"Please have a seat, Lord Chen..."
Chen Qing nodded, but still took a cautious look outside.
"Rest assured, my lord. This is the rear storehouse of the commander's residence. We came in through the back gate, and I was careful all along the way. No one saw us."
Wei Gongcheng explained patiently, but he was puzzled. Was this Lord Chen, who claimed to be a newly appointed jinshi, being a little too cautious?
It would have been understandable if he were wary of people inside the commander's residence, but he was even wary of the common people along the way and had deliberately avoided them.
"Do you think I'm being overly cautious, General?" Chen Qing sighed.
"I am a little puzzled, but I imagine you must have your reasons, my lord."
Chen Qing nodded at that. No wonder Wang Ye had recommended, before sending him away, that he first approach this deputy general named Wei Gongcheng rather than Yuchi Peng.
He was clearly different from ordinary, reckless martial men and was evidently better suited to planning and making arrangements.
A man like him was perceptive and sensitive, and most likely would not have been replaced by Painted Skin Mister.
With that thought, Chen Qing gave him a brief account of the whole affair.
The matter was complicated, and even though Chen Qing kept his account brief, it still took more than half a shichen. Wei Gongcheng listened closely and, though shocked at times, never interrupted. Chen Qing grew increasingly pleased with him.
"My lord, are you saying that the Thousand-Faced Fox has infiltrated the capital, and that Lord Wang fell victim to the demon fox's scheming and may be dead?"
Once he was sure Chen Qing had finished, Wei Gongcheng hurriedly asked his question.
"Yes..." Chen Qing nodded. "Lord Wang is now more likely dead than alive!"
"Then we should have General Yuchi go and rescue him at once!"
"That would be unwise..." Chen Qing shook his head. "If Lord Wang is still alive, there is only one possibility: Painted Skin Mister wants to make him into a puppet and send him back to the capital to help the Thousand-Faced Fox get selected as the crown prince's consort. To make a convincing puppet, he has to hollow out all the original person's flesh, bones, and internal organs. It has already been more than a day since I came here from outside the city. Lord Wang has most likely already been dissected. If we rashly go to save him, I'm afraid all we'll recover is a mutilated body!"
"This..." Wei Gongcheng sprang to his feet. "Skinned and stripped to the bone? How could he still be alive?"
"He can be!" Chen Qing said firmly. "Painted Skin Mister needs the five viscera to be fresh when making a puppet, so he uses a secret medicine to keep the original body barely alive. There's still a sliver of hope for Lord Wang!"
"What hope?" Wei Gongcheng frowned deeply. If what Chen Qing said was true, and his flesh and bones had been removed, what the hell hope was left?
Chen Qing kept a calm expression. There really was no saving him, but he couldn't say that. Otherwise, how could he fool Wei Gongcheng into staying?
"At the moment the puppet is completed!" Chen Qing said gravely, spinning his story. "To make a perfect Lord Wang and fool the civil and military officials of the court, including His Majesty himself, it must be utterly lifelike. Not only must the flesh be replicated, but since Lord Wang is a sorcerer, his brain core must also be transplanted. Our chance lies in the instant after the brain core is transferred. We must not let him complete the final step, or... Lord Wang will lose himself."
Wei Gongcheng's expression turned a little strange. This young jinshi knew quite a lot. Not only did he know that Lord Wang was a sorcerer, but he also seemed to know that Painted Skin Mister inside and out!
Those bizarre monsters were only partially documented even in the previous dynasty's Record of Strange Tales. Though Wei Gongcheng had never read it, he didn't think the book would describe this so-called Painted Skin Mister in such detail.
Just who was this young man?
But at a time like this, he certainly couldn't concern himself with that. He had a more important question to ask. "My lord, this Painted Skin Mister you speak of-can he make an identical puppet as long as he obtains a living person's flesh?"
"Yes..."
"Then... how convincing is it?"
Chen Qing looked up at the towering man and fell silent for a few seconds. He had a rough idea of what Wei Gongcheng wanted to ask.
"It seems you've noticed something, General..."
Wei Gongcheng's heart jolted. Though he had long been prepared, he still found it hard to accept.
"Very convincing, but there will definitely be differences from the original person. Martial men in particular will clearly sense an unnatural stiffness in the body. You've seen one before, haven't you, General?"
Wei Gongcheng's hands trembled slightly. He clenched them hard, then took a deep breath. "I have!"
"Lord Wang was right. You truly are vigilant, General..." Chen Qing nodded. He meant it. The man Wang Ye had recommended really was capable. He could remain composed after hearing so much shocking news, and was someone to whom a plan could be entrusted!
"My lord!" Wei Gongcheng looked earnestly at Chen Qing. "Then... if someone has already been made into a puppet, can they still be saved?"
Chen Qing looked at his hopeful eyes and shook his head slightly. This wasn't something he could lie about recklessly. If he couldn't produce a solution when the time came, Yuchi Peng would probably tear him apart.
"I see..." Wei Gongcheng closed his eyes and let out another breath, relaxing his clenched hands. When he opened his eyes again, they held the sharpness befitting a martial man. "What would you have me do, my lord?"
"Their aim is to disrupt the crown prince's consort selection and throw people into turmoil, or perhaps simply to get the Thousand-Faced Fox into the imperial family. Now that something has happened to Lord Wang, the only person in Liuzhou who can openly threaten them is General Yuchi."
"Do you want me to persuade General Yuchi to trust you and take you back to the capital by force, my lord?"
"No..." Chen Qing shook his head. "There's no point in fighting our way back. If we make too much of a commotion, it will only drive the Thousand-Faced Fox into hiding. But for every day the Thousand-Faced Fox remains at large, the imperial family won't dare select a consort for the crown prince. Are they supposed to keep delaying forever? His Majesty is advanced in years, and the crown prince is the foundation of the state. If the consort selection is delayed too long, unrest is bound to follow!"
"You've thought this through, my lord..." Wei Gongcheng nodded, a trace of approval in his eyes. He respected scholars, but not good-for-nothings. Now it seemed that, though Chen Qing was young, he was thorough in his thinking and somewhat reminiscent of Lord Wang Ye. Wei Gongcheng came to acknowledge him somewhat.
"Now we can only turn their scheme against them. First, we'll use General Yuchi to draw their attention while we secretly search for the place where Painted Skin Mister is making Lord Wang into a puppet. As long as we can save Lord Wang at the crucial moment and capture Painted Skin Mister, we'll have a chance of finding the Thousand-Faced Fox!"
"Their?" Wei Gongcheng was startled. "From the way you speak, my lord, are there quite a few of them?"
"What do you think?" Chen Qing sneered. "Master Huang has been famous far and wide in Liuzhou for as long as I can remember. They say he's been here for more than thirty years. How long has it been since our Great Jin was founded? After more than thirty years of laying the groundwork, and with his special abilities, I'd say conservatively that half the officials in Liuzhou are probably his puppets!"
Wei Gongcheng: "!!"
"How is it? Feeling better?"
Fifty li away in the deep mountains outside the city, near Great Azure Mountain, there was a natural hot spring that few people knew about.
Master Huang looked at Mister Miao, who was resting in the hot spring, and asked worriedly.
He had scattered a good deal of medicine for restoring qi and blood into the spring, but the medicine was potent. The old man before him risked sudden death if they weren't careful.
"Did you burn the clothes?" Mister Miao took a deep breath and asked weakly.
Only when the other man finally spoke did Master Huang breathe a sigh of relief. He nodded and said, "Did you need to remind me? Do you think I'm not afraid that Ghost Child will follow the scent here?"
Mister Miao nodded. "I'm old. If I were twenty years younger, I'd be confident I could seal that beast!"
"Why seal him when there's no need?" Master Huang chuckled. "It's better to have him stir up some trouble. Those fellows in Heavenly Capital have been growing more and more timid. If nothing happens, I'm afraid they won't dare come out for the rest of their lives!"
Mister Miao shook his head in amusement. This fellow had lived for over a thousand years and had known his grandfather's generation, yet somehow his temperament still seemed as much like a mischievous child's as ever.
"What about Yuchi Peng? How are things on his side?"
"A message came by bird. Nothing major has happened. Ghost Child escaped, and Yuchi Peng was shouting in anger. I heard his teeth were all knocked out, but what we feared most didn't happen. The person behind it failed to make contact with Yuchi Peng."
"Are you sure?" Mister Miao frowned.
The other party had released Ghost Child and caused such a commotion. There was no way they would do nothing else.
"Of course I'm sure!" Master Huang chuckled. "I've replaced two of Yuchi Peng's deputy generals. I even know when he takes a piss. Besides, with his personality, how could he hide anything from the people around him?"
"True enough..."
"Hey, Old Miao, what was it you said before you passed out?" Master Huang looked at him with amusement. "You said Chen Qing was the one who released Ghost Child?"
"I suspect as much..." Mister Miao nodded slightly.
"Have you lost your wits?" Master Huang rolled his eyes at him. "You're a veteran sorcerer. Don't you know better than I do how complicated the Azure Dragon seal is? Even if Chen Qing happened to find Azure Dragon Cave, how could an ordinary scholar like him release Ghost Child?"
"What if he isn't an ordinary scholar?"
"How is that possible?" Master Huang scoffed. "That disciple of mine studied under me for two years. Even Mr. Mirror said he was a mortal. Even if he could fool me, could he fool Mr. Mirror too?"
Mister Miao fell silent. In theory, that was correct. The Mirror Demon could discern all things under heaven. No matter how advanced their cultivation, even old monsters who had lived for ten thousand years could not conceal their true nature from the Mirror Demon.
"I simply feel that Wang Ye has remarkable fortune. The person he entrusted things to at a critical moment cannot be so simple... Since you can read Wang Ye's memories, can you read his memories of Chen Qing?"
Master Huang was taken aback. He was silent for a long while before answering, "No. I don't know why either. I can now read ninety percent of Wang Ye's memories, especially his recent ones, but the memories concerning that Chen Qing alone are impossible to read, no matter what I do."
"Heavenly Secrets is shielding him..." Mister Miao said darkly.
"How is that possible?" Master Huang retorted impatiently. "Wang Ye's brain core must have subconsciously regarded those memories as unimportant, so they were lost during its removal. As for Ghost Child, it must be some old fellow from Heavenly Capital interfering here!"
"Is that so?" Mister Miao frowned and looked at Master Huang's chest. "What do you think, Mr. Mirror?"
After a long while, an indifferent voice came from Master Huang's chest. "I could not have seen it wrong. During the two years Chen Qing studied in Liuzhou, he was a mortal. After returning from the capital... he was still a mortal!"
"Is that so?" Mister Miao finally nodded, accepting the answer.
But the Mirror Demon in Master Huang's chest had a strange feeling. He actually wanted to say that something was not quite right about Chen Qing, but as a being universally acknowledged to be able to discern all things, he did not want to admit that he had seen it wrong...