Qin Yao and her master Yuan Jue hurried as fast as they could into the dormitory’s courtyard gate, then ran on to the small garden behind the building. The moment they entered, everyone could clearly sense that the malevolent energy had drawn back somewhat. Looking up, they saw that Lin Xiao had, as instructed, planted Chixiao in the courtyard ground — the blade trembling without pause, giving off bursts of blinding white light, as though straining with all its might against the evil energy beneath the earth.

Lin Xiao said not a word, his face grim as he watched Chixiao. In all the time since he and Qin Yao’s group had joined forces against great demons, Chixiao had never been this restless and unsettled — proof enough that whatever lay buried beneath the ground was no ordinary thing.

“Start digging!” Qing Xuzi barked sharply, tying his Daoist robe up at his waist. He was the first to rush into the courtyard, crouching down and beginning to dig with his bare hands. He deliberately chose a spot a few feet away from where Chixiao stood, clearly not wanting to interfere with the sword’s suppressive power.

Yuan Jue, ignoring the cold weather, likewise tossed off his spotless, dust-free Daoist robe onto the ground without hesitation. After searching around for a moment, he spotted a small garden trowel lying carelessly by a flower bed — small, but still far easier to use than digging with bare hands. He strode over, picked up the trowel, and bent down to start digging.

Qin Yao, following suit, ran a few steps this way and that, hoping to find a tool to help with digging in the garden as well, but unfortunately found no second trowel. She had no choice but to pick up a thick tree branch and run to her master’s side — but after just one attempt, she found it unwieldy, and decided to dig with her bare hands like her master instead.

“Let me.” Just as she crouched down, Lin Xiao pulled her back up. Her hand had been injured by someone the last time, at Shouhuai Mountain, and it had only just healed — how could he bear to let her risk injuring it again? “The weather’s too cold, and the ground is frozen too hard. How could you possibly dig through it? I’ll call some men in to help right now.”

With that, he curled his fingers into a circle and gave a sharp whistle.

In no more than the span of a breath, soldiers appeared atop the wall, and seeing that Lin Xiao had summoned them, they all rushed to his side to await orders.

“Dig this spot open,” Lin Xiao said. With that, he took a curved blade from one of the soldiers and was the first to crouch down and start digging.

With the added help of these soldiers, a layer of soil was soon dug away.

Qin Yao felt the rank odor at her nose grow even stronger — clear proof that Nüxiu’s corpse was on the verge of emerging.

Without further orders from Lin Xiao, the soldiers didn’t dare stop, continuing to dig downward. With so many hands at work, they soon had a pit over a foot deep.

Qin Yao worried that, once the spellcasting began, Nüxiu’s malevolent energy might accidentally harm these soldiers, and she was hesitating over whether to tell Lin Xiao to have them withdraw from the academy at once — when suddenly, fierce shouts and the sounds of fighting erupted from outside.

Qin Yao froze for a moment, but Lin Xiao’s expression turned cold, and he said to the soldiers, “Consort Yi’s people have arrived. From the sound of it, there are quite a few of them. Go back outside the courtyard at once and help — under no circumstances let anyone break in.”

The group received the order and left as quickly as they could.

Qing Xuzi and the others continued digging, but they had only worked for a short while when a strange sound came from atop the courtyard wall, and they saw a dozen or so guards dressed as palace attendants, tightly surrounding one person in their midst, using their own bodies as living shields, forcing their way to deliver that person into the courtyard.

As this group landed, several of them appeared to be gravely wounded, blood dripping continuously from their bodies.

Qin Yao was startled to see this — to break into the academy through the hail of weapons from the Southern Garrison troops and the Imperial Guards meant that, in all likelihood, at least one person among this group possessed some strange power, using it to provide cover and allow them to slip free of the soldiers’ encirclement outside.

The courtyard wall was likely still under some kind of concealment spell — the soldiers, though they had already noticed someone had broken in, seemed to be blocked behind an invisible wall, pacing back and forth anxiously atop the battlements, unable to leap down no matter what.

Qin Yao’s eyes turned cold as she fixed her gaze on the person at the center of the surrounding guards. To cast such a deeply powerful concealment spell in the blink of an eye required nothing less than a Daoist master of extraordinary cultivation — clear proof that their earlier guess had been correct: Consort Yi would never allow them to break the formation unhindered, and had sent the very same person who had originally set the array to come obstruct them.

She gave her arm a shake, letting the talisman hidden in her sleeve drop into her palm, sank her energy into her dantian, and with a sweep of her hand sent the talisman flying straight toward the courtyard wall, intending to break the man’s evil sorcery.

But before the talisman had even traveled halfway, it was struck down by another talisman flying to meet it head-on.

Her strike having failed to land, Qin Yao was instead knocked back two steps by the force of the man’s inner energy.

Lin Xiao hurried forward and pulled Qin Yao behind him, glancing coldly at the man, then shouted to the soldiers atop the wall, “Stop wasting your efforts for nothing — get yourselves in through the main gate at once.”

The soldiers understood clearly, and their figures vanished from atop the wall at once.

Qing Xuzi and Yuan Jue paid no heed to the commotion around them, throwing themselves entirely into digging swiftly down along the formation’s eye. At this rate, they would soon find the corpse; all that remained was to follow the original sequence of the array’s construction — pulling out, one by one, the thousands of needles pinning the corpse, using a soul-pacifying technique to temporarily calm the resentful spirit, and then removing the iron tablet pressed beneath the corpse, at which point the formation would be broken.

Qin Yao steadied herself behind Lin Xiao and, getting a clear look at the newcomer, found she wasn’t particularly surprised. She merely curled her lip in a mocking smile. “Eunuch Mi. All these years, you gave up being a Daoist priest just to skulk about the palace as a eunuch instead — it must have been quite the experience, hasn’t it?”

In truth, over the past two days, she had gone over nearly everyone close to Consort Yi, and Eunuch Mi had not escaped her suspicion. She knew that this man had entered the Prince of Qi’s household to serve some twenty years ago, and over the years had won considerable favor from the Emperor, rising smoothly all the way to become Chief Eunuch. Although on the surface he was one of the Emperor’s personal attendants, he was, after all, within the same palace as Consort Yi, and would have had frequent opportunities to come into contact with her.

At present, he wore a thick fur coat, the pelt gleaming with a rich sheen, looking extraordinarily luxurious. By rights, fur of this grade should have been entirely beyond what a mere palace attendant could rightfully enjoy — yet, against his usual nature, he wore it openly before everyone without the slightest scruple, which showed that he had already cast aside all regard for the palace’s rules.

Whether this was because he was certain of victory, or because he had long harbored treasonous intentions, she couldn’t say.

He swept a half-smile over Qin Yao, sidestepping her remark entirely, and turned instead to Lin Xiao. “My lord, you’ve always been a clever man. For the sake of a woman of the Qu clan, you’ve thrown away your perfectly good standing as a noble of the imperial bloodline, choosing instead to become a rebel and a traitor — truly, the allure of a woman does no small harm to a man. Now, Her Highness Consort Yi, taking pity on your youthful folly, is willing to let bygones be bygones. All you need do is personally execute these few Daoists who spread heretical lies to deceive the masses, and order your troops withdrawn, and she will spare you and your father both, and even plead your case before His Majesty, sparing you the fate of being branded a rebel alongside these treacherous priests. Her Highness has said that once this storm has passed, she will personally select for you a beautiful new wife and concubines, each one guaranteed to be no less lovely than this woman of the Qu clan—”

Lin Xiao had no patience whatsoever for this nonsense. He gave a derisive snort, twisted the hilt of his blade, and leapt forward, thrusting straight at Eunuch Mi’s chest.

The men beside Eunuch Mi, however, were of unknown origin — several had high noses and deep-set eyes, looking as though they hailed from beyond the borders, but every one of them possessed extraordinary martial skill. Before Lin Xiao’s strike could land, they moved as one to deflect half the force of his attack, and within moments had him tightly engaged in combat.

Eunuch Mi retreated to one side, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on Lin Xiao. “This old servant knows full well why my lord can afford to be so fearless — but my lord should also know that the Crown Prince holds the Zhechong Commandant’s office, and the troops who marched out to Yumen Pass are already on their way back to Chang’an. Once the great armies converge, we will outnumber you many times over — how could the Imperial Guards and Southern Garrison troops in your hands possibly hold out? Better to submit while you still can, lest you end up dying without even a whole corpse left behind.”

Qin Yao gave a cold smile. This Eunuch Mi really could spout falsehoods with his eyes wide open. Not to mention that even once the great armies converged, at most their numbers would only match those on her own side — and even if they truly were outnumbered, given the Crown Prince’s ability to command troops, any talk of victory or defeat would be premature at best.

Knowing the soldiers outside would arrive shortly, she wasn’t worried about Lin Xiao being at a disadvantage. Listening to the unceasing sound of digging from her master and the others behind her, and fearing that Eunuch Mi might secretly try to sabotage their efforts to break the formation, she suddenly spoke up. “Let me ask you — why did you kill Celestial Master Li back then, and when exactly did you first conspire with Consort Yi?”

She didn’t even bother asking whether he was Celestial Master Li’s mute disciple, but instead went straight to attributing Celestial Master Li’s death directly to Eunuch Mi, catching him off guard in an attempt to distract him.

Eunuch Mi, who had just been scheming a way to obstruct Qing Xuzi and the others from digging out the formation, indeed darkened at her words, the affable mask he’d been wearing slipping away entirely. He looked Qin Yao up and down, apparently not expecting she had already guessed at the truth behind him, and gave a cold laugh. “Either way, you won’t live much longer, so there’s no harm in telling you. Celestial Master, indeed — he was nothing but a mediocre, do-nothing Daoist. If he hadn’t happened to come into possession of a treasured formation and geomancy manual from the previous dynasty through a tomb robber, how could he ever have risen to fame among the common people and been bestowed the title of Celestial Master by the Emperor? With his mediocre talent, such an extraordinary text falling into his hands was nothing but a waste — my own cultivation in the Dao far surpasses his by a wide margin. Only once that book fell into my hands was it truly put to its proper use.”

Qin Yao suddenly understood — no wonder this man had never shown his true face when he was at Celestial Master Li’s side, choosing instead to alter his appearance, and had even pretended to be mute when he wasn’t mute at all. From the very beginning, he had been after Celestial Master Li’s book, no doubt watching all along for his chance to strike.

“As for this ‘conspiracy’ you speak of,” he said, displeasure crossing his face, “one masters the arts of letters and arms to sell them to the house of kings. With these strange powers of mine, and now this treasured manual in hand, how could I be content to let such abilities go to waste, buried for nothing? Since there exists a discerning, clever person willing to place her trust in me, naturally I’m willing to cooperate with her, to our mutual benefit — what conspiracy is there to speak of? Has your master truly never taught you that in this world, what stands above even the highest mastery of the Dao is not some still loftier mastery of the Dao, but imperial power itself! Only the dim-witted and obstinate would foolishly insist on standing against the imperial house at every turn—”

Before he had even finished speaking, he suddenly flung out his hand, sending three bone-piercing needles flying toward A’Han.

Qin Yao had already anticipated this move and quickly swung the thick branch in her hand. Though she couldn’t block every needle outright, she could knock them off their trajectory.

Even so, one needle slipped past the branch entirely, unaffected by her strike, and flew straight at A’Han.

A’Han sensed the sudden rush of wind past his ear and had no choice but to stop what he was doing, rolling aside on the spot to dodge the needle. He had meant to get up and see who had tried to ambush him, but at a sharp shout from Qing Xuzi, he didn’t dare delay even a moment longer and went straight back to digging.

Qin Yao saw that a section of wooden plank had already become visible in the soil beneath her master’s feet — clearly they had already dug down to the corpse, and victory was in sight. Determined not to let Eunuch Mi ruin everything at this critical moment, she said angrily, “For all your boasting about your superior Daoist arts, I see you’re nothing but a fool! Do you even realize that the corpse you all used to build this array all those years ago has very likely already transformed into Nüxiu? Nüxiu is stirring restlessly and will soon emerge into the world! If you keep blindly obstructing my master and the others from suppressing it, then once it does emerge, forget about your dreams of wealth and glory — I doubt you’ll ever take a single step out of this academy again!”

Of course, Eunuch Mi wouldn’t believe her words — Qin Yao knew this herself. For one thing, he hadn’t fought alongside them against the four demon stars that had successively manifested over the past year, and the very theory of Nüxiu was nothing more than a notion that had occurred to her by chance while reading the heavens — whether it was even true remained an entirely separate, never-confirmed matter. For another, from what Eunuch Mi had just said, it was clear he was an extremely arrogant and self-important man, supremely confident in his own Daoist arts — how could he possibly tolerate some wet-behind-the-ears young Daoist girl lecturing him?

Just as expected, he didn’t believe her in the slightest, sneering, “Mistaking a mere resentful corpse for Nüxiu — your master really has taught you well!”

He waved his hand again, sending another bone-piercing needle flying toward A’Han.

It seemed that, regardless of whether Qing Xuzi and the others could break the formation or not, he intended to take A’Han’s life first and worry about the rest later.

But this time, before Qin Yao could act, Chang Rong and a group of soldiers had already burst into the rear courtyard.

Seeing Eunuch Mi try to ambush A’Han, Chang Rong’s expression changed, and he was the first to lunge forward, spinning in midair to kick the needles away one by one.

Landing back on the ground, he turned and pressed forward again, raising his sword and charging at the hidden guards Eunuch Mi had brought, who were still locked in combat with Lin Xiao.

Seeing reinforcements arrive, with both their predicaments resolved at once, Qin Yao let out a great sigh of relief.

But before she could reach her master’s side to help dig, she suddenly felt the ground beneath her feet begin to faintly tremble. Startled, she jerked her eyes up to see her master and Yuan Jue both stop what they were doing at the same instant, staring fixedly at the waves of black malevolent energy surging up from the earth, their faces changing dramatically.

Qin Yao saw the soil beneath her master’s feet rapidly crumbling and sinking away, and her heart lurched. She shouted at the top of her lungs, “Master! Senior Brother! Watch out! Get away, quickly!”

Yuan Jue grabbed A’Han and, drawing on his energy, retreated several zhang in a single breath. He pulled the prayer beads from around his own neck and slipped them over A’Han’s instead, chanting a Buddhist incantation loudly, straining with all his strength to protect him. The spiritual power of the beads flared to life, encircling the two of them.

Qing Xuzi likewise leapt up, swinging his whisk, retreating to a nearby tree.

“Weijin!” Qin Yao’s heart plummeted. She rushed frantically to Lin Xiao’s side, summoning Soul-Devourer forth. “There’s no time! Nüxiu has already emerged!”

“Get back, now!” Lin Xiao heard her clearly, his expression changing, and he shouted to the soldiers further off in the courtyard. Qin Yao, without further thought, drove her inner energy to its limit, linking three Fire Dragons head to tail to form an enormous ring of flame, trying to shield as many people as possible.

Only Eunuch Mi and his men remained where they stood, still watching the ceaselessly trembling ground with a mixture of doubt and belief.

At last able to see something slowly emerging from beneath the earth, Eunuch Mi no longer dared to be careless. He drew a small flower-rimmed mirror from his sleeve and began chanting a spell under his breath, preparing to cast it.

But before he could summon the mirror’s spirit, the thing beneath the earth — which only a moment before had still been slowly squirming — suddenly shot straight up into the sky, bursting out of the soil with a series of shrill, eerie shrieks. The next instant, a thick stench of blood washed over him, almost enough to make him retch.

The speed at which the thing moved and the strength of its malevolent energy were far beyond anything he had expected. His mind went blank, and in a daze of shock and disbelief he thought: could it be that the woman of the Qu clan had spoken the truth after all! Had that thing truly transformed into Nüxiu!

In that split-second instant, the mirror’s spiritual power was finally activated, but when it struck the creature, it proved utterly ineffective, like scratching an itch through a boot — without the slightest deterrent power. The dark shadow, far from slowing, moved even faster, and was already bearing down right in front of him.

Through the black mist, he made out a pair of eyes burning like flame — though all other features were indistinct, there was something strangely familiar about them.

His pupils suddenly contracted, his throat tightening as though gripped by an invisible hand, his mouth gaping open as breathing itself grew difficult. By now, there was no helping the terror that gripped him. He hastily flung out a talisman, meaning to summon his lightness skill and flee in a mad dash.

But he had taken no more than a single step when searing pain tore through his body, and the malevolent force behind him ripped him alive, clean in two.