After watching Gong Qi depart, Lang Jiuchuan finally closed the door, took out the Diamond Pagoda once more, and ran his fingertip along its surface. He furrowed his brow in deep contemplation, and only after a long while did a plan come to mind.

Jiang Che had been holding back, over and over, but ultimately could not restrain himself any longer. “Don’t you hate that Miss Qisi? Why did you tell Gong Qi she has the face of someone approaching death?”

“You finally asked. I thought you could keep holding it in forever. Look at you, all righteous indignation — I have no grudge or enmity with her, so why would I hate her? I don’t even hate Qi Xinyu.”

“She pulled strings to seize the meditation courtyard that was supposed to be reserved for Madam. That’s a provocation, an act of deliberate targeting.” Jiang Che said. “Don’t you have even a shred of temper?”

Lang Jiuchuan said, “Powerful and influential people in the capital are as numerous as the hairs on an ox. She pulls strings — there are others who pull them even more skillfully. Buddhist temples also serve dishes according to the guest, you know. If someone of higher standing than her told her to give up that courtyard, would she dare refuse? And speaking of pulling strings — look at us now, living in this meditation courtyard. How does it compare to that Quiet Meditation Courtyard? Weren’t we only able to move here because of strings as well?”

Even if they had been able to move here because of Lady Pei, wasn’t that also, in the end, a matter of connections and influence?

“I don’t care about that. She provokes us, and that’s unacceptable.”

“She already has the air of death hanging over her head. Am I so idle that I’d go out of my way to quarrel with someone on the verge of dying? Or should I kill her just to vent my anger because she took a courtyard? I said it already — she’s not worth wasting my moral merit on.” Lang Jiuchuan said lightly. “As for telling Gong Qi about this: first, it is a great act of kindness on my part — I gave her a thread of hope for survival, but whether she has the fortune to seize it is up to Heaven, and has nothing to do with me. Second, if her birth chart is also pure Yin, and the matter with Zhuo Yu — well, that may not be a coincidence. Preventing that malevolent spirit from absorbing the Yin essence of yet another pure Yin woman is to prevent it from growing more powerful. Combining these two points — shouldn’t I at least earn a bit of moral merit?”

After all, saving one life surpasses building a seven-storied pagoda. Though she had not personally gone to the rescue, she had exposed the danger — that could not be called standing idly by while watching someone die. As for whether the woman could survive, that was a matter of fate.

Jiang Che: “……”

You truly are invincible in every direction!

Lang Jiuchuan crossed her legs and said, “Don’t waste your energy and spirit on people who have nothing to do with you. It’s not worth it. I need to regulate my breath. After a while, when I engrave the talisman patterns onto the pagoda, go outside and keep watch on Gong Qi’s movements and any news.”

The merit of slaying that malevolent spirit — she absolutely could not let it pass her by. Her physical body needed it.

Lang Jiuchuan pressed a hand to her chest and felt that fractured heart beating faintly. She drew a deep breath. In her eyes, the petty tempers of young girls were utterly childish. Her focus was on rebuilding herself, not on wearing herself down over trivial matters.

Jiang Che watched her settle into meditative breath regulation, its tiger eyes fixed upon her for a long moment, before it finally drifted outside. She poured all her effort toward her goal without a moment’s pause, while it seemed to be fixating on trivial, feather-light nonsense like some kind of woman.

What was this called — female competition?

In her view, female competition only hinders her rebirth, wouldn’t it?

……

Two branches of time passed.

Gong Qi found Gong Si and consulted with him at length on the matter of the malevolent spirit. The two then divided their tasks and sent word to the clan. Gong Si took responsibility for keeping watch on Zhuo Yu and investigating the birth chart of Qisi.

Gong Qi, meanwhile, returned to the city to visit the Capital Magistrate’s Office and review the recent case files for any reported disappearances of women. Although it was the New Year period and the official seals had been put away, his standing made the task comparatively easy.

He also used Ding Mangu’s status as a person involved in the case to have him transferred from the Capital Magistrate’s prison to the custody of the Court of Judicial Review, and personally placed a curse talisman on Ding Mangu — if anyone attempted to silence him, Gong Qi would know at once.

After all, he had made a deal with Lang Jiuchuan. If he had agreed and then failed to keep the person safe from being killed, wouldn’t that be a mark of his own incompetence?

Gong Qi stared at Ding Mangu and said, “I have read your birth chart. In middle age, you face a great tribulation — what should have been the misfortune of imprisonment and ruin. Yet now, the clouds and moon have parted and light streams into your seal hall. The merit you accumulated through your kind deeds has shielded you, and you have encountered a benefactor.”

Ding Mangu knelt before him.

Gong Qi stepped slightly aside. “Don’t kneel to me — kneel to that young woman called Lang Jiuchuan. Had you not encountered her, your entire household would not have escaped this calamity. Stay here quietly and wait. Once this matter is resolved, the day your daughter’s injustice is redressed will come.”

“Yes. Many thanks, Daoren.” Ding Mangu bowed once more, and when he raised his head, the other had already vanished. He turned in a different direction — there was a particularly small window there. If he survived this tribulation, he vowed to spend his entire life doing good deeds and accumulating merit for his benefactor.

Gong Qi departed the prison of the Court of Judicial Review and happened to run into the Court’s Junior Minister — an old acquaintance of Lang Jiuchuan’s at that — Shen Qinghe. The man held a thick stack of case files in his hand, his brow deeply furrowed. Upon seeing Gong Qi, his expression turned somewhat unfriendly.

He knew the other was from the Gong Clan, and the Gong Clan’s conduct in recent years had left him feeling rather contemptuous. Take this very matter, for instance — Gong Qi having Ding Mangu transferred to the Court of Judicial Review — was this not accomplished by using his status to pressure the heads of various offices into compliance? If the Gong Clan could freely insert themselves into matters of governance at will, what sort of chaos would the court fall into, and how would officials like himself even manage state affairs?

But Gong Qi had come specifically to investigate files on missing women, and however much Shen Qinghe disliked it, he still had to make this visit. Because this was also a matter he himself had recently been quietly investigating. The fact that the Gong Clan had also gotten involved — his instincts told him it might be connected to the case involving the malevolent deity his son had encountered before, that some evil entity might be stirring trouble again.

If that was the case, things were going to be troublesome.

Gong Qi saw the look of displeasure on Shen Qinghe’s face and thought to himself that he had not offended this man, so he stretched out a smile. “Sir Shen, this humble Daoist offers his respects. Asking you to come personally during the New Year — truly inappropriate of me. Having someone from your office deliver the files would have sufficed.”

Shen Qinghe said in a low voice, “Wise men speak plainly. This official has a direct question for the Daoren — the disappearance of Ding Mangu’s daughter, could it be the work of an evil entity?”

Gong Qi’s eyebrow arched slightly. Remarkably perceptive. But wait — this man’s whole body radiated a righteous energy hardened into an aura of power. How was it that the first words out of his mouth were about an evil entity? Most scholars refused to believe in the supernatural, yet this man seemed utterly certain.

“What leads Your Excellency to say that?”

“There is no need to probe me with roundabout questions. I myself have experienced something similar before. As the saying goes, one does not visit a temple without purpose — for people from the Gong Clan to suddenly insert themselves into a prison inmate’s affairs, if it were not related to an evil entity, why would they go to such lengths? Not to mention, the Daoren is no ordinary figure — you are an important person within the clan.” The one who had come was not an ordinary Daoren, but a son of the Gong Family. Something as simple as protecting a Ding Mangu would not warrant such attention. Ding Mangu was merely a merchant — he had no connection to the Gong Family.

Therefore, it could only be because an evil entity had committed a crime. And judging by the circumstances, it was probably not an ordinary case, but a major one. Shen Qinghe felt a throbbing pain building in his head.

“Oh, Sir Shen has also encountered matters involving evil entities — might this humble Daoist inquire what it concerned?” Gong Qi was rather intrigued.

Shen Qinghe did not answer, and simply passed the case files in his hand over. “These are the records of persons reported missing in the capital recently. I do not know if they are related to what the Daoren is investigating.”

Gong Qi’s expression sharpened. He took the files and flipped them open, and his face immediately darkened.