Although Hu Xiaotian had obtained the Qi-Refining Formula for the Formless Divine Skill and practiced according to Li Yuncong's instructions, he had yet to feel any results. Aside from the time Li Yuncong had used his huqin to stir the true qi inside him into a frenzy, leaving him in such agony that he wished he were dead, he had felt nothing unusual in his daily life. He had even begun to doubt everything Li Yuncong had told him. These old eunuchs were all sly beyond measure. Who could say whether Li Yuncong had deliberately exaggerated his condition to frighten him? Perhaps that was the only way to make him obediently do as he was told.
Since taking control of the Palace Gardens Bureau, Hu Xiaotian had set up another temporary lodging on the second level of the Wine Cellar. It was warm in winter and cool in summer, so no one would find the arrangement suspicious even if word got out. Besides, he was now the head of the Palace Gardens Bureau. No one dared gossip about his affairs.
Hu Xiaotian bolted the Wine Cellar from the inside, then secured it with a chain before taking his lantern and following the underground passage toward the Purple Orchid Palace. By now, he knew all three secret passages as well as a familiar road. He paused briefly at the junction. The three paths led in three different directions: the left to the Jade Pool, the right to the Library Pavilion, and the middle to the Purple Orchid Palace. None of them led to Misty Mountain. Yet Li Yuncong had spoken with such certainty, and he had not seemed to be lying. Could there really be another secret passage connected to Misty Mountain besides these three?
Hu Xiaotian shook his head, rousing