The people from the Xuan Clan’s Enforcement Hall arrived and took the Rong Family’s Daochang away — yes, Cheng Daochang was taken along as well. Whether he had been involved or not was beside the point: they had all come at the behest of the Rong Family, and if there was any untangling to do, they could do it thoroughly before the Enforcement Hall.
By the time Gong Qi had seen those two Daochang off and turned back to look at Lang Jiuchuan, every last trace of her ferocity had been reined in without a sound. She had resumed that image of frailty and vulnerability, as though the murderous force he had sensed moments ago was nothing but his own imagination.
What he did not know was that when the so-called Enforcement Hall’s people had departed with the Daochang, Jiangche had already slipped away after them without a sound.
Gong Qi studied Lang Jiuchuan for a good long moment. It was only when she turned to look back at him with an expression of perfect innocence that he gave a dismissive snort and turned toward the Qi family.
Qi Zuyao and the others had long since gone weak in the knees. The moment Gong Qi approached, they all crumpled to the ground — every last one of them — trembling as they said: “We — we didn’t know anything. We’re just ordinary people.”
Qi Xinfei’s face burned. Whether it was from shame at her family’s spinelessness and utter lack of backbone, or from something else entirely, she kept her head deeply bowed and said nothing.
Gong Qi said, “This business about cursing someone to death is baseless nonsense. If words alone — nothing more than lips moving against each other — could kill a person, then the speaker would have to be some manner of demon who had cast a technique upon the victim, because every curse must be enacted through a technique. What the other party truly delivered was not a curse but a warning. Had you taken it to heart and ceased adding to your karmic debts — atoned for them instead — she would not have died so soon.”
The Qi family gave a collective start.
Gong Qi looked at the traces of ill fortune clinging to these people in varying degrees, then glanced at the residual grievance lingering over this courtyard. A flash of revulsion crossed his eyes. He said coldly, “Those who persist in wrongdoing will bring ruin upon themselves. Take heed.”
All those who carried the blood debt of lives taken — if they escaped judgment in this life, they would be reckoned with in the underworld without fail.
With that said, Gong Qi called to Gong Si and prepared to leave. As for Lang Jiuchuan, she merely swept a cool glance across everyone present and said, “You ought to consider yourselves fortunate. Today, it so happened that members of the Gong Clan of the Xuan Clan were guests at the Marquis Kaiping’s household. No one in this residence came to harm. Otherwise…”
Qi Xinfei looked into those eyes — still as a deep and lightless pool — and felt as though countless shards of ice were being driven toward her from within. Her heart lurched with a sudden, involuntary spasm of dread. She stumbled backward and sat down hard on the ground, awash in equal parts shame and fury.
Once that courtyard had fallen quiet again, Qi Zuyao finally rose to his feet on trembling legs and turned to Qi Xinfei: “Fei’er — what are we to do?”
Qi Xinfei took the hand of her maidservant and pulled herself upright. “What is there to do? Because of Fourth Sister’s affair, we not only drew the Gong Clan into this matter — we also had the Rong Family’s Daochang taken away by the Enforcement Hall. The Rong Family will doubtlessly lay the blame at my feet for all of this. When I return, there will be no good outcome waiting for me. If only Fourth Sister had learned to temper her temper back then, none of this would have come to pass. Go and take down the white lanterns. Keep the death quiet for now — do not hold any public mourning. Tell everyone it was a sudden illness, that her birth sign conflicts with the residence, and that rites are inconvenient. Have her carried out and find her a decent burial ground.”
Qi Zuyao’s heart clenched.
“In the days to come — no more causing trouble. All of you, rein yourselves in. Keep a low profile, and stop carrying on with those arrogant, domineering ways of the past. If something happens, even I won’t be able to protect you. As for Lang Jiu—” Qi Xinfei’s voice dropped, becoming slow and deliberate. “Endure her for now. There will come a time when someone helps us exact our revenge.”
Indeed — even now, even after all of this, Qi Xinfei was still convinced that every misfortune in this chain of events had been stirred up by Lang Jiuchuan. Had she simply swallowed her grievances like a proper well-bred young lady after that clash with Qi Xinyu — the way any other noble daughter would — how could all this trouble have come rolling in?
This woman was truly a cursed star descended to earth.
And yet, like it or not, they had no choice but to endure her — because no matter how unwilling they were, they still had to look at who was standing behind her. This affair had the appearance of the Gong Clan handling things impartially. But their presence in the Lang household — and the fact that they had brought Lang Jiuchuan with them here — sent one unmistakable signal.
The Marquis Kaiping’s household. The Gong Clan had placed their protection over it.
Damned luck…
Gong Si had no sooner boarded the carriage than he turned to Gong Qi: “Why did you drag the entire Rong Family into this? Even if the Rong Family has fallen on leaner days, they haven’t sunk to the level of the demonic path.”
“Senior Brother, human hearts are treacherous. It is precisely because they have grown weak that they will resort to any means necessary to preserve their current standing — to plot for the future. A little covert dabbling in forbidden techniques? Why wouldn’t they dare? And should anything go wrong, they can simply pin the blame on their lower-ranking disciples and followers.” Gong Qi gave a cold snort. “You’re not unaware of the methods they’ve employed over these years to recruit men of talent — they’ve even gone so far as to arrange marriages between noble daughters of the capital and their own disciples.”
The Xuan Clans, despite being Xuan Clans, were nothing like true religious practitioners bound by strict precepts. Some among them observed their own disciplines, of course, but the majority did not — and this held even more true for the disciples and followers who had been recruited into their ranks. Eating meat and taking cultivation partners were both commonplace, to the point where the character and conduct of these individuals varied enormously.
On this point, Gong Qi’s views aligned precisely with those of their clan’s young master: whether one ate meat or not was beside the point — what mattered was that this very freedom had stripped away the true essence of the pursuit of the Dao. The Xuan Clans of today rested on the glory and inheritance accumulated by their ancestors. They proclaimed themselves to stand above the mortal world — yet they had, under the adoration of the masses, lost their original purpose.
Lose your original purpose, and your comprehension of the Dao stagnates. A lifetime may pass without ever reaching the Great Dao — and as the other side of that coin, as the decline continues, the Xuan Clans will in time be swallowed up by the tide.
Consider this: had every cultivator in the world truly already emerged and been catalogued by them?
The world was vast. In which forgotten corner might there dwell a truly enlightened hermit — a great master of the Way or of the Buddhist path — who cared for nothing but cultivation? Who could say?
Those who wished to remain hidden concealed themselves without a single trace. Take that Lang Jiu, for instance — she was nothing like the fragile, easily-bullied girl she appeared on the surface. And those abilities of hers — even the Lang Family knew nothing of them. Who taught her?
Could the one who taught her be precisely the kind of truly reclusive master they had always imagined?
The Xuan Clans were already walking the forking road toward self-destruction — yet they still did not see it. They still believed themselves invincible beneath the heavens, with no one daring to oppose them. He found it profoundly sorrowful.
The moment a great master emerged — one comparable to their ancestors — the Xuan Clans would become nothing but a laughingstock, dragged down in force from that false pedestal they had erected for themselves.
The wheels of the carriage rumbled onward. Gong Qi continued: “Among the Rong Family’s followers today, there are even those who seek out people of pure Yin constitution for dual cultivation, simply to boost their own power. Has the Rong Family ever put a stop to it? Not only do they not stop it — they positively encourage it, so long as those disciples continue to help them shore up their standing within the Xuan Clans.”
He leaned lazily against the side of the carriage. “Their greatest ambition, as things stand, is to arrange a marriage alliance with our Ninth Uncle.”
Gong Si said, “You publicly trampled on the Rong Family’s face to make it stick — you want to tear things open so thoroughly that there’s no longer any way for them to broach the topic of this marriage?”
“Correct.” A cold sound of contempt escaped Gong Qi. “That Rong Huanxuan also dares to dream of becoming our Ninth Aunt. On what grounds does she think herself worthy?”
Gong Si sighed. “Say what you will — no matter how you look at it, the major Xuan Clan families are still bound together by a shared foundation. Their marriage ties between the clans are deeply and intricately interwoven.”
Gong Qi’s voice turned cold and sharp: “Senior Brother — if one never breaks free of the shackles, one will forever be dragged down by them.”
He knew this. The young master knew this. Only the old guard of the clan did not.
How truly lamentable.
Gong Si let the matter drop and said instead: “You ought to first look to yourself. Your medicine is nearly gone — and you gave Lang Jiu a pill out of nowhere.”
Gong Qi rubbed his chin and glanced toward the back of the carriage. “She’s a mystery, that one. She might well be the person Ninth Uncle spoke of.”
The legend who would shatter the shackles.