Lin Sui’an was startled by the sound coming from the side room.

Her first instinct was not that of some wild beast, but rather a modern internet meme: a fat, chubby groundhog standing atop a loess plateau, clutching its belly with two little paws, shrieking at the top of its lungs—

“Oww—”

Another sound.

This time it sounded almost human. Lin Sui’an wasn’t quite sure — could a human throat produce such a piercing sound? It seemed less like something coming from a mouth and more like something being wrung out from the depths of one’s bowels.

More strange sounds came from inside the room — like a snake thrashing about, or several bears locked in a brawl. Then suddenly, a dark shadow rose up against the window paper. Lin Sui’an jolted backward in alarm. She watched as the shadow suddenly sprouted two claws, raked and scratched at the window frame a few times, then let out a howl and crashed heavily to the ground. A spray of startling blood splattered against the window, the vivid red soaking through the pale white window paper.

Lin Sui’an’s face drained of color. She flew forward and kicked through the window to enter. The incense smoke inside stung her nostrils and she sneezed, followed by a wave of nauseating, metallic blood-stench.

Beneath the window was a long trail of blood that stretched from the window all the way to the inner chamber. At the end of that trail was something shaped like a human but drenched in blood from head to toe, its body mottled with blood-soaked garments, hands and feet splayed out like the limbs of a beast. It was crawling at tremendous speed toward the inner chamber, letting out a gurgling sound as it went, and in the blink of an eye it had vanished behind the folding screen.

The red plum blossom screen swayed gently, its painted plum blossoms blazing red as blood.

The overlap between this scene and a horror film was at least eighty percent. Lin Sui’an’s scalp went numb. By reflex she reached for her waist, then remembered that Qian Jing was not with her. She drew a breath, grabbed the candlestick from beside the window, and strode briskly into the inner chamber. The floor was covered in a chaotic mess of bloody handprints and footprints, but the “blood-soaked creature” had vanished.

Suddenly, the back of Lin Sui’an’s neck went hot. A wet, humid breath laced with the stench of blood blew down the back of her collar — behind her!

Lin Sui’an twisted her shoulder, swung her arm back, and spun around. The candlestick shot out with lightning speed. The shadow shot upward — she had struck nothing but air. A gurgling sound came from above. Lin Sui’an looked up sharply and finally saw the true form of the “blood-drenched creature.”

It was a person. White hair and white beard were matted with blood. Black pupils spun frantically, the whites of the eyes an eerie blue-green. From the mouth dripped dark red blood. Hands and feet were braced against the walls, wedging the figure squarely beneath the roof beam.

It was Old Estate Master Qiu!

Lin Sui’an sucked in a sharp breath: Is this demonic possession? This looks more like a full-on mutation!

Old Chief Qiu let out a gurgling sound and lunged downward, his speed terrifyingly fast — like a monstrous blood-soaked lizard gone berserk. Lin Sui’an could barely dodge and retreat. After several exchanges, her head was ringing. She realized that, in all of the Tang kingdom, only one person could match Old Estate Master Qiu’s terrifying speed — and that was herself.

Not just speed — Old Estate Master Qiu’s palm strikes carried viscous blood with every blow, and each hit carried a force that was a full match for Lin Sui’an’s own.

Lin Sui’an suddenly felt a terror — not of Old Estate Master Qiu, but of herself.

She and he were… so alike!

The relentless barrage of bloody palms gradually blurred into a sea of red before her eyes. The bloodthirsty killing intent slumbering deep in her heart cracked open its eyelids. Lin Sui’an’s heart hammered wildly. Her hands and feet grew colder and colder, her movements more and more rigid. She snapped to realization — without Qian Jing at her side, she had no way to suppress the murderous bloodlust inside her!

She had to break free, and fast!

Lin Sui’an bit down hard on the tip of her tongue, using the sharp sting to jolt her mind awake. She stopped holding back. Swinging the candlestick, she struck back — their speed was matched, their strength was matched, but she still had her wits, and she knew how to use her head. With a move called Blade Belly Sorrow-Severance she struck Old Estate Master Qiu in the abdomen. Seizing the moment when his body was suspended in the air and out of control, she followed up with a rapid series of thrusting strikes that severed the tendons of both his hands and feet. Old Estate Master Qiu screamed. His features contorted, his eyeballs bulged, and his four limbs went limp and collapsed heavily to the floor. Lin Sui’an leapt atop him, knees pressing into his sternum, her left hand locking his collar, and the candlestick in her right hand pressing against Old Estate Master Qiu’s artery.

At that precise moment, Old Estate Master Qiu suddenly uttered a single word: “Kill!”

Lin Sui’an’s eyes went wide. She watched as the blue-green color in Old Estate Master Qiu’s eye whites receded like a fading wave. The pulse transmitted back through the candlestick slowed beat by beat, gradually syncing with the rhythm of her own heartbeat.

“Old Estate Master, you—” Have you recovered your senses?

Old Estate Master Qiu’s throat gurgled as fresh red blood welled up. His entire body suddenly convulsed violently. Both eyes locked on Lin Sui’an with fierce intensity. A blurred and indistinct “kill” seeped again from his lips — and in an instant, the light in his pupils extinguished. He was dead.

A sharp crackling noise rang through Lin Sui’an’s mind. White light flashed before her eyes, and suddenly a tea room appeared — identical in every detail — clean and tidy, fragrant incense curling through the air, the delicate scent of tea drifting lazily. Her vision followed a figure rising from behind the tea table, stepping around the red plum blossom folding screen, approaching the bed, crouching down, and gazing at the carved relief on the outer side of the bed leg. The relief depicted a camellia — five petals in bloom. Then an aged, gnarled finger appeared in her field of vision, pressing each petal of the camellia in clockwise order one by one. With a soft sound, the floorboard beside the bed shifted aside, revealing a dark, yawning passageway—

“There are shouts coming from the Old Estate Master’s courtyard!”

“Someone come! There is an intruder!”

“Go quickly and protect the Old Estate Master!”

Countless sharp cries pierced through, needling into her eardrums. Lin Sui’an’s vision blurred, and the phantom image granted by her golden finger seamlessly overlapped and merged with the tea room before her.

The clamor of rushing footsteps grew rapidly closer, reaching the doorway in an instant.

“Why is the Old Estate Master’s window broken?”

“Someone has broken into the estate!”

“Someone has trespassed in the tea room!”

The main door was kicked open with a thunderous bang.

Lin Sui’an clenched her teeth. She closed Old Estate Master Qiu’s eyelids, rolled over to the bed’s edge, and pressed the hidden mechanism exactly as shown in the golden finger’s vision. Without a sound, the floorboard shifted open. Sure enough, a secret passage appeared. Through the folding screen, she could see multiple silhouettes surging into the room. In that razor-thin, critical moment, Lin Sui’an had no time to think further. She plunged into the secret passage, and the opening above sealed itself shut in an instant, perfectly and completely.

She could hear countless footsteps walking back and forth above her head, along with the bellowing voice of Qiu Hong, the Qiu family head.

“Someone has murdered Old Estate Master Qiu! I saw the killer’s shadow just now — they cannot have gotten far. Seal all exits at once! Once the murderer is caught, kill them on the spot!”

Zhenze Quarter, Four Sides Manor.

Hua Yitang truly had nothing but admiration for Madam Zhu. The woman had just walked back from the gates of hell, had rested for less than the time it takes to burn a single stick of incense, and had already returned to the front lines with blazing enthusiasm, accompanying the Second Comptroller sent by the Qiu family to inspect the embroidered goods.

Madam Zhu carefully cradled the embroiderers’ most recent creations, a smile on her face as she recommended them. “We’ve recently improved our needlework and color combinations, and we’ve also introduced a new batch of embroidery patterns. Second Comptroller, take a look — aren’t these peonies and orchids far more refined than before?”

The Second Comptroller was a man of around thirty, plain in appearance but with sharp, penetrating eyes. He wore a ginger-yellow robe, and embroidered on the front was a distinctive name plaque bearing the characters “Jia San.” Whether that was his actual name or some sort of identifier was unclear. He flipped through the samples with an expressionless face and gave a single nod. “Mm. A modest improvement over before.”

Madam Zhu was overjoyed and pressed on. “And take a look at this fabric — isn’t it sturdier than before? And these threads — finer and more resilient, absolutely more durable.”

Jia San gave another nod.

“In that case,” Madam Zhu said with a smile, “couldn’t the price be raised a little?”

Jia San refused outright. “No.”

A chorus of disappointed sighs came from the embroiderers gathered around them.

Hua Yitang quietly sighed to herself. The embroiderers’ efforts had not gone unnoticed. To hone their craft, they had risen before dawn and worked past dusk, barely sleeping or eating. But some things did not yield to effort alone. Their foundational needlework skills were simply too weak. Even these improved pieces, placed in Yangdu or Yidu, would rank among the lowest of the low. The price Xian De Manor was offering was already quite generous — there was little room for further increase.

Madam Zhu paused for a moment, then kept her smile fixed and continued. “Second Comptroller, you know how hard things are for Four Sides Manor. We’re all women here — earning a living is no easy task. The annual Dragon God Festival is almost upon us again, and Four Sides Manor’s tribute offerings simply cannot be less than last year’s. Could you have another word with the Qiu family head? Even a three-cent increase — no, two cents — one cent would do!”

Jia San said flatly, “Embroidered goods — we only care about quantity. One embroidered piece, one payment. As for anything else, don’t waste your time.”

Only quantity, not quality? Hua Yitang furrowed his brow. Just as he had suspected — the real merchandise was not these embroidered goods at all. If his guess was correct, the embroideries were merely a front for selling Dragon God Fruit. Thinking this, a knot of unease twisted in Hua Yitang’s heart. Did Madam Zhu and the others know any of this?

Hearing Jia San dismiss their craftsmanship, the embroiderers all wore expressions of indignation. A few with shorter tempers were muttering under their breath, apparently commenting on Jia San’s ancestral burial grounds. Judging by their expressions, they seemed to have no idea whatsoever about what Xian De Manor was actually up to, and simply viewed their embroidered pieces as precious works of art, believing they could fetch a handsome price.

Hua Yitang’s heart grew even heavier. If they ever learned the truth, how heartbroken they would be.

Madam Zhu continued to smile and say many pleasant things, but Jia San didn’t spare her so much as a glance. He ordered the guards who had come with him to load the embroideries onto the carts — no regard for pattern, no regard for color, only counting the quantity.

Madam Zhu let her smile drop and stepped aside, watching in cold silence as cart after cart loaded with embroideries departed. The deep lines beside her mouth seemed to carve deeper still, and her eyes held the weight of years.

One of Xian De Manor’s guards came sprinting into the embroidery workshop, panting for breath. He leaned close to Jia San’s ear and said a few words. Jia San’s expression changed drastically. He spun around and bellowed, “Which one of you is Mu Tang from Fang Family Clinic?!”

Madam Zhu was taken aback. “Second Comptroller, what business do you have with Young Master Mu?”

Jia San shoved Madam Zhu aside. “Mu Tang! Come out!”

The embroiderers looked at each other in bewilderment, glancing around the room, only to find that Mu Tang — who had just moments ago been watching from the outermost edge of the crowd — had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Jia San erupted in fury. “Seal all exits and search! Dig three feet into the ground if you must — find him!”

Hua Yitang had not vanished into thin air. He had been grabbed from behind with a hand clamped over his mouth, and dragged away — just a moment before that Xian De Manor guard had walked through the door. It had given him quite a fright. Struggling with all his might, he caught a glimpse of the culprit behind him. It was the Zhu family head.

The Zhu family head’s face was deathly pale, sweat dripping like beads. He raised a finger to his lips in a hushing gesture, then pulled Hua Yitang through a side gate and into the back residential quarters, heading straight to the private storehouse that Hua Yitang had long been curious about. They passed around a plum blossom folding screen and came to a bookshelf.

The bookshelf stood about the height of a person, filled with scrolls and ledgers. The hanging labels on the books were arranged in the order of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. In the upper-left corner was a carved relief — four narrow leaves clustered around a single grape.

The Zhu family head ran his fingers across the four leaves from left to right, then rapped his knuckles firmly against the grape in the center. With a click from behind the bookshelf, it slowly slid to one side, revealing a deep, dark passageway.

Hua Yitang’s jaw dropped.

The Zhu family head turned and cupped his hands in a bow. “Registrar Zhu gave me specific instructions to take good care of Young Master Mu. The situation is urgent right now — Young Master Mu, please take the secret passage and leave.”

Hua Yitang snapped his jaw shut. “What on earth has happened?!”

The Zhu family head shook his head. “I don’t know the full details. Someone inside Xian De Manor sent word out saying that the Qiu family head has suddenly sealed the entire estate and is searching for the whereabouts of Miss Fang. They say that anyone who finds her is to execute her on the spot.”

Lin Sui’an!

Hua Yitang’s heart pounded wildly, then in an instant he steadied himself. “In other words — Xian De Manor hasn’t caught Fang’an yet?”

From outside came shouts and the sound of stomping feet. Hua Yitang heard Jia San bellowing, “I don’t care if it’s the family head’s private storehouse — open those courtyard gates at once! If you delay Xian De Manor’s pursuit of the culprit, you’ll all pay with your lives!”

The Zhu family head went pale with alarm. “Young Master Mu, go now!”

But Hua Yitang laughed. “They clearly haven’t found Fang’an yet, so now they’ve come to catch me. Zhu family head, do you know what exactly—”

“Ow—!”

The Zhu family head had reached his limit with Hua Yitang’s dawdling. He planted a kick squarely on Hua Yitang’s backside and sent him tumbling into the secret passage, then gave the relief carving a reverse knock. The bookshelf clicked and slid shut. He quickly circled out of the inner chamber, smoothed his robe, and sat down calmly at the tea table. He had just lifted his teacup when Jia San kicked the door to the private storehouse clean off its hinges.

“Where is Mu Tang?!”

The Zhu family head looked genuinely baffled. “What Mu Tang? Second Comptroller, what is the meaning of this?!”

Jia San gave a single look. The Xian De Manor guards swarmed in behind him and tore through the room like a storm — and found nothing.

Madam Zhu and all the embroiderers were kept far back in the courtyard, watching in terror.

The Zhu family head slammed his hand on the table and rose to his feet. “Jia San, I am the family head of the Zhu clan — how dare you conduct yourself with such utter disrespect?!”

Jia San said coldly, “And what of the Zhu family head? You are nothing more than a dog of our Qiu clan.”

“You — you — you — you — you!” The Zhu family head trembled with rage, seizing Jia San by the arm. “Come with me to see Old Estate Master Qiu — if you have the nerve, say that again to his face!”

Jia San flew into a fury. “You dare bring up the Old Estate Master?! If your Registrar Zhu hadn’t brought that plague upon us, would the Old Estate Master have — would he have—”

The Zhu family head: “What has happened to Old Estate Master Qiu?!”

Jia San’s eyes had gone bloodshot. “Old Estate Master Qiu was killed by that murderous woman from Fang Family Clinic!”

Penglai Quarter, Fang Family Clinic.

Fangke, Mu Xia, and Ita sat gathered around the table, staring gloomily at the two carved glass vials in the center.

Fangke: “This is all that’s left of the Silver Toad Bath fragrance?”

Mu Xia: “Following the physician’s instructions, we put two more incense balls into the leather pouch in Si’lang’s clothing today. What remains is just this much.”

Fangke pressed two fingers between his brows. “This is only enough to make two doses of the antidote catalyst.”

“Will other fragrances not work?” Mu Xia asked. “I packed two large chests of fragrance materials for Si’lang!”

“I’ve already tested them — other fragrance formulas have absolutely no effect. In truth, the Silver Toad Bath’s effects are also quite limited.” Fangke shook his head. “The pity is that I still haven’t seen the Dragon God Temple’s talisman water with my own eyes. I can only deduce the antidote formula from the symptoms of Miss Lin’s poisoning. Progress is far too slow.”

Ita raised her hand. “What about the talisman water bottle that Yun Zhong Yue gave us?”

“Only a trace of the smell was left. Completely useless.”

Mu Xia: “Why don’t I write to Guangdu immediately and ask the Hua Family’s trading caravan to send more Silver Toad Bath?”

Ita sniffled and gave a sniff. “There’s one ingredient in the Silver Toad Bath formula — it’s Persian, ‘Bababablov’ — very rare, produced in very small quantities every year, very little imported, none in Guangdu, only in Yangdu.”

The usually all-capable logistics manager Mu Xia’s face fell. Fangke groaned and pressed his forehead with distress.

Yangdu was thousands of li from Qing Prefecture. By the time it could be transported here, it would be far too late.

“We’re done for, we’re done for, we’re done for!” Dripping wet from head to toe, Jin Ruo came charging into the clinic at full tilt, so fast that a trail of water vapor streamed behind him. “Quick, quick, quick, quick!”

Fangke: “Quick what?!”

Jin Ruo spat out a mouthful of rainwater. “Quick, pack your things and run!”

The three of them: “What?”

“Master killed the Old Estate Master of Xian De Manor, Qiu Wen. The Xian De Manor guards have all turned out in force — they’re already heading this way!”

The three blanched in shock. “What?!”

Jin Ruo: “Don’t worry, don’t worry — they still haven’t caught Master!”

Mu Xia: “Where is Si’lang?!”

“That fellow surnamed Hua is as crafty as a monkey — he already slipped away from Four Sides Manor long ago. The Xian De Manor people came up empty-handed. We’d better make our move now too!”

With that, Jin Ruo bolted into the back hall first. Mu Xia and Ita exchanged a glance and quickly followed. In no time at all, Mu Xia was shouldering a large bundle, Ita had the big wooden medicine chest on his back, and Jin Ruo came running out with Ruo Jing at his waist and Qian Jing across his shoulder. They all stared at Fangke:

“Master Fang, where are we going?!”

Fangke: “…”

Why are they asking him?! How in the world was he supposed to know?!

Jin Ruo spun around in circles in a panic. “There’s no way we’re making it out of the city — Xian De Manor has already sealed the city gates.”

Mu Xia paced frantically. “Cheng Mountain won’t work either — the Dragon God Temple is over there.”

Ita was like an ant on a hot pan. “Xiao Yu — no, no, no, we can’t implicate Xiao Yu.”

“Quiet! Stop panicking!” Fangke’s sharp reprimand cut through the chaos. “We’re going to the county office.”

Mu Xia and Ita: “Huh, huh, huh?!”

Jin Ruo: “Are we — are we going to turn ourselves in?!”

Fangke let out a cold snort. His dark, pitch-black pupils gleamed with a flash of sharp light. “We’re going to drag that Registrar surnamed Zhu along as a human shield.”

Skit:

Zhu Dachang: Why do I suddenly feel a chill?