"Hey, Uncle Wen."
After grumbling inwardly for a moment, Lu Sui suddenly blinked.
"As the Lu Family's sole heir, since the Seven-Apertured Exquisite Heart disappeared along with Great-Great-Grandfather, wouldn't the Ginseng King and the Treasure-Gathering Basin fall to me?"
Well now, the master hadn't even departed this world, and the young master already had his eye on the family treasures!
Dou Xiaowen's face twitched. He was just about to speak when Xiaotang lifted the door curtain and walked gracefully into the inner room.
"Young Master, the warming jade is here."
She opened the brocade box. Inside lay a piece of crystalline red jade the size of a pigeon's egg, translucent within and giving off wisps of heat.
"Uncle Wen, hurry and tuck it into your robe. Drive out the chill."
Lu Sui was very generous. There was no shortage of rare treasures or precious natural medicines beyond the pass, after all.
Besides, this was precisely the Lu Family's business. Who knew how many rarities they had gathered over the decades?
A mere piece of warming jade was only a little more effective than a bed warmer.
Yet the nobles of Yongning Prefecture were willing to spend over a thousand taels of silver to buy one as a curiosity.
"That's thoughtful of you, Young Master."
Dou Xiaowen accepted the warming jade and said with a chuckle:
"I'm old, and my body isn't what it used to be. Four or five years ago, a few pots of wine could suppress it. Now, each bout is harder to endure than the last."
Lu Sui's heart tightened slightly. To think that going astray in martial practice could cause such great harm.
"When you practice martial arts, Young Master, never chase too many things or try to master everything, nor rush for speed and power. That's the mistake I suffered for."
Dou Xiaowen sighed.
"The old man told me back then that once I mastered the Iron Crotch Art, taking ten women on my spear and battling on all eight fronts would be nothing.
"He also praised my ample natural endowment, saying I had a donkey-sized tool... He fed me bowl after bowl of bewitching broth. Ah, one misstep leaves a thousand years of regret!"
You told me all the benefits and not a single drawback, didn't you, Uncle Wen!
Lu Sui kept his face expressionless as he thought to himself:
Though I have no use for the Iron Crotch Art myself, perhaps the ancient temple's shrine would be willing to record it. Besides, what if it rolls a top-grade trait?
Another day, when no one else is around, I'll sound him out about external hardening arts and see what they're all about!
Chief Steward Dou really had no dignity befitting his age.
Xiaotang listened with the tips of her ears burning red and her head lowered.
Catching sight of Lu Sui's unchanged, unperturbed expression from the corner of her eye, she thought:
The young master is a learned man, after all. A true gentleman who could hold a woman in his lap without wavering!
With such steadfastness, no wonder those disreputable women at the opera garden couldn't bewitch him!
After chatting for a while, Lu Sui made a token inquiry about a few difficulties in his practice, then rose to take his leave.
His main purpose in coming today had been to learn what followed the trouble with Granny Ma and see where Lu Yulin stood.
Now, not only had he obtained Dou Xiaowen's assurance, but his unspoken "confinement" had also been lifted, allowing him to step outside the Lu Family's gates.
That counted as an unexpected bonus!
"Uncle Wen."
Before leaving, Lu Sui stood in the doorway and turned back to ask:
"What's Calamity Qi? Do you know?"
Dou Xiaowen's drooping eyelids abruptly lifted, and his eyes flashed sharply.
"Where did you hear about that, Young Master?"
Lu Sui answered naturally:
"I stay in the courtyard all day with nothing to do but practice. I read a few books in my spare time. They mentioned it."
That wasn't a lie. Ever since Luo Dongsheng had given him that jade cicada, he had deliberately looked through various miscellaneous accounts and tales of strange happenings concerning "evil calamities."
There were many storytellers in the Land Beyond the Pass. With so many strange tales passed from mouth to mouth, some were bound to be written down and compiled into books.
Lu Sui would never have known without looking, and what he found gave him a shock. The "fantastical tales" sparked by "demonic calamities" and "evil calamities" were simply beyond counting.
One told of two families who had arranged a marriage through a matchmaker. After the man's family fell on hard times, the other family came to break off the engagement, only for him to seize a strange treasure from a "fire" and make his name throughout Yongning Prefecture.
Another told of a place struck by years of drought, where a horse-tending servant of a noble household actually obtained a great medicine from a riverbed, cleansing his marrow and purging his impurities to attain extraordinary natural aptitude.
"The Land Beyond the Pass suffers many calamities, and demons and evil creatures emerge without end. Calamity Qi... is a sign of some 'calamity' taking form."
Dou Xiaowen's expression grew solemn, and he said gravely:
"Changle County has suffered several calamities over the years, though they were all minor affairs. Nothing more than two or three months of drought, or flooding in seven or eight villages. The worst was a locust swarm that left the fields for eight hundred li around without a single grain to harvest.
"In short, wherever Calamity Qi circulates, calamity is sure to follow."
After speaking, Dou Xiaowen frowned and added:
"There have indeed been murders in Changle County recently, but the martial guild has already taken the lead and sent people to investigate. They aren't omens of calamity. There's no need to worry too much, Young Master."
He hadn't expected the Land Beyond the Pass to have such extensive experience dealing with all kinds of "calamities," or even methods of predicting them.
The thought passed through Lu Sui's mind, and he cupped his hands.
"Thank you for clearing that up, Uncle Wen."
"Calamity Qi arises, omens appear, calamity arrives... Could a great calamity be coming to Changle County?"
Back in his courtyard in the inner residence, Lu Sui sat before his desk, quietly studying the jade cicada lying in its box.
He had already asked Xiaotang to fetch it. Now that he knew what Calamity Qi was, there was no need to keep it any longer.
He had tossed it into the storeroom before because he hadn't known the exact nature of Calamity Qi and had thought it might serve some other purpose if he kept it.
Once I feed it to the Turtle-Snake Stance, I'll have to focus all my effort on strengthening my Qi and Blood and making it flow through all four limbs. I must speed up the transformation.
Lu Sui took a deep breath. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about the Panwu Great Strength True Art and had no idea whether it could live up to his expectations.
He grasped the archaic jade cicada. It felt warm and smooth, as though the years had steeped it in a layer of patina.
[Seeing that the object you hold is tainted with a faint wisp of Calamity Qi, the Turtle-Snake Stance becomes highly alert!] [The turtle and snake coil together, warding off invasion by evil spirits!] [At this moment, the Turtle-Snake Stance stirs, eager to devour the Calamity Qi!]
Lu Sui gently closed his eyes.
Within the shrine, the little turtle and snake entwined, forming a seamless whole.
The turtle raised its head, and the snake lifted its own, radiating a mighty sense of immovability, difficult to shake or destroy.
The wisp of "Calamity Qi" hidden inside the jade cicada was revealed by the Turtle-Snake Stance.
It was a wisp of grayish-white Qi, lingering within the cicada's belly, with nothing unusual about its appearance.
"A stench assaulting the nose!"
Lu Sui focused on it slightly and inexplicably caught a whiff of something scorched and foul.
It reminded him of pigs being slaughtered and their bristles singed at his old rural home during festivals in his previous life.
Immediately afterward, countless ragged refugees appeared before his eyes.
They were thin as sticks, their faces numb, falling by the roadside one after another and breathing their last.
So this is... the "calamity" that has never ceased in the Land Beyond the Pass?
All five senses were occupied by visions of calamity, making Lu Sui's mind waver.
The Turtle-Snake Stance, however, remained utterly unafraid. The little turtle lightly stamped its four feet, immediately suppressing the drifting wisp of grayish-white Calamity Qi.
The little snake flicked its tongue and drew closer, as though it had spotted a succulent dish.
"I was going to feed it to you anyway."
Clarity returned to Lu Sui's eyes. Eager to toss away this hot potato, he nodded to the Turtle-Snake Stance.
"Hopefully swallowing it won't give a greedy little snake like you too much heartburn."
With permission granted, the little snake opened its mouth as though slurping noodles.
With a slurp, it sucked the wisp of Calamity Qi into its belly.
[The Turtle-Snake Stance devours a wisp of Calamity Qi, savoring every bite!]
"Luo Dongsheng... Now that the trouble with Granny Ma is settled, it'll be time to settle accounts with him."
As Lu Sui pondered this, tiny tadpole-like characters unexpectedly appeared again in his vision, flickering in and out.
[Sensing traces of Calamity Qi emerging, the Heavenly Sight and Earthly Hearing Great Art wishes to activate Keen Observation and Sound Listening...]
Besides the feasting Turtle-Snake Stance, the Heavenly Sight and Earthly Hearing Great Art wanted to join in too?
Lu Sui couldn't help laughing and closed his eyes once more.
The stream of Qi four fingers thick moved through his body, and his senses gradually sharpened.
The lampwick crackled inside the room, and the maids giggled in the side chamber.
Outside, the night wind swept across the grape trellis with a rustle...
Practicing several times each day had made Lu Sui increasingly proficient in using the Earthly Hearing Chapter.
Calamity Qi... Can the Heavenly Sight and Earthly Hearing Great Art use Calamity Qi as a medium? Listen to sounds over a wider range, and more complex ones?
Lu Sui's eyelids stirred slightly as he concentrated.
The little six-eared monkey crouching in the shrine pricked up its ears, seemingly listening to something.
As that wisp of grayish-white Calamity Qi dissipated, Lu Sui abruptly caught soft footsteps.
The person moved lightly and seemed very far away. He had to pinpoint their location bit by bit.
Almost silent on landing, like a cat. A long robe, cloth shoes, very small feet... It's a woman!
Lu Sui's awareness was drawn along, and a blurry scene flashed through his mind.
A slender woman moved through dark alleys, surrounded by the clacking of a night watchman's clapper, the flapping of lanterns in the wind, and the rushing of a small river.
Where is this? Definitely not inside the Lu residence.
Lu Sui frowned and continued listening.
Creak-
As the footsteps stopped, a wooden door was pushed open, and another steady, drawn-out breathing entered his hearing.
"Junior Brother, the Witchcraft and Gu Art has been broken..."
The woman spoke:
"That sickly wretch of the Lu Family wasn't cursed to death. He really is hard to kill."