“His corpse?” The man looked stunned. “You can still see his corpse? Shouldn’t it have withered by now?”

Qin Chang Ge and Xiao Jue exchanged glances.

Withered? Shouldn’t it have rotted? Then what was that thing in the coffin?

“May I ask your honorable name? What position do you hold in the Shui family?” Qin Chang Ge smiled sweetly as she stared at him. This fellow seemed to have considerable status.

“I am Shui Yingshen, the old family head’s second brother, deputy steward of the Shui family.” Shui Yingshen frowned. He had gradually calmed from his initial agitation and was now carefully examining the two before him, silently weighing them in his mind.

“Steward Shui, we don’t have time to dawdle,” Qin Chang Ge smiled amiably. “Please tell us everything you know.”

She waved at Shui Yingshen who was about to speak, saying bluntly, “Don’t ask so many questions or set conditions. Negotiation is for parties of equal status. Right now, you’re not qualified to negotiate with me.”

Looking at his face alternating between pale and flushed, she said indifferently, “Steward Shui, smart people should know how to assess the situation. We can see your current condition – your martial arts have been restricted, haven’t they? You can only treat us as your only saviors with no other choice. Now then, speak.”

Suppressed speechless by her forceful manner, Shui Yingshen swallowed and glanced at the man standing with hands behind his back – just his silhouette exuded infinite pressure. After thinking, he said, “Alright… I’ll speak. Though the old family head was said to have died suddenly, his death was very strange. He suddenly fell ill with a bizarre disease in spring, then lingered bedridden until he couldn’t rise. At that time Jingchen wasn’t in Nanmin. We blocked the news from getting out. Jingchen returned in April, and when he came back he was in bad shape, injured. The one who brought him back was Eastern Yan’s National Preceptor Bai Yuan.”

Qin Chang Ge and Xiao Jue exchanged glances again. Chu Feihuan’s prophecy at Shi family village was indeed true – the Shui family had problems then, and Shui Jingchen indeed had backup plans. When Su Xuan pursued him toward Shang Mountain, the one waiting there to receive him was actually the Eastern Yan National Preceptor himself!

Why did they come to Xiliang? Why did Shui Jingchen infiltrate the capital Yingdu? Why did he interfere with Huang Meng, release Yunhua from Prince Zhao’s mansion, and kill the remaining Color Gu Cult members at Shi family village? And Bai Yuan – why did he come?

Qin Chang Ge felt mysteries piling up like dark clouds overhead. Solving one brought another, endless and inexhaustible.

“After Jingchen returned, he didn’t tend to his injuries first but went to the family head’s chambers. That night…”

He suddenly showed a strange expression.

Outside the wind hissed, stars flickered in the distant moonless sky, and some unknown bird in the far tree branches cried out mournfully.

Shui Yingshen’s voice sounded quite distant.

“…At that time I still lived at the valley top, not far from the family head’s chambers. Yilan has a rule against going out after nightfall. Except for past family heads and heirs, no one knows why… That night I was practicing martial arts in my room when I suddenly heard faint sounds of blade cutting through air from the distance.”

He pressed his lips together, expression grim. “I rushed to the window and looked toward where the sound came from. I only saw the family head’s chambers with candlelight flickering unsteadily, trembling continuously as if pressed by some wind and about to be extinguished, yet never going out. I watched for a while, wanting to go look but not daring. The Shui family strictly forbids going out at night – violators will face family punishment. I didn’t dare.”

“The next day everything was normal. I harbored doubts and wanted to ask other brothers who lived nearby if they heard sounds, but felt it hard to speak. This matter made me feel ominously uneasy. For caution’s sake I didn’t mention it, and besides, my room’s direction and distance made it closest to the family head’s – the wind sounds weren’t obvious, so perhaps only I heard them.”

“I heard these sounds for sixteen days,” Shui Yingshen’s face showed disgust. “On the sixteenth day, I lay in bed carefully listening to those cutting sounds – crack, horizontal, fold, slash… Each wind sound felt like different movements. I thought it over repeatedly, then suddenly sat up!”

His tone became tense at the last few words, his face showing somewhat excited emotion, even his fingers trembling slightly.

“…I realized it was the character ‘zhi’!”

“The character ‘zhi’?” Qin Chang Ge tilted her head at him. “These sixteen days were practicing sword calligraphy?”

“Not practicing calligraphy – practicing the ‘Caifu’ sword technique!” Shui Yingshen’s expression seemed both joyful and fearful as he stared wide-eyed, as if seeing some treasure in empty space. “This is our Shui family’s supreme sword technique, supposedly lost long ago, with unmatched power. But this sword technique has brought endless misfortune since its creation. It’s said our ancestors destroyed it decades ago, strictly forbidding Shui family members from ever practicing it again. This sword technique originally derived from sixteen characters: ‘Gather, gather the plantain, briefly gather it. Gather, gather the plantain, briefly have it.’ Those who practice this sword technique supposedly gain natural methods, fear no poisons, become light as feathers, with true qi flowing continuously without end.”

Qin Chang Ge immediately thought of Shui Jingchen at the treetop in the dense forest, his true qi flowing smoothly under the relentless wheel attacks of three great masters.

“Are you saying Shui Jingchen practiced your Shui family’s forbidden sword technique, and the old family head taught it to him?”

“You don’t know if it was taught willingly.” Shui Yingshen’s face showed a cold smile. “His illness was strange, his teaching was strange, and Shui Jingchen ignoring his unhealed injuries to rush learning this sword technique was also strange. Even stranger was that on the final day, that last ‘zhi’ character – even I could hear it was wrong. What should have been drawn in one stroke somehow remained stiff and sluggish, unable to flow smoothly.”

“I sat on my bed then, listening to those wind sounds that couldn’t break through no matter what, and felt inexplicably agitated myself. I don’t know how incredibly frustrated the person wielding the sword must have felt. Yet he still continued practicing unhurriedly… such patience…”

“Suddenly the wind sounds stopped. I went to the window and saw the candlelight dim once, then brighten, and then the wind sounds resumed.”

His lips suddenly began trembling.

Qin Chang Ge played with her fingers, smiling coldly as she made a heart-piercing gesture. Shui Yingshen’s face paled again before he continued after a long pause, “When the wind sounds resumed, there were no more obstructions. Smooth as a great river flowing, wind rising and clouds surging. Hearing this tremendous change, I felt my heart pounding, as if in that moment between the candlelight dimming and brightening, something terrible had already happened.”

“I didn’t dare go out. Going out now to look – who knew if I’d be used by Shui Jingchen, who had just mastered the Caifu sword technique, to test his blade? I thought about it, climbed down from bed, and lay on the ground listening carefully. I faintly heard walking sounds… sounds of moving tables and chairs… sounds of searching for things… water sounds… liquid dripping sounds…”

His voice carried bone-chilling coldness. The wind outside suddenly became fierce, and the grotesque black shadows of surrounding trees swayed wildly on the walls like demon claws raised high, selecting prey to devour.

The wind sounded like ghostly wailing, but whether the one crying was Shui Yingqi who died strangely, or the ancestors who created the Shui family’s glorious reputation, who could say?

“The next day, the family head died.”

Shui Yingshen spoke casually with deep eyes. “Early that morning I heard thirty-six funeral bell tolls – the death knell for a family head. I immediately rushed into the family head’s chambers. Jingchen sat cross-legged in the hall with the family head’s corpse covered in white silk behind him.”

“The hall was filled with rich fragrance. The valley’s two precious flowers – Snow White and Golden Orchid – had been moved there by Jingchen, placed at the head and feet of the family head’s body. Golden Orchid’s fragrance is unmatched, precious beyond compare, always kept at the mountain peak where we rarely see it. For such a major event as the family head’s death, bringing it out wouldn’t be unreasonable, but I always felt something wasn’t right.”

Qin Chang Ge smiled lightly. “Just to mask odors, right?”

Looking at her in surprise, Shui Yingshen nodded. “Yes, I think so. I was the first to arrive and wept over the corpse. Jingchen wouldn’t let me approach the body. When he wasn’t paying attention, I pulled the family head’s hand, and it dropped down.”

He unconsciously made a gesture of five fingers drooping, his gaze horrified.

“…I saw his five fingers had completely withered, pale as a piece of dry wood.”

His eyes showed terror as he whispered, “…The family head was originally slightly plump with full skin and had always been in good health…”

“I lay on the ground crying when I suddenly saw something rolling in the brick cracks ahead. I secretly reached out and found it was quicksilver.”

Qin Chang Ge raised an eyebrow. Quicksilver was mercury, given a new name in this continent.

Using mercury… making a mummy.

“I sniffed more carefully and finally caught a slight scent of strong liquor and turmeric. Since childhood my five senses have been sharp – hearing, sight, and smell discrimination all much stronger than others. Smelling these, I vaguely understood—”

“You understood that the sounds you heard that night were Shui Jingchen handling the corpse.” Qin Chang Ge coldly continued, “Soaking the body with strong liquor mixed with turmeric juice, then removing internal organs, coating the abdominal cavity with mercury, stuffing it with other things – that’s why the body didn’t decay. Why did he go to such trouble to make his father into a mummy? Was he afraid you’d discover something wrong with the corpse?”

“I don’t know…” Shui Yingshen shook his head. “Since I knew this, how could I let that villain inherit the position? I immediately discussed with several brothers and planned to cause trouble and block the coffin during the family head’s burial the next day. But Jingchen was already prepared… Our two factions were both strong enough that we had grounds to depose him, yet he never used that sword technique at all, sigh…”

He ended this strange account with a deep sigh, his expression filled with resentment. Qin Chang Ge carefully considered whether there were gaps in his story, then said after a while, “I want to ask one more question.”

“Ask away.”

“The noble Shui family has such reputation, respected by all the world. Why would Shui Jingchen act so perversely and destroy his reputation? Does he have something against good fame?”

Showing a slight bitter smile, Shui Yingshen said, “You can’t entirely blame him for that. You don’t know – in this world, being bad is hard, but being good is even harder. Our Shui family’s hundred years of accumulated virtuous reputation as a model of good deeds and moral monument for humanity is real, but performing good deeds requires money! Precisely because of our good reputation, whenever poor martial artists in the world face difficulties, they all come to us, kneeling outside the valley crying and begging for help, asking for aid, borrowing money, requesting loans – an endless tide. Silver flows out daily like water, but if we ignore even one person, our hundred-year reputation would be completely ruined. The Shui family also has house rules against evil deeds and ill-gotten gains, so many quick money-making business methods are forbidden to us. With so many people above and below wanting to borrow, so many mouths to feed – it all costs money… Even during the previous family head’s time, the Shui family’s expenses exceeded income. Money became the noble family’s greatest problem. Jingchen stood out among all brothers precisely because he could make money. At twelve he traveled abroad and somehow met Bai Yuan, later reportedly establishing quite some enterprises outside, which allowed the Shui family to survive… As for what kind of enterprises he had outside, the family head later turned a blind eye and didn’t bother investigating – it was truly difficult… That Bai Yuan is most unscrupulous and scheming. Being with him for so long, Jingchen gradually changed… The Shui family later fell into a strange cycle – secretly earning ill-gotten gains to maintain their righteous reputation…”

“Oh?” Qin Chang Ge’s eyes rolled. “Since the Shui family is so troubled by money, where did you get this roomful of black gold?”

His face reddened with an embarrassed expression. Shui Yingshen stammered, “I previously managed the Shui family’s financial income and expenditures…”

Unable to help laughing out loud, Qin Chang Ge smiled sarcastically. “Don’t push all responsibility onto others. Don’t you yourselves have greed? The noble family may truly have been benevolent and virtuous, putting righteousness first in the first generation, but passed down through generations with descendants of mixed quality, family traditions declining is normal. Yet you’re reluctant to give up that good reputation, reluctant to give up the lofty status of being revered by the world… You poor creatures trapped by reputation!”

“All things will ultimately be like floating clouds. Golden houses, jade beds – still just three feet for lying. Worldly fame, iron thresholds – in the end all empty flowers.” The cold response came from Xiao Jue, who had remained silent, his expression disdainful. “Foolish and ignorant!”

“What do you understand!” Shui Yingshen was accustomed to high position in the Shui family, used to flattery and unaccustomed to criticism. Though his recent poor circumstances had somewhat restrained his arrogance, he still couldn’t bear such words and angrily said, “You bottom-dwellers, how could you know the infinite glory of those in high positions? How could you know the enormous benefits reputation brings…”

He seemed to realize he’d said too much and stiffly shut his mouth. Xiao Jue smiled mockingly, leaning against the door. “I don’t understand. I don’t understand how you people think. There are so many things in the world worth cherishing and protecting, yet you choose the most boring one.”

Qin Chang Ge turned with a smile. “Summer insects cannot speak of ice. Talking to these people is wasting words. Let’s handle business… Hey, Su Xuan, have you heard enough?”

Someone laughed low and clear. A white shadow flashed and Su Xuan appeared at the doorway. Without wasting words, he raised his hand in the air, immediately creating swirling wind sounds in the room, then smiled. “Steward Shui, try circulating your qi.”

Following his instruction, Shui Yingshen suddenly looked up in surprise. “My Shui family’s unique pressure point sealing technique – how do you know how to release it?”

Su Xuan’s face actually reddened slightly. Avoiding the question, he said to Qin Chang Ge who was looking at him with a half-smile, “Before entering, I already had the chief guardian Meng Mingrui who came with me go steal the corpse. The old family head’s body being abnormal is sufficient proof of the Shui family’s problems.”

“How could you possibly come here so smoothly?” Xiao Jue frowned at him. “Was Shui Jingchen so careless as to let you through?”

“He was held up by someone – a woman I don’t recognize with extremely high martial arts,” Su Xuan said. “That woman called herself the Heavenly Envoy of the Mysterious Altar. She also had a group of subordinates and completely ignored the Shui family’s rule against entering the valley at night, forcing their way in and killing anyone who blocked them.”

“That should be Ban Yan, the Heavenly Envoy among Yinli’s top three envoys who came to pay respects – probably still that half-masked strongman secretly assassinated by Shui Jingchen at Shi family village,” Qin Chang Ge smiled. “Well timed indeed! I’ve been waiting for you all for so long, knowing that once you heard the Shui family was in chaos, you’d definitely come muddy the waters. When else to take revenge? This truly pleases me – ah, you fight first then, thank you.”

Su Xuan and Xiao Jue both fell silent, both feeling that those who dealt with this woman were truly quite unlucky.

Qin Chang Ge turned toward Shui Yingshen and was about to speak when suddenly strange sounds arose – chaotic and irritating, making one want to vomit. Her expression changed as she said urgently, “Ban Yan’s sound killing!”

Everyone hurriedly circulated qi or covered their ears. Qin Chang Ge rushed outside and saw on a broken cliff at the valley entrance, Ban Yan – half ghostly, half devastatingly beautiful – had her sleeves drawn up and was slowly shrieking toward the newly appeared moonlight.

Across from her, a man in plain robes and silver crown sat cross-legged on the ground amid silvery white moonlight. Pale red mist rose around him, tinting his robes with a subtle blush. He rested a qin on his knees, and with a touch of his slender fingertips, spring-like sounds arose, drifting melodiously. When he raised his head, moonlight faintly illuminated his face, and everyone’s breathing stopped.

Peerless elegance.

Ban Yan stopped her shrieks and turned to look over. Her speech was still that slow, much slower than normal people. “You want to compete in sound with me? Aren’t you afraid everyone will die?”

Shui Jingchen smiled, his smile like pear blossoms soaked in moonlight. “There are too many troublemakers. Let’s do it together then.”

He lightly plucked the strings.

The martial artists arranged in various places during the day gradually walked out from their respective dwellings, eyes blank, moving stiffly forward.

The solid ground in their eyes was now all sheer cliffs.

Shui Jingchen wanted to kill all these people who might bring trouble to silence them forever.

Ban Yan’s gaze sharpened as she suddenly made several strange tones.

Those people’s extended legs retracted.

Shui Jingchen played again.

They stepped forward again.

For a moment, halfway up the mountain, that group of martial arts heroes lifted and retracted their legs like marionettes, repeatedly extending and retracting – truly comical, yet eerie in its humor.

Some with higher martial arts desperately fought against the control brought by the sound killing and Shui Jingchen’s qin music, sweat beading their foreheads.

Under moonlight Shui Jingchen smiled, slightly raising his head. The silhouette outlined by moonlight was exquisitely indescribable.

His hands never left the strings as he said softly, “Despite all your scheming, it’s just wasted effort.”

His smiling gaze turned over, landing precisely on Qin Chang Ge’s group.

Gently raising his hand, he smiled and plucked the strings, his posture leisurely like a beautiful dream that could drown people within it.

He said, “I’ve waited a long time, and finally, you’ve all come.”