A single phrase of accidental harm had left the Xuan sect members within the Bureau of Oversight completely gridlocked — something caught in their throats that could neither be swallowed nor spat out.

No one suffered this more acutely than the Rong Family’s own people. This was precisely the handle that had been handed directly to the opposing side — and that handle had since become a blade turned back against themselves.

Changqing felt a particular darkness in his chest. Even after joining the Bureau of Oversight, his instincts hadn’t changed at all — the moment he saw a Rong Family disciple, he had reflexively moved to shield one of his own. He had been the one to prompt the suggestion of accidental harm during exorcism, coaching Lu You’an in sophistry.

And who could have predicted that Lang Jiuchuan would react so instantly, seize precisely upon that point, and strike back — openly, in front of the Bureau of Oversight, hurling a thunder talisman at Lu You’an without hesitation.

She was unhinged. She was outrageous.

Giving someone a taste of their own logic — Lang Jiuchuan had mastered this art thoroughly. You claim to have accidentally harmed someone during exorcism? So do I.

Everyone was telling a certain kind of earnest, perfectly composed nonsense — you could do it, so could she.

The Feng Family disciple made a show of steadying himself and said, “This is pure sophistry. You clearly intended to cause harm.”

Lang Jiuchuan stepped forward, gathered up the yin-sha energy spilling outward from Lu You’an, shaped it into the form of a malefic ghost, and pressed the thing into the Feng Family disciple’s hand: “Look for yourself — is this not a sha specter?”

The Feng Family disciple was bitten by that yin-sha ghost and felt a bone-piercing cold drill into his palm. He yelped involuntarily, yanked the thunder-strike wood fan from his waist, and hacked at it. “Back, back, back!”

Lang Jiuchuan said coldly, “I told you it was a sha specter. So this accidental harm is not so unreasonable, is it?” She then cast a cool, contemptuous look at Lu You’an. “And stepping back further — even setting aside accidental harm, I never used Xuan arts against an ordinary person. I was clearly engaged in a contest of skills with a fellow practitioner. And as it stands, I appear to have come out slightly ahead. A contest of skills between fellow practitioners — that falls outside the Bureau of Oversight’s jurisdiction, doesn’t it?”

This was what it meant to twist logic with total shamelessness.

The Feng Family disciple looked ready to lose his grip on his fan entirely.

Gong Qi was struggling enormously to keep from laughing. He let out a loud, forceful cough and said, “Whether it was accidental harm or not, let us first go examine the injured party. Ma Daoist and company, please take Practitioner Lu somewhere to have his injuries treated first. We will go look in on the Lang Family’s Madam. Changqing Taoist should come as well — since this involves a Rong Family disciple, it would not do to leave your people out of it.”

Lou Shan said, “He won’t run off, will he? He is still a suspect.”

The Rong Family members: “…”

You’re really coming after us specifically, aren’t you? That wiry little person who openly injured people in front of everyone — why isn’t anyone saying anything about her?

Just as the Rong Family’s people were about to help the unconscious Lu You’an to his feet, a shrill cry pierced the air.

“My son, my son—”

A woman with hair pinned in a low bun came stumbling and lurching forward. When she caught sight of Lu You’an lying there senseless, she let out a shriek and threw herself at him. “An’er, heavens, what has happened to you?”

It was Fang Shi. Her appearance was haggard, one eye bandaged, her face scratched raw — utterly ruined. That face of hers was destroyed.

Fang Shi’s trembling hand hovered under Lu You’an’s nose — there was still breath, though faint. Her body went slightly weak. Then she snapped her gaze up to Lang Jiuchuan, her eyes as if laced with poison. “It was you. You — you wretched demoness — not content with harming me, you’ve now harmed my son. Why won’t heaven simply take you, you wandering spirit!”

Lang Jiuchuan looked at Lou Shan. “The Bureau of Oversight might consider recruiting more capable hands — it seems there are some rabid, loose dogs wandering about and barking incoherently.”

Lou Shan: “…”

Lang Jiuchuan stepped forward two paces, looking down at Fang Shi with an unhurried air. “You have done evil in abundance and carry the weight of multiple lives on your hands, yet heaven has not claimed you. On what grounds do you expect it to claim me?”

Watching Fang Shi’s pupils contract, she drove the blade in further: “Karma does not forget. The state you’re in right now — who’s to say it isn’t retribution finding you at last? What goes around comes around, dear woman. As for your son — when a mother plants wickedness, the child is the one who reaps the harvest. That is perfectly fair. You were the one who implicated him. Stop cursing the sky and blaming others.”

Fang Shi was pushed over the edge and began shrieking again. She caught sight of Xuanming, shuffled forward on her knees, and said, “Reverend, please, save An’er — he is your—”

“Shut your mouth! Say another word and you’ll kill him yourself!” Xuanming barked sharply, his voice cold as ice, his expression bearing none of the peaceful benevolence of a monk — only dark, withering contempt, as though regarding some damned fool who deserved exactly this. Where was the equanimity expected of a man of the cloth?

Fang Shi froze. Her face drained to white. She dared not say another word, and turned back to throw herself over Lu You’an in tears.

Xuanming looked at the Rong Family’s people and said, “Take him inside to be treated.”

He then looked toward Lang Jiuchuan. Gong Qi noticed and moved preemptively, saying, “Lang Jiu — take us in to see the Madam. The young master also sent two safety talismans — one for her, and the other…” He paused, and his voice shifted just slightly. “He asks when you’re coming to the clan to have a discussion of the Way with him.”

A flicker passed through everyone’s eyes.

Was Gong Qi not making it abundantly clear — that this young woman was someone the Gong Family was protecting?

Lang Jiuchuan received Gong Qi’s signal. The karmic retribution delivered to the Fang Shi mother and son had been deeply satisfying, and she was content to let this be. Knowing when enough was enough, she led Gong Qi and the others back into the meditation chamber.

Xuanming, relieved not to have to look at any of it further, instructed the Rong Family’s people to take Lu You’an away for treatment. He then gazed toward the meditation chamber, something shifting in his expression.

That young woman was no ordinary person.

A young woman of the Lang Family who practiced Xuan arts, whose cultivation level was beyond what a common Taoist could match — and yet she had concealed it so thoroughly that the Tantai clan had no knowledge of her existence. Furthermore, she was deeply acquainted with the Gong Family — had she entered the Gong Family’s fold?

If the Gong Family had a talent like this joining their ranks, it would be like a tiger with wings.

The Venerable Xuanming worked his prayer beads between his fingers and walked away quickly. Should this not be reported back to the clan? Otherwise it might be a case of nurturing a tiger to bring future calamity upon oneself.

With the commotion settled, the meditation courtyard finally fell quiet. The members of the Lang Family, who had stood there watching a full performance from start to finish, looked at each other in bewilderment.

“So… that was the real Lang Jiu?” Lang Caize wiped the sweat from his forehead, muttering uncertainly.

Beside him, Lang Caiguang said, “She was putting on an act this whole time?”

“A wolf in sheep’s clothing!”

Someone said it aloud. Someone else thought for a moment, then said quietly, “We never actually did anything too terrible to her, did we?”

Terrible things — beyond sarcastic jabs and looking down on her, was there anything else?

The group thought it over. Noticing that the usually domineering Lang Caizhao had gone blank-eyed and silent, they nudged him. “What’s wrong with you?”

Lang Caizhao stared at the meditation chamber and said, “I… give thanks to Ninth Sister for sparing my life.”

Lang Cailing pressed herself softly against Lang Caiyao, trembling. “Is she — is she a monster? How can someone of the Lang bloodline have ability like that?”

Lang Caiyao rebuked her firmly, “Don’t say such things. We are at Huguo Temple. As Great-Uncle said — what kind of monster would dare carry on like this? You’ve seen who she truly is now. Even if you can’t befriend her in the future, at the very least, do not do anything foolish.”

One talisman — and that arrogant Lu You’an had been blasted half to death. Her ruthlessness and capability were plain to see. For all their private mockery and dismissal in the past, they had probably looked, to her eyes, like nothing more than a bunch of grand fools.

Lang Cailing swallowed hard and said, “She’s had her satisfaction — but does this now mean our Lang Family has completely fallen out with the Xuan clan’s Rong Family?”

Lang Caiyao glanced toward the meditation chamber and said, “Fallen out, then so be it. Great-Uncle hasn’t said a word against it. And moreover — the Gong Family stands on her side. Our Lang Family is not entirely without someone to lean on.”

Lang Cailing pressed a hand to her chest, which had only just begun to calm, then remembered the cold, pitiless side of Lang Jiuchuan she had just witnessed — and her heart began to race all over again.