As had been said before: the Zhang Family was a great clan of several centuries’ standing. Their estate was naturally not a single isolated compound — it began from Xuanwumen and stretched unbroken across three streets and sixteen lanes, and every residence within sight bore the Zhang name.

These residences appeared from the outside to be independent, self-contained three-courtyard compounds. In truth, they were all connected within, and the more distant courtyards rose gradually with the slope of Wangling Mountain, creating a grand effect of layered height pressing downward in succession — imposing and magnificent.

Great Immortal.

Chen Baoxiang whispered as she walked among them, shivering faintly: Telling lies in a place like this — they really won’t drag me out and beat me to death, will they?

Zhang Zhixu had felt uneasy since they passed through Xuanwumen, and managed only to say with effort: Up ahead there’s a side path — when the time comes I’ll tell you which way to go. Take the shortcut to find the Physician God Sun first.

Understood — I go ahead to find him, and then you use your divine arts to bewitch him into accepting me as his disciple on the spot, right?

That’s not —

Then what am I supposed to do once I find him?

The Great Immortal went silent, and Chen Baoxiang suddenly felt a cold wave wash over her — as though someone had shoved her into an icy pool, then hauled her out and wrung her like a cloth, then dropped her into a scorching pan.

A wave of dizziness hit her. She stopped walking, gasping.

“What’s wrong?” Pei Ruheng reached out to steady her, then pulled his hand back, frowning. “Physician Wang — is it the wound giving her pain?”

Physician Wang came and pressed two fingers to her pulse, then recoiled in alarm: “Why has this child weakened so suddenly? Quickly — fetch a small litter to carry her.”

Chen Baoxiang, drifting in and out of dizziness, thought wryly: He really has a way about him — half-fainted already, and we’re still carrying her into the Zhang Mansion.

And what was more terrifying — she no longer had the strength to slip away down the side path to find the Physician God, and the Great Immortal’s entire plan had fallen apart entirely.

“You’re from General Cheng’s household?” A steward came out to receive them. Though his courtesy was impeccable and his smile warm, he still managed to insert a gentle reminder: “Our household has been through some difficulties of late, and the family’s spirits are rather low. If there are any lapses in hospitality, I hope you will understand.”

Chen Baoxiang was just about to ask what sort of lapse would count as a lapse when a string of agonized screams rang out from somewhere distant.

The cries were prolonged and raw, the sound of someone in the depths of extremity, mingled with the thwack of a rod — on and on, without cease.

Both Pei Ruheng and Physician Wang were taken aback. The steward smiled and explained: “We’ve caught a few impostors pretending to be great physicians and swindling people — they’re being held until they can be escorted to the authorities. Please pay it no mind.”

Physician Wang relaxed and nodded. “Ah, common fraudsters — a good beating is no more than they deserve. Please be assured — every one of our party is a genuine physician and true disciple of the Physician God. If any should prove counterfeit, the Cheng Family would accept punishment on the spot, up to and including death.”

Chen Baoxiang: ???

Hold on — I didn’t say a single word, and now it’s death we’ve accepted?

Should I just run now? At least I’d keep my life.

But the place is enormous — where would I even run?

Great Immortal, say something!

The silence in her mind was unexpected. No matter how she cried out, the Great Immortal did not respond.

Chen Baoxiang belatedly realized something was wrong.

In past difficulties, the Great Immortal had always given her something to say — a line to work with, an angle to take. But now her mind was entirely empty. No voice, nothing. She sat on the litter and stared blankly ahead.

“We’ve already sent word to the Physician God,” the steward said with a slight inclination of his head. “He is on his way. Please wait a moment.”

To Pei Ruheng and the others, those words sounded perfectly ordinary. To Chen Baoxiang, they translated plainly into —

The black-and-white officers of the underworld are coming for you. Wait for your death.

Panic overtook her. She thought for a moment, then turned to the steward: “Do you have a privy here?”

The steward glanced at her and smiled discreetly: “I’ll have a maid show you to the changing room at once.”

“No — I don’t need the changing room. I just need to use the privy.”

“Right this way, honored guest.”

Chen Baoxiang looked at the two maids who took her by the arms and, as they walked, murmured quietly: “There’s truly no need for anyone to accompany me — I can manage on my own. Don’t follow me, alright? It’s rather embarrassing.”

“Honored guest,” the maid said, leading her to the door and suppressing a laugh, “the changing room is right here.”

So this was what wealthy households called using the privy.

Could they not be more direct.

She gave an awkward smile, lifted her skirts, and walked into the facility — which had been built larger than the main hall of an ordinary home — and the moment the door closed, her face fell.

Without the Great Immortal, she could not stay here a moment longer. She had to find her way out.

She looked up at the high flower-lattice window set into the wall above. Chen Baoxiang decided to stack something to step on and climb through it. But the moment she picked up a wooden bucket, she froze.

Someone was playing the guqin and flute.

There were four or five young women — playing the guqin, striking the chime bells, pulling the erhu, blowing the bamboo flute.

Four or five beautifully dressed young women, arranged at intervals through a privy with floors polished to a mirror shine and a hall grand enough to hold a feast, performing a welcome concert for guests who had merely come to answer the call of nature — playing the guqin, striking the chime bells, pulling the erhu, blowing the bamboo flute.

She gaped: “…Oh?”

“Honored guest, there is no need to be alarmed,” the maid said, offering her two red jujubes. “Please go right ahead.”

Chen Baoxiang dazedly took the jujubes and bit into one.

The maid startled — and then dissolved into barely-suppressed laughter behind her hand. “Honored guest — those jujubes are for plugging the nose.”

“…” The flourishes of the wealthy truly did catch a person off guard.

The tune rang out all the merrier, and it only made her feel all the more like a fool — standing at the center of it all, surrounded, nowhere to retreat. The maid beside her looked at the wooden bucket still tucked under her arm, a knowing smile playing at her lips. “Will you still be needing to, ah — change?”

Chen Baoxiang gave a dry laugh. “I’ll… wait a moment longer.”

“Best not to keep the Physician God waiting too long,” the maid said, gesturing politely toward the exit.

The two maids beside her stepped in and took hold of her arms. Their grip was firm. Chen Baoxiang put on a brave face: “I am a guest here — dragging me about like this is hardly appropriate. Let go.”

“Guests of your particular sort — we’ve seen a fair number of them,” the maid said, unmoved. “Those bold enough to come and deceive us should be bold enough to face what follows.”

Her heart sank. Chen Baoxiang tried to keep up a front. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“No matter. When the rod comes down, everything will become very clear.”

The maids marched her toward the front hall.

In the distance, voices had already erupted in a heated quarrel:

“I am drowning in troubles of my own right now — and rather than offering help, you have the nerve to show up at my door to poach from me?”

“Senior and junior martial brother this and that — I wasn’t even there when our master took you in!”

“I should have run you through twice and thrown you to the wolves on the back mountain all those years ago!”

The string of curses was punctuated by the shattering of at least one vase, and the whole of it made the listener’s heart seize in their chest.

“Senior martial brother is absolutely right, please don’t be angry, please don’t be angry… ah, look — Baoxiang is here.”

Physician Wang’s eyes lit up. He pointed toward the doorway and said: “I saved your most beloved disciple just recently — surely that earns me at least a little goodwill?”

All heads in the room turned at once.

Chen Baoxiang tried to shrink back, but the maid gave her an unceremonious shove from behind.

She stumbled two steps forward into the hall, and there she saw Sun Sihuai standing ahead of her — an old man whose gaze was sharp and penetrating. He looked her up and down, and his brow furrowed deeply. He clearly did not recognize her at all.

Chen Baoxiang squeezed out a smile that looked more like a grimace. She’d already mentally planned what variety of grass she’d like growing on her grave —

Great Immortal — where have you gone?!

She wailed inwardly.

Still no reply.

In despair, she closed her eyes and prepared to fall to her knees and beg for mercy.

Sun Sihuai opened his mouth from across the room:

“You useless student — always causing me grief. What are you standing there staring for? Get behind me.”