Gong Qi and the others had just arrived. That evening, Lang Zhengping and the other young men of the household entertained them with wine and food, after which they settled into the guest courtyard arranged by the Lang Family. Cui Shi and the others were in no hurry to mention the matter of someone targeting the Lang Family.

Gong Qi was puzzled, and asked Gong Qi: “The Gong Family has a residence right here in Wu Jing — why must we impose upon Marquis Kaiping’s estate? This is a noble household after all, which makes cultivation quite inconvenient for us, and the people who come and go here are also…”

The Xuan Clan’s status was high, and they were well aware of it — many meritorious nobles sought their acquaintance. If word got out that they were staying at the Lang Family’s estate, who knew what schemes people might devise to come calling and curry favor.

That alone would cause inconvenience to the Lang Family, but if the Lang Family were the calculating sort, they might even exploit this to their advantage — which, for the two martial brothers, would mean nothing but trouble.

Gong Qi replied: “Elder Brother is overthinking it. No one simply attaches himself to a son of the Gong Family just because he pleases — if the Lang Family harbored such crooked intentions, could the two of us really be outwitted by them?”

Gong Qi fell silent. That was a fair point.

“My staying at the Lang Family is also because of Mother’s instructions,” said Gong Qi, sprawling across the bed with his characteristic roguish ease. “She and this Madam Cui called each other sisters when they were young. She feels sorry for this old friend of hers — a young widow raising a child alone — and worries she might be looked down upon within the Lang household. She specially sent me to give her some backbone! That is merely the first reason. The second — the Young Master gave me further guidance.”

Gong Qi was startled: “What?”

“Old Uncle Nine said that on this journey of mine, a remarkable encounter awaits. If I seize it well, my comprehension of the Dao will see great advancement.” Gong Qi’s eyes gleamed brightly. “I have been wondering — what sort of encounter could so greatly advance my cultivation? If it is truly like that, then I cannot afford to miss a single unusual thing.”

All who walked the path of cultivation dreamed of mastering the Great Dao — just like their ancestors of old, achieving the rank of Zhenren. That would be a life well lived.

He was no different.

So for anything or anyone that could advance his cultivation, he was unwilling to let any of it pass.

And was it not unusual — forgoing his own home to lodge in an unfamiliar place like the Lang Family’s estate?

He simply had a feeling. From the moment he set out until now, he had followed his heart, all in pursuit of that elusive encounter.

Gong Qi said: “Since it is such a matter, why did you not say so sooner? And he is the Young Master — you ought to address him with proper respect.”

Gong Qi rolled his eyes. There it was again. He pulled the blanket over his head, feigning deafness. What of it if he was the Young Master? Was the Young Master not still their Old Uncle Nine?

Old stick-in-the-mud!

Gong Qi saw that reasoning with him was hopeless and gave up entirely. Noticing the night was still young, he simply walked outside, leapt onto the rooftop, brought his hands together in a seal, and settled into meditation.

The next day.

After breakfast, Gong Qi and the others were invited by Cui Shi and Lang Zhengping to come speak with them — and what they spoke of was precisely the matter of someone using dark arts against the Lang Family.

“My late father, in his younger years, also followed the army into battle,” Lang Zhengping said with indignation. “Afterwards, though he backed the wrong faction and brought the imperial family’s displeasure upon our clan, he never committed any truly wicked or vile act — so why has it come to this? First, they sent paper effigies imbued with malicious spirits to cause havoc, nearly driving the young men of our household into a demonic frenzy. And most horrifying of all — they sought to seal the corpse and suppress the soul within the grave, intent on exterminating our entire Lang lineage.”

Gong Qi’s brows knitted together as he listened. Such malicious and underhanded dark arts — harming not only one person but their descendants for generations. Truly venomous.

“How did you discover it?” Gong Qi was deeply curious. Arts such as these — by their own abilities, they would have had no means of detecting them, let alone breaking them.

Yet the Lang Family had somehow escaped this catastrophe.

Gong Qi also looked over. Right — how had the Lang Family managed to avoid it?

Lang Zhengping’s gaze shifted ever so slightly. “During the funeral rites, monks from Cien Temple and Daoist priests from Qinghua Monastery were present to assist.”

That was not the whole truth.

Gong Qi narrowed his eyes. This young lord was being evasive — all this hedging and concealing was rather pointless.

Cui Shi, seeming lost in her own thoughts, pressed her lips together and said: “It was my daughter who discovered it.”

Oh?

Both Gong Qi and Gong Qi looked over at once.

Lang Zhengping was also taken aback. Had they not agreed — since they had no solid evidence — not to tell them that the calamity upon the Lang Family was something Lang Jiuchuan had brought upon herself, possibly even connected to the Xuan Clan?

Lest some misunderstanding arise from this and they end up offending the Xuan Clan.

Cui Shi gave him a small nod, then said to Gong Qi and the others: “To be completely honest, it was my daughter who first noticed something was wrong. She also knows a little of the mystical arts.”

Something inexplicable tightened in Gong Qi’s chest. Here it was — his instinct told him it had arrived.

“Oh? The Lang Family actually has someone with a root in the Dao — and a young lady at that? I have never heard of this before.” Gong Qi remarked with obvious interest. “The Xuan Clan recruits disciples every three years, yet we have never seen anyone from the Lang Family apply.”

Cui Shi’s expression seemed to carry a trace of embarrassment. She tightened her grip on her handkerchief, as though uncertain how to begin.

Lang Zhengping stepped in to carry the conversation: “This niece of mine has been frail since childhood and grew up on one of our country estates — she has only just been brought back. Calling it a root in the Dao would be overstating things; she picked up a smattering of techniques from a wandering Daoist, hardly enough to qualify as a disciple of the Xuan Clan. Besides, my second brother had only this one child, and the family is loath to send her away to study the Dao. Once her health is restored, the hope is to find her a fine young man and let her marry and have children — that would be a perfectly complete life.”

Ho, so they were getting protective — afraid he might try to poach her, were they?

Gong Qi grew all the more intrigued. “To be able to detect such a malicious and insidious dark art — that is rather more than a smattering of techniques. I wonder, might my martial brother and I have the pleasure of meeting this young junior fellow practitioner?” Fearing the two might not understand, he added: “In the world of cultivation, regardless of whether one is male or female, we address each other with the collective term ‘martial brothers.'”

“What terrible timing, I’m afraid — she injured her eyes these past two days and cannot be exposed to light. They are covered, and she is resting and recuperating.”

Gong Qi then said: “Well, how fortunate — my elder martial brother has considerable expertise in the art of medicine. Shall we let him feel the pulse of this junior martial brother?”

Gong Qi shot him a sideways glance. Was this young one being a touch too eagerly persistent?

Lang Zhengping’s smile nearly faltered. He thought to himself: this boy is so young, yet so impossibly difficult to brush off — what is to be done?

Lang Jiuchuan had already said not to disturb her while she recuperated, and he had no way of knowing how she was faring. If they truly disturbed her and something went wrong, what then?

Yet the guests had come in good faith to help. If he kept brushing them off and refused to let them see even a single person, it would be truly unreasonable — enough to cause genuine offense.

Offending an ordinary person was one thing, but the other party was the Xuan Clan.

Lang Zhengping found himself caught between a rock and a hard place, and looked toward Cui Shi.

Cui Shi had not expected Gong Qi to be quite so eager either. Her reason for mentioning Lang Jiuchuan was simply that since she had already asked the Gong Family for help, it was not fitting to conceal too much — lest the concealment be noticed and give rise to ill feeling.

Especially since Lang Jiuchuan suspected she herself had drawn this disaster upon them, and to have the Gong Family help mediate the misunderstanding, the matter would have to be revealed sooner or later. That was why she had disclosed her existence.

Now that Gong Qi had taken an interest and looked as though he had discovered something entirely novel, Cui Shi was at a sudden loss, and began to worry that she had been too hasty — had she brought trouble down upon Lang Jiuchuan by saying too much?

Cui Shi looked up and managed a strained smile. “She has not been well — I am not certain she can even get out of bed yet. Let me have the maidservants go and fetch her. If she cannot come to pay her respects, would you be willing to wait a few days?”

Last day of the month — I still have a chapter in reserve, so I shall add an extra update. Please do vote!