Hidden Hand

The Luo Shen Residence's library stood in a bamboo grove deep within the estate.

It was a seven-story wooden tower, built entirely of spirit wood that gave off a faint, refreshing fragrance. Layers upon layers of protective Spirit Marks were carved into its walls. It was said that even a full-force strike from a Sovereign expert could not leave a mark on the tower. Inside were the texts the Luo God Clan had collected since antiquity, covering everything from Spiritual Arts and divine abilities to alchemy and formations, from secrets of the Great Thousand World's myriad clans to ancient legends long since buried by the passage of time.

Ever since Elder Luo Yan had given him that elder's token, Xiao Yan had come here every morning to spend half the day reading.

The keeper was an old servant who was hard of hearing, with white hair and a white beard and a severely hunched back. Whenever Xiao Yan came, the old man would tremble as he opened the door for him, then return to the bamboo chair beside it and doze. He never asked what Xiao Yan was reading, and Xiao Yan was happy to have the peace and quiet.

He read quickly, often finishing a thick volume in half an hour, but he also read with great care. He would go over important passages three to five times, until every word was engraved in his mind.

He read widely, too: Spirit Marks, alchemy, formations, the geography and customs of the Great Thousand World, the origins and legacies of its various clans-anything and everything. In his eyes, those obscure ancient texts were like pieces of a puzzle, which he gradually fitted together to sketch the outlines of this world.

But what he was really looking for were records of Dou Qi. Luo Tianshen had said that the Luo God Clan's ancient texts contained accounts of ancient Dou Qi experts. Xiao Yan wanted to know where those predecessors from the Dou Qi Continent had gone, and whether they had left anything behind about assimilation, about this world, about... the way back.

Yet after seven full days, he had searched through every text on the first three floors and found only a few short lines in a damaged ancient book:

"In ancient times, extraordinary people came from the Lower Plane. They cultivated Dou Qi and were adept at controlling fire. Few in number, they were all exceptionally gifted and held sway for a time. Their whereabouts afterward are unknown."

That was all. Xiao Yan stared at the lines in silence for a long while, then slowly closed the book. Their whereabouts afterward were unknown. Those who had once stood at the pinnacle of the Dou Qi Continent, the Dou Di revered as gods there, had left only these few lines behind in this world.

He suddenly understood a little why he had felt a vague unease when the five emperors had broken through space. This world was too vast, vast enough to swallow up any former supreme expert without a sound.

He thought of Xun'er, of Cai Lin, of Gu Yuan and Zhu Kun, and of the four marks on the Soul Jade, some bright, some dim. They were all somewhere in this world too. If he was not fast enough, not strong enough, would those four marks one day go out without a sound in this world, like those ancient Dou Di?

Xiao Yan slowly rubbed his fingers over the cover of the old book. Outside the window, the wind rustled through the bamboo grove. After a moment, he took a deep breath, pushed his tangled thoughts aside, and opened another book on Spirit Marks. No matter how much he thought about it, it would do no good. The only thing he could do was grow stronger faster.

"Mr. Xiao."

A gentle voice sounded at the entrance to the library. Xiao Yan looked up and saw Luo Su standing on the bamboo grove's path with a medicine chest. She gave him a slight nod. "Everything you asked for is ready."

Xiao Yan smiled. "Hehe, sorry for the trouble, Miss Luo Su." With that, he returned the old book to its shelf, rose, and went outside.

After Luo Yan woke up, Xiao Yan had taken on a task. Luo Tianshen had said that over the past six months, seventeen members of the Luo God Clan had been struck by the Blood Fiend Palm. Three had died, and of the fourteen remaining, five were gravely injured. The blood fiend Qi had already seeped into their bones; if they delayed any longer, those five might not last much longer.

Xiao Yan shut himself in the pill room for another three days and refined fifteen Fire Pattern Pills. This time, he did not blow up the cauldron.

The fifteen pills were divided among five small green jade bottles, three to a bottle, and entrusted to Luo Su herself. Following Xiao Yan's instructions, she gave each of the five injured people one pill every day at noon, when yang Qi was at its strongest. The five had all been settled in a medical lodge on the eastern side of the Luo Shen Residence, where Luo Su and several physicians cared for them day and night.

Xiao Yan had gone to see them. Among them was a young Luo Shen Guard named Luo Chuan, barely in his early twenties. While patrolling the outer city, he had taken a direct hit from the Blood Fiend Palm to protect several commoners being bullied by members of the Blood God Clan. The blood fiend Qi had invaded half his body, turning his entire left arm dark purple. He was nothing but skin and bones, yet when he saw Xiao Yan, he still struggled to sit up and salute him.

"Mr. Xiao... I heard about Elder Yan..." His voice was weak, but there was light in his eyes. "Thank you..."

Xiao Yan held him down and said nothing, merely patting him on the shoulder. As he left the medical lodge, Luo Su followed behind him and told him softly that Luo Chuan was an orphan, found and raised by the old commander of the Luo Shen Guard. The old commander had died in a clash with the Blood God Clan two years ago, and Luo Chuan had sworn to guard Luo Shen City for the rest of his life.

As Xiao Yan listened, his steps faltered slightly. He looked back at the young man in the medical lodge, who was nothing but skin and bones, and a complicated look flashed through his eyes.

On the first day, the five injured people took the Fire Pattern Pills. Crimson-blue light shone inside their bodies, and wisps of blood fiend Qi were forced out, dissolving into green smoke. The complexions of all five visibly improved, and the medical lodge was filled with joy. The same happened on the second day.

At noon on the third day, Luo Su opened the small green jade bottle as usual and fed Luo Chuan the third Fire Pattern Pill. Then, without warning, something went terribly wrong.

Luo Chuan's body immediately stiffened. The purple had already faded from most of his left arm, but now it turned black as ink in an instant. The blackness spread rapidly up his arm like a living thing, crawling over his shoulder, up his neck, and across half his face. His eyes flew wide, a strange gurgling sound came from his throat, and a great mouthful of black blood gushed from his lips!

"Luo Chuan!"

Luo Su cried out and rushed to him, sending a wisp of Spiritual Energy into his body. Her face instantly turned deathly pale. Far from being dispelled, the blood fiend Qi had erupted completely under the pill's stimulation, rushing madly toward his heart meridian like a flood bursting through a dam!

The medical lodge descended into chaos. The other four injured people stared at the scene in terror. One of them was holding the pill he had just received; his hand shook in fright, and the pill rolled to the floor. Word quickly spread, and in less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a crowd had gathered outside the medical lodge.

"Something's happened! Something's wrong with the Fire Pattern Pills!"

"Luo Chuan's dying! He took that Lower Plane man's pill, and the blood fiend Qi turned on him!"

"I knew it! Can we trust anything refined by someone whose origins are unknown?!"

"Saving Elder Yan a few days ago might have been a ruse, just to make us trust him..."

Voices rose one after another. The gazes directed at the medical lodge held shock and doubt, fear, and, more than anything, growing suspicion and hostility.

The crowd parted, and a somewhat plump figure strode in with several clan members. It was Elder Luo Feng, who had recently been punished by being made to kneel in the ancestral hall. His knees apparently had not fully recovered, and he still walked with a slight limp, but his fat face was now filled with righteous indignation.

"I said it long ago! That man from the Lower Plane has unknown origins and sinister intentions!" He pointed at the young man in the medical lodge, who had already begun to convulse, and boomed, "He first put on a show of saving Elder Yan to win the clan leader's trust. Now he's used the excuse of treating injuries to poison the pills and harm our people! In my view, he's a spy sent by the Blood God Clan!"

A commotion broke out among the crowd at his words. Many nodded in agreement, casting increasingly hostile looks toward the entrance of the medical lodge. Just then, the outer edge of the crowd suddenly fell quiet. A lean figure came striding down the bamboo grove's path. It was Xiao Yan.

His face was somewhat grim. Without looking at the onlookers or paying any attention to Luo Feng's shouting, he went straight through the crowd, entered the medical lodge, and walked to Luo Chuan's bedside. Luo Chuan lay convulsing on the bed, the pitch-black blood fiend Qi now covering his entire face, only a hair's breadth from invading his heart meridian.

Without a word, Xiao Yan raised a hand and pressed it against Luo Chuan's chest. A wisp of pale golden flame poured from his palm and entered Luo Chuan's body, forming a small wall of fire around his heart meridian that firmly blocked the surging blood fiend Qi.

Luo Chuan's violent convulsions gradually subsided. Though he remained unconscious, his breathing had finally stabilized.

Xiao Yan slowly withdrew his hand, his forehead covered in fine sweat. He turned, picked up the Fire Pattern Pill someone had dropped in fright, and gently rubbed it between his fingertips before bringing it to his nose for a sniff. At that moment, a chill surged into his pitch-black eyes.

"This isn't my pill."