After a pause, Duan Xu added, “And when I’m not by your side, I presumptuously worry about you a great deal.”

He Simu’s eyes flickered. She walked closer to Duan Xu and looked directly into his eyes, saying word by word, “You do know that this is presumptuous.”

Humans were indeed fragile and easily broken, but she was only briefly experiencing human life. He should understand that he was the fragile living one.

As for his offenses against her, she still remembered them clearly.

From a distance, Lu Da said, “Excuse me, you two. Could you come over to talk?”

He Simu turned and walked over, with Duan Xu following her to Lu Da and YI Lier’s side.

Lu Da’s gaze turned to his father—magnificently dressed, adorned with jewels, but pale as a ghost, standing in the ash-covered garden, as if something had collapsed along with the crystal pagoda.

He held his father’s wrist and calmly asked, “Father, apart from my elder brother and me, why did none of my other siblings live to adulthood?”

Sometimes being too clever wasn’t a good thing.

YI Lier cleared his throat and said somewhat nervously, “They just… fell ill…”

Even at this point, he was still trying to hide his transgressions from the son he took such pride in.

Lu Da seemed to no longer expect answers from YI Lier. He turned his gaze to He Simu and said, “Can you tell me?”

He Simu looked at the pitiful, increasingly aged master and said indifferently, “Those who worship Yao ghosts must periodically feed them with their bloodline to maintain the connection between themselves and the Yao ghosts.”

Lu Da was silent for a moment. An expression of anger and pain, rarely seen on his face, appeared. He said to YI Lier, “You sacrificed them all to the Yao ghosts in exchange for fame and benefits for yourself, my elder brother, and me?”

YI Lier stared with his eyes wide open, unable to speak. His beard trembled as if he wanted to open his mouth but couldn’t.

“What about the holy relic I asked for?”

Seeing that YI Lier still wouldn’t answer, Lu Da looked at He Simu again.

He Simu said, “He gave it to the Yao Ghost Palace Lord to help him evade my summoning command.”

Lu Da lowered his eyes and then raised them, staring intently at YI Lier: “Father, is this true?”

YI Lier bit his lip, then suddenly yanked his hand free from Lu Da’s grip. His previously pale face flushed red with emotion. He angrily pointed at Lu Da and shouted, “I am your father! Who do you think I did all this for? Who? We were looked down upon at court, banished to this small city, without a shred of family fortune. If I hadn’t made deals with the Yao ghosts, how could our family have risen again? How could you and your brother have become officials in the capital? Do you think you’re so pure and innocent? Now you dare to question me!”

Lu Da looked seriously at his father and said slowly, word by word, “Father, the desire to rise again was yours, not mine, and certainly not theirs. Since Father has already betrayed the Azure God, I should resign from my official position and leave the court.”

Upon hearing this, YI Lier became anxious. He stepped forward and slapped Lu Da, who didn’t dodge, resulting in a bloody wound from YI Lier’s jeweled ring.

“What nonsense are you talking about… resign? Do you want your brothers and sisters to have died in vain? Are you trying to kill me with anger? You… you’re helping them against the Yao Ghost Palace Lord. If he turns against us, what will happen to your elder brother? What will happen to me?”

“I will protect you both.”

The situation became tense, with father and son talking past each other. As YI Lier was fuming speechlessly, Duan Xu interjected.

He employed his mastery of tai chi diplomacy, saying, “My master should soon find the Yao Ghost Palace Lord, who isn’t far from being reduced to ashes. Master YI Lier needn’t worry about him turning against you. You say Lu Da’s success is entirely due to your deals with evil ghosts, but I’m not so sure. Why did the Yao Ghost Palace Lord choose you in the first place? Could it be because he discovered you had a son with special innate qualities who might one day become a Dan branch priest?”

This bit of tai chi pacified both sides. To solidify his point, Duan Xu turned to He Simu and asked, “Your Highness, am I right?”

He Simu laughed lightly, not even looking at Duan Xu, and instead asked Lu Da, “No other questions? Then I’ll rest. This late-night drama has truly exhausted me.”

With that, she turned and walked past Duan Xu without a glance, as if he didn’t exist. Duan Xu said nothing but cheerfully followed her.

Lu Da watched them leave, then looked at his frightened and indignant father and said, “Father, we need to talk properly.”

Duan Xu looked back at them. He figured Lu Da wouldn’t get the remorse and apology he wanted, nor would YI Lier receive the gratitude he desired.

Between father and son, connected by blood with the weight of parental kindness as heavy as mountains, yet with hearts divided and seeking different things—what was there to talk about?

The biggest event in Fujian City that year was the fire at Master YI Lier’s home. The entire garden, along with the famous crystal pagoda, was burned down overnight, and the venerated holy relic also disappeared. For Master YI Lier, who had always enjoyed astonishingly good luck, this was probably the most unfortunate event of his life.

The entire city buzzed with discussion, some sympathetic, others gloating. The gloaters said his wives had bad tempers, and who knew how many servants had been beaten to death in his household—this was truly retribution.

YI Lier and Lu Da talked through the night until noon the next day. No one knew what they discussed, but Lu Da no longer mentioned resigning, while YI Lier proposed giving his gold mine to the court and going to serve at the Azure God Temple in the capital.

Duan Xu and Lu Da stood in the courtyard, watching servants busily cleaning up. Duan Xu smiled and said, “Young Priest, there’s a fire in the backyard. Is this situation exactly what the High Priest and my master feared most?”

YI Lier, though a Huchi noble, had abandoned his deity to worship Han ghosts, which probably wasn’t an isolated case. For decades, Han and Huchi people had lived together north of the border rivers. With Han people outnumbering Huchi by more than three hundred times, the cultural impact on Huchi customs was immense. In recent years, Huchi’s behavior had increasingly resembled that of the Han people, and even their faith had been shaken.

He had heard his master and the High Priest discuss this matter, criticizing the Han influence at court, fearing that eventually, the nation would cease to be a nation, and Huchi would no longer be Huchi. Therefore, they regarded the Azure God and the Azure Scripture as extremely important, considering them the soul of the Huchi people, to be kept pure at all costs, untainted by foreign races.

“What I think is different from our two masters,” Lu Da replied. “Why should only Huchi people believe in the Azure God? Why should only Huchi people read the Azure Scripture? Han people and people of other ethnicities should also be able to receive the Azure God’s protection. Huchi people today are very different from those of a hundred years ago, just as they differ from those of a thousand years ago. Huchi people living among Han people should naturally be different from those on the grasslands. Flowing water doesn’t stagnate; changes must be made.”

Duan Xu was somewhat surprised. Lu Da saw his surprised expression as if expecting it. He smiled gently and said, “Are you curious how I recognized you? I’ve seen you before, building sand castles at the back seat of Tianzhixiao Mountain Villa.”

For a time, he had stayed at Tianzhixiao with the High Priest. At night, he would sit on the cliff to meditate and often saw a young boy sneaking out to build sand castles by the sea. The castles would be washed away by the tide each day, yet the boy would return every night to rebuild them in the same spot.

Out of curiosity, he had secretly observed this boy from a distance. The boy was often covered in wounds, sometimes stumbling, but never stopped, always completely focused.

He remembered this child. When the leader of Tianzhixiao introduced the new disciple “Seventeen” to them, he immediately recognized him as the sand castle builder from years ago.

This youth was never meant to be a caged bird; he had flown out to become an eagle.

Duan Xu was stunned as the faded, distant memory became clear. He smiled brightly and said, “I didn’t mean for you to see me.”

Didn’t mean for you to see Duan Xu during the intervals of being Seventeen.

But he wasn’t truly Seventeen. By the rules, all disciples in a cohort had to die for the last survivor to be given a number. He had saved Han Lingqiu, meaning two people from that cohort still lived, so there was no true “Seventeen” in this world.

That was one reason why he had taken such a great risk to ensure Han Lingqiu’s survival.

Lu Da said, “Although the leader said you were devout, I always felt you didn’t believe in the Azure God, right? What are we in your eyes?”

Duan Xu was silent for a moment, then asked in return, “Then in your eyes, what is the Azure God? Do you truly believe in the so-called power of the Azure God?”

“The Azure God is a kind of belief. Seventeen, you also have beliefs, so you should know this power is extremely strong, able to match all divine weapons in this world. The power of the Azure God is the belief of a million people as one. Whether the deity exists isn’t important; what matters is our covenant with the god. This covenant doesn’t require a response from the deity. As long as believers in the Azure God still live in this world, the Azure God will not perish.”

This was the first time Duan Xu had heard a Huchi person say “Whether the deity exists isn’t important,” and it came from the mouth of the Young Priest, no less. If his master and the High Priest heard this, they would likely be furious.

Duan Xu laughed softly: “The belief of a million people as one… Ha! In the Azure Scripture, the Azure God’s greatest blessing is allowing Huchi descendants to spread to every corner of the world. With this, you led armies south to invade Han territories, slaughtering over a million people. Is this what you do for your belief?”

“Wars have never ceased since ancient times; how can one distinguish between good and evil? When the Han people fought their civil wars and expanded their territories, how many died?”

Lu Da was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Duan Xu: “I know there is deep hatred between our two peoples. Only time and fairness can dissolve hatred—that’s why I want reform.”

Duan Xu didn’t respond.

The courtyard was noisy with people coming and going, cleaning up, but between Duan Xu and Lu Da, there was only silence. Lu Da sighed and asked, “Seventeen, how did you die? Do you have any grievances?”

Hearing this, Duan Xu couldn’t help but laugh. Previously silent, he now burst into laughter and said, “What, if I have grievances, will you right the wrongs for me? Then would you also seek justice for my ninety-plus dead classmates? For the thousands of disciples and slaves who died at Tianzhixiao? Doesn’t the Azure God protect them?”

From the day the Dan branch was established, people were divided into different classes. The Azure God would not protect everyone equally. Lu Da had lofty, noble wishes and was perhaps a good person himself, but he could not realize those wishes.

His wishes would only become the newest means of enslavement.

“In the future, we will be enemies, the kind where one of us must die,” Duan Xu said.

Lu Da seemed confused, apparently thinking that since the person before him was already dead, what was the point of talking about life and death? But he still smiled and said, “Then before that, we can be friends, the kind who meet by chance.”

Duan Xu was silent for a moment, then smiled and patted Lu Da’s shoulder, saying, “Young Priest, I hope we won’t meet again. Thank you for not exposing me back then. Let’s part ways now, and each take care.”

Meanwhile, in another location, He Simu was savoring tea in her room. The luminous pearl on her table began to glow, and a familiar young male voice came from it, sounding somewhat urgent.

“Great Ancestor!”

He Simu said indifferently, “What is it? Did your rune insect respond?”

“Yes, but…”

“Where has the Yao Ghost Palace Lord hidden?”

The man on the other end of the pearl sighed and said, “If my rune insect hasn’t made a mistake, that fellow is now in Nandu.”

“Nandu?”

“Moreover… inside the imperial palace.”

He Simu’s hand paused as she was drinking tea. She put down her cup and laughed: “How interesting. You’re quite derelict in your duties as Imperial Tutor, allowing an evil ghost to slip into the palace.”