“Even when fierce winds rise, one does not abandon the will to live.”

A’Piao turned these words over repeatedly in his mind, and suddenly felt a pang of melancholy — it seemed he was not even as daring and courageous as a little girl.

Lang Jiuchuan gazed at the demon infant in the painting, extended a fingertip to tap it lightly, and said, “There is not much time left.”

“Hmm?” A’Piao did not understand what he meant, then noticed the hanged ghost peering and craning its neck at the doorway, and asked, “What is it?”

“That young Daoist from the Gong Family has come again,” the hanged ghost said timidly — the mere sight of that Daoist reminded him of the moment he had nearly been destroyed.

Lang Jiuchuan raised her head and asked, “What hour is it now?”

For Gong Qi to have left and returned so quickly, had he discovered something?

A’Piao replied, “You were unconscious for a full day and night — today is already the eighth. Do not worry; I had your maidservant return to the residence and report to that eldest young master of the Lang Family, saying you were in the pavilion consulting the献 archive texts.”

Lang Jiuchuan’s brow twitched. With this delay, time had grown even shorter. “Let him come in — see what news he brings.”

She glanced down at her own clothing, then looked at A’Piao, her eyes carrying a very obvious question.

This was not the clothing she had been wearing when she arrived.

A’Piao immediately explained, “It was Hong Niangzi who changed your clothes for you. I am an upright gentleman — I would never do anything so sordid as to take advantage of someone while they were unconscious.”

Lang Jiuchuan let out a soft, derisive snort.

Gong Qi was quickly brought over. Finding himself in a side chamber of the rear hall, he could not help but show a puzzled expression. When he saw Lang Jiuchuan’s ghastly pale and listless face, his own expression changed entirely.

“Did you suffer a backlash, or did you lose a spiritual contest?” In barely a single day, how had the face that had been at least somewhat presentable before become once again the look of someone destined to die young?

A’Piao said coldly, “Unlike you Xuan Clan members, she does not begrudge the expenditure of her spiritual power and cultivation. She used the Great Divination Yarrow Reading Technique and was struck by Heaven’s Punishment.”

“Are you out of your mind!” Gong Qi frowned. “Given the state of your body, how could you dare employ such a powerful technique? Do you truly think you are not dying fast enough as it is?”

“Stop wasting words. I have little strength left. You came here — what have you found out?” Lang Jiuchuan asked.

Gong Qi reached into his robe and produced a white porcelain vial, tipped out one of the pitifully few medicinal pills inside, and held it out to her. “Eat this Soul-Stabilizing Pill first — steady your spiritual soul.”

Lang Jiuchuan could tell from the sound of the vial that the pills inside were nearly gone. She guessed those were the pills he used to treat whatever hidden ailment he had, and said, “Keep them for yourself. Proprietor Piao has already given me a Yang-Restoring Pill.”

“I told you to eat it, so eat it.” Gong Qi pressed it firmly into her hand, tucked the vial back into his robe, then said in a grave voice, “Following what you told me — though it took some effort — I have confirmed that Princess Zhao’an’s birth chart is indeed of pure Yin, and she is a pure Yin body. Furthermore, over the past several years, the palace attendants who had been by Zhao’an’s side since childhood have all been dismissed or put to death on various pretexts, and those now serving at her side are an entirely new set of people.”

“How is the relationship between her and her husband, the Cong Consort?”

Gong Qi replied, “They are in perfect harmony — devoted to each other with not a shadow of doubt between them. It is said that Princess Zhao’an has been unable to conceive for many years, and when she offered to take in a secondary wife for Cong Fuma, he refused. Their affection is known to all. Even when a palace maid attempted to ingratiate herself with him, Cong Fuma dealt with her accordingly.”

“Truly a scheme long in the making,” Lang Jiuchuan said with a cold laugh. “Step by step, first eroding the capable people at her side, replacing them with his own trusted subordinates to watch her, and then, when the time was ripe, planting the Yin Fetus.”

Gong Qi pressed his lips together and said, “It is said that ever since Princess Zhao’an became pregnant, Cong Fuma has grown increasingly doting and anxious over her. He rarely goes out to attend banquets, and when he does, he stays by her side at virtually every moment — which has earned no small amount of admiration from others. Yet Princess Zhao’an, for her part, has grown cold and detached, as though the matter has nothing to do with her — quite unlike how she used to have eyes for no one but Cong Fuma before the pregnancy.”

Lang Jiuchuan said, “She likely knows something is wrong with this child, but has no recourse — because she is already under the control of the person sleeping beside her.”

Gong Qi and A’Piao fell silent. It was not impossible. Princess Zhao’an had never been particularly favored to begin with, and once the capable people around her were eroded away while her bedfellow watched her with hungry eyes and spoke honeyed words, with her own naturally soft and gentle temperament, once she fell under his control, whom could she turn to for help?

“However, if it truly is the Cong Family, I had people go and examine the Cong Family’s ancestral graves — and they found no signs that any of the tombs had been disturbed.”

A’Piao laughed aloud. “Actually, thinking about it now, there was really no need to inspect their ancestral graves for signs of disturbance. That unofficial history already said it plainly — to cultivate a Corpse Fiend, the coffin must be kept in a place of intense Yin malevolence for the Yin energy and malevolent force to accumulate more effectively. The Cong Family has served in the Bureau of Heavenly Observation for generations — their ancestral burial ground must naturally be a place of excellent geomantic fortune. Otherwise, if an outsider noticed something amiss, would that not expose them?”

Lang Jiuchuan said, “In truth, that was just a shot in the dark — on the off chance the Cong Family was using exactly that kind of obvious decoy to conceal themselves.”

“Which they were not,” Gong Qi shook his head. “Their ancestral graves are perfectly normal, without the slightest anomaly. So if this truly is a scheme laid by the Cong Family themselves, then where have they been nurturing this Corpse Fiend, and what is that person’s identity? Is it possible the Cong Family is simply someone else’s weapon — a pawn?”

A’Piao looked toward Lang Jiuchuan — he was not sure whether she had seen these details or not in her vision.

Lang Jiuchuan was silent for a moment. She looked at Gong Qi, and found herself somewhat conflicted — if she were to lay out everything she had seen in full, could Gong Qi be trusted?

Even though she knew that he and the young master of the Gong Family were earnestly hoping to reform the Xuan Clan’s present ills, great interests were at stake, and he was still a member of the Xuan Clan — when it came to it, which side would he choose?

A’Piao, seeing her say nothing, also stayed quiet.

His own position was without question — he stood with Lang Jiuchuan. The result she had obtained by enduring Heaven’s Punishment was hers to share or not, and that was entirely her decision.

“Whatever the case,” Lang Jiuchuan said, “Princess Zhao’an has long since been chosen and carefully selected as the vessel to house this evil — and the time for its full ripening is drawing near. The Cong Family is not innocent in this matter, least of all Cong Fuma.”

At the moment the demon infant was born, she had seen Cong Fuma waiting at its side — his expression unmistakably one of excitement, of wild elation.

It was evident that he was fully aware of what was happening with Princess Zhao’an’s child. If he knew, could the Cong Family not know?

“As for the Cong Family, I will have people investigate them more thoroughly,” Gong Qi said in a somber voice. “Whether they are human or ghost, they cannot escape scrutiny — we will not wrong the innocent.”

Lang Jiuchuan shook her head. “There is no time to settle that score later. The Cong Family’s involvement can be reckoned with after the fact — but the Corpse Fiend must be found and destroyed as quickly as possible. In only a few days’ time is when the demonic evil will be born. Once it enters the world, we will not merely be dealing with one Corpse Fiend, but with a Yin-Yang demonic evil that neither dies nor enters the cycle of reincarnation!”

Gong Qi’s expression changed drastically. “You divined the date of the evil’s birth?”

Lang Jiuchuan nodded.

“When?”

Lang Jiuchuan was just about to answer when her eyes suddenly sharpened and she looked toward the window. Gong Qi looked too, and something stirred within him. He strode over quickly, opened the window, and plucked a paper crane out of the air. “It is a message-bearing talisman from our young master.”