The situation had changed dramatically. When Cao Yanhua hurriedly packed his luggage and got into Luo Ren’s car, his mind was still in a fog.

In just one night, his Junior Master had disappeared, his Grand Master had died, and just as he had been acknowledged by the sect, the sect was essentially gone. Born with a heart sensitive as crystal, Cao Yanhua felt like a jinx—these sudden events left him feeling like a harbinger of misfortune.

He had many questions for Luo Ren, but didn’t dare ask. Luo Ren’s face was as cold as ice, looking as if he might kill someone at any moment.

Cao Yanhua could only sit obediently in the back seat.

Luo Ren was making phone calls.

First, he called Qing Mu.

“Leopard has kidnapped Mu Dai and instructed me to meet in Lijiang. She just got her hands on him last night, so she should also be on her way back now. Keep a close eye on the bar; no one else there can get into trouble… What chicken? Good that it’s not dead.”

Chicken? Cao Yanhua’s heart suddenly tightened: Was he referring to their family’s Cao Jiefang?

Watching as that call ended, he quickly asked, “Brother Luo, is it our Jiefang?”

“Yes, almost got taken last night.”

Cao Yanhua cursed loudly, sounding exactly like Uncle Zhang: “Trapping cats and dogs is one thing, but now they’re after chickens.”

Luo Ren’s face remained expressionless: “It must be Leopard’s people.”

“She’s always liked playing these psychological games. When she targets a place, she starts with the cats and dogs on the periphery. She’s never content with a clean kill, always has to come up with cruel tricks. Cao Jiefang not getting caught was fortunate.”

There had once been rumors that when Leopard moved against an enemy, she would first have their dogs and cats captured. After several surgeries, the pets would be returned still breathing, but with their limbs cut off—dog legs attached to cat bodies, cat paws attached to dog bodies. When the box was opened, the bloody howls and screeches would terrify everyone present.

Cao Yanhua silently recited “Amitabha Buddha” in his heart.

Luo Ren made a second call, this one to Ma Tuwen.

“Give my number to Wan Fenghuo. You don’t need to be the middleman anymore; I don’t need to hide anymore. I have something to ask of him. Have him call me, and we can negotiate the price.”

Cao Yanhua’s phone also rang with messages from the WeChat group. He looked down: “Brother Luo, it’s from Mr. Shen.”

“No time to look. What does he say?”

“He says there’s some progress on the Four Archways. Brother Luo, what’s the Four Archways?”

Luo Ren kept his eyes on the road as the car sped up: “No time to explain. Ask him yourself.”

When Cao Yanhua relayed the question, Shen Gun responded with surprise: “Didn’t I already tell Little Radish? Why didn’t he tell you? About Lu Ban, those seven items created by Lu Ban, and the message on the beam in Yin Er Ma’s house?”

Yi Wansan sent a sweating emoji, and Yan Hongsha followed with another sweating emoji. The atmosphere in the group suddenly became tense.

Shen Gun was so angry he could jump: “What’s wrong with Luo Xiaodao? He’s been drifting around in a daze lately. What is he doing?”

After venting his anger, he patiently sent several photos—some of the letter, some of the seven objects—providing a brief explanation. He also mentioned that when the Seven Stars shone brightly, those strange wooden objects would be sent to “beneath Cloud Ridge, at the Four Archways.”

Shen Gun had asked Wan Fenghuo to help search for an unconventionally structured “Four Archways” in the designated Yunnan Cloud Ridge mountain area. He had expected to wait a while, but Wan Fenghuo responded quickly, saying that near the Ailao Mountains in Cloud Ridge, there was a town called Mist Town with a large mansion called The Four Archways. Many locals knew about it.

Why was it the name of a mansion? Shen Gun couldn’t figure it out. He asked if there were any archways in the mansion.

Wan Fenghuo answered: No, it was just a mansion, quite magnificent, inhabited only by an old woman.

He had sent Shen Gun a photo of the mansion, and Shen Gun’s “progress” referred to that photo.

He shared the photo in the group chat.

It was a frontal photo of the entrance. Cao Yanhua opened it to look, and his mouth fell open wider and wider: Isn’t this… Grand Master’s entrance? At that doorway, Senior Martial Uncle had flipped him face-first into the dirt—an unforgettable memory.

Shen Gun said, “Finding it this easily makes me suspicious. I think, for something this confidential, it can’t be this simple. This mansion, called The Four Archways, might just be a decoy or a transit point. The real Four Archways must have something else to it.”

After saying this, he declared he would sever ties with Luo Ren unless Luo Xiaodao apologized to him in person, bought him KFC family buckets for half a year, and paid for his phone and internet for half a year.

Cao Yanhua didn’t dare relay these resolute words, only showing the photo of The Four Archways to Luo Ren: “Brother Luo, isn’t this… my Grand Master’s mansion?”

Luo Ren suddenly lost his temper: “I don’t have time to deal with that damn Murder Bamboo Slip right now!”

Cao Yanhua was so startled he almost dropped his phone.

Fortunately, Wan Fenghuo’s call came in, and Luo Ren quickly composed himself to give instructions.

“Help me look into someone. This person wasn’t born in China, but I know your information network—wherever there are people, you have ways. I’ll pay, you provide information. Mindanao Island in the Philippines, one or two years ago, a kidnapping gang’s mastermind, code-named Leopard, was a woman of Chinese descent. You’ll know once you ask around. I want all her information, even going back three generations. Investigate.”

As Cao Yanhua listened, his back suddenly went cold.

He hadn’t seen Meihua Jiuniang’s body personally; everything had been relayed to him. The kidnapping of Mu Dai seemed vague and unreal until this moment, when he heard Luo Ren’s step-by-step arrangements, he suddenly felt anxious.

Junior Master must not come to harm.

Due to the previous night’s “chicken trapping” incident, for safety’s sake, Uncle Zhang finally relented. Starting today, Cao Jiefang’s quarters could be moved from the outdoor exposed area to indoors.

In the evening, Yan Hongsha went to the nearby market to buy a chicken cage and placed it under the stairs near the bar counter. The lighting wasn’t good, and the space was cramped, which made Cao Jiefang seem quite displeased.

So, when Yi Wansan hammered away under the stairs, putting up a wooden sign representing the chicken coop, Cao Jiefang kept banging his head against the wall—not hitting it hard, just dejectedly tapping his head against it, lifting it, then tapping again.

Yi Wansan found a paintbrush and wrote two characters on the sign: Luxury Mansion.

He said to Cao Jiefang: “Jiefang, look, you’re living in a luxury mansion.”

Cao Jiefang turned his head and stuck his backside out at him.

Yi Wansan said, “Here’s the deal, Jiefang. If you go in there nicely, tomorrow I’ll go downtown and buy you a nameplate to hang around your neck—the kind only especially favored pets have. Think about it, can you find another chicken with a nameplate within tens of miles? This kind of family pride is something you couldn’t achieve even in eight lifetimes.”

Cao Jiefang looked listless, but after a while, either having understood or being truly exhausted, he slowly moved inside.

Yan Hongsha found it amusing. In the evening, when the bar wasn’t busy, she approached the counter to ask Yi Wansan, who was working with one hand, “Do you think Jiefang can understand?”

Yi Wansan glanced at Cao Jiefang, who was sitting in the chicken cage with a vacant expression like The Thinker: “I believe he can.”

Yan Hongsha rolled her eyes at him: “You’re just making things up.”

Yi Wansan leaned on the counter and beckoned to her: “Come here, brother will tell you a story. Did I ever tell you about when I cycled all over the country?”

The incident happened on the grasslands of northern Sichuan, in a small county town called Diegai. Yi Wansan had cycled there, run out of money, and without any immediate opportunity for swindling, had to work honestly at a small restaurant for over half a month. The restaurant owner was called Old Li.

Old Li kept a monkey. He said that earlier, a performer from out of town had brought the monkey to perform on the streets. Whenever the monkey didn’t perform well, the man would beat and kick it. Old Li witnessed this, felt sorry for the monkey, and bought it from the performer to keep as a pet.

In a small county town surrounded by vast grasslands with wolves and hares, one more monkey wasn’t unusual. Old Li was a kind man who couldn’t bear to see the monkey chained up. After buying it, he removed the chain. The monkey was obedient, usually staying indoors without wandering off. When Yi Wansan was working there, he often played with the monkey.

One day, a close friend of Old Li came to eat. He ate heartily and got drunk. The man became violent when drunk and, for some reason, took a dislike to the monkey. He grabbed it, beat and punched it. The monkey covered its head and screeched loudly but didn’t fight back. Eventually, Yi Wansan rescued it.

Yi Wansan looked sidelong at Yan Hongsha and leisurely took a sip of his self-mixed drink: “Do you know what that little monkey did that night?”

Yan Hongsha’s heart pounded nervously: “Took a knife and killed the man who beat it?”

Yi Wansan sprayed out his entire mouthful of drink.

“Sister Erhuo, can your mind not always be filled with such horrifying, bloody things?”

Yan Hongsha replied irritably: “Then what did it do?”

“In the middle of the night, when we were all sound asleep, that little monkey sneaked to the house of the man who had beaten it, climbed onto the roof, and removed all the tiles. When the man woke up from his drunken sleep, he opened his eyes and saw the moon hanging in the sky through the rafters, wondering why his roof was gone.”

He clicked his tongue a couple of times: “So don’t think they don’t understand anything. I’m telling you, these cats and dogs, though they can’t talk, they know everything. You just don’t understand them.”

Is that so? There must be a difference between monkeys and chickens, after all, monkeys are primates.

But when no one was looking, Yan Hongsha hesitantly moved to the chicken cage, crouched down with a handful of millet, and sprinkled it into the chicken feed trough.

“Jiefang, let me ask you something.”

“Last night, when I caught you in the alley, someone grabbed you, right? Who was that person?”

Cao Jiefang had an “how would I know” expression on his face, stuck out his backside, and continued pecking at the millet.

“I asked who he was, but he didn’t respond to me either. He muttered something—I think it sounded like Japanese. Jiefang, was he a Japanese person?”

For Cao Jiefang, even if it were an alien, it probably wouldn’t be as important as the millet in front of him.

Yan Hongsha sighed: “I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

She stood up reluctantly and had just taken a couple of steps away when—

Oh, Cao Yanhua was back.

After not seeing him for several days, it was surprisingly delightful to suddenly see him. Luo Ren followed behind Cao Yanhua, but… where was Mu Dai?

Yan Hongsha peered behind Luo Ren, her eyes suddenly widening.

The person walking alongside Luo Ren was the… Japanese man from last night?

Luo Ren walked out of the Gather and Scatter at Will bar. The night had deepened, and there were fewer people on the street. He lit a cigarette but became even more agitated, reaching out to extinguish it immediately.

He had concealed the truth from Huo Zihong, only saying that Meihua Jiuniang was gravely ill and that Mu Dai needed to stay behind to accompany his master for a while longer.

He hadn’t hidden anything from Hongsha and Yi Wansan, though he was too lazy to explain himself, instead letting Cao Yanhua tell them the cause and effect. Additionally, they cleared out space downstairs—for the next few days, Qing Mu would be staying at the bar.

He went home to live, partly because the Murder Bamboo Slip was stored there and he was worried about leaving the house empty, and partly because, as they say, the most dangerous place is also the safest place. The location where Qing Mu had relocated Pin Ting and Uncle Zheng was next door to his house.

So, the two men, without revealing anything, each guarded a defensive line.

On the way back, he received a call from Zheng Mingshan, informing him that he was already on his way to Lijiang.

His tone wasn’t good, but Luo Ren didn’t mind. In his heart, he felt some comfort—Zheng Mingshan was fresh blood. With him around, they had a better chance against Leopard.

Zheng Mingshan had more to say.

“I have friends in the local public security system. Today, I made arrangements to file a report. Also, Master’s body was sent for an autopsy. Just now, they informed me of the cause of death.”

His tone was odd, and Luo Ren noticed: “What did they say?”

“My Master Meihua Jiuniang died of natural causes. That is to say, she died from exhaustion after her physical strength was depleted.”

Luo Ren realized: “All the wounds were inflicted after death?”

Zheng Mingshan was silent for a moment: “Yes. From the amount of bleeding, someone added the cuts shortly after her death, so there was some blood flow, but not much.”

What did this indicate?

Luo Ren couldn’t figure it out. These days, he felt his brain had turned to mush, unable to function properly. He hated and resented this, but it was of no use.

That night, he didn’t sleep well. He dreamed of the Big Dipper constellation in the sky, seven large stars, dazzlingly bright, slowly fading until only two remained. Those two suddenly changed positions frantically, as if desperately crashing around.

He also dreamed of Lu Ban in flowing robes, riding a wooden bird, soaring up to the ninth heaven.

When his phone rang, it was during the deepest part of his dream, in the darkest hour of the night. Luo Ren struggled greatly to wake himself up.

He looked at his phone—an unfamiliar number. Was it Wan Fenghuo? Or Leopard again? He didn’t care; his consciousness was still drifting in the dream, as if he had ascended to the heavens with that wooden bird.

He put the phone to his ear.

“Luo Xiaodao?”

This was…

Luo Ren suddenly felt cold all over, almost instantly bolting upright in bed. The hand holding the phone trembled uncontrollably, his heart pounding almost loud enough to burst his eardrums.

“Mu Dai, has Leopard harmed you?”

“Leopard? Has Leopard come?” She seemed puzzled. “Luo Xiaodao, where is everyone? Why is there no one at home?”

A chill completely enveloped his heart as Luo Ren suddenly became afraid: “Mu Dai, where are you?”

“At home, but none of you are here. Senior Brother, Master, Fat Cao, and you—no one’s around. I found Master’s phone and called you. Luo Xiaodao, did you leave? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Luo Ren’s throat went dry.

No, something was wrong. Mu Dai was still in Mist Town. She was in Mist Town, alone in that mansion.

She suddenly thought of something: “Luo Ren, Master asked me to do something. I went to check, and I discovered that what Master asked me to do might be related to the Murder Bamboo Slip. I…”

She suddenly stopped.

Luo Ren’s heart almost stopped: “Mu Dai?”

She said seven words.

“Luo Xiaodao, someone’s knocking at the door.”