The head of the Gong Family walked over to Gong Tinglan’s side and let out a displeased, cold snort. “The person has already left — what are you still staring at? If you have the ability, then properly bring her into our Gong Family as a wife.”

Gong Tinglan said in a low, steady voice, “Father, the National Preceptor — in all likelihood — is Tantai Wuji.”

The Gong Family head’s eyelid twitched. A sense of foreboding settled over him, and his gaze turned sharp and cold.

“I just went through the historical records. Since the National Preceptor holds that title, how could he have no honorific name? And yet, there simply isn’t one — which can only mean he deliberately suppressed it and never announced it publicly. Earlier, Lang Jiuchuan said that when she was choosing her Daoist title, he once said that ‘Wuji’ could serve as his honorific. Father, that cannot be a coincidence — of all names, it had to be that one.”

Wuji — the supreme, the boundless — was his very name.

The Gong Family head drew a long breath and said, “Recall Gong Qi. Bring back the Sixteenth as well.”

Gong Tinglan turned to look at him, a hint of sharpness entering his eyes. “Gong Qi is the most outstanding member of the Gong Family’s younger generation, but his reputation is considerable — if he vanishes without warning, it will only arouse the suspicions of the world. Father, we must preserve the flame, but it cannot be Gong Qi. When all living beings hang between life and death, if we protect only the most important root, how could anyone find that convincing?”

The Gong Family head’s eyelid twitched again. He raised his itching hand, then put it back down, and ground his teeth. “I only said to call him back for a discussion. The Surveillance Division he serves in may yet prove useful. In this matter, the Daoist sect’s efforts alone will not be enough. I hear that Shen Qinghe is a man of exceptional integrity as well — he could be drawn in. Just like when you all dealt with the corpse-fiend and the river-demon incidents, matters concerning all of humanity can have everyone involved, as long as they are trustworthy and unafraid of figures like the National Preceptor. I said one sentence, and you rattled on endlessly — do you think, in your eyes, that your father only ever looks after his own interests?”

Gong Tinglan gave a somewhat sheepish tug at the corner of his mouth and stepped back to bow. “It is your son whose mind is not broad enough.”

The Gong Family head still wanted to scold him, yet felt a little deflated. “Enough. In your eyes, we old ones truly do only fixate on family interests — which is how we’ve put the cart before the horse and let the roots rot. Fortunately, it is not yet too late. The heir of the Gong Family is clear-headed enough. Do as you see fit. The clan elders — your father will hold them in check. As for what fire to preserve for the Gong Family, I trust you’ll have the judgment and the discernment to handle it.”

Gong Tinglan cupped his hands and bowed again. “Yes!”

He strode away quickly. The Gong Family head watched his tall, straight retreating figure and murmured, “If only his eye for people were a little sharper — a little more determined — it would be perfect. Such a fine young woman…”

Noticing that Gong Tinglan seemed to remember something and turned back, the Gong Family head suddenly touched his own sleeve pocket, whooshed away with a technique of swift movement, and flung back a single line: “Your father is off to visit an old friend. Arrange things in the clan yourself.”

Gong Tinglan: “……”

A crafty old fox, through and through!

At the Wanshi Shop.

Jiangche and Fuqi looked at Lang Jiuchuan as she appeared, her expression dark and overcast, and exchanged a glance. “What happened? Is the Gong Family unwilling to cooperate?”

“More troublesome than the Gong Family refusing to cooperate — and that tiger-mouthed guess of yours hit the mark.” Lang Jiuchuan grabbed the teapot from the table and gurgled down every drop of cold tea inside, then looked at Jiangche and said, “The National Preceptor truly is not some old monster who has lived two hundred-odd years. He is a thousand-year-old ancient corpse — the true founding ancestor of the Tantai clan: Tantai Wuji!”

Jiangche froze.

Fuqi was equally bewildered. “Tantai Wuji?”

Lang Jiuchuan nodded and recounted everything she had seen and deduced in the Gong Family’s archive library.

Jiangche felt every single hair on his body stand on end — sheer fright.

Fuqi was also at a loss. “Is it really true?”

“There is no solid proof. But there are not so many coincidences in this world. Most importantly, his actions have already exposed his ambitions and left behind threads of evidence. Wuji…” Lang Jiuchuan recalled a memory from childhood and smiled at herself with bitter self-mockery. “No matter how muffled his voice was, I still heard it. He probably assumed I hadn’t, or that even if I had, I wouldn’t connect it to anything. And why would I? Who else has lived as long as he has and knows so many things from the distant past?”

What he had exploited was not her sharp mind — it was the fact that she simply did not possess his thousand years of lived experience.

“Continuously seizing the bodies of his own descendants to use as soul-nurturing vessels, sustaining himself for a thousand years… that…” Jiangche suddenly thought of Lang Jiuchuan and said, “He has schemed for a thousand years and still cannot return to his original form — and yet you managed to achieve rebirth in such a short time. He used Wen Yue’s daughter to test you; that must have been not only to probe your strength, but also to investigate exactly what method you used to return to the living world. He has surely seen it himself — you are no longer merely borrowing a body. You have truly been reborn!”

Fuqi furrowed her brow. “Xiaojiu, you are in great danger.”

If Tantai Wuji had been scheming for a thousand years for the sole purpose of nourishing his divine soul and original form — biding his time for the chance to reintegrate and break through to the Core Formation realm — then Lang Jiuchuan’s death-defying rebirth had given him immense encouragement and a living example to study.

He would absolutely seek out Lang Jiuchuan again, attempting to uncover the truth behind her rebirth and use it to achieve his own goals.

At worst, he would simply kill her once more.

“You have now become an indispensable piece in his scheme.” Jiangche murmured softly.

This was extremely dangerous. Without sufficient power, her fate might well mirror her previous life — left entirely at his mercy.

“I know.” Lang Jiuchuan’s gaze hardened like ice. “The odds in this confrontation are not in our favour, but it doesn’t matter. I will do everything in my power.”

If I give everything and still cannot stop him — then let it all burn to nothing. Once I am dead, what do I care if the floodwaters swallow the world?

Jiangche and Fuqi watched her composure — so utterly unshaken — and felt a weight settle over their hearts. It was a composure that carried within it a kind of madness, and it unsettled them deeply.

“You…”

Lang Jiuchuan said, “He is more difficult to deal with than I imagined, but that does not mean he cannot be dealt with. Tantai…” Her words caught in her throat, and she pressed her lips together.

The Tantai clan had always known that the National Preceptor was their founding ancestor — they revered and obeyed him. They simply did not know that this founding ancestor was the genuine article. But if they were to learn of his schemes… would they truly be willing to tolerate it, or even rejoice in it?

Human nature is not something one can put to the test.

When catastrophe has not yet fallen on your own head, the needle does not pierce the flesh and you do not feel the pain. As long as one’s own wealth and interests remain secure — what does it matter to them who among the family becomes the old ancestor’s soul-nurturing vessel?

If the founding ancestor could ascend to the pinnacle of the boundless heavens, the Tantai clan would be far more than a mere imperial family. A founding ancestor who had climbed to immortality could ensure their wealth and prosperity for generations upon generations, unbroken — no matter who sat upon the imperial throne, the Tantai clan would stand unshakeable forever.

After all, they would have an immortal ancestor sheltering and guiding them!

Sacrifice one person in exchange for the entire clan’s glory across a hundred generations — who would refuse that bargain?

So turning the Tantai clan against him would not work. If they learned the truth, they might even pour their full strength into furthering their ancestor’s plans, making the whole situation worse and far harder to resolve.

Then again — muddy waters are best for catching fish. Muddy waters are where one slips through the cracks. The more the Tantai clan does, the more they will inevitably provoke public outrage and unrest. Yet if that happens, those who suffer most will always be the common people at the bottom.

Lang Jiuchuan hesitated for a long while before finally saying, “It seems the only path is to go and reconnect with her.”

She had never learned the lesson that person had tried to teach her — that the heart must be ruthless!

“Is anyone there?”