"You're back." Zhou Yan stepped aside to make way, his gaze sweeping over the three of them before finally settling on the scratch on Snow Empress's left shoulder. "How badly is the injury?"
"Flesh and skin." Snow Empress untied the knife and placed it on the corner of the table, then picked up a note from the table. It was Vice Minister Pei's handwriting. " Meng Qi's family has been released and settled in Green Willow Lane in the south of the city. Meng Qi himself is missing; it is rumored that he has left the pass and gone north. Also: Anomalies in the earth vein water have been discovered in three counties around the Hetao region; people have been dispatched to investigate."
When did this happen?
"Three days ago," Zhou Yan pulled a simple map of the Hetao from under the abacus, on which three new markings were circled in vermilion ink, "The first one was the day after you returned, the second one was after Deacon Sun sent his message. All three are located east of the Hetao, not far from the Three Springs. The water is clear, sweet, and the earth's energy seeps out faster than before. Deacon Sun said it seems like new springs are forming."
A Yao had already come over to look at the map. She pointed to three marked locations with her fingertips, then compared the straight-line distance from the springs to the " Blind Zone " on the map, her brows gradually furrowing. " Snow Empress, these three new springs are right on the boundary of the original ' Blind Zone.' It's like the Blind Zone is expanding outwards."
A moment of silence fell over the main hall. Zhou Yan stopped abacus, Yin Wujou, who had just returned from washing his face at the well and was wiping his hands with a cloth, also stopped. Snow Empress stared at the map, her gaze shifting back and forth between the " Blind Zone " and the three new springs.
"When the Earth Vein Resentment Beast dissipated, the ley line waters washed away the entire Hetao's ley lines," she said, her voice low. "The old ley lines are now open, and new ones are searching for an outlet. This should be a good thing. But the Blind Zone have existed for hundreds of years; the ley lines there are broken and chaotic. As the new ley lines expand outward, they may encounter fragments from the old Blind Zone, potentially creating new blockages."
Zhou Yan chimed in, "Once the blockage is cleared, resentment will gather again."
"Yes." Snow Empress straightened up, "So we can't wait for it to gather."
Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the main hall. The gray magpies on the old locust tree were startled and took flight, leaving several streaks of shadow in the moonlight. A boy in a short brown robe ran in from the courtyard gate, clutching a bamboo tube wrapped with red cloth, the mark of the Spirit Vein Bureau's urgent dispatches. He was out of breath and knelt on one knee when he saw Snow Empress, holding the bamboo tube above his head.
"Urgent report from Hetao! Deacon Sun!"
Yin Wujou took the bamboo tube, unscrewed the lid, and pulled out the scroll of paper inside. There were only a few lines of writing on the scroll, the ink was messy, and some words were blurred by water stains. He glanced at it, his expression changed drastically, and he handed it to Snow Empress.
Snow Empress unfolded the scroll. It read:
"Three springs emerged simultaneously last night. The water is reddish. Beast tracks, scales, claw marks, and five toes were found near the springs. The larger ones are three feet long, and the smaller ones are just over a foot long. It is suspected to be the remnant of Earth Vein Resentment Beast. I, Sun, have tried to seal the springs, but the water pressure is too great to stop it. Please provide immediate assistance."
"Remnants." Snow Empress slammed the scroll of paper onto the table. "I told you, those six smaller ones burrowed into the mud and escaped. The ley lines water could only disperse the larger ones; the smaller ones burrowed deep into the ley lines and weren't completely washed away."
Yin Wujou picked up the dagger. "I'll go."
"Let's go together." Snow Empress had already fastened her sword back to her waist. " Zhou Yan, you stay at the old post. Have Vice Minister Pei mobilize people to mark all the new water sources east of the Hetao. A Yao, you come with me. Take your father's notes with you."
A Yao nodded and turned to go to the side room to get her backpack. Yin Wujou followed her out to get the horse. Snow Empress stood in front of the table and glanced at the simplified map of the Hetao again. The locations of the three new springs were exactly connected to form an arc, and the center of the arc was the original " Blind Zone the earth veins". And the seven or eight faint red dots she had seen on the Earth Vein Compass before, now recalled, were arranged in a way that almost overlapped with this arc.
She recalled the look in the eyes of the Earth Vein Beast before it knelt down at the bottom of the third ravine. Its eyes were like burning embers, and there was a sigh in its throat. It was indeed gambling. But it wasn't gambling that the Snow Empress wouldn't dare to kill it. It was gambling that as long as the leylines continued to repair themselves, as long as the leyline water continued to rise, its remnants would always find a place to take root.
"The ley lines are healing, Resentment Beast are multiplying," she whispered. "It's a race."
At midnight, three fast horses once again galloped out of the north gate of the capital. This time, Yin Wujou brought a bow and arrows, A Yao brought two bags of earth vein water, which she had filled from the third spring and sealed in earthenware jars with canal wood plugs. Snow Empress only brought an extra volume of records from the old files of the Spirit Vein Bureau about "remnants of Earth Vein Beast," which Zhou Yan had dug out of the storeroom overnight. The pages were brittle and crumbled at the slightest touch.
Thirty miles outside the city, a horse's neigh suddenly came from the poplar grove beside the official road. Snow Empress reined in his horse. Yin Wujou almost simultaneously gripped the hilt of his sword. A Yao, at the very back, had already reached for the pottery jar with one hand.
A man emerged from the poplar grove. He was short and stout, wearing a faded old official robe, with a bronze plaque hanging from his waist. The moonlight illuminated the wrinkles on his round face and the gleaming bamboo cane in his hand. He stopped by the roadside and bowed respectfully to the Snow Empress.
" Snow Empress."
" Meng Qi." Snow Empress's voice was flat.
Yin Wujou's short sword was already three inches from its sheath. A Yao subconsciously shielded the pottery jar behind her back. In the moonlight, Meng Qi's old official robe was stained with mud and grass clippings, as if he had traveled a long way. His bamboo cane was covered with fine symbols, densely packed from the top to the bottom.
" Vice Minister Pei released my family," Meng Qi said, his voice hoarse. "I should thank you."
Your family has nothing to do with what you did.
"Whether it's relevant or not, I know for myself." Meng Qi held the bamboo cane horizontally in front of him, cradling it with both hands. "I've come to give you this. You'll understand once you see it."
Yin Wujou cautiously stepped forward to take the bamboo staff, then returned it to Snow Empress. Snow Empress examined the symbols on the staff by moonlight. She recognized them; they were early ley line markers from the Spirit Vein Bureau, but older than the current ones. Some of the symbols were written in a way that even Zhou Yan couldn't find an explanation for after searching the entire storeroom. In the middle of the bamboo staff, a set of symbols had been repeatedly engraved three times, and next to the symbols were two characters carved with an extremely fine knife tip: " Vein Eye ".
" The Vein Eye?" Snow Empress looked up at Meng Qi. "The linchpin of the earth's veins?"
Meng Qi nodded. He drew a simple diagram on the ground with his bamboo cane: a circle containing three smaller circles connected by lines. The positions of the three smaller circles perfectly matched the three springs in the Hetao. Outside the circle, there was a fainter engraving, as if it had been scraped off later.
What did you draw?
"When the Spirit Vein Bureau was first established, the first director set up three Vein Eye in the Hetao to divert the earth's energy and prevent any section of the earth's veins from becoming overloaded. The three Vein Eye were interconnected, forming a loop." Meng Qi pointed to the three small circles with his bamboo cane. "But later, someone tampered with the Vein Eye, cutting off the loop. With the three springs sealed off, the earth's energy had nowhere to go, creating Blind Zone."