After great waves wash away the sand, the sand still cannot be completely washed clean. Even gold contains sand components—not to mention the court where mud and sand flow together. All sorts of people in Wanmin Palace daily staged various dramas for Li Er. Li Er, high above, needed to see through various disguises to directly reach people’s hearts. This was an extremely profound skill. Finding correct opinions from divergent views in the chaotic court was moreover a talent. Very obviously, Li Xiang didn’t possess such talent. The imperial family’s talent couldn’t be inherited—just thinking about it made one feel discouraged. Good at cheering himself up, Li Er quickly emerged from his troubles and decided to conduct a true autumn hunt this fall to inspect the empire’s youth and see whether they too had degenerated into good-for-nothings.

The appearance of one Li Xiang had already broken Li Er’s heart. If several more appeared, he would certainly go mad. Wealth doesn’t last beyond three generations. Inspecting young people was inspecting the empire’s future. Now had already arrived the time to make plans for the future.

Going to Liangyi Hall every day to see Zi was Li Er’s unshakeable daily arrangement. Unwilling to see his beloved daughter growing daily more haggard, yet unable to let go in his heart, every day seeing his daughter’s pale little face, he couldn’t help but feel grief welling up from his heart.

Coming out from his daughter’s room, Li Er stood for a long time before the Map of Rivers and Mountains without speaking. It turned out the world’s foremost person didn’t have much face before the King of Hell either.

“I hate that I cannot substitute myself for her!” Li Er sighed long.

“Why does Your Majesty say this? The princess’s illness is not incurable. Within our Great Tang’s ten-thousand-li territory, extraordinary people number beyond count. Your Majesty need only issue one decree, proclaiming it throughout the realm—there will certainly be mountain hermits willing to resolve Your Majesty’s worries.”

After Li Er heard Secretary Supervisor Chu Suiliang’s words, he immediately went to the desk, wielded his brush to write a decree, and after giving it to Chu Suiliang, said to him: “Take it. Bring the person back to me! Those with talent who don’t come—death!”

A trace of joy flashed in Chu Suiliang’s eyes. He bowed to receive the decree and hurriedly left Wanmin Palace, immediately going to the Secretariat to prepare to affix the seal and promulgate it throughout the realm. After Fang Xuanling saw it, he glanced at Chu Suiliang and said: “Kill fewer people. His Majesty right now is desperately seeking any cure. After he becomes clear-headed, you may not necessarily gain any advantage.”

Chu Suiliang pointed at the roof and said: “My heart can be witnessed by heaven and earth!”

Fang Xuanling nodded, then affixed his traveling seal to the decree, silently returned the decree to Chu Suiliang, and didn’t say another word—just as if he had just completed an extremely ordinary government affair.

Longhu Mountain had an elixir of immortality. This had been passed down since Zhang Daoling’s time. It was said to be able to revive the dead and grow flesh on white bones. However, it was only secretly transmitted, being Longhu Mountain’s great secret. But now this secret had been deciphered by Chu Suiliang. He discovered this secret in an old book he casually bought from the street.

Now he wanted to summon the Daoists of Longhu Mountain to act,献出 the elixir of immortality to treat the princess’s illness. Chu Suiliang had also mentioned this secret to the Emperor before, but Li Er still dismissed it with a smile. If there truly was such a miraculous thing, it shouldn’t have appeared in this human world long ago. The first moment the elixir of immortality was discovered, it would have been swallowed by someone. Only this was reasonable. Saying Longhu Mountain had kept this secret for eight hundred years was simply nonsense.

Now it was different. Li Er had already despaired regarding Zi’s illness. The medical sage Sun Simiao of the human world had already thrown up his hands. He could only seek help from divine spirits. Regardless of whether it worked or not, Li Er wanted to try.

Since it was Longhu Mountain’s supreme treasure, it would certainly receive Longhu Mountain’s extreme resistance. This was why Fang Xuanling offered words of advice. Longhu Mountain’s eldest senior brother Cansang would probably have no choice but to make a trip to the capital.

“All birds pay homage to the phoenix—why does the peacock alone spread its tail? Our Dao school exhausts all efforts rebuilding the Queen Mother of the West’s divine palace. Daoist temples throughout the realm all supply wealth. My uncle even scattered his seven hundred years of accumulated savings to serve. Since Longhu Mountain considers itself descendants of divine spirits and doesn’t care about the divine mountain, we need not care too much about them either.”

Yuan Tiangang sat on a meditation cushion with closed eyes. After hearing a Daoist’s report, his expression didn’t change. He continued sinking into endless visualization. His cold attitude left that Daoist stunned in place.

The storm would come eventually. Since the court had already decided to deal with Longhu Mountain and the Five Pecks of Rice sect, Yuan Tiangang only wanted to remain outside the affair. As long as he endured these initial few years, once the divine palace was completed, the Dao school would no longer need to worry about being restricted by the court in spreading teachings. Under word-of-mouth transmission, the Dao school would certainly greatly prosper.

Xiao Wu entered the palace to see Zi. After returning, her mood was very poor. Zi was her student. Seeing Zi weakened to the extreme, Xiao Wu couldn’t help but recall two lines from a poem her master once sang when plum blossoms fell to the ground: “Scattered, they turn to mud and are ground to dust, only their fragrance remains as before.”

Although in the height of summer, Xiao Wu’s mood was like experiencing severe winter. That sprite-like woman, even though emaciated until she had lost human form, still smiled. Because of her thinness, her eyes appeared especially large. Smiling and full of words, there was still a dark fragrance passing through.

A pregnant woman standing with hands behind her back beside a small pond looked especially comical, but Xiao Wu’s face could scrape down frost. Just now when leaving the imperial palace, she had seen the imperial proclamation posted on Vermillion Bird Boulevard. Xiao Wu without surprise read from this imperial proclamation a forest of killing intent. She didn’t know who would be slaughtered this time. Xiao Wu was very worried for the Yun family. Since Daoist Sun was helpless, the Emperor could only seek help from divine spirits. By rights, aside from the Buddhist and Daoist two paths, those closest to immortals was the Yun family.

“Impossible, it can’t be Master. The time and place are both wrong, and moreover the atmosphere is wrong. Imperial proclamations posted in the capital number only twelve—can’t even match one-tenth the quantity in Jiangxi South Circuit…”

Di Renjie had just said half his words when he suddenly stopped. Xiao Wu turned around and smiled eerily: “Keep talking! Why did you stop? Say everything you want to say completely. I must hear the definite target before I’ll be at ease. Master entrusted his family to our care—there can’t be half a mistake.”

Di Renjie smiled bitterly and said: “It looks like that’s it. Longhu Mountain is going to have terrible luck. His Majesty is desperately seeking any cure. Master said long ago that Zi has no way to live past her teenage years. Why must he still struggle bitterly? Could it be His Majesty still doesn’t trust Master’s and Mister Sun’s diagnosis?”

Xiao Wu touched her belly, glanced at Di Renjie and said: “This has nothing to do with trust. His Majesty loves his daughter dearly. He simply doesn’t believe his daughter will die. He’s preparing to use his own power and influence to seek one last glimmer of hope for his daughter. If it were me, I’d have done this long ago. For my child, even if it means killing until blood flows like rivers—so what?”

Di Renjie spat saliva, rushed up to cover Xiao Wu’s mouth and said angrily to her: “Our child will definitely be born safely. You’ll also be safe and sound. Our whole family will be safe and sound—such strange things won’t occur.”

Xiao Wu pushed away Di Renjie’s hand, lightly pecked him on the face, and said happily: “That’s right. We’ll properly live our lives. Since Zhang Daoling spread the way there at Longhu Mountain, after several hundred years they’ve also accumulated some connections. There will always be methods to deal with it. You properly investigate your dismemberment case. Tell me about it, help you think of ideas. Recently I’m truly bored. After seeing Zi, my mood is very bad. Change my thoughts—tell me…”

“Not telling. That’s my case. Last time I told you about the silver hairpin case, you sorted out the clues in two or three sentences, causing me to have no face. You’re pregnant now—don’t listen to these bloody murders.” Just as Di Renjie was embracing Xiao Wu and joking, he suddenly felt Xiao Wu tighten her body, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Shocked, he released Xiao Wu. Seeing her face iron-blue, glaring viciously behind, he quickly turned to look. He only saw a black-clothed woman wearing a conical hat standing under the willow tree by the pond, revealing a pair of ice-cold eyes looking at the husband and wife.

Di Renjie was about to ask when he heard Xiao Wu say: “It’s this woman who told me she wanted to take away our child.”

Di Renjie chuckled, blocked his body in front of Xiao Wu, cupped his hands toward that woman and said: “So it’s Senior arriving. Di Renjie has been discourteous. May I know Senior’s esteemed surname and great name?”

That woman didn’t speak but suddenly darted away. Simultaneously, a red crossbow bolt drilled out from under Di Renjie’s ribs, nailing into the willow tree behind the woman. The crossbow bolt’s tail was still humming and shaking. If that woman had dodged slightly slower, this crossbow bolt should have nailed into her throat.

Xiao Wu’s sleeve shook. A red swallow-wing crossbow appeared in her hand. She aimed at that black-clothed woman again and without hesitation triggered the crossbow bolts again, moreover shooting out all the remaining two crossbow bolts at once.

Two light “thud thud” sounds—the crossbow bolts nailed into a small table. That woman discarded the small table in her hands, coldly said to Xiao Wu: “You cannot escape. You must hand over your child to me. This is the debt your White Jade Capital owes.”

“How can you be violent toward Senior!” Di Renjie severely and sternly grabbed Xiao Wu’s hand, seized the swallow-wing crossbow, threw it aside, and rebuked Xiao Wu once. Xiao Wu lowered her head. Di Renjie once again bowed and said: “We have never acknowledged ourselves as disciples of White Jade Capital. Has Senior mistaken us for someone else?”

The black-clothed woman’s pupils contracted. She asked Di Renjie: “You are this generation’s host charmer?”

Di Renjie shook his head and said: “No. I heard my master is. Why don’t you go find my master for revenge?”

“Your master is already a mature host charmer. What use would I have for him? What I want is the child of an immature host charmer. If it’s a daughter, that’s best.”

Di Renjie laughed and said: “Senior is so aggressive yet doesn’t dare seek my master. Aren’t you worried my master will find trouble with you after returning?”

Xiao Wu laughed charmingly: “Fool, you still haven’t seen it. This is a romantic debt Master owes. Master owes her a child, so she’s very unhappy and came to find us. Father’s debt, son repays—finding us isn’t wrong either.”

The black-clothed woman’s eyes in an instant became incomparably furious. She glared fiercely at Xiao Wu and said to Di Renjie: “The ever-changing enchantress—can you withstand her?”

Xiao Wu took over the conversation: “This is our affair—no need for your concern. However, my master has something for you. Catch it.” After Xiao Wu finished speaking, she tossed a small black ball that Di Renjie had just given her to that black-clothed person. There was nothing strange about it, except the iron ball seemed to be emitting sparks…