Within the Silent Thoughts Teahouse.
The proprietor sat at the long table, frowning in deep contemplation for a long while. Finally, he took out an incense stick from his robe and placed it on the burner before him. With a gentle pinch of his fingers above it, the stick ignited, and he closed his eyes.
Mu Yumo entered the room at this moment and, seeing the scene, slightly furrowed her brow. “Ghost incense tracking?”
Su Changhe nodded, making a gesture of silence.
Mu Yumo quietly walked to Su Muyu’s side. Su Muyu glanced at her, and Mu Yumo shook her head slightly.
Suddenly, the proprietor’s eyes flew open. His hand swept forcefully through the wisps of green smoke before him, his eyes flashing with purple light as he shouted: “Manifest!”
The green smoke condensed briefly in the air before dissipating.
“Seek!” The proprietor immediately bent down, his finger lightly touching the ground. A large blood-red spider appeared there, and with a wave of his hand, the crimson spider darted toward the exit. Just as the spider reached the doorway and everyone rose to chase after it, the spider suddenly stopped moving.
Proprietor Mu narrowed his eyes. “The reaction was so clear just now; it should have found a trail.”
“The blood spider was certain it had found a trail, but quickly doubted its judgment. It must have discovered some major change during the process,” Mu Yumo observed, watching the blood spider. “Who did you ask it to find?”
“The Poison Flower,” Proprietor Mu replied, tilting his head back. “Within the Dark River, Poison Flower Mu Xuwei is the most unique person, without exception. I chose a special poison from her body as a guide, letting the blood spider track her by this scent.”
“Xuwei?” Mu Yumo frowned. “Xuwei is missing?”
“No,” Proprietor Mu shook his head. “It’s not that Xuwei is missing, but rather that Xuwei never appeared in the Silent Thoughts Teahouse at all.”
Mu Yumo was stunned. “How can this be? Shouldn’t she and Qingyang have arrived in Brocade City long ago?”
Proprietor Mu nodded. “My informants are spread throughout Brocade City, yet none have spotted either the Family Head or the Poison Flower within the city. Therefore, something must have happened to them both just as they entered Brocade City.”
“A demon flower covered in deadly poison and the young Family Head most skilled in the art of formations—what kind of person could cause them trouble?” Su Muyu pondered, exchanging glances with Su Changhe.
Su Changhe stroked his small mustache. “The Tang Clan?”
Proprietor Mu’s expression also changed slightly. “The Tang Clan?”
“Before entering Brocade City, to avoid displeasing the Tang Clan, they would have met with Tang family members first,” Su Changhe replied. “Could it be that Tang Linghuan… Yumo, did you infiltrate the Tang Clan tonight?”
Proprietor Mu was startled. “Infiltrate the Tang Clan!”
Mu Yumo nodded. “I went in, but would have been discovered soon.”
“If one could truly move silently within the Tang Clan, then Tang Family Castle would be a joke,” Su Changhe said. “So, did you see Tang Lianyue?”
Mu Yumo shook her head. “No, but I met his disciple.”
“Disciple?” Su Muyu frowned slightly. “Such a coincidence?”
“Yes. That little disciple was quite adorable, named Tang Lian—the ‘Lian’ from lotus flower. He said his master had gone into seclusion, entering the Moon of Pity Pavilion, and hadn’t emerged for a long time,” Mu Yumo replied.
Su Changhe took out his small dagger, playing with it between his fingers. After pondering for a long while, he shook his head. “Something’s wrong!”
Su Muyu also nodded. “Indeed, something’s amiss.”
Mu Yumo was puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
Su Changhe began pacing around the room. “Tang Lianyue is the Black Tortoise Envoy of Sky Opening City. The Black Tortoise Envoy is responsible for protecting Sky Opening City’s safety. Except for the Vermillion Bird Envoy Sigong Changfeng who left long ago, the other three Envoys have always resided in Sky Opening City. Even though Tang Lianyue temporarily left Sky Opening City before due to the matter with the Tang family’s Second Elder, too much time has passed. Now, even if he’s still in Tang Family Castle, it must be because some family matters have detained him, not because of seclusion!”
“Something has happened within the Tang Clan!” Su Muyu concluded.
Mu Yumo quickly realized the implications. “Then isn’t Tang Lianyue in danger? I must go save him!”
“Miss Yumo.” Proprietor Mu placed his hand on Mu Yumo’s shoulder, his eyes narrowing slightly. “How do you plan to save him? By charging into the Tang Clan? It’s one thing if you throw away your own life, but there are more than a dozen children of our Dark River in this city—don’t cause them to lose their lives here as well.”
“Yumo, don’t rush,” Su Changhe moved Proprietor Mu’s hand aside. “But we indeed need to enter the Tang Clan to take a look. Proprietor Mu!”
Proprietor Mu’s body stiffened. “What are the Family Head’s orders?”
“Help us devise a way,” Su Changhe said softly, “to infiltrate the Tang Clan.”
Proprietor Mu smiled bitterly. “Is this something I’m capable of devising?”
Within the Tang Clan.
Tang Lian had already switched night duty with someone else and was lying in bed, but something felt wrong no matter how he thought about it. Finally, he couldn’t help but get up. He found himself drawn to the entrance of the Moon of Pity Pavilion, where a smiling chubby man stood with three young men dressed in black.
“Uncle Fulu,” Tang Lian bowed his head.
Tang Fulu maintained his constant smile. “Little Tang Lian, you’re still not asleep at this late hour?”
Tang Lian looked up at the Moon of Pity Pavilion’s sign. “I miss Master, so I came to take a look. Does Master still have no plans to emerge from seclusion?”
Tang Fulu smiled and stroked his beard. “When your master goes into seclusion, we can never control how long it takes. After all, your master is a first-rate expert who could top the Supreme Rankings—how could we estimate such things? Wait a bit longer, wait a bit longer, it won’t be too long now.”
Tang Lian asked in confusion, “But doesn’t Master still have many important matters to attend to in Sky Opening City? These past few days, while collecting Master’s letters, I found quite a few from Sky Opening City. Since these involve important secrets that I can’t read without permission, I’ve been worried on Master’s behalf.”
“Oh? Sky Opening City is still sending letters to your master?” A glint flashed in Tang Fulu’s eyes.
Tang Lian nodded. “Master has always maintained special correspondence with Sky Opening City.”
Tang Fulu continued smiling. “How special?”
Tang Lian shook his head. “I don’t know about that. The letters just appear there suddenly; I don’t know how they arrived.”
“I see. Well, keep collecting them for your master then.” Tang Fulu repeated his earlier words, “When your master comes out—it won’t be too long now.”
“I understand, Uncle Fulu.” Tang Lian looked once more at the Moon of Pity Pavilion’s sign before turning to leave. However, after walking about a dozen steps, he stopped and shivered. “Why is it particularly cold around the Moon of Pity Pavilion?”