que spoke calmly, slipping into the background he had edited.

"So you're his son..."

Understanding dawned on the old man, and his gaze grew more complicated.

"Where is my father now?"

Ning Que went straight to the point.

Instead of answering immediately, the old man looked at Ning Que and asked, "Child, are you confident you can rescue your father?"

"I am."

Ning Que answered with ironclad resolve.

The old man was momentarily dazed again, then regarded Ning Que with an even more complicated look.

For in Ning Que's eyes, he saw no bluster, only the certainty that he truly could rescue his father.

"Very well. He is in the Skeleton Desert, at the northernmost edge of the Dynasty!"

The old man revealed Ning Yuanzhou's whereabouts.

"The Skeleton Desert?"

"Yes."

The old man slowly recounted what had happened to Ning Yuanzhou. "Yuanzhou and I met when he was young. Back then, he harbored great ambitions and possessed extraordinary talent. Our Star Pavilion selected him, and he had a chance of entering the Fallen Star Pavilion. But he wanted to change this world of turmoil, so he founded Flowing Sand."

"But a towering tree draws the wind. To protect his pregnant wife, he resolutely surrendered himself and was ultimately exiled to the merciless Skeleton Desert."