Lang Jiuchuan had no fear of making an enemy of the Rong Family. After all, from the moment she entered this body, the cause and effect between them had already been set — this confrontation had always been inevitable. But she also had to guard against the Rong Family striking at the Lang Family as a way of keeping her in check.
To this end, building on the matter of Cui Shi having been subjected to Lu You’an’s malicious curse, Lang Jiuchuan made her move and allowed the affair to grow into a full-blown incident. It was a genuine case of an occult practitioner using techniques to harm ordinary people.
She needed to force the Inspectorate to confront this matter directly, using it as a defining case to establish the institution’s authority. In doing so, she would compel the Rong Family to relinquish Lu You’an as an expendable pawn — and at the same time, for the sake of their reputation, the Rong Family would not dare repeat such actions.
And so, rumors spread throughout Wu Jing — that a disciple of the occult clan, the Rong Family, had used techniques to harm others. Lu You’an was taken into custody and confined in the Inspectorate’s holding cell.
The rumors spread with great fervor, and no one found it surprising. After all, there had been no effort to conceal what had happened at Huguo Temple — word of the incident with Cui Shi had gotten out, and people naturally assumed the rumors had followed from that.
What of it? Something this enormous had happened — could people be expected not to panic, not to talk?
In this world, ordinary people without any occult ability far outnumbered those who practiced such arts. Who could say that the next unfortunate soul would not be themselves?
Lang Jiuchuan learned of Lu You’an’s confinement in the holding cell several days after the incident of Cui Shi’s cursing — she was in her Wanshi Shop when Gong Qi came to inform her.
“If the rumors hadn’t been so deafening, I suspect this matter would have been quietly buried by your people.” Lang Jiuchuan regarded him with a half-smile.
She had spotted the problem with the Inspectorate from the very beginning. A newly established department, with both the imperial faction and the occult clan faction at odds within it — each side pushing their own interests, naturally placing those interests first.
An incident like Lu You’an’s, which touched on the reputation of the occult clans — privately, there would have been some inclination to suppress it.
Gong Qi replied awkwardly, “It is a hodgepodge operation assembled from two opposing camps, after all. There’s bound to be friction during integration. For the time being, everyone is naturally maneuvering for their own side.”
Lang Jiuchuan lifted her teacup and took a sip. “So then, any notion of genuinely overseeing the occult clans will most likely end up as an empty gesture.”
“That depends on how much force the imperial side is willing to exert. And don’t worry — if a practitioner truly uses their arts to harm and run rampant, they will be dealt with.”
Lang Jiuchuan smiled. “I’m not worried at all. The one running rampant might very well be me.”
Gong Qi was rendered speechless. He thought to himself — you actually do have some self-awareness, and the probability of that is indeed quite high.
Lang Jiuchuan did not linger further on the matter. What the Inspectorate’s ultimate fate would be was not something a small commoner like her needed to concern herself with. She was selfish — what did not touch her was no concern of hers, unless it came to her door.
“Tell me about the young Rong master’s mother.”
Gong Qi turned to look at her. “You’re so fixated on her — what did she do to you?” He thought of how the Rong Family had repeatedly insisted that Lang Jiuchuan was marked for an early death, that she was a wicked creature who had seized another’s body. His eyes shifted slightly, and he said in a tone of deliberate casualness, “Could it be that the Rong Fourth Mistress is your sworn enemy?”
“I have been injuring Rong Family members one after another — I simply want to understand the enemy better. Know your enemy and know yourself.” Lang Jiuchuan held out a Five Thunder Talisman toward him. “And I won’t take this from you for free. Consider this payment for the information.”
Gong Qi: “!”
He was a person who knew the value of things. One glance at the spiritual energy radiating from the Five Thunder Talisman told him its power, and the thought that he — a son of the Gong Family — should find himself bribed in such a manner was almost too much to bear.
He was simply not the sort to resist this kind of temptation.
Gong Qi accepted the Five Thunder Talisman and began folding it with great care. The tenderness of his movements made Lang Jiuchuan’s eye twitch involuntarily. It was just a talisman.
“Can the Gong Family not produce Five Thunder Talismans?”
Gong Qi gave her a look. “Of course we can — but producing one and producing them in quantity are entirely different things. Anyone can draw a talisman, but whether it becomes a genuine spiritual talisman is another matter entirely. A high-grade talisman like the Five Thunder Talisman is even harder to produce. Drawing even one consumes enormous quantities of spiritual power and vital essence.”
Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes shifted thoughtfully. “Across all the occult clans — is there truly no one with such exceptional spiritual gift that the light simply flows into the talisman with a touch of brilliance?”
Gong Qi shook his head with a rueful smile. “Spiritual energy is scarce these days, and cultivation is no easy road. Who has attained such a level of mastery? And especially within the occult clans — in truth, the path of cultivation has long since been put backward. They care only for consolidating their status and position, while their actual realm of attainment has stagnated. From what I know, high-grade talismans are exceptionally precious among the various clans — rarely brought out, because they are so difficult to produce.”
He finished folding the talisman and tucked it carefully into the pouch he wore at his side. “These days, the largest collection of high-grade talismans belongs to the Tantai clan.”
Lang Jiuchuan blinked. “But didn’t you say the imperial bloodline has been dilute for many years, with no one of spiritual root born for a long time? Are these just stockpiles from the past?”
Gong Qi said, “Before Tantai became the imperial family, they were also the occult clan with the deepest foundations. After they rose to become the imperial house, their bloodline actually became impure, and their spiritual energy has diminished year by year — which is strange in itself. But to call it all stockpile may not be accurate. The imperial family currently maintains ten Elder advisors in their service — the youngest among them has cultivated for fifty years, and three of them have crossed the threshold into Foundation Establishment. Drawing high-grade talismans ought not to be difficult for them. Accumulated over many years among several such people, there would certainly be a substantial store.”
“Then the imperial family can still hold their own against the other clans — ten Elders of considerable cultivation, that’s not nothing.”
Gong Qi shook his head. “Little Jiu, of all who walk the path of cultivation, how many can ever truly reach the great Dao of ascension? What is called ‘immortality’ was something achievable only in the age when spiritual energy was at its peak. For people like us, we can cultivate a long life — not true immortality. Those senior fellow practitioners who have advanced to Foundation Establishment can endure an additional few decades. But if they cannot, they are just like ordinary people — when their time comes, the ghost comes to collect. This world is not a world of immortal cultivation. It is the mortal realm — one where spiritual energy is severely lacking.”
Lang Jiuchuan looked at him with some surprise. “You are remarkably clear-eyed.”
“If I am not clear-eyed, do I dream the same dream of immortality as the old ones in the clan, and trap myself in it? I’m not that foolish. I learn what I should learn, and when it’s done, I’ll have come to this mortal world and not wasted the journey.” Gong Qi gave a light snort.
A flicker of appreciation showed in Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes. She raised her teacup to him in a small salute. “Back to the matter at hand. You’ve taken my talisman — now give me the information I need.”
“There isn’t much to tell, really. The Rong Fourth Mistress, Xi Yun, is the formal wife of the Rong Fourth Master. The two of them produced one child — the young Rong master — and after it was discovered that the child had a spiritual root, the child was designated as young master. From that point forward, Xi Yun’s position rose on the merits of her child. Though that’s not quite right either — she could have risen on the merits of her husband. The Rong Fourth Master also has a spiritual root, and was originally in line to be the young master himself — but for some reason, he suddenly destroyed his cultivation, his legs became crippled, and he has since spent his days confined to a wheelchair.” Gong Qi said, “If it had not been for that, the Rong Family would not have fallen to last place among the clans — they produced spiritual roots in three consecutive generations, which means successors would not have been a problem. They would not have been struggling like the imperial family, with no promising successor coming up behind.”
Lang Jiuchuan narrowed her eyes. “Three consecutive generations?”
“That’s right. The current Rong Family patriarch, Rong Yiming, with the Daoist title of Changshan Wanderer — the young master’s grandfather — must be nearly sixty years of age now. The Rong Fourth Master’s given name is Rong Qingcang, with the Daoist title of Wu Youzi. He no longer involves himself in worldly affairs — he is the only one in the Rong Family who truly pursues quiet cultivation.” Gong Qi sighed. “Our young master once said that if Wu Youzi had been the Rong Family’s young master, the Rong Family would certainly not be sitting at the bottom of the occult clan hierarchy.”