Early in the Hour of the Dog, the Nüwa Temple was beset by freezing rain, ghostly shadows swaying everywhere. Having lost the deterrence of torches, dark blood people reoccupied the courtyard outside the hall. People in the main hall used torches to block the entrance, preventing dark blood people from breaking through this final barrier.

Wang Hang had returned. Upon learning that Sui Bing refused to let them pass, Huo Daozhang’s face turned ashen as he guarded beside the sedan chair. The curtain was pulled open. The young prince occasionally whispered a few words to Huo Daozhang. The leader and two expert fighters stood guard one zhang away.

In the curtain of rain, Li Si rushed back to the temple. He assessed the situation, climbed over the courtyard wall, held Bai Zhenzhu tightly with one hand while wielding his sword with the other in an impenetrable dance, struggling to approach the main hall.

“Lao Sitou!” As he neared the great hall, Li Si called out in fury.

The hall door opened a crack. Two firelights flew into the midst of the dark blood people. The dark blood people suddenly scattered in two directions. Li Si took the opportunity to slip into the main hall. It was precisely Lao Sitou who had thrown the torches to support Li Si. Seeing Lao Sitou, Li Si seemed to see hope. His voice trembling, he said, “Lao Sitou, save her.”

Lao Sitou glanced at Bai Zhenzhu. His gaze instantly became unbearably turbid. “She’s been bitten.”

Li Si nodded woodenly. Lao Sitou examined the bite wound and said icily, “Fortunately the bite wasn’t deep, and there’s only one wound, so she still retains a breath of spirit. But when this breath dissipates, she too will become like those monsters outside.”

“I won’t let her become a monster, and I can’t let her die. Help me!” Li Si looked deeply at Lao Sitou. Lao Sitou closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Is there really no way at all? No matter what price I have to pay, as long as she can be saved…” Li Si tightly held Bai Zhenzhu, unwilling to let go.

Half a ray of light flashed through Lao Sitou’s eyes. He suddenly said in a low voice, “There’s no method to save the living, but I do have one method to save the dying.”

“Save the dying?” Li Si was startled. “What method?”

“Fight poison with poison,” Lao Sitou said these four words, then explained, “I’ve wandered the martial world for so many years. When I had nothing to do, I also concocted several exquisite poisons with exceptional toxicity, sufficient to poison all living things. Dark Blood Plague also belongs to toxic epidemics. If the poison can kill the micro-insects that enter the brain from Dark Blood Plague, there might be a thread of hope for survival.”

“However, even if fighting poison with poison succeeds, there’s an extremely high possibility of leaving serious aftereffects that are difficult to cure completely. Even… lifelong coma without waking.” Lao Sitou sighed. “I’ve told you the method. Whether to use it or not is for you to decide.”

Li Si gazed at Bai Zhenzhu for a moment, then said in an exceptionally firm tone, “Let’s use the method of fighting poison with poison. I believe she will wake up.”

Lao Sitou nodded slightly. From his gray robe, he pulled out a small black bottle and poured out a pitch-black poison pill that emitted a foul smell. He pried open Bai Zhenzhu’s mouth and administered it.

“What remains can only be left to fate,” Lao Sitou turned his face away, no longer looking at the two.

Li Si stared fixedly at Bai Zhenzhu, hoping to see the moment her eyelids flickered. But half an hour passed with not the slightest movement.

“Bang!” The hall door made an impact sound, then someone shouted loudly.

Lao Sitou used the same method to rescue them. The person rescued was none other than Wu Wen.

It turned out Wu Wen had been guarding the corpse at the Cui residence. When Li Si and the others didn’t return for a long time, his heart worried, so he went to the yamen. From those left behind, he learned Li Si and Wang Hang had gone to the Nüwa Temple, whereupon he rushed toward the temple, encountering attacks from dark blood people along the way. Fortunately, Wu Wen adapted on the spot. Discovering the dark blood people’s limbs were uncoordinated, he leaped onto the rooftops, moving from roof to roof toward the temple. Stopping and walking, only now had he reached the temple.

Li Si was very gratified to see Wu Wen unharmed. Wu Wen was also very saddened to see Bai Zhenzhu’s condition. After a while, he quietly approached Li Si and said, “Captain, at the Cui residence I discovered a new suspicious point, also a very strange place.”

“Tell me.”

Wu Wen whispered the clue to Li Si. Sharp light suddenly appeared in Li Si’s lightless eyes as he murmured questions to himself. “How could it be like this? How could it be like this?…”

Li Si looked at the unconscious Bai Zhenzhu, then suddenly stood up. “Wu Wen, help me take good care of her. I need to leave for a while.”

“Where to?” Lao Sitou turned his face to ask.

“The Cui residence.”

Li Si didn’t explain to Wang Hang and the others, leaving the temple alone. After a fierce battle, he climbed over the wall. Following Wu Wen’s method, he specifically sought tall, towering rooftops to walk on. Though the path was rough, at least there was no harassment from dark blood people. About three quarters of an hour later, Li Si returned to the dark, lightless Cui residence mansion.

The people of the Cui residence had long since fled. Everywhere was disorderly and chaotic. Li Si went straight to the study. Following the information Wu Wen had discovered, Li Si re-examined the small red sandalwood stool, lightly touching the three slight indentations, then sliding toward the center.

Sharp light showed in Li Si’s eyes. He thought to himself: Indeed there’s a problem.

Li Si stood in the cobblestone path, gazing at the silver-white gleaming, eerily cold pond. The truth was hidden beneath these still waters. He leaped forward, plunging into the water.

The rain grew heavier and heavier. Amid the sky full of silver pearls, Zhang Xianglin, watching the good show, held an oiled paper umbrella, humming a tune with great interest, his brows and eyes moving.

Abruptly someone interrupted his elegant mood. Zhang Xianglin turned back to see it was Chou Kui and asked, “What is it?”

“A scout’s secret report: there’s a situation at Fengxi. Troops of unknown origin are rushing from Fengxi toward Bei’an,” Chou Kui said with a tense tone.

A trace of worry flashed through Zhang Xianglin’s eyes. He gazed far toward the misty and unclear Nüwa Temple below the mountain and said coldly, “The good show should end. Next it’s our turn to take the stage.”

Chou Kui and Wu Du in the shadows laughed sinisterly.

Nüwa Temple, approaching the Hour of the Rat.

The dark blood people outside the hall suddenly became agitated. No longer fearing firelight, like startled beasts, they rammed the hall door recklessly. The sound of breaking wood was extremely piercing. The officers lit more torches, but all to no avail. With a “crack!” the hall door was forcibly broken open…

Dark blood people swarmed into the main hall. Twenty officers barely held them off for a while before they couldn’t hold any longer and each fled for their lives. Huo Daozhang looked up with a long sigh and pulled out his dagger. The leader and two expert fighters guarded before the sedan chair. Wang Hang and Zhu Chao were scattered by the rush, their whereabouts unknown. Wu Wen held his blade horizontally, blocking in front of Lao Sitou and the unconscious Bai Zhenzhu.

The dark blood people first attacked unarmed civilians. Amid heart-wrenching wails, most people couldn’t escape calamity, becoming prey for the dark blood people. A few sturdy people pushed out of the main hall, disappearing into the vast black night.

About one incense stick’s time later, the civilians in the main hall had died or fled completely. Dozens of dark blood people filling the main hall transferred their target to Huo Daozhang and the others. Wang Hang and Zhu Chao fortunately survived. Wang Hang’s face was covered in black blood. Holding a torch about to burn out, he shouted, “Come on, you bastards! I’ll fight you to the death!”

Dark blood people ferociously lunged at Wang Hang. Wang Hang fiercely stabbed the torch toward their blood-red eyes. The dark blood people roared in agonized fury, and as Wang Hang’s torch extinguished, he closed his eyes miserably. Just at this moment, a sinister laugh came from the doorway, then seven or eight people slowly entered the main hall.

Huo Daozhang’s eyes turned blood-red. He gnashed his teeth. “It’s you, Zhang Xianglin!”

Appearing in the Nüwa main hall was precisely Zhang Xianglin. Besides him were Chou Kui, Wu Du, and five men in purple tight-fitting clothes.

Lao Sitou touched his nose. Zhang Xianglin’s body bore a strong exotic fragrance of flowers and wood. After just a brief sniff, one felt dizzy and unsteady on one’s feet. The hall full of dark blood people also seemed to fear this exotic fragrance. Wherever Zhang Xianglin went, they voluntarily avoided him. Zhang Xianglin walked to two zhang from Huo Daozhang and sighed with regret. “Brother Huo, I told you long ago. Yinshuang City isn’t a place you should have come. Since you came, you can never leave.”

Huo Daozhang said hatefully, “You despicable, shameless, sinister, and vicious villain! You want to harm the young prince to death!”

Zhang Xianglin laughed heartily. “Brother Huo, you’re also a dignified third-rank minister. Don’t tell me only at this moment do you understand the mystery within? If not for the Crown Prince residence’s precious body, how could I go to such great lengths, rack my brains to orchestrate all this, even not hesitating to use twenty thousand Yinshuang civilians as burial companions?”

Wang Hang interjected, “Zhang Da… Zhang Xianglin, you released the Dark Blood Plague?”

“Killing the Imperial Grandson requires paying a price. This Dark Blood Plague and twenty thousand civilians are the price. Of course, that also includes everyone present,” Zhang Xianglin admitted without concealment.

“Utterly insane! Do you know those are twenty thousand living lives—old people and children too? Yet for personal selfish desires you slaughter them… People are watching, heaven is watching. You’ll suffer divine retribution!” Wang Hang sternly rebuked.

“Personal selfish desires? Hmph, I did this for the empire and the nation,” Zhang Xianglin’s tone was grim. “Everyone knows the current Crown Prince is weak and incompetent. If the empire is handed to him, it will only decline day by day. But Prince Ding has the world in his heart with lofty ambitions. Unfortunately, His Majesty dotes too much on this imperial grandson of the Crown Prince residence. That the Crown Prince position was passed to Zhou Qiao was also largely due to this matter. His Majesty is blinded by his imperial grandson and cannot see the truth clearly. What I must do is help His Majesty clear his dragon eyes.”

“As long as Zhou Ye dies, His Majesty will awaken. The heir apparent position will certainly be reordered. Prince Ding has hope, and the Great Shi Dynasty also has hope of prospering and expanding its territories,” Zhang Xianglin looked coldly at the sedan chair behind Huo Daozhang. Inside the sedan was precisely Imperial Grandson Zhou Ye.

Huo Daozhang gripped his dagger tightly. “Traitorous ministers and rebellious sons should be executed by all. Zhang Xianglin, as long as I live one day, your conspiracy to usurp the state will never succeed!”

“Hehe, just with you? Right now in the city, rampaging dark blood people; outside the city, five thousand stalwart Xuanjie iron troops—which can you deal with? Even the dagger you’re gripping now, besides being able to kill yourself, who else can you hurt? A decrepit old fool, barely clinging to life,” Zhang Xianglin mocked.

“You, you…” Huo Daozhang was extremely angry, his words incoherent.

Wang Hang interjected to ask, “The Xuanjie iron troops and lurking Demon-Men were also your masterpiece?”

“Precisely. To ensure the plan was foolproof, I had to take some effective measures. The lurking Demon-Men were to cut off grain and medicine, letting you perish in desperate circumstances. Dispatching the Xuanjie iron troops was to cut off your escape routes, eliminating thoughts of seeking help.”

“You’ve revealed all your sinister schemes. Aren’t you afraid we’ll leak them?” Wang Hang said hesitantly.

Zhang Xianglin carefully looked around at everyone in the hall, then smiled viciously. “Not afraid. Dead people don’t leak secrets. I showed myself this time precisely to send you to the underworld one step earlier. There you can say whatever you want. Hehe… Wu Du.”

Wu Du answered extremely slowly. In stark contrast was Wu Du’s speed—like a ghost, in just the blink of an eye he had closed in before an expert fighter, his fists turned inward, executing a move called “Old Man Embracing Bell” swift as a gale. This expert fighter was quick-eyed and fast-handed, half-turning to sweep-kick toward the lower body. Wu Du laughed coldly, single-stepping with “Phoenix Spreading Wings,” changing fist to palm to sweep across the opponent’s face. The expert fighter also swung out a palm.

At the instant the two palms met, the expert fighter discovered with shock that the opponent’s palm presented a deep purple color. Palm to palm, the expert fighter suddenly saw patterns before his eyes, his throat turned sweet, and he spat out a large mouthful of purple blood.

“The palm has poison!” The expert fighter forced out these four words with difficulty, then fell with a thump.

Wu Du cursed sinisterly, “Useless thing.”

With those words, he leaped toward the second expert fighter. The second expert fighter, having witnessed Wu Du’s poisoned palm, deliberately avoided meeting palms with him, but only persisted for four or five exchanges before being turned dizzy by Wu Du’s demonic body technique, taking Wu Du’s palm on his back. The expert fighter perished. Others noticed Wu Du’s palm had again changed to deep blue.

Wang Hang ordered the only remaining three officers. The officers tremblingly advanced with horizontal blades.

But in just one breath, the three officers each took one of Wu Du’s palms and died suddenly. Wu Du’s palm surface instantaneously changed through three colors—red, green, and yellow. Zhang Xianglin clapped. “The Five Poisons Demon Lord’s Five Poisons Palm truly lives up to its reputation. Each palm contains different deadly poison, terrifying people to broken hearts just by watching.”

Wu Du contemptuously jumped over three corpses, rushing toward the leader. The leader gripped a plain saber stained with blood and said proudly, “Come.”

Seeing all credit about to be monopolized by Wu Du alone, the gray-clothed Chou Kui slid a short blade from his sleeve. His body like a bald eagle, he fiercely attacked the leader while shouting, “Wu Du, leave this fellow to me.”

Wu Du’s mind was full of bloody slaughter. How could he give up the big prize to Chou Kui? His palm continuously changed through five colors as his Five Poisons Palm fought fiercely with the leader. Chou Kui gnashed his teeth in hatred. Half-rolling his long sleeve, his blade stabbed toward the leader’s back.

Zhang Xianglin, watching Huo Daozhang’s last barrier about to collapse, couldn’t help feeling greatly pleased. Unexpectedly he heard a miserable cry. Looking toward the sound—a short blade was actually inserted in Wu Du’s back, and the one who struck was none other than the arrogantly aloof Chou Kui.

“You dare strike me with underhanded tactics…” Wu Du’s expression looked like he wanted to eat someone. Chou Kui squeezed out half a “tch” sound from between his teeth, withdrew the short blade, and a stream of blood spurted from Wu Du’s back.

Wu Du groaned and fell to the ground, dying with eyes wide open.

“Chou Kui, what are you doing?” Zhang Xianglin was both angry and shocked.

“Old fool fantasizing about usurping power and disrupting politics—how could I, Chou Kui, collude with you? Today I’ll take you, old thief, to apologize to Lord Huo,” Chou Kui slashed his blade toward Zhang Xianglin. The five purple-clothed men in the hall all flew forward together, protecting Zhang Xianglin, fighting fiercely with Chou Kui.

The situation suddenly changed dramatically. No one expected Chou Kui would turn his weapon against them. The leader looked at Huo Daozhang. Huo Daozhang silently nodded. The leader also joined the battlefield, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Chou Kui against the five purple-clothed men.

Everyone’s attention in the hall focused on Chou Kui. In a situation where absolutely no one was paying attention, a blurred figure flashed into the hall, like a fleeting light skimming around everyone, stopping before the young prince’s sedan chair.

The figure reached out and lifted the sedan chair’s curtain. The young prince seemed startled, looking with surprise at the person outside the curtain.

The figure touched the young prince’s cheek. The young prince didn’t move at all, allowing the caress. The figure seemed to discover something, slowly lifting the young prince’s eyelid, gazing and observing… Suddenly a hand pulled down the curtain and said angrily, “God-Catcher Li, you dare offend the young prince!”

The speaker was Huo Daozhang. The person before the sedan chair was precisely Li Si.

Li Si said lightly, “Li Si doesn’t dare. It’s just that there’s something I want the young prince to see.”

“Showing me is the same.”

Li Si nodded, slowly taking out a dark, heavy object from his chest.

Huo Daozhang was startled, staring at the object and asking, “What is this thing?”

“This is a bronze burner fragment, discovered from the second Cui Yunhai corpse at the bottom of the Cui residence pond,” Li Si’s gaze met Huo Daozhang’s in midair. Huo Daozhang’s eyes dodged. “What, what are you saying?”

“Lord Huo, you should know. Because what I’m about to say is precisely what you did.”