To enter the underwater water prison, Lang Jiuchuan naturally couldn’t immerse herself in the lake the way the water spirit could. Her body would never withstand the freezing yin cold of that lake water — and besides, she wasn’t foolish. A water prison beneath a lake would have an entrance. And the pavilion on the small island at the center of the lake was almost certainly the way in.
As for the formation array suppressing the malevolent yin energy — it was essentially a sealed barrier, and yet it could hardly stop Lang Jiuchuan and her group. She observed the area carefully, and her gaze settled on a piece of Taihu decorative rock positioned to the north of the lake pavilion. The corner of her mouth curved. She tapped the bone chime.
“Go. Create a swell — push that piece of Taihu rock out a full zhang from where it sits.”
The water spirit: “…”
She really had no concept of social distance.
The water spirit entered the water and used the force of the current to push the Taihu rock loose from its solidly embedded position, then floated back out of the water and flew quickly back to Lang Jiuchuan’s side.
Lang Jiuchuan directed another water-purifying seal at it, then looked toward the lake unexpectedly — and her expression darkened.
The moment the Taihu rock shifted position, the barrier that had blanketed the entire lake seemed to shatter as though someone had struck it from the side. Yin malevolence poured up from the bottom and began to seep outward — the lake became even darker and more murky-green, and a putrid, bloody stench drifted over.
It truly had been a formation array suppressing the outward flow of yin malevolence.
Was it truly out of fear that excessive yin malevolence might harm anyone who wandered into the Ren Manor? Or was it fear of someone discovering the secrets hidden at the bottom of this lake?
Another gust of wind swept through the estate corridors, the yin breeze carrying a bone-piercing cold and the stench of rot and filth — enough to turn the stomach.
Lang Jiuchuan hesitated no longer. She formed her technique seal and, together with A’Piao, swiftly descended into the lake center pavilion.
Standing inside the pavilion, her brow furrowed again. She said to A’Piao, “Look outward.”
A’Piao looked out from within the pavilion. The yin malevolence was rising, making it look as though the lake water was swelling upward — boundless, thick, murky green water, dense and glutinous, not like water at all but like a heavy slurry, spreading in every direction and pressing toward them.
“That’s resentment energy condensed into a mist-slurry. Be careful.” A’Piao offered the warning.
Lang Jiuchuan nodded, looking out with revulsion. She seemed to see indistinct, restless shadows moving within that watery slurry — wisps and clumps of them, like water weeds, more like hair. They appeared to be searching for a host body to coil around, eagerly and desperately seeking prey, surging incessantly.
The bone chime emitted a series of retching sounds.
No wonder the water spirit called it filthy. It truly was filthy — nothing but suffocating, nauseating rot.
Lang Jiuchuan withdrew her gaze and stopped staring outward. She began instead to search the pavilion for the entrance.
Rescuing the person came first.
She and A’Piao split up to search.
Lang Jiuchuan examined the structure of the lake-center pavilion. It had actually been built according to the five-element generative cycle — clearly designed from the start according to the principles of geomancy for accumulating wind and qi. And yet beneath it, a water prison lay hidden.
“Do you have any recollection of the Ren Family’s background?” Lang Jiuchuan searched for the entrance while simultaneously diverting her attention to ask A’Piao.
“Without a client transaction, I wouldn’t pay particular attention to a family with no connection to me.” A’Piao thought carefully for a moment, then said, “But the Ren Family’s destruction was only about ten years ago — not so distant that my memory would be foggy. The rumor said they were hunted down by a vengeful spirit seeking retribution, but in truth, it should have been an indiscriminate massacre by a single perpetrator. And that perpetrator must have been a practitioner of the Mystic School.”
“What makes you say that?”
“An entire household wiped out in a single night — even the most clean and precise hired killers from the martial world couldn’t make that happen without a single sound being heard, only to be discovered the following morning. Unless someone deliberately erected a barrier of concealment. How else would not a single sound have escaped? That was a hundred people.”
Lang Jiuchuan fell silent.
“By all reasoning, among so many who died violently, even if most of them passed through the ghost gate, there should be some who lingered here due to overwhelming resentment. And yet look at this estate — not even a ghost’s shadow. I suspect that whoever did this not only killed the people but collected their souls as well — an absolute purge, leaving nothing behind to investigate.”
Killing people and seizing their souls. Lang Jiuchuan’s brow gave a sudden twitch. That methodology — it felt familiar.
“What about the bodies?”
A’Piao sighed. “The bodies were left behind. Perhaps destroying them as well would have drawn too much attention. The killer was never identified. Soon the rumor spread that it was vengeful spirits seeking revenge. I’m told this massacre case has remained a sealed, unsolved mystery to this day.”
“What did the Ren Family do?”
A’Piao thought for a moment, then said, “Now that you mention it — I do recall. The Ren Family patriarch married a descendant of the Mo clan — that Mo clan known for their mastery of mechanical engineering. Aside from the eldest son who took the surname Ren, the other two sons and one daughter all took their mother’s surname Mo. So when the Ren Family was massacred, there were rumors that the killer was after the Mo clan inheritance in the hands of the matriarch — whether that’s true or false, no one ever found out.”
Lang Jiuchuan’s brow tightened.
“You’re asking all this — do you think there’s something about the Ren Family?” A’Piao suddenly stopped and turned to ask her.
Lang Jiuchuan stared at the phoenix carved into the corner of the octagonal pavilion’s eaves. “I don’t know. I only know that since entering this estate, I’ve been deeply uncomfortable — unable to suppress the violence rising within me. I’m not certain what karmic connection I might have with this family.” She paused. “The mechanism — I’ve found it.”
She shifted the subject so abruptly that A’Piao barely had time to follow. He walked over, and together they looked at the head of the carved phoenix. Their eyes met.
A’Piao raised a foot, about to press the phoenix’s head.
Lang Jiuchuan’s entire body suddenly went rigid. She grabbed A’Piao’s leg and yanked it downward. “Careful.”
In an instant, a blinding golden light tore through the air and shot directly toward them — searing, scorching, dominant energy blazing with yang fire.
Even though Lang Jiuchuan had moved quickly enough, A’Piao’s arm was still struck by the extreme yang, extreme rigid energy. A burning sound was heard, and both Lang Jiuchuan and A’Piao’s faces went cold simultaneously.
Roar.
Jiangche’s fur stood on end. She let out a sharp, piercing cry, both tiger eyes locking onto the exterior of the pavilion with taut vigilance.
Lang Jiuchuan looked at the spiritual tool that had nearly pierced through A’Piao. It was a gossamer bow engraved densely with vajra talisman characters. A single strike had missed its mark — and its wielder recalled it.
“What malevolent creature lurks here, daring to violate the order of yin and yang and disrupt the heavenly way? Today shall be the day of your reckoning!” A booming shout rang out, and a figure in ink-black Daoist robes cleaved through the air, standing in suspension above the water’s surface with robes and sleeves billowing.
He had silver hair and a long beard. A pair of eagle-sharp eyes cut like blades. His cheekbones jutted prominently. His gaze was ice-cold as it locked onto the people within the pavilion.
The moment Lang Jiuchuan saw him, her pupils contracted sharply. Her body went taut. The violent aura from the depths of her heart surged upward — the flesh and skin of her face trembling, twitching, shaking without stop. The hand gripping A’Piao’s arm tightened and tightened.
Violent. Furious. Hateful. The emotions came flooding in like a tide, forming a whirling vortex of killing intent that raged around her entire body — coiling faster, growing fiercer.
Both Jiangche and A’Piao were jolted, shock plain in their eyes.
Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes turned crimson in an instant — as though flames burned within them. She released A’Piao’s hand, fixed her gaze on that figure with an unbreakable stare, and the corner of her lips curved into a slow, oblique smile.
“So you’ve delivered yourself to my door.” Her voice was like ice — as though it had traveled up from the depths of hell.
The Daoist-robed figure shuddered. When Lang Jiuchuan stepped out of the shadows and he could see her face clearly, a flicker of disbelief passed through his eyes — then was immediately replaced by cold severity. “Brazen ghost-creature! You dare return to the living world in a borrowed body, violating the order of yin and yang. Do not think yourself righteous — face the bow!”
Author’s note: You might not believe me, but Old Mo is really trying hard to speed up the pacing!